f13.net

So to balance the awful movies thread, here's a thread where people post great films that may have slipped under the radar. This is not a 'my favourite movie' thread but a 'I think more people should watch this' thread. I have a feeling it's going to devolve into tentacle cartoons but we'll see.

Anyhow, here's my opener:

Man Bites Dog (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/)

Ultra low budget Belgian film shot in black and white (because they got the film for free). A darker than dark mockumentary about a serial killer. In French with subtitles and enormously funny.

Nice idea :)  I've been told that Man Bites Dog rocks, many times, for many years, but never yet got around to seeing it. I shall rectify that.

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/) is one of my odd favourites. A touch of schlock werewolf movie with some great atmosphere.

I love this film. The second time I saw it in the cinema, I went with a friend and we were both tripping (which meant that I saw the last ten minutes of a black and white film in colour).  We were in absolute hysterics all the way through.  Anyway...

Also, "Dead Baby Boys" is one of the best drinking games bar none.


And Monica Belluci.

The Big Hit :awesome_for_real:

Why is this in the movies forum? :|

Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (released here as Miracles) - Probably Jackie Chan's best movie.

Tampopo - Just freaking amazing.

Kikujiro - Maybe my favorite Takeshi "Beat" Kitano flick.

Survive Style +5 - It's best, imo, to just watch it. Enjoy it for all it's worth, you can only see it for the "first time" once.

In Bruges - There's a thread about it, but I figured I should just bring it up again.

The Fall - Maybe the most beautiful movie I've ever seen along with...

Sukiyaki Western Django - Tale of the Genji meets A Fistful of Dollars meets Django meets a tolerable Tarantino. Fucking amazing.

Batman Returns - watch it in succession after watching Metropolis, Caligari and Nosferatu. You'll appreciate it a whole lot fucking more. If you don't, you're ten flavors of broken.

Edit: And back to Gen Disc with ye!

Drunken Master 2

Run, Lola, Run. (Lola rennt)  Possibly my favourite film ever.  Even I fell in love with Franka Potente.  I also loved Man Bites Dog. 

Primer (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/)
Indy flick about time travel; excellent movie.


Run Lola Run is a great movie; probably the only thing I enjoyed in High School german class.

I had a feeling that one would show up here. I was living in Paris when it was came out and it was a major release in Europe. I guess it was too foreign to go to general release in the US though.

Roger Dodger - Some of the best dialogue

Wasabi - Written by Luc Besson and starring Jean Reno in Japan, great silly over the top action.

I love that movie!  :heart:

It got a wide enough release here. Wide enough to be shown at my college theater and 2 other local theaters (that weren't art houses) and that was just in College Park / Silver Spring, MD.

I praise the shit out of that move. The topic title implies "obscure" though, so I tried to avoid things like Brotherhood and Run Lola Run, but my idea of obscure is pretty fucked compared to most. Though I did list Batman Returns, sort of.

13 Tzameti (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475169/)

Group Russian Roulette.

Skip the first 20min or so.

I second this. Excellent movie, particularly if you like time travel paradoxes. It is -the- movie about time paradoxes. Makes the Terminator series seem like a sesame street 'The Count' skit compared to say, calculus.

My input is The Nameless (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222368/). A psychological creepfest about abducted children.

I've watched Man Bites Dog many times. Most people I know can't finish it... they take it seriously. I think it's a great comedy.

Same goes for that other Dogme flick, the Idiots. Talk about going full retard...

Actually just bought the 3 disc version of Brotherhood of the Wolf on the weekend (for $15!). Always enjoyed that movie. Also a big fan of Run, Lola Run.

I tend to like odd movies, so my advice in this thread must be taken with care. Gingersnaps 1,2,and 3 for example. Those were hard to find on dvd, but I did. I'm also a big fan of Josie and the Pussycats, so, yea.

Dog Soldiers, though I think most people here have seen it.

La Femme Nikita, rather than the horrible American remake.

I thought of that one too.  Much better than the American version.

Does it?

My first thought when I saw the title was "Lawrence of Arabia" because I'm constantly surprised by how many people haven't seen it. (Obviously it's best seeing it in the theatre on a 70mm print but still).  It's a glorious film that defines the word "epic".  Similarly classics like Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot and All About Eve are films that are worth watching but many people haven't because, gasp!, they're black and white  :ye_gods:  I could come up with a lengthy list of old films that people should see but I don't think of any of them as particularly obscure.

The rest of this thread reads like the contents of my dvd library though.  Apart from your post which has at least two films I haven't seen.

There's a TON of old films most folks haven't seen.  My mom was a big fan of The Thin Man movies, and those were good. The only reason I saw them was she liked them. (Black & white? eww.)  You can put The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra right there next to films most folks under 40 haven't seen, but were spectacular and should be seen.  All old media fades away.

In fact, the old films are what I've started dropping on my Neftlix to check out, and advise more folks do it.  Just ran through Kurosawa's big ones and I loved Ran.  I never would have seen it otherwise, though.

I like a movie called Welcome to Woop Woop (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120491/).

I think people under 40 don't appreciate the older films because a) black and white and b) acting styles were VERY different.  If you look at the performances in the 40's and 50's that won academy awards and compare them to the work of today, you'd wonder how the "greats" were ever considered great. 

I can list piles of older movies that I find fantastic, but I'm sure most of you would mock me for it. 

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/

I watched Night of the Hunter recently (1955). That movie was way more intense than I expected it to be. When I was a kid, I used to watch a lot more older flicks than I do now, just becuase the Disney channel was always showing those.

I third the recommendations on Primer. That movie is seventeen flavors of awesome and intellectual.

I'd also recommend Tampopo. I saw it over a decade ago on Bravo (back when they weren't the gay and rich people's reality show lifestyle channel) and thought it was a really quirky, cool movie.

Alpha Dog (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426883/) and Southland Tales (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405336/) - don't let the fact that Justin Timberlake are in these movies throw you. He can act and these are both good movies. Southland Tales is like a cyberpunk mixture of Donnie Darko and Total Recall.

I liked Alpha Dog better when it was Bully. But I agree, Timberlake doesn't ruin it or anything.

I agree when it comes to Hitchcock, Kurosawa and a few other directors - who could get great performances out of total dead wood. But there was just as much shit back then as there is now. Ratio is about the same I'd say.

Speaking of Hitchcock, I remember years ago watching Rope.  While not a great movie, it was very interesting the way it was filmed.  Hitchcock wanted the movie to have the illusion of being shot in one long, continuous take.

The Station Agent (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340377/). A slow kinda movie about a dwarf (as in, very short person) who moves into an old train station he inherits from a friend and how he befriends the colourful locals.

The Night Caller (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059504/). A really old black and white British sci -fi film. Not brilliant and some bits are unintentionally hilarious, but it has a real sense of atmosphere and menace through out

Sweet Smell of Success, a 1957 noir starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis.

Dialogue so sharp you could cut yourself on it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77uqGZPUPw).

A brief comment on older movies:

It's not the black and white that turns me off, it's the mono sound. It rips me out of the movie. That said I own Casablanca on DVD because it's just that good.

Gamera, Guardian of the Universe.

One of the best giant monster movies out there.  Maybe only slightly under the original Gojira.

I know people will drop dead at this, but here's another one - Priest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110889/).

Its a film about a homosexual priest struggling with serious issues and his own alignment in an inner city parish. It is moving and extremely powerful. While forgotten by the press (who realized when they actually watched it that it was not actually attacking the Church like they wanted to to be) it is a powerful drama and the performances are just wonderful. It explored some issues that needed to be talked about and shows the good and the bad. The Scenes with the Eucharist are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It does not shy about showing the bad with the church but does not shy about showing the good either, which is a very rare mix. In the same way, it does not hold back on the homosexuals either. All in all its a film that shows people making serious mistakes, struggling with serious issues (including child sexual abuse), and moral dilemma's that you could really see happening. It is moving and powerful and comes highly recommended.

Session 9 (http://"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261983/") was interesting and nobody I knew had ever heard of it.  So far everyone I've browbeaten to watch it has liked it.

Human Traffic.

Delicatessen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101700/) - French dark comedy that takes place in a post-apocalyptic apartment building. Hilarious.

I'll second Delicatessen, Session 9 and Primer.

Funny story: Late one night some friends and I were walking past an abandoned school building. It was really creepy. There was a single light on shining down a hallway and at the end of a hallway was a chair kind of turned askew. I thought to myself "wow, that looks just like the creepy wheelchair scene from Session 9." Then 5 seconds later my friend says "wow that's look just like that wheelchair scene from Session 9."

Keep in mind that we had not watched the movie recently or together, I didn't even know my friend had ever seen it. Says something about the lasting imagery. A very atmospheric movie.

This movie is not terribly obscure but I'll throw it out there: Starman. The whole movie has phenomenal acting and the final scene is amazing, when I was watching it the other night I put it on pause and just looked at a still frame for about a minute. (The shot of Karen Allen's face against the weird red/blue lighting) The widescreen version is apparently hard to find but like all superwide movies you really have to watch it in the original aspect ratio.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Jekyll & Hyde Together Again

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Crimewave (Sam Raimi movie)

(http://dl-client.getdropbox.com/u/99701/fuck%20you.gif)

Ooh good call!

I'll also add Kind Hearts and Coronets (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041546/) to the list of great old black and white films that was brought up earlier. Alec Guinness plays 8 different roles in one of the best darkly comic films ever made.

I don't really know what to say about this. It's like saying that you don't like paintings by Renoir because he didn't use an airbrush.  What about silent classics like "Metropolis" or "Cabinet of Dr Caligari" - Chaplin masterpieces like "The Great Dictator", "City Lights" or "Modern Times".  "All Quiet On The Western Front" is without doubt one of the best films about the horrors of war ever and is pretty much as relevant now as it was in 1930 but it was made on the cusp of the advent of talking pictures.  Pretty much all of Hitchcock's films didn't originally have stereo audio tracks although a lot of them have been remastered to do so now.

This is the difficulty with this topic - what defines the criteria for a film that someone should have seen: just because it's entertaining or because it's worthy and historical? The Jazz Singer (Al Jolson 1927 version rather than Neil Diamond 1980 version) is important as being the first generally released film to have spoken dialogue but it's not a great film and it's a little dull.  Citizen Kane is a landmark film because of the way it approached cinematic and narrative techniques.  It's difficult for us to appreciate this now because its innovations are pretty much commonplace in films these days so it has less - if any - impact on us.  King Kong was the first film to have a musical score especially written for it as well as just being a great film for other reasons.

But as I'm sure my quest to educate is going to fail hard then some films that might be considered obscure and entertaining:

The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman) - very disturbing film from the bloke who brought you a chess-playing Death.
Spoorloos (The Vanishing) - fantastic film but don't ever watch the poor American remake.
Les Jeux Interdits - a beautiful and moving film about WW2 that's old, in B&W and in French
The Bicycle Thieves -  a beautiful and moving film about post-WW2 that's old, in B&W and in Italian
Alice - 1988 animated version of Alice in Wonderland by surreallist Jan Svankmajer
The Changeling - Peter Medak's 1980 film with George C. Scott in lead role. One of my favourte horror films. The scene with the ball has always creeped me out.
Cohen and Tate - great road movie with Roy Scheider and Adam Baldwin and written/directed by Eric Red right after he'd written The Hitcher and Near Dark.

Great great movie.  But yes, it takes its time.

I'll throw in Ravenous (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129332/), a horror-ish movie about cannibalism in a small military base in the Rockies in the mid 1800s.  Very little gore, as this was before Saw and Hostel changed common perceptions of what horror is. 

Guy Pearce and especially Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty) are fantastic in it. Also, the musical score is mainly banjos.   :awesome_for_real:

How about: films that you have really enjoyed, that you suspect other people might not have seen. Easy to apply criteria, gives plenty of scope for a decent exchange of films.

Going with that, how about Best in Show (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218839/)? Lovely little film, very funny, I don't know many people who've seen it.

I am the muffin.

One of my favorite foreign films. Was actually what I was looking for when I picked up Brotherhood of the Wolf the other day.

If you like british humor, try Withnail and I (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Withnail_and_I). Its about two out of work actors from the upper class who decide that they need a vacation in very very rural england. Hilarity ensues.

I'll second Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as a great way to end the series and explain the ending of the series (though the explanation is about 15 seconds and is easily missed). Loved it.

As for little seen but great films, Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035015/) is one of those. Citizen Kane is a fantastic film but Ambersons (his next film after Kane) was almost as good. He really was a fantastic director.

Another classic that should be seen by all, especially Donnie Darko fans, is Harvey (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042546/). An absolutely fantastic film with a superb performance by Jimmy Stewart.

Fido (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457572/)

Elling (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279064/) was worth it for the self-publishing poetry method alone.

This was a fantastic film.

Thank You For Smoking.  I don't care if you hate Aaron Eckhart, you will love him after watching this.

Fuck yes.

Speaking of! In the Company of Men!

Mine -  Pootie Tang.  Watch it about five times, it gets a lot funnier after a few viewings. 

------------------

Giving a nod to Spoorloos.  Scary shit.  The concept of 'If quantifiable amounts, I have done so much good, can I do as much evil?' is just about scary as fuck. 

Fire Walk With Me... the music from the club scene still gets me every time.  The tension from the noise and odd conversation is awesomely. 

Best in Show is great.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is another awesome flick. 

Don't watch Southland Tales without reading the graphic novel prequel.  Things make a little more sense after reading it.  Neither are outstanding pieces of work, but grab me regardless. 

That has to be the most retarded comparision I've ever seen. To me mono sound "flattens" the entire movie and it loses the immersion that I enjoy with movies. Sadly all the movies I would mention, both old, and otherwise overlooked have already been mentioned by someone else. That leaves me with shitty 80s movies I have a fondness for but can't be called good by most criteria. Movies like My Bodyguard with a very young Adam Baldwin and Matt Dillon and Night of the Comet. I'd also toss out Creator with Peter O'toole though I think that's a '90s movie.

I'll have to think of other "obscure" movies that people might actually enjoy. Damn you guys for mentioning Fido already!

Loved it. Great one. I heard a remake with US money is in the making.


Loved that too. But I dare to say it's not a f13 movie at all (how snob am I?  :grin: kid kid..)


Possibly one of my favourite movie ever.

Also, Primer is that cool. Loved it, and love to hate who hated it.

My contribute:

- Kuutamolla (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307076/) (Lovers & Leavers, 2002): Finnish sentimental drama with a that suomi feel. Loved it.

- Altered (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457275/), from Blair Witch's Eduardo Sanchez. They can capture aliens, O RLY? Cute. Crap 'n cool.

- Regalo di Natale (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091837/) (Christmas Present, 1986), my favourite movie ever about poker. Brutal.

- Nid de guêpes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280990/) (The Nest, 2002), Counterstrike made movie, and European.

- Drive (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0297865/), from Hiroyuki Tanaka, director of the Claymore anime (among many more important things). A visionary and quiet spirited night in Tokyo. Must see.

- Avalon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267287/), in 2001 Mamoru "Ghost in the Shell" Oshii dedicated one to MMORPGs. Kinda.

- Hard Candy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424136/), pre-Juno Ellen Paige and pre-30daysofnight David Slade. A kid takes up and personal with a suspected pedophile.

- Ghost World (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162346/). Love. Period. Plus Scarlett, Thora and Steve.

There are so many, really. I just tried to stay clear from the big names. So I'll stop (for now). But you could go on and on for days, and that's the fun part.

Oh, did you all see Equilibrium (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/), right?

The Power of One (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105159/) well, damn near any movie with Morgan Freeman, but this one I did not know about and hit me as a suprise.

Probably tough to find for rent, but one of the best horror films I have seen is Scarecrows (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096046/).

Can I just say that for someone who has to spend most of his time lying down at the moment and is struggling for entertainment that this thread is a total fucking goldmine. I've completely re-done my Lovefilm.com list.

What with the TV threads too I think f13 has given me more entertainment over the last 3 months than anything else! Thanks  :awesome_for_real:

I liked it a lot.  Fred Fucking Willard.

I'll toss out a couple: Old Boy and Undead.  I posted about Old Boy in the Movie thread.  Undead is a great and unusual Aussie zombie movie.

Blood and Donuts  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112527/) One of the best vampire films ever. And one of the few films to star a Donut Shop in a starring role to be released outside of Canadia.

An yes, Withnail and I is a great cult film. "You've been holding out on me! You've got antifreeze!"

Really though, who hates Aaron Eckhart?  :?



Anyways, I'm just going to say most David Mamet movies. Glengarry, Spartan, the Heist, House of Games. If you haven't seen them, then you should.

Heh, that is one of the most quotable films in the world. I think we've gone through most of best ones in the movie quote thread but "We've gone on holiday by accident," is one of my favourite lines ever.

This reminded me of Dust Devil (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104155/), a low-key supernatural horror set in africa. It's been a while since I saw if, but it's stayed with me (which is unusual) and no-one I've mentioned it to has ever heard of it.

Dust Devil is a very strange film and one I haven't seen in a number of years.  I can't remember whether I enjoyed it or not but it's definitely a mind-fuck of a movie.

I prefer Hardware which is Richard Stanley (director's) previous film. It's a post-apocalyptic film about a robot running haywire and stars Dylan McDermott, Stacey Travis and poor old William Hootkins. It also has cameos by Carl McCoy (Fields of the Nephilim), Lemmy and features Iggy Pop as the DJ "Angry Bob".   It's next to impossible to get it on DVD though but Richard Stanley has said on his MySpace page that there should be a release forthcoming finally.  It's probably not that good in retrospect but I love it.

The Nest has been on the movie channels a bit.  Good actioner.  It's basically a remake of Assault on Precinct 13, though, right?

Well, there's a siege and lots of guns. But I wouldn't say it's a remake.

If you are of a certain mindset, Straight to Hell is a great 80s, punk infused, Alex Cox mess that is pretty fun to watch. Great cast of musicians (Joe Strummer, Dick Rude, Zander Schloss, Shane MacGowen (in fact, the entire lineup of The Pogues), Elvis Costello) plus random weirdos like Sy Richardson, Jim Jarmusch, Dennis Hopper, Courtney Love, Grace Jones.

Any movie with coffee-addicted, Scottish Banditos and Karl's Disco Wieners needs to be seen.

Alex Cox is the god of an alternate universe. I love him. Repo Man being one of my favourite movies ever. Straight to Hell and even Walker are rough, alien, rare gems.

Because Stray was commending David Bowie in The Prestige thread, it reminded me to add "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" to this one.

David Bowie, Tom Conti, Takeshi Kitano and Ryuichi Sakamoto in the second best film about life in a Japanese POW camp in WW2.

I didn't like Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.  It tried too hard or something.  It was sappy.  I don't know.  I got forced mushy vibes from it or something.  The music, however, was brilliant.

Hmm, was going to toss out 12 Angry Men (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050083/), but then noticed it was #10 on IMDB top 250.  I guess that's hardly obscure.

Oh well.  Go watch it if by some miracle you haven't heard of it.

The Inner Circle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103838/) & Citizen X (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112681/)

edit: also Louis 19, le roi des ondes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110390/), the french movie edTV was based on is all kinds of hilarious.

I'm finding a lot of people who have not seen Bullworth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118798/). Solid performance by Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, and Oliver Platt.

Also, I have to agree with the comment of "who hates Aaron Eckhardt". That guy is fucking great

Just watched this. Very confused. Need to watch again, possibly several times, whilst taking notes  :uhrr:

Reminded me of Pi for some reason. I *think* it's awesome, but I freely admit to not understanding it yet.

You are on the right path then. Pretty much impossible to understand it completely on the first try. Watch it one more time before googling spoilers.

I'd also recommend a documentary called Flag Wars.  It's not a terrible movie, and has to do with gentrification in the area of Columbus, Ohio that I work in.  It's kinda strange seeing the people I work with every day in a movie. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Wars

The Falls from Peter Greenaway. If you haven't seen it or know nothing about it, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT READING DESCRIPTIONS.

I think I recommend this like 5 times a year.

Edit: Removed link, description was evil.

Primer is just fantastic.

So I Married an Axe Murderer
The Five Deadly Venoms

Not watched a Peter Greenaway film for years. That's gone right on the list. I loved Drowning By Numbers and Prospero's Books - probably 2 of the most visually rich films I've ever seen.

Watched Primer for a 2nd time last night and it started to make sense. Gonna need a 3rd viewing because I think I need to work out which of the 2 guys is which.

I watched it and paused and rewinded to check on things the first time. The first switch, I'm fairly sure, happens before the second guy goes in. Anyway, basically, in short, the script is all over the place. Primer was truly fantastic, but honestly, it's a causal nightmare.

Speaking of Greenaway, don't miss The Draughtsman Contract (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083851/).
Total Masterpiece and divine original soundtrack.

That is indeed an awesome film. As is A Zed And Two Noughts (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090366/), again by Greenaway.

ps. Zed = Zee for Americans  :why_so_serious: