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Underrated and little known movies

werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
edited January 2007 in Debate and/or Discourse
Well, since we've got a couple threads devoted to telling everyone else how much their taste in movies sucks, why don't we try and harness the fact we're better than other people for good.

So, here we can talk about the movies that seemed to have slipped under everyone else's radar, but which we know are actually fantastic.

Brick

brickposter1.jpg

Brick completely passed me by this year, until I saw one tiny mention of it on someone's best of the year list and decided to check it out. I can't say how glad I am that I did. It's got style by the ton, the dialogue is sharp and fast, and the premise is a great hook of exactly the kind I'm a sucker for (transplanting a genre into an unusual setting). This sentence is going to scare a lot of you off, but trust me when I say it works; the movie is a film noire story set in a high school. On the face of it, the concept sounds retarded, but in execution it's amazing. One of the best modern noire films I've seen, the other being:

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

140498.png

The fact this movie only made $4 million at the box office is a goddam crime. The dialogue is hilarious, the characters are great, and the humor is dry with just enough edge to keep you grinning. It's the story of two bit crook and former amateur magician Harry (Robert Downey Jr), who stumbles his way into Hollywood where he mets the private detective Big Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) and the former girl of his dreams and proceeds to have the worst couple days of his life.

And finally, from the way back machine:

Pitch Black

200px-Pitch_Black_poster.JPG

Take a realistic sci-fi film in the style of Aliens, add in a believable cast of people all with believable personalities and willing to do what it takes to stay alive, and set it on a unique planet that lets you play with light and space, and you've got one of my favorite movies of all time. I've never quite been able to put my finger on exactly what drew me to the movie in the first place, or why it's stuck with me, but something about how real it all looks, how each character can at some point in the movie be willing to dick the others over without being stereotypical, unlikeable, or unable to grow, and how the movie never hits a wrong note from start to finish; it all makes me love the movie.


So, that's the list off the top of my head (notable mentions would include 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, but I think those are a bit too big to be underrated). So D&D, how about you share your extensive film knowledge with the rest of the class?

werehippy on
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Posts

  • flamebroiledchickenflamebroiledchicken Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    American Graffiti doesn't get enough love. One of my favorite movies.

    flamebroiledchicken on
    y59kydgzuja4.png
  • iowaiowa Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    primer.jpg

    Made on a $7,000 budget and about time travel. It seems to be a pretty love it or hate it kind of movie. I think it's a science fiction horror movie, but certainly not in the conventional sense.

    iowa on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    iowa wrote:
    Primer

    Primer holds the distinction of being the first movie I've seen where I just started yelling at the TV when it finished. I had no idea what the hell happened the first time through, though it makes sense once you think about it and see the movie again. Definitely the best time travel movie out there.


    Stupid causality

    werehippy on
  • ZimmydoomZimmydoom Accept no substitutes Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    I don't think the films in the OP are particularly underrated, they just don't have a huge audience. With the exception of Pitch Black, which I think does in fact suck nuts, I haven't really heard anything bad about the films listed above.

    If, however, we are going to make this about cult films and the like, I nominate "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" It's a movie that just oozes cool out of every pore, especially if you've read "The Odyssey," and has one of the greatest soundtracks of any film I've ever seen. Most people I know have never heard of it, but everyone I have introduced it to absolutely loved it.

    EDIT: Thread title changed, so my first point is withdrawn. Snoogins.

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  • GimGim a tall glass of water Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    werehippy wrote:
    iowa wrote:
    Prime

    Prime holds the distinction of being the first movie I've seen where I just started yelling at the TV when it finished. I had no idea what the hell happened the first time through, though it makes sense once you think about it and see the movie again. Definitely the best time travel movie out there.


    Stupid causality
    Primer. With an r.

    I thought I had begun to understand what was going on after the first three viewings. Then I read the wiki entry and my mind melted.

    Gim on
  • PodlyPodly you unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Brick is fucking horrendous.

    There's this Korean movie about rape/murder and detectives and waiting for DNA to get sent back from America. They get murder requests this song to be played every time he kills someone.

    The cinematography was absolutely breathtaking, and it was a very emotional movie without being the least bit cheesy. Very good.

    Tristram Shandy was pretty good too.

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  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Gim wrote:
    werehippy wrote:
    iowa wrote:
    Prime

    Prime holds the distinction of being the first movie I've seen where I just started yelling at the TV when it finished. I had no idea what the hell happened the first time through, though it makes sense once you think about it and see the movie again. Definitely the best time travel movie out there.


    Stupid causality
    Primer. With an r.

    I thought I had begun to understand what was going on after the first three viewings. Then I read the wiki entry and my mind melted.

    My ninja edit was woefully slow.

    I can't remember, but I think the last time there was a discussion of time travel stories (maybe in G&T?) it ultimately ended up that Primer had the most independent time loops of any story. It beat the plot of Chrono Trigger by a pass or two.

    werehippy on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Poldy wrote:
    Brick is fucking horrendous.

    I would respectfully suggest you die in a fire good sir. Not least because I heartily disagree with your opinion (since I think Brick is a damn near pitch perfect modernization of the noire/detective genre), but because the last thing we need is 3 threads of people flatly telling other people their opinions are a stupid.

    Side note: In keeping with the highbrow and positive tone of the thread, I'm going to tell people to shut up all classy-like in here :)

    werehippy on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    I'm not sure these are underrated, as such, but they are foreign and I think one of them has not even been released stateside on DVD:

    lilja-4-ever.jpg

    I also thought Show Me Love (Swedish title "Fucking Åmål") and Together (Swedish title "Tilsammans") were also great, from the same director, though Show Me Love was better than Together.

    He also did A Hole In My Heart, which I own but haven't watched yet.

    Lilja 4-Ever is the best film I've ever seen.

    I also think The Salton Sea is woefully underrated. Awesome movie.

    I loved The Inheritance, too:

    miva_inher_post.jpg

    Some new/old sci-fi I really liked was Strange Days and The Thirteenth Floor, both underrated in my opinion. Vincent D'Onofrio is awesome. He was in The Thirteenth Floor, but his best role - ever, I think - was in The Salton Sea.

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  • The CheeseThe Cheese Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Primer is ridiculous. I need to watch that again.

    The Cheese on
  • 3lwap03lwap0 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    My list is big for underrated movies.

    Off the top of my head: Road to Perdition, Donnie Brasco, Lost Highway, Garden State, Blow, Equilibrium, and 25th Hour.

    And my personal fave:

    f01_r06_03.jpg

    Ronin.

    3lwap0 on
  • PodlyPodly you unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    werehippy wrote:
    Poldy wrote:
    Brick is fucking horrendous.

    I would respectfully suggest you die in a fire good sir. Not least because I heartily disagree with your opinion (since I think Brick is a damn near pitch perfect modernization of the noire/detective genre), but because the last thing we need is 3 threads of people flatly telling other people their opinions are a stupid,

    Noir is not meant to be modernized. Noir is a result of it's time, a zeitgeist. There are some nice adaptations: Fargo, Blade Runner. But, c'mon. Drugs in highschool, where the little kid becomes the big hero.

    God that movie sucked so much. So fucking pretentious and self important, without the goods to back it up.

    I fucking hate that movie almost as much as I hate Garden State.

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  • YodaTunaYodaTuna Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    3lwap0 wrote:
    Equilibrium
    This is all I came in to say, when are we going to see another movie with Gun-kata?

    YodaTuna on
  • VirumVirum Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Poldy wrote:
    Brick is fucking horrendous.
    What the fuck is wrong with you?

    BOGART IN A HIGHSCHOOL? FUCKING HELL YES.

    Virum on
  • PodlyPodly you unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Also, Happiness is a rollicking good time for dark comedy. A little "Hey look at my auteurism and look at me shock you," but it's still completely kick ass.

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  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    3lwap0 wrote:
    My list is big for underrated movies.

    Off the top of my head: Road to Perdition, Donnie Brasco, Lost Highway, Garden State, Blow, Equilibrium, and 25th Hour.

    And my personal fave:

    f01_r06_03.jpg

    Ronin.

    Oh shit, I forgot about Ronin. One of my favorite movies ever, HIGHLY underrated.

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  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Poldy wrote:
    werehippy wrote:
    Poldy wrote:
    Brick is fucking horrendous.

    I would respectfully suggest you die in a fire good sir. Not least because I heartily disagree with your opinion (since I think Brick is a damn near pitch perfect modernization of the noire/detective genre), but because the last thing we need is 3 threads of people flatly telling other people their opinions are a stupid,

    Noir is not meant to be modernized. Noir is a result of it's time, a zeitgeist. There are some nice adaptations: Fargo, Blade Runner. But, c'mon. Drugs in highschool, where the little kid becomes the big hero.

    God that movie sucked so much. So fucking pretentious and self important, without the goods to back it up.

    I fucking hate that movie almost as much as I hate Garden State.

    Noir is a style, not a time period. It's perfectly fine to think the old school is the best, but if you're bring that kind of bias to the table don't expect people to take you all that seriously when you dump on a good modern noir.

    The only thing the school setting did was give us a context for the characters. The druggies, the jocks, the preppy girls; those are all stereotypes that modern audiences feel in their bones, the way old audiences felt about private detectives and classy dames.

    It's a textbook modernization, and damn good to boot.

    werehippy on
  • ZimmydoomZimmydoom Accept no substitutes Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Oh, Christ, how could I forget this:

    deathtosmoochyposter01fg1.jpg

    This movie got some of the worst reviews of anything I've ever seen, and I absolutely love it. One of my all-time favorites, and the probably the only funny thing Robin Williams has produced since he sired Jonathan Winters.

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  • VirumVirum Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    What about Memento, guys? A lot of people I know haven't heard of it, but with Nolan's new success more people are looking at his past work.

    Also: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Really great dialogue and phenomenal acting by Roth and Oldman. Pacing lags a bit once or twice, but still way worth it.

    Virum on
  • PodlyPodly you unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    werehippy wrote:
    Noir is a style, not a time period.

    Reading skills++

    I didn't say it was. I said it was a style that was result of the time period.
    werehippy wrote:
    The only thing the school setting did was give us a context for the characters. The druggies, the jocks, the preppy girls; those are all stereotypes that modern audiences feel in their bones, the way old audiences felt about private detectives and classy dames.

    Oh right, so if I call up my grandpa he'll tell me about all the private eyes he knew growing up. That's the thing - THERE WERE NO PRIVATE EYES OR FEMME FATALES. Noir is gothic - it exists on some plane that seems like ours, but is much darker and more dramatic. Brick failed to recognize this.

    @Varium - yeah, R&GaD is really good. I liked it a lot.

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  • KusuguttaiKusuguttai __BANNED USERS regular
    edited December 2006
    I didn't like Death to Smoochy


    also I would like to say that Dumb and Dumber is under-rated as a comedy. It is near perfect. God I love it.

    Kusuguttai on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Poldy wrote:
    werehippy wrote:
    Noir is a style, not a time period.

    Reading skills++

    I didn't say it was. I said it was a style that was result of the time period.

    I was just disagreeing with your claim you can't do a modern noir film. It gets its trappings from the past, but it's absolutely possible to put that in a modern context.
    werehippy wrote:
    The only thing the school setting did was give us a context for the characters. The druggies, the jocks, the preppy girls; those are all stereotypes that modern audiences feel in their bones, the way old audiences felt about private detectives and classy dames.

    Oh right, so if I call up my grandpa he'll tell me about all the private eyes he knew growing up. That's the thing - THERE WERE NO PRIVATE EYES OR FEMME FATALES. Noir is gothic - it exists on some plane that seems like ours, but is much darker and more dramatic. Brick failed to recognize this.

    I'm talking context. The femme fatale and Boggie in a fadora spoke to the time period of classic noir, but it doesn't resonate the same way with modern audiences. The school setting lets the movie give us the stereotypes that work the same way with us that the old stereotypes did with the original audience.

    I'd draw a distinction between noir and gothic, which have their own conventions and trappings while sharing a certain grimness, a hard edge to reality, but the point is largely irrelevant. I don't know what movie you say, but Brick was fairly dark when you look at the plot. Just because it doesn't wallow in the darkness, doesn't mean it isn't hitting all the classic notes of noir film.

    edit: Either way, if you think it's shit, take it to the overrated thread. I'd be happy to debate it there, but this thread is supposed to be upbeat, and you've already made the point you don't like the movie.

    werehippy on
  • 3lwap03lwap0 Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Zimmydoom wrote:
    Oh, Christ, how could I forget this:

    deathtosmoochyposter01fg1.jpg

    This movie got some of the worst reviews of anything I've ever seen, and I absolutely love it. One of my all-time favorites, and the probably the only funny thing Robin Williams has produced since he sired Jonathan Winters.

    :^:

    You better grow eyes in the back of your head, you horned piece of shit, because I'm not gonna sleep until worms are crawling up your foam-rubber ass! I'm goin' on safari motherfucker! SAH-FAR-I!

    3lwap0 on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Kusuguttai wrote:
    I didn't like Death to Smoochy


    also I would like to say that Dumb and Dumber is under-rated as a comedy. It is near perfect. God I love it.

    No, I'd have to say that Dumb and Dumber is pretty much perfectly rated by most people.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Virum wrote:
    Also: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Really great dialogue and phenomenal acting by Roth and Oldman. Pacing lags a bit once or twice, but still way worth it.

    You my friend get a big old helping of :^:

    Top notch, and it's such a random movie almost no one's heard of it.

    werehippy on
  • JinniganJinnigan Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    B000AQKUG8.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


    I guess that is not underrated so much as old and forgotten.

    Jinnigan on
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  • Torso BoyTorso Boy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    More love for Primer, Memento and Ronin.

    Oldboy, while fairly well-liked is nowhere near well-known enough. I just got the tin special edition for Christmas, and it only reminded me of how fucking good this movie is.

    It's almost like an estranged half-brother to Seven and Fight Club. No other movie has a twist that struck me like Oldboy's- especially considering how damn hot Kang Hye-jeong is.

    Equilibrium is still a favourite, though one has to toss expectations out the window and just enjoy.

    And on old and forgotten: Casablanca is seriously a good time, as is Rififi and several other noir classics. The Criterion Collection seems kind of pretentious at first, but they actually know some good stuff.

    On that note, BRAZIL. Holy god. Great all around but I will love it forever for the amazing pre-CGI visual effects which were utterly breathtaking.



    Wait- they made a movie out of Rosencrants & Guildenstern Are Dead? *sprints to nearest video store*

    Torso Boy on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    werehippy wrote:
    Virum wrote:
    Also: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Really great dialogue and phenomenal acting by Roth and Oldman. Pacing lags a bit once or twice, but still way worth it.

    You my friend get a big old helping of :^:

    Top notch, and it's such a random movie almost no one's heard of it.

    Er.

    It's a very popular play by Tom Stoppard.

    The reason no one has heard of the Oldman/Roth film is because it's from like 1993 and was never put on DVD. It's uber-rare and was so even during its VHS period.

    But Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead is a very well-known play. It's probably my favorite non-Shakespearean play (after, ironically, Hamlet - my favorite Shakespearean play).

    Drez on
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  • KusuguttaiKusuguttai __BANNED USERS regular
    edited December 2006
    Kusuguttai wrote:
    I didn't like Death to Smoochy


    also I would like to say that Dumb and Dumber is under-rated as a comedy. It is near perfect. God I love it.

    No, I'd have to say that Dumb and Dumber is pretty much perfectly rated by most people.
    Everyone looks at me funny when I list it on my top 10 films of all time.
    Everyone

    Kusuguttai on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Torso Boy wrote:
    Wait- they made a movie out of Rosencrants & Guildenstern Are Dead? *sprints to nearest video store*

    Unless your video store carries VHS tapes from the early 90s, don't bother. :P

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  • Target PracticeTarget Practice Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    I didn't think Brick was bad, but I had a lot of trouble following the dialogue.

    It really could've used some subtitles, is what I'm saying.

    Target Practice on
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  • JinniganJinnigan Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    so what is rosencrazts and guildentstersn are dead about?

    Jinnigan on
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  • KusuguttaiKusuguttai __BANNED USERS regular
    edited December 2006
    Drez wrote:
    Torso Boy wrote:
    Wait- they made a movie out of Rosencrants & Guildenstern Are Dead? *sprints to nearest video store*

    Unless your video store carries VHS tapes from the early 90s, don't bother. :P
    Most do.

    Kusuguttai on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Drez wrote:
    werehippy wrote:
    Virum wrote:
    Also: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Really great dialogue and phenomenal acting by Roth and Oldman. Pacing lags a bit once or twice, but still way worth it.

    You my friend get a big old helping of :^:

    Top notch, and it's such a random movie almost no one's heard of it.

    Er.

    It's a very popular play by Tom Stoppard.

    The reason no one has heard of the Oldman/Roth film is because it's from like 1993 and was never put on DVD. It's uber-rare and was so even during its VHS period.

    But Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead is a very well-known play. It's probably my favorite non-Shakespearean play (after, ironically, Hamlet - my favorite Shakespearean play).

    Well, I was talking about the movie, since this is the underrated/underknown movie thread :)

    I thought there actually was a small DVD release way back when, but I could be thinking of the VHS. The movie was excellent, and if it isn't on DVD it should be.

    werehippy on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    I didn't think Brick was bad, but I had a lot of trouble following the dialogue.

    It really could've used some subtitles, is what I'm saying.

    I love Brick and I have the same problem.

    I will often go back and watch a scene again and still not understand what he's saying. The dialogue is difficult enough without the actors slurring their words and talking so quickly. They just need to enunciate more. Probably my only gripe with the movie.

    Evil Multifarious on
  • TorgoTorgo Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Poldy wrote:
    There's this Korean movie about rape/murder and detectives and waiting for DNA to get sent back from America. They get murder requests this song to be played every time he kills someone.

    The cinematography was absolutely breathtaking, and it was a very emotional movie without being the least bit cheesy. Very good.

    The English title of that movie is "Memories of a Murder"

    My favorite Korean movie, and something that didn't get as much press in Western Audiences (compared to previous work like Oldboy) is Sympathy for Lady Vengeance by Park Chan-wook.

    Torgo on
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  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Kusuguttai wrote:
    Drez wrote:
    Torso Boy wrote:
    Wait- they made a movie out of Rosencrants & Guildenstern Are Dead? *sprints to nearest video store*

    Unless your video store carries VHS tapes from the early 90s, don't bother. :P
    Most do.
    I think I'm banned from Blockbuster, so I forget how they're set up. I still have Pulp Fiction overdue from its first DVD release.

    So yeah, if you can find it at your vid rental place, grab it.

    I just got Eight Days A Week for Christmas...been wanting that for a LONG time...didn't even know it was on DVD until Sunday. That's the first (I think) movie from the director that did 100 Girls and 100 Women. Great movie, probably underrated too, come to think of it.

    Drez on
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  • VirumVirum Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Drez wrote:
    Torso Boy wrote:
    Wait- they made a movie out of Rosencrants & Guildenstern Are Dead? *sprints to nearest video store*

    Unless your video store carries VHS tapes from the early 90s, don't bother. :P
    My local blockbuster carries it on DVD.

    Edit: I own it on DVD and Amazon sells it on DVD.

    It is on DVD. Stop spreading misinformation Drez!

    Virum on
  • werehippywerehippy Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Jinnigan wrote:
    so what is rosencrazts and guildentstersn are dead about?

    It's kind of a light hearted(ish) story about Rosencratz and Guildenstern, two bit characters from Hamlet. It has a ton of little gags and running threads, not least of which is the fact the characters are so forgettable they don't remember which one of them is which. I'm sure someone can describe it better, but it's been a few years since I've seen it, and all I remember is a big heap of awesome.

    werehippy on
  • DrezDrez Registered User regular
    edited December 2006
    Jinnigan wrote:
    so what is rosencrazts and guildentstersn are dead about?

    Without spoiling, Tom Stoppard (playwright) took Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - two "backgroundish" characters in Hamlet - and gave them front billing in a play largely about existentialism? I don't know if that explains it well enough, but if you are familiar with Hamlet, it's a great play/movie to read/watch/see/act in/whatever. It's so well written, and as long as you have the right actors it's hard to direct it poorly.

    And even if you aren't familiar with Hamlet, it's a pretty cool weird little story.

    Drez on
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