BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Mudlark
Date: 19 May 04 - 01:44 PM

Cuilionn..Leaving Normal is one of my fav. films, as well.

In the "Anything by..." column I would add anything by John Sayles (US) and Mile Leigh (UK)

dwditty...I've tried this myself, throat singing...it's not as easy as it sounds...lol. Heard a really good digeridoo player a few nights ago, sounded remarkably like throat singing. Ghengis Blues is a great movie, both intriguing and touching.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 04 - 02:09 PM

Cluin:

What a waste...

A

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Cluin
Date: 19 May 04 - 02:41 PM

Never saw that one, Amos.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 19 May 04 - 02:41 PM

man who came to dinner

anthony hopkins in Titus

henry V

ian mckellan as richard III

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: robomatic
Date: 19 May 04 - 07:50 PM

RangerSteve - Thank You for the correction.

another good ol' black and white that my father watched everytime it came on - Inherit the Wind fictional flick based on the Scopes Monkey Trial of the 20's. Gene Kelly playing the H.L. Mencken character with a smart mouth and no dancing.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Cluin
Date: 19 May 04 - 08:34 PM

Spencer Tracy's best role was in that one, I thought, robomatic.

I liked "A Simple Plan" with Billy Bob Thorton and Bill Paxton.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 19 May 04 - 08:47 PM

Darn! I nearly got to the bottom of the posts, and no one had mentioned two of my favourites -- King of Hearts and Baghdad Cafe. Then they were both listed -- so glad someone else liked them.
Try to rent an old 60s film called "Cat Ballou" just for Lee Marvin's character. He won an Oscar, and deserved it -- one of the funniest performances I've ever seen. We rented it last week, and after 40 years it was still hilarious.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Peter T.
Date: 20 May 04 - 08:23 AM

A couple of old films that you might never have seen:

The Blue Dahlia (Alan Ladd on his soapbox); and

Leave Him To Heaven (Gene Tierney, cute overbite and all).

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: MAG
Date: 20 May 04 - 11:19 AM

er, isn't that *Leave HER to Heaven* ???

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 May 04 - 11:38 AM

Sullivan's Travels (and Joel McCrea didn't need to stand on a box to court Veronica Lake!)

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: HuwG
Date: 20 May 04 - 06:59 PM

Doctor Syn Made in 1937, starred George Arliss in his last film role and Margaret Lockwood in her first.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: CarolC
Date: 20 May 04 - 07:28 PM

Mark, thanks for the heads up about "Bliss". I'll have to check it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,Bernie
Date: 20 May 04 - 09:09 PM

Two from about thirty years ago,only saw them once,never saw or heard of them again,even on TV......what's worse,never known another person who's ever seen them......"The Rain People"..Shirley Knight is a young housewife on the verge of a mental breakdown....leaves her husband and kids in the middle of the night and drives off looking for "something"..picks up a young hitchiker[James Caan]who's a brain-damaged ex-college football player going nowhere......over the course of two days,he gradually becomes dependent on her and she,understandably,panics and tries to dump him....life is further complicated by a crooked Motorcycle cop[Robert DuVal]who gives her a traffic ticket and tries to lure her into a one-night stand in his shabby trailer-home.......first film[I think]by Francis Ford Coppola.....other is "I never sang for my Father"..Gene Hackman plays a divorced businessman who meets a woman physician,falls in love,and decides to start anew with her on the west coast........complicated by his reluctance to leave his aging parents,who are dealing with the onset of Alzheimers in Hackman's father,a once-powerful,domineering corporation president who won't accept his situation and is determined to fight any attempt by his son to break free,or even to remain and help him cope.....the mother[don't recall the actres]is rather sad and passive,the father is Melvyn Douglas,great in what may have been his last role.....sorry to be so wordy,but I found the acting to be understated and believeable,two small stories about real people..........

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: SINSULL
Date: 20 May 04 - 10:13 PM

Secondhand Lions - strange and funny
The Uninvited with Ray Milland. I always loved the ditzy psychic.
I Know Where I'm Going is an absolute all time favorite. The whirlpool, the ceiling, wishing up the wind, the curse...SIGH

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JennyO
Date: 20 May 04 - 11:51 PM

Reading Tony Randall's obit jogged my memory about another of my favourite movies which nobody else ever seems to mention - "The Seven Faces of Dr Lao".

Did anyone see him playing multiple roles in this movie? Most unusual - one that really makes you think.

This quote, which has always stayed with me:

Mike, let me tell you something. The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it. The way the sun goes down when you're tired, comes up when you want to be on the move. That's real magic. The way a leaf grows. The song of the birds. The way the desert looks at night, with the moon embracing it. Oh, my boy, that's... that's circus enough for anyone. Every time you watch a rainbow and feel wonder in your heart. Every time you pick up a handful of dust, and see not the dust, but a mystery, a marvel, there in your hand. Every time you stop and think, "I'm alive, and being alive is fantastic!" Every time such a thing happens, you're part of the Circus of Dr. Lao.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Sam L
Date: 21 May 04 - 10:17 AM

I saw Tim, Ellenpolly. My favorite scene is when he explains the literary conceit of the Wind In The Willows. It has animals that can talk, like people! So sweet and boyish.

You want obscure? The single existing video of my wife's production of My Emperor's New Clothes, by Larry Shue.

Aurora, from the W.C. Williams story The Witch. To see it properly you need to see the version translated and dubbed through 3 or 4 languages with it's strange off-set underwater quality. I saw it as a kid late one night. The short-story did nothing for me, but the messed-up production values gave it a weird power.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: beadie
Date: 21 May 04 - 03:23 PM

One of my faves has always been * In G.O.D. we Tru$t *.

Marty Feldman as a Trappist monk sent into LA to find help for the monastery in raising money. Who better to assist in this worthy cause than a TV evangelist known for his skills in charming the faithful out of their cash who goes by the name of the Rev. Armageddon T. Thunderbird (Andy Kaufmann in a wicked sendup of TV preachers everywhere). It seems that the rev speaks directly to G.O.D. (actually, the General Operating Director, a computer voiced by Richard Pryor).

In his travels, Feldman encounters the obligatory good-hearted hooker (Louise Lasser) and another, more itinerant, preacher (Peter Boyle) who rails against the religious establishment.

I'm not entirely certain why, but I don't think that this film has ever made it into the mainstream video rental market. I have seen individual copies offered for sale on the internet, but never in stores.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 May 04 - 07:43 PM

I loved all of these, but it's getting harder and harder to find stuff like this at Blockbuster:

American Beauty
Anything directed by Stanley Kubrick starting with Lolita.
Apostle – Robert Duvall
Barfly – Mickey Rourke.
Blood Simple – Early Coen brothers.
Boogie Nights
Clean and Sober – Michael Keaton
Cookie's Fortune
Eating Raoul
Fabulous Baker Boys – Jeff and Beau Bridges.
Grand Canyon
Gummo – but I advise caution. This isn't for everyone. Some people will hate it.
Jackie Brown
Last Seduction
Little Voice
Opposite of Sex
Runaway Train
Six Degrees of Separation
Trees Lounge – Steve Buscemi
Twenty Bucks – an ensemble cast, but it has a few famous actors in small roles

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 21 May 04 - 07:59 PM

A long thread---just glanced. Did anyhone mention the wonderful British Film from about 195?---Private's Progress? Best line to me in it---Private does not want to get out of bed ---Seargent ask him what his problem is---" I am feeling a bit fragile today". What follows is hilarious. Also--another British entry---The French They Are A Funny Race---and never forget I'm Alright Jack.

On the U S side I doubt people have not heard of the classics like Shane, Best Years of Our Lives, and Death of A Salesman. And, recently, House of Sand and Fog---the award people really don't see quality when it is given to them on a silver platter.

There is one film, however, that is recent that, I think, one should forget about---the critics raved about it and it never showed up in any theaters. I finally rented it---now I know why it never appeared anywhere---this study in obscure crap is called Northfork.   Perhaps someone can tell me that this mish mash was all about---it ranks along with Ishtar and other bombs

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Amergin
Date: 21 May 04 - 08:10 PM

the boondock saints is a pretty good one.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JennyO
Date: 22 May 04 - 02:57 AM

Speaking of old British films, anyone mention "The Lavender Hill Mob" yet - with Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway and Sid James!

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 22 May 04 - 03:26 AM

Chelsea Walls

...is an amzing work on the hotel in New York City--the Chelsea Hotel---those that inhabit it now and the ghosts of the greats and not-so-great from the past---famous--infamous--criminal--perverse and brilliant. Big and little dreams.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 May 04 - 04:46 PM

pdc: "He missed the barn!!!"
Bernie: I saw "I Never Sang For My Father" when it came out, but I don't think I appreciated it. I'll look for it again...thanks!

Aloha,
Mark

PS, not exactly obscure, but one of my all-time favorites is "Trading Places," with Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd. A bonus for me is that it was filmed in Philadelphia, much of it in Rittenhouse Square, the neighborhood where I lived when I was a resident. One of buildings whose facade is used in the film is the Curtiss Institute of Music. (There, I knew I could make this a musical thread!)

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Amergin
Date: 23 May 04 - 01:28 AM

last night is a good one....the end of the world is coming at midnight and it shows how people cope...it never tells you why it is ending...but i figured something like supernova...

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,MAG still in lab
Date: 23 May 04 - 05:05 PM

... and missing the Norma interview; sob!

I actually think *Ishtar* got a bad rap.

The 2 leads could have shown more affection for their schlock-guy characters.

Go back and see the political satire again and see what I mean. I thought the black market arms auction was a scream.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: fretless
Date: 24 May 04 - 03:16 PM

Two more under-noted comedies:

"Water" - Set to the backdrop of the Carribean islands with a fine reggae score. Billy Connolly and Michael Caine star, reggae legend Eddy Grant provides the soundtrack. Outrageously funny.

"Whisky Galore" (a.k.a. "Tight Little Island" which is the U.S. title) - One of the funniest movies ever made. Inhabitants of Outer Hebrides attempt to salvage cargo of booze to backdrop of wartime rationing, Sabbath observance, etc.

Amazon has Water on VHS; Whisky is not, as far as I know, available currently in the U.S. (alas!).
....................
JennyO: if you haven't yet seen the print version of Circus of Dr. Lao, will Boris Artzybasheff's drawings, you're in for a treat.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Micca
Date: 24 May 04 - 06:24 PM

Fretless, if you liked the Film, try and Find the Book " Whiskey galore" by Compton Mackenzie it is even Funnier than the film!!

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JennyO
Date: 25 May 04 - 08:35 AM

No, fretless, I haven't seen it. Wonder where I could get it?

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: fretless
Date: 27 May 04 - 01:20 PM

Thanks, Micca. I didn't know Whisky originated as a book. Amazon reports that a new edition is coming out later this year.

JennyO: The Circus of Dr. Lao is in print (University of Nebraska Press) but I don't know if their edition has the Artzybasheff illustrations. Amazon lists it for under $11. Interestingly, neither of my public libraries has a copy.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: dwditty
Date: 27 May 04 - 02:52 PM

Ahh, MAG...so nice to finally find another person who liked Ishtar!

dw

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 04 - 10:37 PM

I have a tape with a film that my mother loved. I haven't watched it, but I'll dig it out this weekend. It was Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr in Vacation from Marriage and Mom always thought it was marvelous. It had to do with a couple who were in a rather boring marriage, but after they'd both been away for a while doing interesting things during the war they found a new interest in each other. I must have taped it off of one of the cable channels, but I haven't seen it turn up again. I guess it is obscure!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: alison
Date: 28 May 04 - 02:13 AM

put me down as a 3rd for "Local Hero" - fantastic movie

"the secret of Roan Inish"

and as for great British ones

The Happiest Days of your life - Alastair Sim & Margaret Rutherford, as head master & head mistress of separate boarding schools whose schools get mixed up.

"Geordie" - Bill Travers & Alastair Sim again

wasn't there an "Abbot & Costello" called "Happiest days of their lives too? about a ghost and treasure map inside a clock or well??? Not a big fan of A&C but it wasn't bad


slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Micca
Date: 28 May 04 - 03:26 AM

Fretless, actually "Whiskey Galore" is part of a series of books about the fictitious island of Todday (based on the Island of Barra and other outer Hebrides) where Mackenzie lived during WW2 and his experiences with the Home Guard, if I recall correctly the first book(als now VERY rare) is called "keep the Home Guard turning" then Whiskey Galore and then the 3rd book is "Rockets Galore" about the setting up of a Rocket range in the Hebrides. The islands and its characters appears in other Mackenzie tales too, especially the ones about the Laird Ben Nevis on which the "Monarch of the Glen" TV series is (very)loosly based, They are a damned good read!! if you can find them

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 28 May 04 - 04:14 AM

Also, the old black and white version of " A Midsummer Night's Dream" with an amazing cast, including Mickey Rooney as Puck!

And the original "Goodbye Mr Chips" with Robert Donat.

And "Prisoner of Zenda" with Ronald Colman.

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: cetmst
Date: 28 May 04 - 07:38 AM

Charles Laughton's only venture into directing "Night of the Hunter" with Robert Mitchum as one of the most quietly menacing villains I've seen, a comforting performance by Lillian Gish and the old housewife's classic line "I just lay there and think about my canning"; "Farenheit 451", "Destry Rides Again" with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich, "The Lady's Not For Burning". Agree that "Tight Little Island" is one of the funniest.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: fretless
Date: 28 May 04 - 09:39 AM

Thank you, Micca. And thank goodness for interlibrary loan!

Agree with Alison about Roan Inish. And as long as we're doing western islands of the North Atlantic don't forget The Wicker Man, although its semi-cult status perhaps precludes the "never heard of" requirements of this thread.