Hidden Gem Movies

[Guest G***f******]

We've had plenty of threads about favorite movies, but how about the more obscure ones you really enjoy that others might not have heard about?

 

I'm not talking about cult classics like Cube, or Big Trouble in Little China, or even movies everyone loves, but won't admit to like Steel Magnolias (or is that just me?) I mean really well crafted flicks that you enjoyed immensely, but for whatever reason never generated much talk.

 

When I used to work at a video store, late at night people would ask, "What's good to watch?" when all the new releases had gone. There are a few I would always recommend that rarely disappointed.

 

Mystery - Murder 101 starring Pierce Brosnan. I like movies that make you think and this one had me guessing the whole way through.

 

Action - The Blood of Heroes with Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen. A different kind of action movie. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, no gunfights or big explosions, all the action takes place on the field of a brutal sporting event.

 

Comedy - Noises Off! A cast too large to name em all, with Carol Burnett, Micheal Caine and John Ritter being just a few, this delightful comedy shows the on and off stage goings on in a theater.

 

uncatagorizable - Memento maybe not as obscure to some, there are still a lot of people who have never heard of it. One of Christopher Nolans first directing efforts. The story is told going both backwards and forwards in time, as we follow a man who's short term memory problems prevent him from making new memories. He attempts to solve the mystery of his wifes murder, using notes and tattoos that he cannot remember writing or getting. I cannot express how awesome this movie is. Liked Inception? Rent Memento.

[Meg O'Ryan 266444]

While I cannot describe this movie as eloquently as Gobofraggle...

 

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane with Jody Foster (Rynn Jacobs), Martin Sheen (Frank Hallet-the pedophile) and Scott Jacoby (Mario-the boyfriend).

 

Foster, at 13, is simply amazing. Her acting talents far belie her age in this thriller. I loved the simplistic setting and found the plot and the actors simply enthralling.

 

Here is a quote from Wikepedia...

 

The plot focuses on thirteen-year-old Rynn Jacobs (Foster), a mysterious child whose dark secrets concerning her absent poet father are prodded by various nosy villagers in a New England town. The film, though predominantly a dramatic thriller, also blends elements of horror, mystery, and romance.

 

Thank you TCM...now my favorite channel!

[cyclo 30131]

The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de sus Ojos). I had never heard of this movie but took a chance on renting it last week and didn't have any real expectations. A group of us watched it together and when it was over we were all quiet for a moment and then everyone starts saying "Now that's a good movie!"

 

On the surface it's a standard police procedural involving a murder investigation spread over 25 years. It's also got corruption and incompetence in the justice system. But, it's actually about unrequited love, passion, committment and living a full or empty life.

 

There are some plot twists that you'll never, ever see coming. Some times when this is done, the movie involves leaps in logic and the characters do things that don't make sense. In a bad movie you figure this out while you're watching it. In a better movie you see the holes when you think critically about it afterwards. In this movie, everything makes sense while you're watching it and it makes even more sense when you think about it afterwards.

 

This is a spanish language film with subtitles, so if you don't like subtitles or foreign movies, this is definitely not for you. It's set in Buenos Aires Argentina during the seventies so that gives it a different look and feel as well as logic for judicial incompetence than the thousands of crime movies set in New York or LA.

 

It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film last year. If you were happy that The Hurt Locker won for Best Picture instead of Avatar, this is a movie for you.

 

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100421/REVIEWS/100429994

 

I loved Memento too. A number of years ago I had a head injury and like the character in the movie I lost my short term memory for a lengthy period. Also like the character, I started taking notes so that I could remember things... unfortunately unlike the Memento character I could never remember what my notes meant when I read them!

[roamingguy 300291]

Saw Little Girl That Lives Down the Lane many many years ago (back in the '70s)...should get the video, watch it again, recall it was a good movie

For war movie lovers, Where Eagles Dare with Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton taking on the German Army

RG

[higlow14 200]

All time great combines war/action and comedy: Kelly's heroes. Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland and Carrol O'Connor. Fantastic group. A must see

[Cleo Catra 178382]

My Life Without Me. Small indy film with Sarah Polley and Mark Ruffalo. Quiet story that draws you in and has you feel with the character in a way most films completely fail in. Very cathartic and beautiful. Based on a short story that's nowhere near as good as the film.

[mrgreen760 37785]

Falling Down......Michael Douglas

Ghost World...Thora Birch

The Mighty.....Sharon Stone

The Trueman Show.....Jim Carrey Laura Linney

Something Wild....Melanie Griffith Jeff Daniels

Murphy's Romance...Sally Field James Garner

Wrestling Ernst Hemmingway.....Robert Duval Richard Harris

 

All 80's early 90's all terrific.

 

Peace

MG

[Soleil Sublime 38108]

I prefer these kinds of movies. The following may be hard to find, but sooo worth it!

 

1.) Bad Boy Bubby (My fave)

2.) Turtles Can Fly

3.) The Tin Drum

4.) Drugstore Cowboy

5.) Damage

 

Try those! I have spent a better part of 3 years trying to find the best, independent and obscure films and documentaries ever made. I thought I'd be smart and put them all on an external hard drive. Until I dropped it. Every thing is gone and I literally mourned all those films for months! I apologize ahead of time, if you can't find some of these.

[Cleo Catra 178382]

City of Lost Children

Pumpkin

Hard Candy

The Good Girl (Yes, Jennifer Aniston... it's this film that makes me love her)

Stranger than Fiction (Not sure if this one actually got a lot of press or not, so maybe it doesn't count, but I adore it. For so many reasons, one of which is definitely that I see my future in Maggie Gyllenhal's character)

[Guest Ou**or**n]

For me:

 

Fish Tank

Boondock Saints

Thirteen

Rounders

Broken Embraces

 

I prefer these kinds of movies. The following may be hard to find, but sooo worth it!

 

1.) Bad Boy Bubby (My fave)

2.) Turtles Can Fly

3.) The Tin Drum

4.) Drugstore Cowboy

5.) Damage

 

Try those! I have spent a better part of 3 years trying to find the best, independent and obscure films and documentaries ever made. I thought I'd be smart and put them all on an external hard drive. Until I dropped it. Every thing is gone and I literally mourned all those films for months! I apologize ahead of time, if you can't find some of these.

 

All are available on Rapidshare. I also assume you mean Damage from 1992 with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche instead of the 2009 movie of the same name starring Steve Austin.

 

City of Lost Children

Pumpkin

Hard Candy

The Good Girl (Yes, Jennifer Aniston... it's this film that makes me love her)

Stranger than Fiction (Not sure if this one actually got a lot of press or not, so maybe it doesn't count, but I adore it. For so many reasons, one of which is definitely that I see my future in Maggie Gyllenhal's character)

 

Hard Candy - absolutely epic film that first showcased Ellen Page

 

Not familiar with Pumkin, will have to check it out.

[VedaSloan 119179]

We've had plenty of threads about favorite movies, but how about the more obscure ones you really enjoy that others might not have heard about?

 

I'm not talking about cult classics like Cube, or Big Trouble in Little China, or even movies everyone loves, but won't admit to like Steel Magnolias (or is that just me?) I mean really well crafted flicks that you enjoyed immensely, but for whatever reason never generated much talk.

 

When I used to work at a video store, late at night people would ask, "What's good to watch?" when all the new releases had gone. There are a few I would always recommend that rarely disappointed.

 

Mystery - Murder 101 starring Pierce Brosnan. I like movies that make you think and this one had me guessing the whole way through.

 

Action - The Blood of Heroes with Rutger Hauer and Joan Chen. A different kind of action movie. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, no gunfights or big explosions, all the action takes place on the field of a brutal sporting event.

 

Comedy - Noises Off! A cast too large to name em all, with Carol Burnett, Micheal Caine and John Ritter being just a few, this delightful comedy shows the on and off stage goings on in a theater.

 

uncatagorizable - Memento maybe not as obscure to some, there are still a lot of people who have never heard of it. One of Christopher Nolans first directing efforts. The story is told going both backwards and forwards in time, as we follow a man who's short term memory problems prevent him from making new memories. He attempts to solve the mystery of his wifes murder, using notes and tattoos that he cannot remember writing or getting. I cannot express how awesome this movie is. Liked Inception? Rent Memento.

 

You used to work in a video store? ME TOO! Also, major props for including The Blood of Heroes, I LOVE old Rutger Hauer movies (my favourite is Split Second).

 

Right, so here is my list of underrated and hidden gems!

 

Secretary (James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Das Experiment (Moritz Bleibtreu)

Imaginary Heroes (Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch)

Strangers with Candy (Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert)

Session 9 (David Caruso, Paul Guilfoyle)

The Machinist (Christian Bale)

The Beastmaster (Marc Singer, Rip Torn)

Thirst (Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim)(from director Park Chan-Wook--he also did Oldboy, which if you haven't seen it, get thyself a copy post-haste)

Winter's Bone (Jennifer Lawrence)

Irreversible (Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel)(NOTE: 7 minute anal rape scene--really unpleasant, but the cinematography is so good in this movie, I try to overlook it)

Antichrist (Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg)(also includes some serious genital mutilation, so not for the faint of heart)

Ravenous (Guy Pierce, Robert Carlyle)

Battle Royale (Tatsura Fujiwara, Aki Maeda)

Igby Goes Down (Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon)

Harold and Maude (Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort)

[Cleo Catra 178382]

Secretary (James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Battle Royale (Tatsura Fujiwara, Aki Maeda)

Igby Goes Down (Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon)

Harold and Maude (Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort)

 

 

Can I add these to my list please? :D LOVELOVELOVE Secretary, can't believe I didn't think of it. I think I'm going to throw it in my dvd player right now actually.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Can I add these to my list please? :D LOVELOVELOVE Secretary, can't believe I didn't think of it. I think I'm going to throw it in my dvd player right now actually.

 

I love that movie so much, but it makes me sad that James Spader is a rapist. The story on that is that he raped an extra while making Crash--there's an Asian chick he's fucking in the beginning ish of the movie (I think) and anyways, it's supposed to be simulated, but he penetrated her. I don't think charges were ever laid, but my source is credible (they worked on the film and were friends with said rape victim). Also, I guess that implicates Cronenberg as well, since he directed the film and probably would have known what was going on.

[stevecurious 42059]

I am not sure if any of these movies actually are "hidden gems" but I am going to list them regardless.

 

The Libertine - Johnny Depp

 

Thirteen Days - Bruce Greenwood and Kevin Costner

 

Evelyn - Pierce Brosnan

 

The Tailor of Panama - Pierce Brosnan and Geoffrey Rush

[Guest G***f******]

Session 9 (David Caruso, Paul Guilfoyle)

 

That movie Creeped. Me. Out.

 

One I wantend to add but had forgotten.

 

Farewlle My Concubine If you liked The Last Emperor, this is even better. But you need to be someone who doesn't mind reading subtitles :D

It tells the story of modern china by following the lives of two boys ,who are adopted into the Peking Opera, through the event of the fall Imperial rule, the Japanese invasion, the Peoples revolution and the cultural revolution.

[tongue twister 842]

How about these:

Comedy-Waking Up In Reno, Patrick Swayze,Billy Bob Thorton, Charlize Theron, and Natasha Richardson.

Comedy- 8 Heads In a Duffel Bag, Joe Pesci, George Hamilton, David Spade, and Dyan Canon.

Drama- CopyCat, Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter

Drama - Primal Fear, Richard Gere, Edward Norton, laura Linney

Drama Eye For An Eye, Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris

[VedaSloan 119179]

How about these:

Comedy-Waking Up In Reno, Patrick Swayze,Billy Bob Thorton, Charlize Theron, and Natasha Richardson.

Comedy- 8 Heads In a Duffel Bag, Joe Pesci, George Hamilton, David Spade, and Dyan Canon.

Drama- CopyCat, Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter

Drama - Primal Fear, Richard Gere, Edward Norton, laura Linney

Drama Eye For An Eye, Sally Field, Kiefer Sutherland, Ed Harris

 

 

Primal Fear was really really good. I remember watching it and thinking, I bet this Edward Norton dude is gonna be big.

[Guest P***P********0]

Stand By Me 1986

Scarface 1983

Cop Land

Red Dawn

Rambo

 

I would have to say that my all time favorite movie would be "The Warrior", I was 10 years old when I first saw it. I must have watched it a million times since, and I never get bored of it.

 

Dumb and Dumber I still laugh whenever I watch this movie. If you hadn't noticed how dumb they were you sure see it at the end.

[roamingguy 300291]

Forgot a couple

Das Boot

Inglorious Basterds (definitely not a historically accurate picture of World War 2)

Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2 (I preferred Vol 1)

RG

[TGirl-Kay 7484]

Girl On The Bridge

 

Ok I'm off to have a cold shower now.

[castle 38816]

"Teeth" is deliciously wicked, the whole movie I wasn't sure if I should be cringing or laughing,

 

I don't know if this fits the bill of "obscure" but "Suicide Kings" is one of my favorites, and it's not known by many. I just love all things Walken, and this movie proves that only Christopher Walken can still manage to be intimidating even though for most of the movie he's duct taped to a chair and slowly bleeding to death,

 

Also loved Hard Candy, first thing I ever saw with Ellen Page and she impressed the hell out of me.

 

Dog Soldiers, a pretty entertaining british werewolf movie,

 

King of New York,

 

Lesbian Vampire Killers, the title speaks for itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc4llmQYyKY&feature=fvst

 

Severance, a surprisingly funny slasher movie, and yup, another british one, what can I saw, those brits sure know funny,

 

Communion, a supposedly true story about alien abduction, told from the point of view of real life author Whitley Streiber (The Wolfen, The Hunger). Walken gives a pretty strong performance as Streiber, and for the most part the movie seems to take itself seriously.....until Christopher Walken starts break-dancing with the aliens, not sure where that came from, but it's Walken, so it's cool..I guess, lol. http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi767492377/

 

Nighthawks, a little known action movie from the early 80's with Stallone, Billy Dee Williams and Rutger Hauer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnvbtAoucPU

 

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, a little known but very powerful movie with Laurence Fishburne,

 

Equilibrium, not sure if it's obscure but not a lot of people I've spoken to know about it, a great movie,

 

Jekyll. Not really a movie, but a very fun miniseries which appeared on the BBC, kinda hard to find on dvd (I had to get it on ebay), but if you can find it, definitely something to check out

[spud271 47779]

The Machinest, one of my favorite movies and Christian Bale's best performance by far!

 

Four Rooms, very quirky and Tim Roth as Ted the Bellhop is just brilliant!!!!

 

Eulogy, again very quirky and slightly off, but funny as hell!

[teched 418]

Gia - The sad life of Gia Carangi, a high end model. Her rise to stardom in the 70's and sad fall. Staring a very hot Angelina Jolie as you always wanted to see her. :wink:

[Cleo Catra 178382]

Gia - The sad life of Gia Carangi, a high end model. Her rise to stardom in the 70's and sad fall. Staring a very hot Angelina Jolie as you always wanted to see her. :wink:

 

Mmm yes. I love the film, very well done, and I also admit to watching a few key scenes over and over again, while i'm all alone... Heh

Posted via Mobile Device

[Guest G***f******]

Mmm yes. I love the film, very well done, and I also admit to watching a few key scenes over and over again, while i'm all alone... Heh

Posted via Mobile Device

 

LoL. Maybe we should start another thread. "Movies I can watch even with the sound turned off." :lol: