# Best movie nobody's heard of...



## TracerBullet42 (Jan 21, 2004)

So everybody has some movie that they absolutely love and think is the greatest that none of their friends have heard of or enjoy.  I'm not talking about Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or The Matrix, here.  I'm talking about the ones that didn't get too much press.  The ones that flew in under the radar and most people haven't seen.

What movie do you love that nobody else seems to have heard of?

For me, it's Boondock Saints.  I hadn't heard of it until recently, and I love this flick.  Willem Dafoe is at his finest/weirdest in this movie.  Two brothers in a old irish neighborhood who decide they are called to distribute the Lord's justice/wrath on the local criminals.  Great, great movie.

And for a movie that nobody else seems to like that I enjoy...Mars Attacks.  Everybody I know hates this movie.  It cracked me up, though.  I love the fact that everyone just believes their translator.  "Don't run.  We are your friends!"  And they kill them all with Slim Whitman!  How great is that?  And the secretary of defense yelling out ,"KILL KILL KILL!"

Ah...good times.  What's yours?


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## diaglo (Jan 21, 2004)

The Wedding Banquet.


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## The Mirrorball Man (Jan 21, 2004)

Andrei Tarkovsky's _Stalker_. I don't think any movie has ever impressed me more than _Stalker_. I don't know if I love it or hate it, but it's forever embedded in my mind.


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## Belen (Jan 21, 2004)

Equilibrium- the movie just rocks.


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## BobROE (Jan 21, 2004)

BelenUmeria said:
			
		

> Equilibrium- the movie just rocks.




Damn, that's what I was going to say.
I guess someone has heard of it.


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## The Sigil (Jan 21, 2004)

Good, yet mostly unknown movies with a D&D application:

Vincent Price's _The Abominable Dr. Phibes_ - The perfect case study for creating a very insane, very intelligent, yet not irrational bad guy.  Just because you're insane doesn't mean you cackle and laugh and are irrational.

I consider _Alexander Nevsky_ to be one of the best "mass-combat" pictures ever... tactically, it's a great watch for the "hows and whys" of certain weapons in combat.  Not as colorful as LotR's mass combat scenes, and certainly lacks the same scale (and it's in B&W), but for my money, the longer shots give a better tactical feel than the "action" feel of LotR.

Best unknown movie, period?  Hard to say, I don't see a lot of movies, but I'll throw this one out...

I really liked "The Spiral Staircase" - saw it on PBS at about 1 am a few months ago - another B&W oldie but goodie that does a nice job with an insane arch-villain.

--The Sigil


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## Zander (Jan 21, 2004)

For pure cheesiness, there are a couple I like: _Hawk the Slayer_ and _Jack the Giant Killer_.

There's a film that I enjoyed purely for the setting: _Blood of Heroes_ starring Rutger Hauer (sp?).

And not forgetting _Fire & Ice_ by Frazetta for its artistic value.


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## Hand of Evil (Jan 21, 2004)

Really like _The Man That Knew Too Little_


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## CCamfield (Jan 21, 2004)

The Sigil said:
			
		

> I consider _Alexander Nevsky_ to be one of the best "mass-combat" pictures ever... tactically, it's a great watch for the "hows and whys" of certain weapons in combat.  Not as colorful as LotR's mass combat scenes, and certainly lacks the same scale (and it's in B&W), but for my money, the longer shots give a better tactical feel than the "action" feel of LotR.




Definitely an old movie - it's a silent as I recall - but the battles were pretty darn cool.

I'm going to mention another old B&W movie from the 30s that I rather like - I wish I had a copy of it: _The Saint in New York_.  This is thrilling if low-tech pulpy action as the absolutely fearless Saint (aka Simon Templar), played perfectly by Louis Hayward, cleans up the New York mob with little more than a pistol and his hidden throwing knife, Belle.


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## Particle_Man (Jan 21, 2004)

A more recent film that I liked was Dead Man, starring Johnny Depp -- An anti-western western that dealt with the inevitability of death and how to deal with it.  (Don't confuse it with Dead Man Walking).

Also, The Impostors and Big Night were both hilarious, but no one has heard of them.


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## johnsemlak (Jan 21, 2004)

Fantasy or History related...

The Whole Wide World--Biography of Robert E Howard.  Very good acting.

Sergei Eisenstein's movies (Alexander Nevsky is mentioned above, also Ivan the Terrible and Battleship Potomkin)


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## howandwhy99 (Jan 21, 2004)

I'll put another vote in for Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man".

My all-time favorite little known movie is "Brother Sun, Sister Moon"
It tells the life story of Saint Francis of Assisi.  Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, it even has Alec Guinness as the Pope.


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## The_Universe (Jan 21, 2004)

Not fantasy or action, but a great movie (By George "I can't be trusted with my own creation" Lucas!): The Radioland Murders.  Hilarious, and DIFFERENT.


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## MrFilthyIke (Jan 21, 2004)

TracerBullet42 said:
			
		

> Ah...good times.  What's yours?




They both comedies, and I don't know how "unkown" they are but...

_Pooty Tang_ and _Meet The Feebles_

I "stumbled on both these films by accident on TV, and bout near
bust an internal organ laughing. Same with Yahoo Serious' _Mr.
Accident_. Guess I've just got weird tastes.


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## AGGEMAM (Jan 21, 2004)

Being from across the pond brings a totally different perspective on this thread, I think that most of my favorite movies are unknown to most of you.

But let's start:

Italiensk for Begyndere (Italien for Beginners) by Hanne Vibeke Holst (danish, subtitled)

Mary Bon Tempi (Mary Forever) (Italien, subtitled) (can't remember the director)

Oh, and you americans should look out for the american version of a danish TV series "Kingdom Hospital" rewritten for english by Stephen King coming on ABC soon.

http://abc.go.com/movies/kingdomhospital.html


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## Harp (Jan 21, 2004)

Great topic, and I have the perfect movie to suit the category -- the version of 'Robin Hood' which starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman.  Loved, loved, _loved_ that movie, and I don't know of anyone else that's seen it.  It came out at approximately the same time as Costner's version <*spit, spit*>, so the producers got scared, I suppose, and just ran it on network television.  Definitely a "darker-n-grittier" version of the tale.


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## AGGEMAM (Jan 21, 2004)

Harp said:
			
		

> Great topic, and I have the perfect movie to suit the category -- the version of 'Robin Hood' which starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman.  Loved, loved, _loved_ that movie, and I don't know of anyone else that's seen it.  It came out at approximately the same time as Costner's version <*spit, spit*>, so the producers got scared, I suppose, and just ran it on network television.  Definitely a "darker-n-grittier" version of the tale.




I concur. A lot better version than Costners. And in fact did a hellofalot better than the Costner version in the cinemas here.


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## Storminator (Jan 21, 2004)

Siege of Firebase Gloria.

Vietnam film of pretty much endless action, that actual has the characters get ground down by. Very cool, but I've rarely talked to anyone that's heard of it.

PS


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## Zander (Jan 21, 2004)

Harp said:
			
		

> Great topic, and I have the perfect movie to suit the category -- the version of 'Robin Hood' which starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman.  Loved, loved, _loved_ that movie, and I don't know of anyone else that's seen it.  It came out at approximately the same time as Costner's version <*spit, spit*>, so the producers got scared, I suppose, and just ran it on network television.  Definitely a "darker-n-grittier" version of the tale.



I've seen it on telly twice, most recently this Christmas. I agree that it's superior to the Costner version, but it's not my favourite telling. That goes to the _Robin of Sherwood_ telly series from the mid-1980's starring Michael Praed. In the US, the first two episodes were combined to make a mini-movie which was out on video. You can get the whole thing on DVD in the UK.


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## Mallus (Jan 21, 2004)

_Local Hero_ 
_Henry Fool_ 
_The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T_


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## AGGEMAM (Jan 21, 2004)

Mallus said:
			
		

> _Local Hero_




Very good movie, and an amazing sound track by Mark Knopfler (sp?)


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## Ghostwind (Jan 21, 2004)

I caught two movies in November on PBS that I thought were really good. Both are done by Robert Redford's production company and get into Navaho folklore. The first one was called _Skinwalkers_ and the second was _Coyote Waits_. They are supposed to air the third movie in the triology this spring. All are based off of Tony Hillerman's novels. Good viewing if you like mysteries.


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## Capellan (Jan 21, 2004)

Zander said:
			
		

> There's a film that I enjoyed purely for the setting: _Blood of Heroes_ starring Rutger Hauer (sp?).




Which for some reason is known as "Salute of the Jugger" here.  I own it on DVD 

It should be noted that it _also_ stars Delroy Lindo, Joan Chen and Vincent D'Onofrio.  Quite a cast, really 

My personal favourite small-time movie: "Split Second", again with Hauer (and the lovely Kim Cattrall).


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## Tanager (Jan 21, 2004)

Mallus said:
			
		

> _Local Hero_




Excellent choice, and if you like Local Hero, you might like Restless Natives, if you can find a copy of it.

Another hidden gem is After Life. a sweet Japanese romantic piece about death and moving on.

edited to fix quote tag and add:

I can't believe I almost forgot Free Enterprise , a couple of sci-fi geeks try to deal with turning 30 along with the help of William shatner.


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## Cevalic (Jan 21, 2004)

I wouldn't call it a great movie, but if you're into cheesy movies that you can laugh at with your friends, I haven't found a better one than Hawk the Slayer.


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## AGGEMAM (Jan 21, 2004)

Capellan said:
			
		

> My personal favourite small-time movie: "Split Second", again with Hauer (and the lovely Kim Cattrall).





Small time movie? I thought it was a big hit when it came out, also at the box office, well here anyways.


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## Eridanis (Jan 21, 2004)

My vote goes to "The Navigator." A group of medieval peasants journey through time to the present day to find the cross that will save their town from the Plague. Good movie.


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## Pielorinho (Jan 21, 2004)

There's one in the theater right now that you guys NEED to go see:  _Peter Pan_.  It's not unknown, but it's being ignored, and it's fantastic in both senses of the word.  Don't expect a retelling of the cartoon version:  this one hews close to the theatrical version, with a murderous Tink, a Captain Hook played by the same actor who plays the father, and realistic but unsettling sensuality in the two preteen leads.  The effects are close to *Baron Munchausen* in aesthetic.  Good stuff!

Okay, other movies, not complete unknowns but still a little obscure:

_The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ is great, as someone already mentioned.  Live action ubertrippy Dr. Seuss movie, with the creepiest dance duel ever filmed.

_The Vanishing_, a French horror movie that's scared me more than any other movie I've seen.  From what I've heard, stay far away from the American remake.

_Living in Oblivion_, an unheard-of arthouse flick about making an unheard-of arthouse flick.  Steve Buscemi is always fun, and it's got the funniest dwarf scene *evar*.  Although it starts slow, few movies have made me laugh as hard as this one did.

Daniel


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## Hypersmurf (Jan 21, 2004)

Zander said:
			
		

> That goes to the _Robin of Sherwood_ telly series from the mid-1980's starring Michael Praed.




_Oh_ yeah.

When that first aired in New Zealand, it played on our gaming night, at just the right time.  The guys whose flat we played at didn't have a working television, so each week we'd all troop across the street to their (non-gaming) friend's place, watch _Robin of Sherwood_, and then head back to play D&D 

I have most - but not all - of the series taped from the last time the series reran on TV here, but the quality's lousy... and our DVD player's Region 4 only.

I'm seriously considering buying a regionless player just so I can order the Region 2 DVDs from the UK...

-Hyp.


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## CrusaderX (Jan 21, 2004)

Steven Speilberg's _Duel_, though I'm not sure how obscure it really is.


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## Dark Jezter (Jan 21, 2004)

TracerBullet42 said:
			
		

> For me, it's Boondock Saints.  I hadn't heard of it until recently, and I love this flick.  Willem Dafoe is at his finest/weirdest in this movie.  Two brothers in a old irish neighborhood who decide they are called to distribute the Lord's justice/wrath on the local criminals.  Great, great movie.




Whoa.  When I saw the title of this thread, I knew right away that I was going to mention _Boondock Saints_.  I was surprised to see it mentioned in the very first post. 

_Boondock Saints_ is a great movie, and I didn't even know it existed until a friend of mine let me borrow his DVD of it.


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## Sir Whiskers (Jan 21, 2004)

_Local Hero_ (just about anything with Burt Lancaster is good)
_Breaking Glass_, with Hazel O'Connor (great music)
_Benny and Joon_, with Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson (Depp does a great imitation of Buster Keaton in the movie)


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## barsoomcore (Jan 21, 2004)

It's hard to say what's unknown and what isn't.  To different people different movies are unknown.

What about movies you saw that you had NEVER heard of? You just walked in or pulled it off the shelf, with NO CLUE what it might be (saw a poster once? no good. Heard the name? Nope. I mean, your first experience with the idea that the film even existed was the time you watched it. And loved it.

_Dog Soldiers_ -- I was expecting so little from this, and talked my wife into renting it -- I'm an hopeless optimist for monster movies and nothing, not even _Bats_, can quell my enthusiasm. But this was a good, tight little picture with real performances, nice use of darkness and camera effects, good action sequences and all that. Not a work of genius, but a pleasant surprise. Recommended, even.


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## Tanager (Jan 21, 2004)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> _Dog Soldiers_ -- I was expecting so little from this, ... But this was a good, tight little picture with real performances, nice use of darkness and camera effects, good action sequences and all that. Not a work of genius, but a pleasant surprise. Recommended, even.




I fully agree, I rented _Dog Soldiers_ as a blind choice and since were on a Brit binge. There was a BBC(actually maybe it was channel 4) miniseries called _Ultraviolet_, which was a pretty well done cops vs. vampire story.


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## barsoomcore (Jan 22, 2004)

Oh yeah, _Ultraviolet_ is really, really good. Except for the girlfriend, who just can't act. But otherwise it's great. Got it on DVD.

One of the great things about film festivals is getting to see films you never heard of from all over the world. We first saw _Versus_ at a festival.

_Versus_ is a great, great film -- but do NOT rent the recent DVD version -- it is so massively cut that it makes almost no sense whatsoever. If in the version you watch any character dies offscreen -- that's not the original. There are no missed opportunities for over-the-top gore in _Versus_. Yakuza zombie swordfight movie. Possibly the coolest film EVER.

A title it may have to share with _Volcano High_, a hilarious martial-arts-in-high-school picture with teachers every bit as mean as you thought they were. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Character names like Dark Ox, Icy Jade and Single-Hearted Soh.

Two films we walked into utterly blind and came out of utterly delighted.


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## ShinHakkaider (Jan 22, 2004)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Oh yeah, _Ultraviolet_ is really, really good. Except for the girlfriend, who just can't act. But otherwise it's great. Got it on DVD.
> 
> One of the great things about film festivals is getting to see films you never heard of from all over the world. We first saw _Versus_ at a festival.
> 
> ...




Versus is pretty fun, however I was unimpressed with Volcano HIgh.

My favorite movie that no one has heard of is WAY OF THE GUN starring Benicio Del Toro, James Caan, Ryan Phillipe (sp?),Juliette Lewis and Taye Diggs. This is one of those movie where there are NO GOOD GUYS, and everything is just one big shade of gray. Awesome shoot out at the end in some little Mexican border town, a car chase that's different and smart instead of over the top and bombastic.

Love this movie, although I'll admit it's not for everyone.


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## Nightfall (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm digging Monster.


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## Bass Puppet (Jan 22, 2004)

Rock n Rule. Nelvana completed this animated movie in the 1980s with music by Debbie Harry, Cheap Trick, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and Earth, Wind and Fire.

oh yeah, Fire and Ice is a great flick too (as I've notice it was mentioned earlier in the thread   )


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## Hand of Evil (Jan 22, 2004)

I like a number of older movies that many today have not seen, this one was on last Sunday, I was surprised how great _Bringing up Baby_ was, wit and charm.  

I try and catch those classics.


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## barsoomcore (Jan 22, 2004)

You can only be surprised by _Bringing Up Baby_ if you've never seen Kate and Cary before. Two more charming individuals the screen has not often seen.

If you liked that, check out _His Girl Friday_ -- if I could bottle it, I'd be rich.


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## Shadowdancer (Jan 22, 2004)

There was a horror movie from earlier this year called "May" that I thought was very well done, and very much overlooked. A contemporary take on "Frankenstein" with lots of black humor, it's about a disturbed, friendless young woman who decides to make herself the perfect man.


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## Nightfall (Jan 22, 2004)

Mm I heard about May. Might have to rent that...


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## Knightcrawler (Jan 22, 2004)

_Razorblade Smile_ a great British vampire flick.

_Deathrace 2000_ a great movie but campy as hell.


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## Michael Tree (Jan 22, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> _The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T_ is great, as someone already mentioned.  Live action ubertrippy Dr. Seuss movie, with the creepiest dance duel ever filmed.



[shudders]  I still get drug flashbacks from that movie, and I don't even do drugs! 

Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardiu is fantastic.  It's beautifully filmed and acted, quite funny at times, has excellent action sequences, and is quite possibly one of the most romantic films ever made (but in a good way).  

Delicatessen: A French post-apocalyptic dark comedy about cannibalism.  By the same director and writer of The City of Lost Children and Amelie.

The Tall Guy: A silly comedy with Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson, and Emma Thompson.  Features a broadway musical of the elephant man called "Elephant!" with the romantic ballad "I'm packing my trunk..."  It also has the funniest sex scene I've ever seen.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams: A series of short vignettes based on dreams that Kurosawa had.  Exceedingly beautiful.


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## d4 (Jan 22, 2004)

my favorite comedy movie of all time hardly anyone's ever heard of.

_Real Men_ with John Ritter and Jim Belushi.

it's hilariously funny in a _very_ absurd way. you know the movie's going to be absurd when you discover the name of one of the main characters is Secret Agent Pirandello. 

another oft-ignored favorite of mine is _Until the End of the World_. beautiful movie, though sci-fi parts are a bit dated now (they thought we'd all have videophones and solar power satellites by 1999...)

someone mentioned _Benny and Joon_ -- i saw that when it first came out in the theatres and thought it was wonderful.

not-quite-forgotten but not as popular as it should be -- _The Hudsucker Proxy_ with Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Newman. it's kinda like a 1950s corporate fairy tale. 

other Tim Robbins movies to see would be _Erik the Viking_ and _Bob Roberts_ -- though i can only recommend the second if you're politically liberal (like Robbins himself). it savagely makes fun of Republicans and conservatives and they may not think it's very funny...


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## JediSoth (Jan 22, 2004)

My favorite movies that no one I know seems to have heard of are:

7 Faces of Dr. Lao - this movie starring Tony Randall is about an old Chinese man and his incredible circus that he brings to a Western town. "Every time you pick up a grain of sand you hold a universe in the palm of your hand."

Flesh & Blood (aka The Rose and the Sword) - one of Paul Verhoeven's first English language picture starring Rutger Hauer and a very young Jennifer Jason Leigh (who spends half the movie, it seems, naked). It takes place just as gunpowder was beginning to be used in warfare in western Europe. It features the most chaotic group of "friends" I've ever seen in a movie. Its a very good example of how a Chaotic Neutral/Evil party would operate.

JediSoth


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## d4 (Jan 22, 2004)

JediSoth said:
			
		

> Flesh & Blood (aka The Rose and the Sword) - one of Paul Verhoeven's first English language picture starring Rutger Hauer and a very young Jennifer Jason Leigh (who spends half the movie, it seems, naked).



heh, i really hated that movie... except when JJL was onscreen...


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## Hypersmurf (Jan 22, 2004)

Michael Tree said:
			
		

> The Tall Guy: A silly comedy with Jeff Goldblum, Rowan Atkinson, and Emma Thompson.  Features a broadway musical of the elephant man called "Elephant!" with the romantic ballad "I'm packing my trunk..."  It also has the funniest sex scene I've ever seen.




Heh.  "I hope all your children have very small dicks!  And that includes the girls!"

I'm going to put in a vote for the animated film _Flight of Dragons_, with the voices of John Ritter, Harry Morgan, and James Earl Jones.

Anyone who hasn't seen it should.

-Hyp.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 22, 2004)

Repo Man
Blood Simple
Central Station (Central do Brasil)


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## Hypersmurf (Jan 22, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> Repo Man




Eek.  I've only seen it once - the redubbed-for-TV version.

"Flip you, you melon-farmer!" "Don't you say 'Flip you' to me, boy!"

"What about our relationship?" "Flip that!"

Yikes.

-Hyp.


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## Silver Moon (Jan 22, 2004)

Whoops Apocalypse!   British mid-1980's cold war farce starring John Clease.   Lots of good over-the-top moments including a British Prime Minister who thinks he's Superman, a Middle Eastern ruler whose sycophant servant steals every scene they are in, and a comedy of errors that ends up with Britain joining the Warsaw Pact.    Warning: the first half-hour is dreadfully slow and not very funny, but then it picks up.


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## CSB046 (Jan 22, 2004)

The French film _The City of Lost Children,_ directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet.  Great "vaguely futuristic" fun in the vein of Terry Gilliam (who the directors admit was a big influence on them).

(Their previous collaboration, _Delicatessen,_ is also worth checking out.)

It may make me a sentimental sap, but I also really enjoyed John Sayles' _The Secret of Roan Inish._


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## Pants (Jan 22, 2004)

d4 said:
			
		

> _Real Men_ with John Ritter and Jim Belushi.
> 
> it's hilariously funny in a _very_ absurd way. you know the movie's going to be absurd when you discover the name of one of the main characters is Secret Agent Pirandello.



Wow, one movie out of dozens that I've actually seen/heard of.  Didn't it have killer clowns in it?


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## Red Baron (Jan 22, 2004)

In no particular order:

_Cold Comfort Farm_.

_Wizards_.

_His Girl Friday_. (Someone already mentioned this one, but I had to reaffirm. My wife twisted my arm to get me to watch this one, and I absolutely loved it! The film, I mean. Well, the arm-twisting wasn't really so bad, either... Seriously, though, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell own the screen. Chemistry!!)


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## reutbing0 (Jan 22, 2004)

ing Åmål 
No not pr0n, but a very good film about two young girls that explore their relationship. A very warm, mature film and absolutely not related to Fantasy or Sci-Fi. Still, great film. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150662/

PS: Åmål  is the town the girls live in, not a character (of course some critics say environment is also a character (point in case PJ's LOTR) but you get the point)


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## Liminal Syzygy (Jan 22, 2004)

Amores Perros


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## Shadowdancer (Jan 22, 2004)

Dangerous Touch is one of the sexiest movies I've ever seen.


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## TracerBullet42 (Jan 22, 2004)

Dark Jezter said:
			
		

> Whoa.  When I saw the title of this thread, I knew right away that I was going to mention _Boondock Saints_.  I was surprised to see it mentioned in the very first post.
> 
> _Boondock Saints_ is a great movie, and I didn't even know it existed until a friend of mine let me borrow his DVD of it.




It sure is!  Poor, poor Greenly.  He has it rough...


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## TracerBullet42 (Jan 22, 2004)

d4 said:
			
		

> not-quite-forgotten but not as popular as it should be -- _The Hudsucker Proxy_ with Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Newman. it's kinda like a 1950s corporate fairy tale.




Shame on you...you forgot to mention Bruce Campbell...

Great flick.

"Ya know...for kids!"


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## Qlippoth (Jan 22, 2004)

_Village of the Damned_ (an early 60s Twilight Zone-ish, low-budget, unusually well done horror/thriller flick).

The original (1961) film treatment of _Lord of the Flies_ still gives me the creeps.

Another hearty vote for _His Girl Friday_! ("What does he look like? He looks like ah, that fella in the movies, you know, Ralph Bellamy!")


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## buzzard (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm rather fond of *The Producers*, an extremely unknown Mel Brooks movie, though definitely one of his better ones. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel deliberately try to lose money on a play, and fail. 

One other, though it may only be unknown because people have forgotten about classic comedies would be *The Naughty Nineties*. An Abbot and Costello classic which featured the big screen rendition of Who's on First. 

buzzard


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## Frostmarrow (Jan 22, 2004)

reutbing0 said:
			
		

> ing Åmål
> No not pr0n, but a very good film about two young girls that explore their relationship. A very warm, mature film and absolutely not related to Fantasy or Sci-Fi. Still, great film.
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150662/
> ...




It's called _Show Me Love_ in English (score by Robyn). The original title comes from a tirade of curses from the main character about the dreary place they live in (Åmål). -And yes there are some american four letter words in there.

I'd like to add that _Dog Soldiers_ was the best I've seen in a long while in that horror genre. The film scores points on dialogue - not special effects.

Also there is a pretty good flick called _Bolier Room_ featuring the ever so fantastic Giovanni Ribisi. Perhaps it was bigger in the States mind you. Still, it also features a winning Vin Diesel and a not entirely catastrophic Ben Affleck.


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## The Sigil (Jan 22, 2004)

Ye gads... I was thinking about this on the way home last night, and remembered one of my all-time favorite (yet obscure) movies... *Time Bandits*.  Terry Gilliam's finest non-Python work, IMO.  Full of non-sequiturs, with a great bad guy, and an amusing premise... brilliance. 

--The Sigil


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## Atridis (Jan 22, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> I've only seen [Repo Man] once - the redubbed-for-TV version.




Ugh. I feel for you, man. I make it a point to avoid movies on television. 

I find this thread fascinating. First and foremost, I'm getting a bunch of things to add to my Netflix queue (_Dog Soldiers, Way of the Gun, Boondock Saints_). Second, I'm knocked over by some of the movies that people think of as obscure (_Repo Man, City of Lost Children, The Producers, Bringing Up Baby_). 

Genre movies: 
- The "Chinese Women Kicked My Butt, and I'm Glad they Did" trilogy: _Heroic Trio, Dragon Gate Inn_, and _Moon Warriors_. You've probably seen _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_.

Non-genre movies: 
- The "Jacqueline McKenzie Rocks My World" double feature: _Romper Stomper _ and _Angel Baby_. You've probably seen _Deep Blue Sea_, but don't hold it against her. 

- The "Maggie Cheung Rocks My World" double feature: _Comrades, Almost a Love Story_ and _Irma Vep_. You've probably seen _Police Story III: Supercop_, but don't hold it against her. 

I see that Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet have already gotten their props, so I'll add...

- The "Tom Tykwer Rules" double feature: _The Princess and the Warrior _ and _Heaven_. You've probably seen _Run, Lola, Run_. 

- The "No, Wong Kar Wai Rules" double feature: _In the Mood for Love _ and _Fallen Angels_. You've probably seen _Chungking Express_. 

- The "You're Both Wrong, Paul Thomas Anderson Rules" double feature: _Hard Eight _ and _Punch Drunk Love_. You've probably seen _Boogie Nights_.


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## CSB046 (Jan 22, 2004)

buzzard said:
			
		

> I'm rather fond of *The Producers*, an extremely unknown Mel Brooks movie, though definitely one of his better ones. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel deliberately try to lose money on a play, and fail




Not nearly as unknown as it was BEFORE the Broadway version (and the rumors of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprising their Broadway roles in a new version of the movie).

However, I agree completely...really funny movie, especially the first meeting between Mostel and Wilder.  "I'm hysterical!  I'm hysterical!  [Gets splashed with water] I'm wet!  I'm wet...and I'm STILL hysterical!"


----------



## Mallus (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm a little surprised too about what some people find obscure. 
_Repo Man_? --the film that gave us the immortal exchange:
"John Wayne was a fag."
"He was not!"
"I went to install two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress"
--err, I should stop right about there...

_Repo Man_'s been a cult classic so long its now mainstream.

And _The Producers_? I thought that was regarded as a classic Who hasn't heard of "Springtime for Hitler?"

Also, I'd like to second _Irma Vep_, _The Hudsucker Proxy_ --I'm a little in love with Jennifer Jason-Leigh as every tough, fast-talking, 40's/50's career-girl rolled into one, and _Until the End of the World_.

And one more, though its hardly obscure, _Operation Petticoat_. Cary Grant+Jack Lemmon+pink submarine = genius. Note the previous sentence is entirely devoid of subtext...


----------



## reutbing0 (Jan 22, 2004)

Frostmarrow said:
			
		

> It's called _Show Me Love_ in English (score by Robyn). The original title comes from a tirade of curses from the main character about the dreary place they live in (Åmål). -And yes there are some american four letter words in there.



 I believe the American version is edited somewhat so I can't really consider that to be the real film (as I have hunch what scene would have been edited out, and it's a crucial one). Anyway definitely a great example of Swedish (indie) film. Some good stuff coming from Sweden.

Oh and I don't know how obscure this is in the US (it is in the Netherlands), but I really like Glory Daze. So ok it's teenage angst, but I could actually relate to that.


----------



## CarlZog (Jan 22, 2004)

Well, for pure cheesey fun you have to see *Damnation Alley*, the '70s post-apocalypse adventure, featuring the coolest SUV ever! 

*Omega Man* was a favorite when I was a kid, but I haven't seen it in years and wonder how it would hold up now.

Those of you mentioning My Girl Friday and Bringing up Baby, owe it to yourselves to find the original *Topper* and, of course, *Philadelphia Story* (though that's really pushing the "obscurity" criteria for this thread!). Another great old Grant movie, *Only Angels Have Wings,* is a romance/adventure about ex-pat, bush pilots in South America.

As for Kate Hepburn, *The Lion in Winter* is required viewing, but perhaps too well known for this thread.

The realm of old movie serials is so rife with forgotten classics it's hard to know where to start. Anybody with even a passing interest in the origins of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, et al. should visit *serialsquadron.com* and check out some the cool stuff available there. 

*Time Bandits* was mentioned -- certainly an all-time favorite.

Michael York's* The Three Musketeers *(1973)with Raquel Welch is a ton of fun!

*She* (1935) is way cool and, I think, available on DVD now! An immortal queen rules a forgotten civilization in the Siberian mountains.

*Genesis II*, *The Questor Tapes*, and *Planet Earth* are all Gene Roddenberry's failed, post-Star Trek TV pilots from the early '70s. You can find them on VHS on ebay now, and their storylines eventually morphed into the show, Earth:Final Conflict. There's a lot of familiar faces and concepts that make them fun to watch even now.


----------



## Dragonblade (Jan 22, 2004)

A lot of people are familiar with Hard-Boiled, which is perhaps John Woo's greatest work. The ultimate gun fight movie.

But not as many people know about "The Killer", another Chow Yun Fat and John Woo team up movie.  I highly recommend it. The ultimate in stereotypical HK action. Nobody ever reloads and the mooks are endless! Very dark and moody too. Much like Hard Boiled.


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## CarlZog (Jan 22, 2004)

Oooh, I almost forgot *Parents*, a hysterical horror movie about a little kid who's convinced his parents are cannibals.


----------



## Tarrasque Wrangler (Jan 22, 2004)

A couple of people have mentioned Bill Forsyth's Local Hero.  Has anyone seen his film Comfort and Joy?  It came out the year after Local Hero and I last saw it when I was just a kid.  Very funny film about duelling ice cream vendors in Glasgow.  I find myself still humming the ice cream van music to this day:

 "Doot-doo-doo doot-doot-doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo!  Hello folks!"

 It's hardly unknown, but for some reason no one I know has seen Raising Arizona.  That's just wrong.  Hell, I saw that when I was 10.


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## Welverin (Jan 22, 2004)

Harp said:
			
		

> Great topic, and I have the perfect movie to suit the category -- the version of 'Robin Hood' which starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman.  Loved, loved, _loved_ that movie, and I don't know of anyone else that's seen it.  It came out at approximately the same time as Costner's version <*spit, spit*>, so the producers got scared, I suppose, and just ran it on network television.  Definitely a "darker-n-grittier" version of the tale.




I desperately want this on DVD.

I'm not sure how unknown it is, but Josie and the Pussycats is great. I'd say it qualifies for overlooked though.

I too am a Boondock Saints fan who had never heard of it until a friend handed me the DVD and said I would like it.


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## Kesh (Jan 22, 2004)

Gonna back _Dog Soldiers_ as a really good low-budget flick. As the director said, "It's a soldier movie with werewolves in it, not a werewolf movie with soldiers in it." 

Forget about _Omega Man_. Doesn't hold up well over time. Instead, pick up the black & white _Last Man On Earth_, starring Vincent Price. Both of these films are based on the short story "I Am Legend" by Richard Matheson, though the Price film stays closer to the original subject.

Hm, what else...

Oh! If you didn't grow up in the 80's, you might have missed _The Lost Boys_. Cheesy flick about teenage vampires, but it does really well with the monster conventions. (Holy water, flying, the master, etc.) Kiefer Sutherland stars in this, rather early in his career IIRC.

Also, if you're not familiar with anime, you might want to pick up _Perfect Blue_. Think of what would have happened if Alfred Hitchcock got to do an animated film, and you'll start to get an idea of the mind-trip this film puts you through.


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## Ashrem Bayle (Jan 22, 2004)

I was going to say both _Dog Soldiers_ and _Equilibrium_, but I see they've already been mentioned.

How about _Identity_? That was good.

BTW - I hear Dog Soldiers 2 is in the making.


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## Harp (Jan 22, 2004)

Tarrasque Wrangler said:
			
		

> It's hardly unknown, but for some reason no one I know has seen Raising Arizona.  That's just wrong.  Hell, I saw that when I was 10.



And that's the funny thing about this category.  Just about everyone in my circle has seen this one, definitely my favorite Coen brothers flick.

"No, not that mother-scratcher!  Bill _Parker_!"

Another one I get a lot of blank stares at is _Waking Ned Devine_, a great little movie about a winning lottery ticket and a small Irish village.  Definitely non-genre, but a personal favorite of recent years.


----------



## The Sigil (Jan 22, 2004)

I was thinking... I saw this really great series of movies recently, which I'm sure flew under most folks' radar, considering they star almost exclusively foreign actors and was filmed by a foreign director in a foreign country... anyone here seen Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy?  Great D&D movies, that's for sure, if you can find someplace that's heard of them... I hear you can find the earlier offerings in the series on VHS these days... though I guess they're too obscure to have the entire series put out yet... maybe I can lobby for a "Collector's Box Set" in DVD or something... 

--The Sigil


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## The Sigil (Jan 22, 2004)

There's also this one, done by my brother's old college roommate... takes a while to load, but worth it.

http://www.spiritonin.com/animation/film/rubbersharktrailor1.mov

Some funny spoilers regarding the fate of the actors in this movie (SEE THE MOVIE BEFORE READING SPOILERS!!!): 



Spoiler



when my brother was rooming with this guy, their entire front room was absolutely covered in rubber sharks.  They were on the TV, on the bookshelves, nailed to the walls, and so forth.  For a while, all the roommates were a bit weirded out about having guests - especially ladies - over to visit with all the rubber sharks around, but eventually they just got used to it and would laugh if someone freaked out during their first visit ("they're just sharks, come on...").  When he got married and his new bride came over to help him move out, she looked at the sharks, and said,


"those are *NOT* going in *MY* front room!" 



Spoiler



So of course, they left the rubber sharks in my brother's apartment for a while, then he came along and picked them up a few days later (without her), mumbling something to the effect of,


"man, she doesn't know a good deal when she sees it... I got those guys on the cheap every time."



Spoiler



I guess he was allowed to put them into his "work room" or something.  Apparently, he made sure to collect them at Toys Sure R Expensive and whatnot during "going out of business sales" and combed garage sales.  The guy just had a thing for rubber sharks.  I think he once bragged that he had never paid more than $3 for any of them.  Then again, my brother always did have weird roommates.


  Oh, well, I guess dealing with people like that's a part of the college experience.

--The Sigil


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## Tarrasque Wrangler (Jan 23, 2004)

I'm always surprised by how many avowed Highlander fans haven't heard of Highlander 2: The Quickening.  There's people who even say it doesn't exist.  I'm not even a Highlander fan and I've seen it.  Weird...


----------



## Kai Lord (Jan 23, 2004)

1.  *Nightwatch* - Ewan McGregor thriller about a security guard on the night shift at a morgue who gets framed by the murderer sending all the bodies his way.  Excellent movie, with some very creepy moments.

2.  *Bullet in the Head* - The best of John Woo's Hong Kong flicks.  Be warned, its a downer.

Recent recommendation:

*The Salton Sea* starring Val Kilmer in a Memento-esque tale of revenge for his wife's murder.

And a USA Up All Night classic:

*Tammy and the T-Rex* - Denise Richards' boyfriend (Paul Walker) is grabbed by bullies and dragged out to a park at night in L.A. where he is mauled by a _lion_ before his brain is transplanted into a full size T-Rex allowing him to get his revenge on said bullies.  Concludes with Richards performing a striptease for Walker's disembodied brain and eyeballs.  The epitomy of high art.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 23, 2004)

Kai Lord said:
			
		

> *Tammy and the T-Rex* - Denise Richards' boyfriend (Paul Walker) is grabbed by bullies and dragged out to a park at night in L.A. where he is mauled by a _lion_ before his brain is transplanted into a full size T-Rex allowing him to get his revenge on said bullies.  Concludes with Richards performing a striptease for Walker's disembodied brain and eyeballs.  The epitomy of high art.




I'm... speechless.

-Hyp.


----------



## Tarrasque Wrangler (Jan 23, 2004)

Judging from Paul Walker's acting, I don't think his brain was ever replaced.


----------



## Mark (Jan 23, 2004)

Two bizarre movies that would make an interesting evening...

Naked Lunch

&

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing

..or maybe better to watch them on consecutive nights with some friends who do not mind having long conversations about them afterwards...

Enjoy!


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## Qlippoth (Jan 23, 2004)

Harp said:
			
		

> And that's the funny thing about this category.  Just about everyone in my circle has seen this one, definitely my favorite Coen brothers flick.
> 
> "No, not that mother-scratcher!  Bill _Parker_!"



"Gum'mint do take a bite, don't she?"


----------



## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 23, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> Eek.  I've only seen it once - the redubbed-for-TV version.
> 
> "Flip you, you melon-farmer!" "Don't you say 'Flip you' to me, boy!"
> 
> ...



Wow.  It really loses something in that version.


----------



## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 23, 2004)

Atridis said:
			
		

> I'm knocked over by some of the movies that people think of as obscure (_Repo Man, City of Lost Children, The Producers, Bringing Up Baby_).



Well, I think of "Repo Man" as obscure because most people I mention it to have never heard of it.

And "The Producers" was relatively obscure to the "younger generation" until the new musical made it very "in" in recent years (as someone else already pointed out).  I rented it in college (1985--on _betamax_!) because most of my friends who were Mel Brooks fans had never heard of it, much less seen it.  Most of them thought "Blazing Saddles" was his first film.


----------



## buzzard (Jan 23, 2004)

Qlippoth said:
			
		

> "Gum'mint do take a bite, don't she?"




"He was the lone Biker of the Apocalypse. A creature with all the powers of hell at his command....
And he was especially hard on the little things".

buzzard


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## barsoomcore (Jan 23, 2004)

Atridis said:
			
		

> I'm knocked over by some of the movies that people think of as obscure (_Repo Man, City of Lost Children, The Producers, Bringing Up Baby_).



Isn't it fascinating to see how different people's impressions can be as to what's on the radar and what's not?


			
				Atridis said:
			
		

> The "Chinese Women Kicked My Butt, and I'm Glad they Did" trilogy: _Heroic Trio, Dragon Gate Inn_, and _Moon Warriors_.



Woot!

Not to mention _Peking Opera Blues_, _The Bride With White Hair_, and _Swordsman II_.


			
				Atridis said:
			
		

> The "Maggie Cheung Rocks My World" double feature: _Comrades, Almost a Love Story_ and _Irma Vep_. You've probably seen _Police Story III: Supercop_, but don't hold it against her.



A: "Rocks My World" just doesn't do Maggie justice. Maggie Cheung -- not only one of the most beautiful women in history, but possibly the greatest actress in history. While both Comrades and Irma are AMAZING films, _In The Mood For Love_ gets my vote as her crowning performance. Holy crap.

B: _Supercop_ is brilliant, and Maggie is HILARIOUS in it. She throws her shoe at Jackie Chan. Come on, it's brilliant. Hold it against her? She's a comic wonder. Check out her other work with Jackie Chan in _Project A, Part II_, and the first two _Police Story_ movies. She's always a riot.

Funny, beautiful and talented. We Love Maggie Cheung. Her existence makes the world a better place.

Have I mentioned how great Maggie Cheung is? Cause I could go on for a while on that subject.


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## Zander (Jan 23, 2004)

The Sigil said:
			
		

> Ye gads... I was thinking about this on the way home last night, and remembered one of my all-time favorite (yet obscure) movies... *Time Bandits*.  Terry Gilliam's finest non-Python work, IMO.  Full of non-sequiturs, with a great bad guy, and an amusing premise... brilliance.



I didn't mention it in my earlier posts because I didn't think it was obscure, but yes, that's a really great film. I have it on video. I've also met the actor who played Og and have a signed photo of him in costume.


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## Zander (Jan 23, 2004)

Michael Tree said:
			
		

> [shudders] Cyrano de Bergerac with Gerard Depardiu is fantastic.  It's beautifully filmed and acted, quite funny at times, has excellent action sequences, and is quite possibly one of the most romantic films ever made (but in a good way).



The words are the original ones by _Cyrano de Bergerac_'s author Edmond de Rostang (sp?). It's an excellent film, but I don't think it would be nearly as good if you have to read the subtitles.

(BTW Edmond de Rostang had a very big nose IRL!)


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## Zander (Jan 23, 2004)

Capellan said:
			
		

> Which for some reason is known as "Salute of the Jugger" here.



Thanks, I didn't know that.


----------



## Pielorinho (Jan 23, 2004)

Okay, here's a really obscure one that I just remembered:  the Argentinian Nuevas Reinas ("Nine Queens" in English) is probably the smartest con-artist flick I've ever seen.  I enjoyed the hell out of that movie:  it puts flicks like _Confidence_ to shame.

Daniel


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## Welverin (Jan 23, 2004)

Kai Lord said:
			
		

> And a USA Up All Night classic:
> 
> *Tammy and the T-Rex* - Denise Richards' boyfriend (Paul Walker) is grabbed by bullies and dragged out to a park at night in L.A. where he is mauled by a _lion_ before his brain is transplanted into a full size T-Rex allowing him to get his revenge on said bullies.  Concludes with Richards performing a striptease for Walker's disembodied brain and eyeballs.  The epitomy of high art.




I don't want to see it, because then it wouldn't be funny, just painful. Sounds like a perfect MST3K candidate (assuming it wasn't).


----------



## Atridis (Jan 23, 2004)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> A: "Rocks My World" just doesn't do Maggie justice.




 

Some people will note that she stars in all three of the action movies I mentioned, as well as _In The Mood For Love_. I swear I didn't do that on purpose, which just goes to show what a versatile performer she is. 

Anyone doing an OA or L5R campaign would do well to rent several of her movies. _White Snake, Green Snake_ is another of my favorites. 



> _Supercop_ is brilliant




Yes, it is. "Don't hold it against her" wasn't the right thing to say. I guess I meant that it's so unlike her dramatic roles, and she plays the ditz so well, you mightn't expect her to be good in non-action-comedies too. 

For me, though, _Supercop_ is all about Michelle.


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## barsoomcore (Jan 23, 2004)

Zander said:
			
		

> The words are the original ones by _Cyrano de Bergerac_'s author Edmond de Rostang (sp?). It's an excellent film, but I don't think it would be nearly as good if you have to read the subtitles.



Yeah, the translation (by Anthony Burgess, who has also written an English musical version) is substandard. Much better is the Brian Hooker translation, which is widely available and was used as the basis for the Jose Ferrer version.


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## barsoomcore (Jan 23, 2004)

Atridis said:
			
		

> I guess I meant that it's so unlike her dramatic roles, and she plays the ditz so well, you mightn't expect her to be good in non-action-comedies too.



 Phew! I thought I was going to have to come over there for a second.




			
				Atridis said:
			
		

> For me, though, _Supercop_ is all about Michelle.



I have nothing but good things to say about Michelle. The worst thing one can say about Michelle is that she's not Maggie. And heck, who is?

Instead of making more James Bond movies, why don't they make more movies about Michelle's character from whatever James Bond movie that was? Ten times the charisma, ten times the talent.


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## Wombat (Jan 23, 2004)

Okay, four films that I have enjoyed but haven't made it to the list...

_Highway 61_ about Corky the Canadian flugelhorn player determined to make it down to New Orleans with a dead body, a strange woman, and possibly being chased by the Devil...

_Cold Feet_ -- theft, murder, smuggling, and high-fashion cowboy footwear  

_Jesus of Montreal_, a modern and rather "different" take on Christ and/or the art scene

_Blackrobe_ -- like _Dances with Wolves_, only done with the Huron and done RIGHT.  (Okay, okay, I'm in therapy over my anti-KevinCostner problems...)


----------



## TiQuinn (Jan 23, 2004)

Session 9 creeped me out in a big way when it came out.  But it was kind of an indie movie, so not too many people I know have seen it.  It's a haunted house-type story about an asbestos crew goes to work on an old rundown psychiatric hospital.  Definitely worth a look.


----------



## Shadowdancer (Jan 24, 2004)

Some more recommendations:

"Le Samorai" -- French crime film. Big influence on Woo, Tarantino and others.

"Rififi" -- French heist film, maybe the first heist film. The plan is perfect, but the human element spoils everything.

"Heist" -- David Mamet wrote and directed, great cast includes Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo, Sam Rockwell and Danny DeVito.

"The Score" -- Another heist film, this one stars Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton.


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## Wehtam (Jan 24, 2004)

Gee there is only one that I can think of off hand that was good.

Drunken Master 2 (Called Drunken Master here in the States): A Jackie Chan movie that cannot be topped by anything that he has done. The Ax Gang fight alone is worth the price of admission. I only saw it once in the theaters and that was a benefit for one of the local hospitals. It was subtitled and not dubbed. 

If we want to talk about bad movies no one has heard of I have a good one. Carnasaur. This was one bad movie that nobody saw.


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## CCamfield (Jan 24, 2004)

Atridis said:
			
		

> Genre movies:
> - The "Chinese Women Kicked My Butt, and I'm Glad they Did" trilogy: _Heroic Trio, Dragon Gate Inn_, and _Moon Warriors_. You've probably seen _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_.




Has anyone else but me seen Michelle Yeoh's film _Wing Chun_?  An excellent movie - quite possibly her best, in my opinion.   (Beware the Chinese DVD of this, though - it's just a VCR copy burned to disc.  The Tai Seng disc which is really good.)


----------



## Wormwood (Jan 24, 2004)

Just saw Monster.

Awed.

[/hijack]


----------



## reapersaurus (Jan 24, 2004)

A great zombie comedy movie that not many people have seen is *My Boyfriend's Back.*

There are more classic lines about zombies and dead people in that movie than in any other I know of (though that's not saying too much...)

"There's a lot of prejudice against the undead."

I might as well mention its descendant, *Idle Hands*, but I believe that to be too big to be something 'nobody's heard of.'


----------



## Kai Lord (Jan 24, 2004)

reapersaurus said:
			
		

> I might as well mention its descendant, *Idle Hands*, but I believe that to be too big to be something 'nobody's heard of.'



Well somebody already tried to pass *Time Bandits* off as some unknown movie nobody's ever heard of.


----------



## Dirigible (Jan 24, 2004)

> Whoops Apocalypse!



 
_"Now, we all know waht causes unemployment... pixies! Why, just the other day, I investigated a factory in Dorest. There were gnomes in the machinery... an infestation of witches... sprites and elves in the roof... all manner of goblinry!"_

*Highway to Hell*: Hellcop, the lumpy faced demonic patrol officer steals some guys girlfriend, he chases after him through American-midwestern desert of Hell. Good bits: the 'Road to Hell Paving Company'; Satan's personality (though not his look... lizard eyes and six tiny horns don't quiet work).

*Siege of Precinct 13*: Or Assault on Precinct 13. I can't recall which. Low budget John Carpenter 1970's flick, with the skeleton staff of a closing-down precinct fighting off a hoard of suspiciously racially integrated drug crazed gangsters. Looked and played very much like Night of the Living Dead, but with gangsters instead of zombies. Great fun.


----------



## Mark (Jan 24, 2004)

Since it has received some Oscar buzz, I am not sure how well known it might be, but be sure and put American Splendor on your must see list.  Especially if you are interested in the underground comics scene! 

Related links -

http://www.americansplendormovie.com/main.html

http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/american_splendor/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0941423646/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2_cp/026-5377777-7763616


----------



## Tanager (Jan 24, 2004)

Just remembered this one, _Cecil B. Demented_, although I'm not sure how wide a release it recieved elsewhere.


edited because demented, not dememnted


----------



## d4 (Jan 24, 2004)

TiQuinn said:
			
		

> Session 9 creeped me out in a big way when it came out.  But it was kind of an indie movie, so not too many people I know have seen it.  It's a haunted house-type story about an asbestos crew goes to work on an old rundown psychiatric hospital.  Definitely worth a look.



i saw that. i don't like horror movies for the most part, but _Session 9_ was excellent. good cast and _extremely_ creepy. gave me nightmares.


----------



## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 25, 2004)

Tanager said:
			
		

> Just remembered this one, _Cecil B. Demented_, although I'm not sure how wide a release it recieved elsewhere.



Probably only seen by hard core John Waters fans (like me).  I saw it with only two other people in the audience.  A few weeks later, the theater put up a sign saying movies would only be shown if there were at least five people in the audience. 

The success of John's first famous film, Pink Flamingos, in the early 1970s helped put a small New York distribution company on the map.  Maybe you heard of them--New Line Cinema?


----------



## Hopping Vampire (Jan 25, 2004)

Guns and Talks. it a korean film. one of my favortie action dramas ever, Same with Time and Tide (cantonese)


----------



## Pielorinho (Jan 25, 2004)

Wombat said:
			
		

> _Highway 61_ about Corky the Canadian flugelhorn player determined to make it down to New Orleans with a dead body, a strange woman, and possibly being chased by the Devil...



Yes!  One of my all-time favorite movies.  Quoth Satan:

"You can't cheat at bingo.  Believe me.  If you could, I would.  But you can't.  I'm just lucky.  *Lucky to end up in a town full of losers*."

And I really like two of the other three movies you mention, too. I've never heard of _Cold Feet_; given how good your taste is otherwise, this one's going on my list of movies to rent.

Daniel


----------



## Pielorinho (Jan 25, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> Probably only seen by hard core John Waters fans (like me).



Strangely, _Cecil B Demented _is, along with _Pecker_, one of the only two John Waters movies I've seen.  I want to like his stuff more than I do.

Scratch that -- I saw another of his movies a long time ago.  The only thing I remember from it is some guy with a fetish for stomping on women's feet.

And I just remembered another pseudo-genre piece that nobody's seen and is worth seeing:  Hal Hartley's No Such Thing, about a monster living in modern-day Iceland.  It's quirky and weird, and just what you'd expect if you've seen any of Hal Hartley's other movies; while it's not my favorite thing by him (someone already mentioned _Henry Fool_, which I like a great deal), it's still very interesting.  His movies are worth watching for the endings if nothing else.

Daniel


----------



## WayneLigon (Jan 25, 2004)

*The Saint of Fort Washington.* Danny Glover and Matt Dillon. A look at being homeless in New York. Matt Dillon is a schizophrenic man who loses his home when the building is torn down. Glover is a bitter man who has been ground down by years of living on the street and in shelters. 

*Trick*. Christian Campbell, John Paul Pitoc. A comedy about a young gay insecure writer who decides that he's going to spend the night with a club dancer no matter what, and how the fates conspire to keep them from having a moment's peace.

Several Hong Kong movies, some already mentioned. One standout is *Mr. Vampire.* A chinese screwball comedy about hopping vampires (yes, they do indeed hop. And they hop damn fast), a wise man who know how to deal with them, and his two witless assistants.

*Hearts and Armor.* The only movie in English about the Caroligian heroes that I know about. 

*Showdown in Little Tokyo.* Brandon Lee and Dolph Lundgren. Brandon Lee's fifth movie; not a bad action film with a lot of comedy in it. Dolph is the serious Japanophile cop who treats going after drug lords like he's doing a duty to his feudal lord, while Brandon is a wise-ass American kid from the Valley, trying to cope with his partners Bushido Complex.


----------



## barsoomcore (Jan 25, 2004)

A) You're not allowed to call _Drunken Master II_ an unknown film. At some point we have to draw the line. One of the biggest, most famous films in Hong Kong cinema starring some of the biggest international stars in the world, about the most famous historical figure in China, a sequel to the breakout film that made possibly the most famous movie star in the world != unknown.

B) If you liked  _Highway 61_, by Canada's Bruce McDonald, check out _Roadkill_ (his first film and BRILLIANT -- includes Joey Ramone and Nash the Slash) and _Hardcore Logo_ -- a sad paean to punk rock that carries a real wallop.

C) I forgot to mention _Karmina_ a very funny and VERY Quebecois vampire movie about a rebellious young vampire girl who runs away from Transylvania and ends up in 1990's Montreal, falling in love with a young organ player. A flawed movie but awfully charming and occasionally brilliantly funny.

D) While I'm on my patriotic Canadian kick, I'll mention _Ginger Snaps_, which even if it wasn't entirely out of nowhere is still a great little film that deserves a wider audience. The cleverest, funniest werewolf movie I think I've ever seen. Belongs with _An American Werewolf in London_.


----------



## Villano (Jan 25, 2004)

Any of the El Santo movies which feature masked, Mexican wreslter El Santo (sometimes known as "Samson" in US dubs) battling any number of monsters, aliens, spies, and other bad guys.  Most of these things were actually filmed in serial fashion due to some Mexican tax law which made it less expensive to film a serial than a movie.  *Santo VS Dr. Death* is one of my absolute favorites.  It was made in the 60s and has a definite I Spy or Man From U.N.C.L.E. feel.  In it, Santo, who's a secret agent in this one, fighting to uncover an art theft ring.  It's available subtitled, but only from places that specialize in "public domain" films (even though some of those films might not be in the public domain, if you know what I mean).

Another is *Santo Contra La Hija Del Frankenstein* (Santo VS Frankenstein's Daughter).  This one is on dvd, subtitled, from Rise Above Entertainment.  It's a great one with both a gorilla man and classic Frankenstien Monster.  Definitely the one to start with if you're curious about El Santo.

Also, while not a great film, there's *Clones Of Bruce Lee*.  Yes, it's just what you'd think.  A secret agency makes 3 clones of the actor to foil a gold-smuggling movie producer and a mad scientist who's recreated the legendary Bronze Men.

*Image Of Bruce Lee*, a great kung-fu movie starring Bruce Li (it has nothing to do with Lee).  

*Oblivion*, a space western.

*Subspecies*, a vampire flick by Full Moon (I own the comic book prequel   ).

The werewolf films of Spanish actor Paul Naschy, particularly *The Craving*.

*Man And The Monster*, a 50s, Mexican version of Faust (with a hairy monster).

*Zatoichi, The Fugitive*, out on dvd or you can catch it on IFC.

And about a million more I can't think of at the moment.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 25, 2004)

Villano said:
			
		

> *Image Of Bruce Lee*, a great kung-fu movie starring Bruce Li (it has nothing to do with Lee).




Heh.

You can find kung-fu movies starring Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Lea, Bruce Rhee, Bruce John Lee, Lee Bruce...

It's sad, really 

-Hyp.


----------



## Mog Elffoe (Jan 25, 2004)

One of the funniest movies I've seen ages was *The Wrong Guy * starring Dave Foley as a guy who _thinks_ he's wanted for murder.  I was surprised at how much and how hard I laughed at this one.

Another film not widely seen but was I felt was just great was *Frailty*, starring Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaghey.  This movie turned out to be totally different than I thought it would be.  Basically it turned out to be a movie about 



Spoiler



D&D style paladins in the modern day, complete with the ability to detect evil and the God-given mandate to destroy it


.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.


----------



## Villano (Jan 25, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> Heh.
> 
> You can find kung-fu movies starring Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Lea, Bruce Rhee, Bruce John Lee, Lee Bruce...
> 
> ...




Actually, in Bruce Li's defense, his later movies (once he got some experience)are actually pretty good.  Apparently, he never liked being stuck with the "Bruce" gimmick and even began to use his own name, Ho Chung Tao (iirc), once he became popular.  Of course, produces all over the world still slapped the "Bruce Li" label on his movies (and generally renamed them to include "Bruce" or "Bruce Lee" in the title).  This explains why "Ho Chung Tao" is commonly listed as a co-star in Bruce Li flick...leading to much confusion.   

He dropped out of films after his wife died, I think, and went back to teaching (gymnastics).

And you can add Bruce Leah, Bruce Lei, Bruce Leih, Dragon Lee, and Bronson Lee to that list.  And pretty much all of them sucked.


----------



## Mister Underhill (Jan 25, 2004)

There's a really great little Norwegian film called *"Ofelas" (aka "Pathfinder")*. It's set around 1000 A.D. and involves a boy's efforts to get revenge on a tribe of Tchude barbarians who wiped out his family. I haven't seen it myself in years, but this thread made me think of it. I'm gonna have to roll on down to the video store for a refresher.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 25, 2004)

Villano said:
			
		

> And you can add Bruce Leah, Bruce Lei, Bruce Leih, Dragon Lee, and Bronson Lee to that list.  And pretty much all of them sucked.




_Bronson_ Lee!  I knew there was one that changed the first name, but "Bryce Lee" didn't quite sound right.

-Hyp.


----------



## Villano (Jan 26, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> _Bronson_ Lee!  I knew there was one that changed the first name, but "Bryce Lee" didn't quite sound right.
> 
> -Hyp.




Bryce Lee?!  ROTFLMAO!  He's a martial artist _and_ an English professor!  Watch him kick ass in a tweed jacket!  

Man, I'd buy a ticket to that movie.


----------



## Olive (Jan 26, 2004)

Movies that aren't mainstream but I really like, but I'm not claiming they are unheard of or anything ok:

_La Haine_ - French movie about three kids in the ghettos surounding Paris. Intense as all hell. Black and white, subtitled and seriously anti-cop. Those things may bother you, and if they do don't watch it cos you won't enjoy it. (it was Vincent Cassel's first film - he was in _Brotherhood of the Wolf_)

and

_The Last Days of Disco_ - really, truely wonderful talky NYC film about two girls who work in publishing and go to nightclubs. And talk in extremely erudite ways all the time. I love it to death. Stars Kate Beckinsale & Chloe Sevigny. Like a less smutty Woody allen film, with out any irritating Woody Allen style characters.

I really want to get that _Rbin of Sherwood_ DVD. Actually I want to rent it, cos my memory has a habit of playing tricks on me when it comes to things I last saw near 20 years ago.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 26, 2004)

Olive said:
			
		

> I really want to get that _Robin of Sherwood_ DVD. Actually I want to rent it, cos my memory has a habit of playing tricks on me when it comes to things I last saw near 20 years ago.




That sounds suspiciously like you're thinking that _Robin of Sherwood_ might not actually be an exceptional series.

You take that back!

-Hyp.


----------



## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 26, 2004)

Pielorinho said:
			
		

> Strangely, _Cecil B Demented _is, along with _Pecker_, one of the only two John Waters movies I've seen.  I want to like his stuff more than I do.
> 
> Scratch that -- I saw another of his movies a long time ago.  The only thing I remember from it is some guy with a fetish for stomping on women's feet.



Those two films (*Cecil B. Demented* and *Pecker*) are, while not his worst, sort of at the bottom of the John Waters barrel.

For early stuff, *Desparate Living* is good, and *Female Trouble* is often considered his masterpiece.  *Pink Flamingos* is, from a technical standpoint, his worst film--bad camera work, poor sound, etc.  Listening to his commentary in the DVD is pretty funny because he admits how bad the film is on a technical level.  Still, it's the one that made him famous and there are scenes in there that will never (and can never) be repeated on screen.

For his "going mainstream" period (the 1980s and early 1990s), *Hairspray* is his biggest hit, but I like *Serial Mom* a little better.  *Polyester* is funny for the "Odorama" gimmick (scratch-n-sniff cards that let you "smell" the movie, not just watch it) and a lot of great silly dialogue ("I never wanted to use macrame to kill!").  It's also the film with with the 'Baltimore Foot Stomper' character, Dexter Fishpaw.  If you saw the movie without "Odorama" it's really not as good.  *Cry Baby* is pretty unwatchable, despite starring Johnny Depp.

His last two films (the ones you saw & remembered the titles of) are very autobiographical, but unless you know that you miss the references.  And how many movie-goers would know his biography well enough to catch all the references?  Not many.  

I think the problem with John Waters is that his reputation is better than his finished products (and I say this as someone who counts him as his only "Must See" film-maker--maybe that's just a loyalty thing with me).  Still, he makes his movies on a shoestring budget (compared to Hollywood, at least), so I guess that's why he continues to get funding.


----------



## Olive (Jan 26, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> That sounds suspiciously like you're thinking that _Robin of Sherwood_ might not actually be an exceptional series.
> 
> You take that back!




No! I shan't!

Actually I remember the 1st two seasons being pretty good (but very few episodes i discovered online today!), but the third with the new robin annoyed me.


----------



## Olive (Jan 26, 2004)

Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> but I like *Serial Mom* a little better.




Ohhh that movie is so good!


----------



## Mog Elffoe (Jan 26, 2004)

WayneLigon said:
			
		

> Several Hong Kong movies, some already mentioned. One standout is *Mr. Vampire.* A chinese screwball comedy about hopping vampires (yes, they do indeed hop. And they hop damn fast), a wise man who know how to deal with them, and his two witless assistants.




I love this movie.  Love it.  If you liked this one you might also want to try *Magic Cop*.  It also stars Lam Ching Ying as a Taoist priest zombie fighter, but he's also a modern day policeman.  Pretty cool.


----------



## Mallus (Jan 26, 2004)

Olive said:
			
		

> _The Last Days of Disco_ - really, truely wonderful talky NYC film about two girls who work in publishing and go to nightclubs. And talk in extremely erudite ways all the time. I love it to death. Stars Kate Beckinsale & Chloe Sevigny. Like a less smutty Woody allen film, with out any irritating Woody Allen style characters.



Madre del dios... thanks Olive, I forgot all about Whit Stillman's movies [perhaps because he seems to have _stopped making them!_.

Besides _Last Days_, he made _Metropolitan_ and _Barcelona_. Both of which are enormously clever and entertaining films. The former is a bit like a John Hughes movie as written by F. Scott Fitzegerald --or like Fitzgeralds own Basil and Josephine stories set in the early 1980's. The latter concerns two slightly older, equally WASP-y cousins who wind up working in Barcelona in the late 1980's; dealing with life, love and privilage during a turbulent period of anti-Americanism. 

I'm not sure any real people speak like Whit Stillman's characters, but everyone I know wishes that _they_ did.

Olive, how do you see _Last Days_ as similar to Woody Allen's films, other than the omnipresent sense of New York City --both as place and as central metaphor-- that hangs over both?

And Woody Allen smutty? Annoying? OK, sure, in his later works, I can see that. But so many of his early works are so good... _Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, Crimes and Misdeamenors_ its a little unfair fair to sum it all up as 'smutty with annoying characters'.


----------



## Maerdwyn (Jan 27, 2004)

I'm going to mention two Iranian films that no one else I know has seen, but which are really GREAT movies.

_Leila_ is about a woman who consents to  her husband taking a second wife because she can't have children.  Devastating - make sure you rent something like Raising Arizona at the same time.

_Children of Heaven _is a very high quality family movie (many great Iranian films are family movies - the filmmakers there are restricted in the ways they can show relationships between adults, but not those beween kids.  As a result kids often get portrayed with much more complexity than in movies made in some other places.) about a brother and sister who share a pair of shoes so they don't have to tell their father her shoes were lost.  More uplifting than it might sound


----------



## barsoomcore (Jan 27, 2004)

Thanks for those recommendations, Maerdwyn. I just saw _The Circle_ -- which was AMAZING (about a set of vaguely interconnected women -- sort of _Slackers_ in Tehran with middle-aged women) and am looking for more Iranian films.


----------



## Tanager (Jan 27, 2004)

Maerdwyn said:
			
		

> _Children of Heaven _is a very high quality family movie (many great Iranian films are family movies - the filmmakers there are restricted in the ways they can show relationships between adults, but not those beween kids.  As a result kids often get portrayed with much more complexity than in movies made in some other places.) about a brother and sister who share a pair of shoes so they don't have to tell their father her shoes were lost.  More uplifting than it might sound




Well said.


----------



## Maerdwyn (Jan 28, 2004)

I've been wanting to see _The Circle _for quite a while - the move to Delaware from Northern California has severely curtailed the number of foreign releases easily available to me for rental .

Others to try, if you're interested, are Tahmina Milani's _Two Women _(for adults), and _The Color of Paradise_ (for most - too intense for younger kids, though.  This is by the same director as _Children of Heaven_: Majid Majidi. ).  

I'm not as into Abbas Kiarostami's movies as most fans of Iranian cinema are, but he's a legend.  His movies are mostly snapshots of his veiw of real life - sometimes very powerful, but often without much (er...anything) in the way of plot or (sometimes) character development.  _Ten_ (Most recently), _A Taste of Cherry_ , _The White Balloon_, _Close-up_, among others.

Let me know how you like any of these you see - and if you find any others that you like but I haven't mentioned. 

*****************

Another movie (Not an Iranian one) that falls into the "great, but not widely seen" category is Night on Earth - five vignettes revolving around taxi drivers in different cities around the world.  Jim Jarmusch directs;  Roberto Benigni, Winona Ryder, Rosie Perez, Gena Rowlands, and others less well known to me star.  Some of the tales are funny, the one set in Helsinki is terribly sad - all are great and leave you wanting to know more about the characters.


----------



## Blue_Kryptonite (Jan 28, 2004)

Not sure how obscure it is, but I know I had never heard of it. Crossworlds, with Rutger Hauer. I got continual Zelazny/Amber vibes watching it.


----------



## Olive (Jan 29, 2004)

Mallus said:
			
		

> Madre del dios... thanks Olive, I forgot all about Whit Stillman's movies [perhaps because he seems to have _stopped making them!_.




Yeah, I was thinking the otherday that it's been a some time since I last saw one. Any one ahve any idea?



> Olive, how do you see _Last Days_ as similar to Woody Allen's films, other than the omnipresent sense of New York City --both as place and as central metaphor-- that hangs over both?




It's the NYCness and the sheer talkiness. Erudite people sitting around talking about academic (in both senses of the word) subjects always remind me of Allen.



> And Woody Allen smutty? Annoying? OK, sure, in his later works, I can see that. But so many of his early works are so good... _Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, Crimes and Misdeamenors_ its a little unfair fair to sum it all up as 'smutty with annoying characters'.




Actually I find a lot of his later stuff less smutty and annoying. sleeper is one of the smuttiest and most irritating films I've ever seen. Annie Hall is obviously different.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 29, 2004)

Olive said:
			
		

> It's the NYCness and the sheer talkiness. Erudite people sitting around talking about academic (in both senses of the word) subjects always remind me of Allen.




Heh.  I received this by email notification, so the quotes were omitted.

And I read it as "Erudite people always remind me of _Alien_", and spent a moment thinking "Did we watch the same movie?"

-Hyp.


----------



## TracerBullet42 (Jan 29, 2004)

Just wondering...

Have any of you, since reading this thread, watched Boondock Saints?  I highly recommend it and would like to hear what others think of it?

(Should I have started a new thread to ask that?)


----------



## Ace (Jan 29, 2004)

A couple of my favorite cheesball movies that no one knows

People Under the Stairs with Everett McGill and Wendy Robey (of Twin Peaks fame) as cannabilistic psychos 

Hudson Hawk with Bruce Willis and Danny Aeilo


----------



## Olive (Jan 29, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> And I read it as "Erudite people always remind me of _Alien_", and spent a moment thinking "Did we watch the same movie?"




Imagine if you had read it as _Aliens_. Now *that* had some incoherent dialogue...


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 29, 2004)

Olive said:
			
		

> Imagine if you had read it as _Aliens_. Now *that* had some incoherent dialogue...




"A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm!  Every meal's a banquet; every paycheck's a fortune; every formation's a parade."

How many parades do you get on an average day on the farm?!

-Hyp.


----------



## Mallus (Jan 29, 2004)

Ace said:
			
		

> Hudson Hawk with Bruce Willis and Danny Aeilo



_Hudson Hawk_ is not a little known film...

1) Its genius. 

2) It was an expensive flop that got [mostly] savaged by critics. So it got kicked around in the media [10 worsts lists etc] for quite awhile. It got plenty of publicity, all bad.


----------



## Wrath of the Swarm (Jan 29, 2004)

One of my favorite semi-obscure films is _Starman_.  Simple plot, simple cinematography, beautifully-acted characters.  The music, while a bit heavy on synth as was popular at the time (along with wearing onions on belts and rich men throwing coins from balloons), is oddly memorable.


----------



## Crothian (Jan 29, 2004)

Rhustlers Rhapsedy: Not sure if this qualifies as obscure as it was done only in the 80's, has some actual stars in it, and a budget.  But I never see it on the movie stations, or rerunning on TBS or any of the cable stationsIt's a great western comedy that polks fun at all the western cliches.  

Remo Williams: Again, probably not obscure, but if you haven't seen it you need to.  It's a little campy at times, but has good humor for an adventure martial type film.


----------



## Bass Puppet (Jan 29, 2004)

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Most of you have seen it and I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before (most likely), so I'll say it again because that's how much I love this flick. The set design has always blown me away everytime I watch it. 

Way before it's time.


----------



## Olive (Jan 30, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> How many parades do you get on an average day on the farm?!




Damn Aucklanders, don't you know the farmers make the cows and sheep parade up and down to the milking and shearing sheds every day?

Olive, who's only ever been on a farm once in his life...


----------



## Mark (Jan 30, 2004)

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain


----------



## Pielorinho (Jan 30, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> Rhustlers Rhapsedy:



Yep - a very funny movie that nobody's ever heard of.  Good stuff! I wouldn't exactly call it high art, because that would be a stinky lie.

There's a filmmaker from Eastern Europe, Jan Svenkmaijer, I think, who makes very bizarre movies.  The only one I've seen is _Faust_, a marionette-retelling of the story.  My wife says his _Tom Thumb_ is well worth watching.

Daniel


----------



## TwistedBishop (Jan 30, 2004)

d4 said:
			
		

> Real Men with John Ritter and Jim Belushi.
> 
> it's hilariously funny in a very absurd way. you know the movie's going to be absurd when you discover the name of one of the main characters is Secret Agent Pirandello.






			
				Pants said:
			
		

> Wow, one movie out of dozens that I've actually seen/heard of.  Didn't it have killer clowns in it?





I love that movie.

Ritter:  "Hey, who are those clowns?"

::Belushi spins around and sees a group of clowns advancing down an alley::

Belushi:  "Holy crap, clown attack!"

Ritter:  "Clown attack?"

Belushi:  "Yeah, special unit.  The CIA is putting some of their best operatives in clown suits, so they don't attract attention."

Ritter: "So they don't attract attention!?!"

Belushi:  "Yeah, they've gone bad."

Ritter:  "BAD CLOWNS?!?"



My true favorite that it seems no one else ever watches would be...._Into the Night_.   Jeff Goldblum and a very young Michelle Pfeiffer, directed by John Landis in the mid 80s.  Score and music by B.B. King.  It's rather perfect in every way.


----------



## D+1 (Jan 30, 2004)

Note that as indicated in the original post these are not necessarily _obscure_, just movies that other people seem not to have heard of for various reasons.

Let It Ride - Comedy with Richard Dreyfuss, Buster Poindexter, Jennifer Tilly, Teri Garr.  "I'm not gambling, I'm WINNING!"

Moon Over Parador - Dreyfuss again, and Raul Julia.  Dreyfuss is an actor kidnapped and forced to play the part of a dead bannanaland dictator by the head of the secret police.

Always - A Spielberg movie that a lot of people seem to have missed entirely.

Secret of My Success - Michael J. Fox in his second best movie ever (Back to the Future being #1)

Fandango - an unknown early Kevin Costner flick costarring Judd Nelson.  Vietnam-era college buddies on a post-graduate road trip.  It's a full-length movie built around a student film by director Kevin Reynolds.

The Beast - another Kevin Reynolds directed film.  A Soviet tank in Afghanistan pursued by Mujahadin.

Postcards From The Edge - behind the scenes Hollywood stuff based on Carrie Fishers book.

Once Were Warriors - industrial strength depression from New Zealand.  Stars Temuera Morrison, better known these days as Jango Fett.

The Grifters - neo noir with John Cusack, Angelica Huston, and Annette Bening

The Player - More behind the scenes hollywood in a dark comedy/suspense vein.

The Man Who Would Be King - Easily overlooked Sean Connery and Michael Caine film based on Rudyard Kiplings story.

Breaker Morant - Australians fighting in the Boer War accused of murder.  Edward Woodward, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson.

Hope and Glory - John Boormans autobiographical account of the home front in England in WWII.

Empire of the Sun - Another often overlooked Spielberg movie about a British kid seperated from his parents when the Japanese capture Shanghai in WWII.

Mystery Train - Jim Jarmusch directed.  Several stories all set in the same fleabag Memphis hotel on the same night.

I'll also second nominations for:
Comfort and Joy
Local Hero
Last Days of Disco
Rustlers Rhapsody
Night on Earth
Into the Night
Raising Arizona
Repo Man
-any movie with Gene Hackman.

Edit: added a bit more.  I could go on but I think that's enough for now.


----------



## Olive (Jan 30, 2004)

D+1 said:
			
		

> Once Were Warriors - industrial strength depression from New Zealand.  Stars Temuera Morrison, better known these days as Jango Fett.




To those of us from NZ, he'll always be Dr. Ropata...


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 30, 2004)

Olive said:
			
		

> To those of us from NZ, he'll always be Dr. Ropata...




_You're not in Guatemala now, Dr Ropata..._

-Hyp.


----------



## barsoomcore (Jan 30, 2004)

TwistedBishop said:
			
		

> My true favorite that it seems no one else ever watches would be...._Into the Night_.   Jeff Goldblum and a very young Michelle Pfeiffer, directed by John Landis in the mid 80s.  Score and music by B.B. King.  It's rather perfect in every way.



I LOVE that film. Saw it three times in the theatre -- a buddy and I just utterly fell in love with everything about that film and went to see it over and over again. I could watch it right now.

What a great little film that is. Back when Jeff Goldblum was funny, John Landis was crazy, and Michelle Pfeiffer was... no, wait, she's still hot. Never mind.


----------



## Hypersmurf (Jan 30, 2004)

barsoomcore said:
			
		

> Michelle Pfeiffer was... no, wait, she's still hot. Never mind.




Well, yeah, but in _Into the Night_ she was stunning.

-Hyp.


----------



## barsoomcore (Jan 31, 2004)

Hypersmurf said:
			
		

> Well, yeah, but in _Into the Night_ she was stunning.



Word.

Ms. Pfeiffer was a formative experience of my youth.


----------



## Tanager (Jan 31, 2004)

D+1 said:
			
		

> -any movie with Gene Hackman.




ooh, that reminds me..._The Conversation_. Excelent double feature material along with the (IMHO) inferior _Enemy of the State_.

I'll also chime in for _The Player_,_The Grifters_ and _Mystery Train_.

_Always_ has some good  character moments, but was a little too sacarine in the end for me.

edited to fix quote tags

edited again because all the talk of Michelle Pfeifer reminded me of _The Fabulous Baker Boys_ which, while not obscure seems to be rarely mentioned.


----------



## Mark (Feb 15, 2004)

The Spanish Prisoner


----------



## trancejeremy (Feb 16, 2004)

A couple of older films:

The Gorilla - this is a comedy from the 40s I think, starring a comedy team I had never heard of, the Ritz Brothers. Also has Bela Lugosi. Sort of the standard haunted house movie, but it's really really funny. Would make a great Call of Cthulhu scenario.

Invasion of the Saucer Men - Surprisingly sophisicated 50s comedy about an alien invasion. It starts off looking like it's going to be a 50s teen movie, but turns out to be something of a spoof of them. (THough some people seem to miss this fact).

I'm not sure how obscure it is, given Best Buy sells it for $6 (it's just unpopular), but I really like Dark City.


----------



## d4 (Feb 16, 2004)

D+1 said:
			
		

> Mystery Train - Jim Jarmusch directed.  Several stories all set in the same fleabag Memphis hotel on the same night.



Jim Jarmusch... why does that name sound familiar? is he the guy who directed _Ghost Dog?_


----------



## Trevalon Moonleirion (Feb 16, 2004)

TracerBullet42 said:
			
		

> For me, it's Boondock Saints.  I hadn't heard of it until recently, and I love this flick.  Willem Dafoe is at his finest/weirdest in this movie.  Two brothers in a old irish neighborhood who decide they are called to distribute the Lord's justice/wrath on the local criminals.  Great, great movie.
> 
> Ah...good times.  What's yours?



I jsut watched this with a guy down the hall from me two weeks ago.  We sat down, knocked back a few beers, shot the breeze, and watched this movie.  Best experience of the semester.  Man.. such a cool movie!


----------



## Particle_Man (Feb 16, 2004)

d4 said:
			
		

> Jim Jarmusch... why does that name sound familiar? is he the guy who directed _Ghost Dog?_




Yep, and also _Dead Man._ (not to be confused with _ Dead Man Walking. _)  He is the bomb!


----------



## TracerBullet42 (Feb 16, 2004)

Trevalon Moonleirion said:
			
		

> I jsut watched this with a guy down the hall from me two weeks ago.  We sat down, knocked back a few beers, shot the breeze, and watched this movie.  Best experience of the semester.  Man.. such a cool movie!




Awesome...glad you liked it...


----------



## GoodKingJayIII (Feb 16, 2004)

Sorry if this was already mentioned, but I can't read the entire 7-page thread at the moment.  But I saw the Japanese movie Battle Royale a few months ago.  Wow...


----------



## Sarigar (Feb 17, 2004)

Mamet's _Heist_ was good, but _The Spanish Prisoner_ was better.

One of the better movies that no one I know of has heard of starred Christopher Lambert and John Lone called _The Hunted_.   Good samurai flick.

_Dead Alive_ from Peter Jackson.  "I kick ass for the Lord!"

One of Alyssa Milano's best, _Embrace of the Vampire_.


----------



## barsoomcore (Feb 18, 2004)

Sarigar said:
			
		

> One of the better movies that no one I know of has heard of starred Christopher Lambert and John Lone called _The Hunted_.   Good samurai flick.



Good fight scene in the middle. Kind of pointless flick otherwise. I was in Japan when I saw it, maybe that had an effect. But the fight on the train WAS pretty cool.


----------



## pjchik (Feb 18, 2004)

Wow.  Rock N Rule.  I haven't seen that in about 20 years!  
I don't know how unknown some of these are (but no-one I know has heard of them)   
Breaking the Waves
Heavenly Creatures
The Frighteners
The War at Home
The Gardener  
I have to actually put something about The Gardener.  It's not even out on film yet, and it's production budget was about $100.  I was in it    so I have to like it.  In case anyone actually cares, it's a b horror flick.


----------



## dpdx (Mar 17, 2004)

Anyone seen _The Mighty Quinn_, with Denzel Washington and Robert Townsend? I liked that one.


----------



## d4 (Mar 17, 2004)

Sarigar said:
			
		

> _Dead Alive_ from Peter Jackson.  "I kick ass for the Lord!"



i'm playing a Roman Catholic priest in a d20 Modern campaign, and that's my battle cry. 

i know i obliquely mentioned it earlier, but i'll say it again: _Ghost Dog._

great samurai flick about a black inner city assassin working for the Mafia. (it's not as confusing as that sounds, really.) Forrest Whittaker does a great job as the title character.

i love his relationship with the (Haitian?) ice cream vendor.


----------



## Hand of Evil (Mar 17, 2004)

Just saw *The Protagonist* - great movie!  Bob Hoskin (sp) is the lead, Robin Williams a bomber, and a number of other stars you have seen.


----------



## Altalazar (Mar 17, 2004)

By now, someone has to have said all of these, but I'll repeat for emphasis:

Equilibrium (Rocks!) 
Boondock Saints
Donnie Darko
Momento


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## Rackhir (Mar 18, 2004)

For those of you who haven't seen the "Salute of the Jugger" version of "The Blood of Heroes" it has some additional scenes that aren't in the american version. There's an encounter in the desert with some guys from the 10 Cities in a car of some sort. There were a few more scenes in the 10 cities before the big game and the ending was completely different. In the Ozzy, version the movie doesn't end with the celebration party. Salo who had been kicked out of the League can't join up like Joan Chen. So he has to return to wandering the desert with a few new replacements for the team. There's at least one scene with Joan Chen's character playing the Game, but it seemed to convey a certain sense of emptyness, like she's already played the best game ever and with out Salo around it doesn't have the same meaning. The movie then ends out in the desert with Salo reasuring the new Quick on the team, who's nervous before the game about the other team not having shown up yet and Salo replies "They'll show up. The Best ones always do." and then the mist clears to show the other team backlit by the sun on a ridge. Great moment, great movie. It was the only movie that I've ever wanted to get up and cheer at the end. The big game really rocks if you've got a powerful subwoofer.

Equilibrium (GunFu)

Local Hero - An amazingly touching movie. Nothing really happens in the movie, but something about it just draws you in and won't let you go.

A Taxing Woman & A Taxing Woman Returns - Hysterically funny tales of the Japanese IRS. I never understood why they made the second movie until after living in Japan and seeing the endless parade of political scandals.

Dark City - Absolutely one of the best movies I've ever seen. My respect for Rodger Ebert increased significantly when he said it should have gotten the Oscar that year.

Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai - Just watch it. It's a necessary part of any Geek/Gamer's life. Without watching it you can't pass the test at the end.

Into the Night - Best scene in the movie : Where Jeff Goldblum talks one of the iranian thugs into committing suicide, just by describing what he's been going through.

Bob Roberts - For anyone who's ever hated the bush (II) administration. A little side note. The soundtrack was never released, because Tim Robbins was afraid that Rush Limbaugh and his ilk would play the songs constantly. Since the "parody" songs in the movie are pretty much what they actually believe.

The new Gamera Movies - Yes he's still full of turtle meat and if you don't like giant monster movies you still won't like it, but they have damm near Hollywood grade special effects, a plot that's actually good and a director that knows how to make a Good Movie. The end of the third movie has some truly magnificent scenes. These are what the new Godzilla movies should have been.

Cast a Deadly Spell - Terrific little made for HBO movie, Staring Fred Ward. As the movie said at the start "It's 1947. Los Angeles. Magic works". It's a very funny yet deadpan serious Film Noir set in a world where magic is as common as technology. The humor comes from the oddities that nobody in the movie would notice, but are jarringly different to the viewer. Bell boys that have the luggage floating after them. A night club with no building where the entrance is just a Door way in the middle of a parking lot. The police trying to sweat information out of a werewolf. Probably have to turn to Ebay for this one, though it might be available in the VHS rental section of the video store.


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## Krieg (Mar 18, 2004)

*The Thirteenth Floor* - Imagine a noir'ish Matrix without the leather, and containing some actual questions regarding the nature of reality.

*Amazing Grace & Chuck* - A little league pitcher & an NBA all-star change the world.

*The Final Option* (aka Who Dares Wins) - The British SAS vs terrorists (the old socialist european kind) in a storyline VERY loosely based around the Princess Gate embassy takeover.

*The Final Countdown* - The USS Nimitz is hurtled back in time to Dec 6th 1941. There's nothing better than F-14s vs Mitsubishi A6Ms (ie Zero).

*Three O'Clock High* - The day in the life of a high school student who desperately tries to avoid fighting a bully after the final bell.

Don't ask me why but Chris Makepeace (ie wudy the wabbit) is in all three...

*My Bodyguard* - An unlikely friendship between two boys (think Thunderdome's Master/Blaster...the early years.  )

*The Mysterious Stranger* - A made for TV movie based on Mark Twain's unfinished tale.

*The Final Chase* - In a future without gasoline, former racer Lee Majors makes one last run for Free California. The last fighter pilot Burgess Meredith gives persuit in a SWEET black F-86.




			
				Storminator said:
			
		

> Siege of Firebase Gloria.
> 
> Vietnam film of pretty much endless action, that actual has the characters get ground down by. Very cool, but I've rarely talked to anyone that's heard of it.




Starring R. Lee Ermey as the highly motivated SgtMaj Bill Haffner! Ooh-Rah!!

BTW Boondock Saints, Frailty & Identity make a great triple feature for those so inclined.


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## VirgilCaine (Mar 18, 2004)

Altalazar said:
			
		

> Donnie Darko




If you *like* fatalistic, dark, movies with actors from ER...
I don't mind a tragedy, but there has to be a message in the end...  



> Oh! If you didn't grow up in the 80's, you might have missed The Lost Boys. Cheesy flick about teenage vampires, but it does really well with the monster conventions. (Holy water, flying, the master, etc.) Kiefer Sutherland stars in this, rather early in his career IIRC.




Check out _The Forsaken_ for a slightly different take on vampires. Not bad gunfight scene at the end, IIRC. Not a bad idea for a D20 Modern game.



> Highway to Hell: Hellcop, the lumpy faced demonic patrol officer steals some guys girlfriend, he chases after him through American-midwestern desert of Hell. Good bits: the 'Road to Hell Paving Company'; Satan's personality (though not his look... lizard eyes and six tiny horns don't quiet work).




Saw part of this movie. Didn't seem too bad. 



> Siege of Precinct 13: Or Assault on Precinct 13. I can't recall which. Low budget John Carpenter 1970's flick, with the skeleton staff of a closing-down precinct fighting off a hoard of suspiciously racially integrated drug crazed gangsters. Looked and played very much like Night of the Living Dead, but with gangsters instead of zombies. Great fun.




It's Assault. Again, not a bad D20 one-shot.



> Real Men with John Ritter and Jim Belushi.




"A glass of water? Thats all?"



> The Beast - another Kevin Reynolds directed film. A Soviet tank in Afghanistan pursued by Mujahadin.




Great movie. Liked it.



> Cast a Deadly Spell




This one...not that great. Didn't have enough flavor, I guess, and not enough tension or action...

My choices... [I haven't seen all these, but they look good or are good because I've seen 'em.]

Death Hunt 
The Mechanic 
The Forsaken [X-Files style vampire twist]
Rolling Thunder 

Tremors
Tremors 2: Aftershocks
Lets Get Harry [Like Proof of Life, but less action and fewer professional mercenaries.]

Assignment: Survive

Death Wish [Realistic action movie--what does the protagonist do after killing his first person? Rushes home and vomits in his toilet.]

[Yeah, I liked Charles Bronson.   ]

Another one I've seen...

Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane  [The chapter thing is odd, not a terrible film]

Good thread.


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## OnCider (Mar 19, 2004)

A bit wierd for most but I like Jordan's *A Company of Wolves*


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## Tanager (Mar 19, 2004)

OnCider said:
			
		

> A bit wierd for most but I like Jordan's *A Company of Wolves*




Good call! Even if some of the effects are somewhat..dated.


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## Mark Chance (Mar 19, 2004)

I still remember this one from my senior year in high school: The Brother from another Planet.


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## drnuncheon (Mar 21, 2004)

Mark said:
			
		

> The Spanish Prisoner




I hated that movie, if only because I figured out what was going on, and then watched for it deliberately - and the film cheated.  I watched a certain scene a dozen times and 



Spoiler



there was no way the 'switch' could have taken place.



J
annoyed


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## Maerdwyn (Mar 22, 2004)

Rackhir said:
			
		

> A Taxing Woman & A Taxing Woman Returns - Hysterically funny tales of the Japanese IRS. I never understood why they made the second movie until after living in Japan and seeing the endless parade of political scandals.



I like your selections, Rackhir!

_Local Hero_ had the same sort of effect on me - just held me all the way through. _A Taxing Woman_ was great; I'll have to see the sequel. 

I should also mention _Tampopo, _another great Japanese comedy. It's about the quest to create the perfect bowl of noodles, and is done in the style of a classic western, complete with cowboy hats.


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## Altalazar (Mar 22, 2004)

Oh, and I loved Brotherhood of the Wolf.  But perhaps you've all heard of that one...


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## Olive (Mar 22, 2004)

Sarigar said:
			
		

> Mamet's _Heist_ was good, but _The Spanish Prisoner_ was better.




And _State and Main_ was even better than that!


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## Tallok (Mar 22, 2004)

I didn't read the whole thread, but I know that at least donnie darko's been mentioned, and it's pretty obvious I like that...
there's the seventh seal, great movie about death.
waking life
the professional
amelie
happenstance
and I'm sure there'r more, but this is what I'm thinking of for now


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