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slynne
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Underappreciated Movies
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Apr 5 18:07 UTC 2004 |
Lynne's list of movies that havent gotten enough attention:
A Room With a View - Wonderful adaptation of E.M. Forester's classic
novel that examines social class and romance in turn of the century
England. Stars Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Helena Bonham Carter and
Daniel Day-Lewis in his best role ever.
Party Girl - starring Parker Posey as a club hopping woman lured into
the exciting field of library science. My friend Terry's brother is in
this, credited as one of "the it twins"
Bad Influence - Creepy movie with James Spader and Rob Lowe. It always
makes me think of my friend Michael. I wont say why.
Secretary - Speaking of James Spader. This was a very oddly charming
movie. I never would have suspected an S & M film could be so touching.
Dance Craze - ska documentary. My first introduction to ska. I love
ska. It's my party and I will ska if I want to.
Harold and Maude - Yeah it is a cult classic but it still deserves
more. It is really funny. I love the car.
Trainspotting - It will make you laugh at really horrible heroin
addiction. Not many movies can claim that. Stars Ewan McGregor
American History X- tripped out story with Edward Norton as a crazy
white supremist.
Passion Fish - I just saw this. I cant believe that I had never heard
of this movie before. It was really good.
Red Rock West - Dennis Hopper is amazing in this one. Really scary.
eep.
So what movies do you think are really good but never got the attention
they deserved?
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| 144 responses total. |
keesan
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response 1 of 144:
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Apr 5 18:27 UTC 2004 |
I also liked Pashion Fish (available from from aadl).
They also have Shall We Dance, a Japanese ballroom dancing movie, and a
Singapore spoof of Saturday Night Fever (Saturday Night Forever?) where the
characters are actually nice to each other, and the other brother is not a
priest but a closet would-be-transexual who really does not want to be a
doctor for his parents. I liked it much better than the original.
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remmers
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response 2 of 144:
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Apr 5 18:50 UTC 2004 |
I think "A Room with a View" got a decent amount of attention when it
came out, including some Academy nominations.
The only other movies on your list that I've seen are "Secretary" and
"Red Rock West". I agree with you on both.
The director of "Red Rock West", John Dahl, has made a couple of other
unjustly neglected films - "Kill Me Again" and "The Last Seduction".
They're both neo-film-noir and the latter is particularly good. It
stars Linda Fiorentino as a sociopathic femme fatale with murder on
her mind.
Get me started on unjustly neglected films and I could go on for quite
a while and probably will eventually. For now I'll close with three
films by Hal Hartley, who's been making thoughtful movies with a comic
twist since the late 1980s: "The Unbelievable Truth" (1989), "Trust"
(1990), and "Simple Men" (1992).
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rcurl
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response 3 of 144:
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Apr 5 19:02 UTC 2004 |
I saw a little bit of "Feeling Minnesota" on TV last night, and thought as
much as I saw was pretty peculiar, with a comedy slant on murder (and
whatever else was to come) involving what I might call social riff-raff.
But I'm intrigued enough to consider renting it. Has it gotten much
notice?
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dlofnep
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response 4 of 144:
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Apr 5 19:12 UTC 2004 |
Trainspotting; Under-appreciated? That movie got nothing but just deserved
praise..
As far as cheap-humour goes; I think mallrats was under-appreciated in the
cinema but was a blast on vhs.
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furs
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response 5 of 144:
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Apr 5 20:50 UTC 2004 |
slynne, do you have a copy of dance craze? I've actually never seen
the movie, but have had the soundtrack for about 15 years. I'd love to
see it.
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mcnally
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response 6 of 144:
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Apr 5 21:13 UTC 2004 |
I've never seen the movie either, despite having a fair-sized
collection of Two Tone ska.
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slynne
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response 7 of 144:
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Apr 5 21:20 UTC 2004 |
resp:5 - No. I havent seen it in years. I first saw it at the Punch and
Judy theater in Grosse Pointe when I was a teenager and I *think* I
might have rented it once since then but I am not sure. It isnt
available at netflix though so it probably hasnt been released on DVD.
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edina
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response 8 of 144:
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Apr 6 17:17 UTC 2004 |
American History X is to me one of the most profound movies about racism that
I've ever seen. Amazing acting, well written - I don't think it was that
underappreciated.
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gull
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response 9 of 144:
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Apr 6 17:39 UTC 2004 |
I think "Cable Guy" is an underrated film. It came out in the wake of
the Ace Ventura films, and a lot of people were disappointed because
it's not the same kind of zany comedy. Now that we've had films like
"The Truman Show", though, it makes a lot more sense.
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parcel
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response 10 of 144:
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Apr 6 19:01 UTC 2004 |
American History X was cheesy/tacky.
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slynne
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response 11 of 144:
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Apr 6 20:14 UTC 2004 |
resp:8 - I listed it as an underappreciated movie because I had never
heard of it until I was pawing through a former roommate's video
collection and noticed that it had Edward Norton. I asked her if it was
any good and then she made me watch it. I have asked a lot of other
people and you would be surprised at the number of people who not only
havent seen this movie, but havent even heard of it.
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richard
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response 12 of 144:
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Apr 7 03:44 UTC 2004 |
Three movies from director Gus Van Sant, IMO one of the best directors
working today--
1. ELEPHANT-- this came out last year and it doesn't seem like a lot of
people saw it. It was a movie basically about the Columbine High School
massacre with the names/locations changed. Van Sant did the
non-chronological thing where he had scenes occurring out of sequence,
which some people don't like, but I thought the moving was quite
moving/disturbing and wish more people saw it
2. DRUGSTORE COWBOY-- IMO one of the best movies of the last twenty five
years, the story of a band of drug junkies up in Seattle led by Matt
Dillon, who narrates the movie. I think this is probably the best movie
ever made about the drug culture in this country and drug addiction.
3. MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO-- This was Van Sant's followup to Drugstore
Cowboy, a story of two male hustlers living on the streets of Portlant
(Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix) and their friendship. Phoenix's
character, who suffers from narcolepsy and keeps passing out when he gets
too excited, is obsessed with finding his mother. Reeves character is a
rich high society boy who has taken to the streets because he wants to run
AWAY from his father and his heritage. One friend trying to find his
identity, and the other friend to run away with his.
These are three great movies by the same director, Gus Van Sant, and were
all box office busts because they were not commercial films. Thus a lot
of people haven't seen them. A lot more people saw two other Van Sant
films which weren't as good, Good Will Hunting and the remake of Psycho.
But I recommend these three highly.
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remmers
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response 13 of 144:
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Apr 7 13:11 UTC 2004 |
Hm, I thought that "My Private Idaho" was fairly successful. I remember
seeing it in a crowded Ann Arbor theater.
For a truly obscure, yet very interesting, Gus Van Sant film, I'd recommend
"Gerry". Two characters named Gerry, played by Matt Damon and Casey
Affleck, get lost in the desert and spend the entire film trying to find
their way out. Lots of bleak desert scenes, shot in various locations
around the world, very little dialog, very little that "happens". Yet
I found it remarkably involving and touching.
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edina
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response 14 of 144:
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Apr 7 14:43 UTC 2004 |
I personally think that "American History X" should be required viewing in
every high school in America.
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katie
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response 15 of 144:
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Apr 7 17:44 UTC 2004 |
Tank Girl; Just You and Me
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krj
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response 16 of 144:
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Apr 7 19:00 UTC 2004 |
Steve Martin's "Roxanne," a resetting of Cyrano de Bergerac in a small
New England town, with Steve Martin as the guy with the big nose and
Daryl Hannah as the object of his interest. The restaging of the
balcony scene is laugh-until-it-hurts funny.
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mcnally
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response 17 of 144:
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Apr 7 19:17 UTC 2004 |
I thought "Roxanne" was set in the west, probably among the Sierra Nevada,
possily in the Cascades.
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tod
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response 18 of 144:
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Apr 7 19:30 UTC 2004 |
This response has been erased.
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edina
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response 19 of 144:
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Apr 7 19:33 UTC 2004 |
I'd agree with both of those films.
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slynne
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response 20 of 144:
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Apr 7 21:09 UTC 2004 |
Oh yeah. I loved Roxanne. I dont think I have seen Jungle Fever.
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fitz
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response 21 of 144:
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Apr 8 09:22 UTC 2004 |
Roxanne was filmed in Nelson, B.C. It's principly a ski-resort town.
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aruba
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response 22 of 144:
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Apr 8 17:42 UTC 2004 |
I liked Roxanne a lot too. We used "Ermore sessions by sleeving" as our
Trivia name at one point.
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albaugh
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response 23 of 144:
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Apr 8 20:17 UTC 2004 |
I don't know if it is truly underappreciated or anything, but I really think
that "The Princess Bride" is a little gem.
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twenex
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response 24 of 144:
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Apr 8 20:25 UTC 2004 |
I think it is underappreciated, and it's also a little gem.
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