Films people may not have seen but should

[schild]

Human Traffic.

[Chenghiz]

Delicatessen - French dark comedy that takes place in a post-apocalyptic apartment building. Hilarious.

[Margalis]

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.

[schild]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

[Velorath]

Jekyll & Hyde Together Again

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Crimewave (Sam Raimi movie)

[FatuousTwat]

Session 9 was interesting and nobody I knew had ever heard of it.  So far everyone I've browbeaten to watch it has liked it.

[IainC]

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Ooh good call!

I'll also add Kind Hearts and Coronets 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.

[DraconianOne]

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.

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.

[Raging Turtle]

The Station Agent. 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.

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

I'll throw in Ravenous, 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.   

[apocrypha]

This is the difficulty with this topic - what defines the criteria for a film that someone should have seen:

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? Lovely little film, very funny, I don't know many people who've seen it.

[Nevermore]

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

I am the muffin.

[Bunk]

Delicatessen - French dark comedy that takes place in a post-apocalyptic apartment building. Hilarious.

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

[Engels]

If you like british humor, try 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.

[HaemishM]

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 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. An absolutely fantastic film with a superb performance by Jimmy Stewart.

[Mrbloodworth]

Fido

[craan]

Elling was worth it for the self-publishing poetry method alone.

[Engels]

Elling was worth it for the self-publishing poetry method alone.

This was a fantastic film.

[Rishathra]

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

[HaemishM]

Fuck yes.

[schild]

Speaking of! In the Company of Men!

[Hawkbit]

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. 

[Riggswolfe]

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.

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.  

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!

[Falconeer]

13 Tzameti

Group Russian Roulette.

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

The Station Agent. 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.

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

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Possibly one of my favourite movie ever.

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

My contribute:

- Kuutamolla (Lovers & Leavers, 2002): Finnish sentimental drama with a that suomi feel. Loved it.

- Altered, from Blair Witch's Eduardo Sanchez. They can capture aliens, O RLY? Cute. Crap 'n cool.

- Regalo di Natale (Christmas Present, 1986), my favourite movie ever about poker. Brutal.

- Nid de guêpes (The Nest, 2002), Counterstrike made movie, and European.

- Drive, from Hiroyuki Tanaka, director of the Claymore anime (among many more important things). A visionary and quiet spirited night in Tokyo. Must see.

- Avalon, in 2001 Mamoru "Ghost in the Shell" Oshii dedicated one to MMORPGs. Kinda.

- Hard Candy, pre-Juno Ellen Paige and pre-30daysofnight David Slade. A kid takes up and personal with a suspected pedophile.

- Ghost World. 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, right?

[Fargull]

The Power of One 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.

[apocrypha]

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 

[Yegolev]

Going with that, how about Best in Show? Lovely little film, very funny, I don't know many people who've seen it.

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.

[rattran]

Blood and Donuts 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!"

[stray]

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

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.

[NowhereMan]

Blood and Donuts 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!"

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.

[tar]

Undead is a great and unusual Aussie zombie movie.

This reminded me of Dust Devil, 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.

[DraconianOne]

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.

[Johny Cee]

- Nid de guêpes (The Nest, 2002), Counterstrike made movie, and European.

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

[Falconeer]

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

[Abagadro]

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.

[Falconeer]

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.