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

Subject: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JenEllen
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:01 PM

I've been spending a lot of time lately in "Rest Mode" and as a by-product have been watching a lot of movies. I've never been a big fan of the Hollywood Blockbuster type of thing, and so I've found myself picking through a lot of movies that I'd never even heard about. I've found a few gems, and was wondering if anyone else had similar experiences, or had a few to add to the "must rent" pot?

"Best Supporting Musical Instrument" goes to the piano in a movie I found last week called The Legend of 1900. The main character is a musical prodigy named Nineteen Hundred who was born on a cruise ship never sets foot on dry land. Interesting story, and done really well, but the piano? There is a lovely scene where Nineteen cures a fellow bandmate's sea-sickness by sitting them both on the bench, taking the brakes off the piano wheels, and playing a waltz as the piano rolls around the ballroom to the swells of the ocean. Really cute. There is also a piano-duel with Nineteen and JellyRoll Morton that is sublime. I'd never heard a word about it before, but am glad I found it.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:08 PM

there is a fantastic movie about the anzacs called gallipoli....it has a very young mel gibson in it....personally i like him when he was younger better than i do when he was older...

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:09 PM

oh and check out a movie called Shadow Magic...it is about the first movie cameras in china...

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Sam L
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:14 PM

the stone boy. tommorow. both with Robert Duval.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:24 PM

Fitzcarraldo, Whistle Down The Wind, Dead Of Night, The Little Kidnappers, The Little Fugitive... all fascinating and most not well known. And all available on video or DVD, except maybe Dead Of Night and Whistle Down The Wind.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:26 PM

saving ryan's privates

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: MAG
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:35 PM

Do you want up or down? *Danile* is great but makes a lot more sense if you can follow all the inside stuff about the Communist Party. and it is mostly a downer until the very end. (from Doctorow's *Book of Daniel.*)

*Truly Madly Deeply* starts off as a major downer but gets wickedly funny.

those old British comedies like *Man in the White Suit* are a scream. Especially if you like it dry.

For pure escape, even if you don't like Hollywood blockbuster, the entire Star Wars trilogy.

Danny Kaye's *Court Jester.* actually, anything by Danny Kaye.

the rental places should have all of these under"vintage."

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,Larry K
Date: 17 May 04 - 03:40 PM

A great movie that is not well known is "Donicick and Eugene".   I think it stars Tom Hulce, but I could be wrong.   Starts slow, but hang with it.    Incredibly powerful by the end.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 04 - 04:38 PM

amelie is a good one too

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Mudlark
Date: 17 May 04 - 04:49 PM

Down by Law, Palookaville, Winter Guest, Round Midnight, Red Violin, The Sweet Life, Little Voice, Ghengis Blues, The Usual Suspects...these are my favorite movies, and memory being what it is these days, there are lots more, but I can't remember names...like the one where the chiropodist and his social climbing wife nab a pig, anything with Denholm Elliot, Withnail and I...Mr. Hulot's Holiday and Mon Uncle....

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Micca
Date: 17 May 04 - 05:08 PM

Mudlark, I think the one you mean about the pig is called "A Private function"

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 17 May 04 - 06:11 PM

A wonderful movie that I had never heard of was "The Red Violin". Another that my daugter rented that I thoroughly enjoyed was "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (based on the painting by Vermeer). I heartily recommend both.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 04 - 06:19 PM

Let's make it three references to the Red Violin.

Also, "The Man Who Wasn't There", with Billy Bob Thornton, directed by the Coen Brothers, in the tradition of the best film noir of the 30's and 40's, in black and white. I have no idea why this one didn't get into mainstream theaters, except for the fact that it was in B&W. Thornton is one of the best actors around.

Just a thought, but for those of us who hate using French phrases, (they sound too pompous), what's a good alternative for "film noir"?

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Mudlark
Date: 17 May 04 - 06:50 PM

Thanks, Micca...it came to me the minute I shut down. Also...Buffalo 66 (the last time I liked Christine Ricci in anything), and a great light comedy called Hearts of the West (the last thing I really, really liked Jeff Bridges in...he is quite young in this movie).
It also has Blythe Danner in it. I'd also give any movie she--and Stockard Channing--are in at least a look. Great comedy with Channing, Jack Nickelson and Warren Beatty...again, can't remember name but it takes place in LA in the 30's...very funny..

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 17 May 04 - 07:43 PM

"I Know Where I'm Going" with Wendy Hiller, Roger Livesey (spelling?) and Pamela Brown (1940s). Also "Heartland" with Conchata Farrell (spelling?) and Rip Torn. I thought "Girl With a Pearl Earring" was one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen, but, truth to tell, I see very few movies.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Deda
Date: 17 May 04 - 09:00 PM

Harry and Walter Go to New York - slapstick silliness with Elliot Gould, James Caan, Carole Kane, Diane Keaton and (I think) Michael Caine.   

Also, a wonderful B&W film called Hester Street, also with Carol Kane. A lot of it is in Yiddish with English subtitles, paints a vivid picture of Jewish ghetto life in NY in late 1800s, early 1900s.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: izzy
Date: 17 May 04 - 09:24 PM

So interested that Sandy mentioned IKWIG. Anything by Powell and Pressburger (otherwise known as the Archers) tends to be fabulous. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus, The 49th Parallel (although a little too obviously war propoganda), A Canterbury Tale, A Matter of Life and Death, and of course The Red Shoes are all fascinating and deeply artistic (along with IKWIG). They had the gift of assembling the best actors and technical crew available --Roger Livesey, Anton Walbrook (marvellous Austrian actor), Wendy Hiller, Deborah Kerr, John Laurie, and the fantastic Technicolor cameraman Jack Cardiff. Powell's early film The Edge of the World, although clearly in the Flaherty school of documentary realism, is also of interest for its touches of early lyricism. However, I find their later expressionist period (with its wonderful use of early Technicolor) the most exciting phase of his career. Criterion have actually put out some of their films on DVD, when they were previously unavailable in North America, and I see that A Matter of Life and Death is coming out on DVD soon.

Some other great out of the way films are David Lean's Brief Encounter, early British Hitchcock, and Pygmalion.

Sorry for the long-winded message.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,John O'Lennaine
Date: 17 May 04 - 09:41 PM

"No Blade of Grass"
I saw that in a theatre circa 1970 and have never heard of it since. I haven't been able to find it on video, it's as though it was deleted.

"Rock & Roll Wolf"
Saw that on late night TV around the same time, and never heard of it again.

Both films I'd like to see again, 'cause I'm not sure if I liked them or not, but they stuck in my memory so they must have had something about them. It looks like my memory is where they'll stay.

I don't think "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" has been mentioned yet. It should be, and now it has.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: robomatic
Date: 17 May 04 - 09:48 PM

Old English Black and Whites:
Anything with Alec Guinness - The Man in the White Suit, Kind Hearts and Coronets

Anything with Edmund Gwenn and/or Charles Laughton.
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the original version of Bedazzled which is about twenty times better than the recent one, but it is very English, very sixties, and black and white.

Lovely animated film of the early 70's called The Point.

Screwball coming of age film of the sixties You're a Big Boy Now.

The earlier Woody Allen flicks: Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Love and Death, Annie Hall.

David Niven as James Bond in a wild take-off of the genre: Casino Royale.

Old cheesy horror films with Vincent Price.
Doctor Sardonicus

Old American Black and Whites:
Humphrey Bogart: Treasure of the Sierra Madre, High Sierra,

Crime Dramas: Asphalt Jungle with Sam Jaffe and Sterling Hayden

Screwball Comedies: Jimmy Stewart in Arsenic and Old Lace and Harvey.

A lot of poeple like the Katherine Hepburn Spencer Tracy movies.

Silent Flicks: The ever endearing Harold Lloyd who did most if not all his own stunts even though he lost half of his hand in an accident. He made it into the talkies.

The Classic Japanese Samurai movies. Anything directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro. They are violent for their time. Also Sansho the Bailiff and Harp of Burma.

Classic Disney: Dumbo, Kirk Douglas in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Good modern flicks that didn't get a big audience include:
Sci-fi: Gattacca with Uma Thurman Ethan Hawke and Jude Law
Chinese: King of Masks
Jonathon Demme as director: Something Wild, Stop Making Sense, Married to the Mob
David Sayle as director: City of Hope, a great little morality tale.

You can also check out the www.imdb.com which seems to have a record of every film ever made.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: izzy
Date: 18 May 04 - 08:49 AM

Ealing comedy is great, as robomatic has pointed out --Passport to Pimlico is also a good one, and the ORIGINAL version of The Ladykillers, with Alec Guinness, is hilarious. The Lavender Hill Mob is very funny.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Peter T.
Date: 18 May 04 - 09:34 AM

"Spirited Away" is not exactly obscure, but people don't exactly flock to Japanese cartoons. All of Miyazaki's films are interesting (the earlier ones for children are an acquired taste); but "Spirited Away" and "Princess Monononke" (The JenEllen of Japan) are both worth seeing.

"L'Atalante" is one of the greatest films of all time, but no one in North America has heard of it. That is true for a host of French films, but "L'Atalante" is particularly wonderful.

There are a whole pile of westerns made in the 1950's starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann (starting with Winchester 73) that are all worth seeing -- they are unconventional, don't do what Westerns are supposed to do.

They have finally released "Picnic" on DVD, which I don't think was ever released on video; and I don't think anyone has seen it since 1955.It has not worn well -- it is a film of the famous original play by William Inge, and the playishness of it shows through -- and it is cheesy in parts, but it has some wonderful moments -- it was filmed on location in Kansas in 1954, and shows it. The standout is the young Kim Novak, who became a major star on the basis of a sensuous dance scene during the Picnic. Susan Strasberg is great too ("I memorized all of Shakespeare's sonnets last summer....."). It is so 1950s that it is a kind of classic (like Rebel Without A Cause).

A completely ridiculous, cheesy movie that I saw last week was "Against All Flags" with Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara -- a pirate film, with Maureen as the JenEllen of Madagascar.

yours,

Peter T.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,MC Fat
Date: 18 May 04 - 09:41 AM

All of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 18 May 04 - 09:54 AM

This is hardly a thread of obscure films, guys. There are a few in the bunch, but I'll just accept that some of you either don't get out to see a lot, or really believe that these have all slipped through our radar!

I'll add one to the list...it's called "Tim" with a VERY young Mel Gibson, and Piper Laurie. It's the only Gibson film I really loved, as he plays a slightly retarded young man who falls in love with an older woman. It was written by Colleen Macullough, and it's definitely worth hunting for...xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 18 May 04 - 09:56 AM

OH! Just thought of another obscure one...it's called "Tango Cafe" (or maybe "Cafe Tango?" an absolutely BRILLIANT film on the tango, with Raoul Julia.

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST,Hugh Jampton
Date: 18 May 04 - 11:16 AM

"The Freaks". A b/w film that tells the story of circus freaks such as dwarves, double headed women, giants et al that rebel against the "normals" in the circus.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: radriano
Date: 18 May 04 - 12:50 PM

I would recommend two films I just viewed.

One is "The Magdeline Sisters" - An drama that charts several years in the young lives of four "fallen women" who were rejected by their families and abandoned to the mercy of the Catholic Church in 1960s Ireland. While women's liberation sweeps the globe, these women are stripped of their liberty and dignity and condemned to indefinite servitude in The Magdalene Laundries, so that they may atone for their "sins."

The other is "Rabbit Proof Fence" - Australia's government-sponsored integration program in the 1930s ripped apart families and broke many hearts. This film follows three half-breed Aborigine girls who are forcibly removed from their families and sucked into the adoption process. With fierce resolve to return home, the girls follow a rabbit-proof fence that extends for 1,500 miles throughout the western continent.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Rain Dog
Date: 18 May 04 - 01:20 PM

Not seen them in a few years now but I did like


Harold and Maude - Starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. A black comedy

Hellazpoppin' - a madcap comedy from 1941. Has lot of visual jokes in it

Proof - An Australian film from 1991. The main character is a blind photographer

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 May 04 - 01:45 PM

L'Enfant Sauvage (1969), (The Wild Child) by Truffaut.

Le Peuple Migrateur (2001) (Winged Migration)

Not a bad idea to stick a link to the pictures in your post.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: RangerSteve
Date: 18 May 04 - 01:54 PM

Robomatic - that was Cary Grant, not James Stewart in "Arsenic and Old Lace". I though his performance defined "overacting", but otherwise it's a great movie.

There's one movie that may have gotten wider distribution in the UK, but I never heard of it until it showed on video here in the states -
it's called "The Emperor's New Clothes" - not the HC Anderson tale - this one concerns a plot to smuggle Napoleon off of St. Helena after replacing him with a look-alike. Everything goes wrong, and eventually ends just right. I think it stars Ian Holme. I get all the Ians mixed up. It stars the same Ian who played the priest in "The Fifth Element".

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JenEllen
Date: 18 May 04 - 02:22 PM

Hey now, I actually like anime....and add another vote for Red Violin. Well done.

One that ranked right up in 'fantastic' was The Man on the Train. Not only because I adore Jean Rochefort's wrinkly face, but because it was so complete a transformation between the two men. Wunnerful.

A foreign one that freaked me out was He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. You think Audrey Tautou, you think pixie-sweet. Not this one. There's a spot mid-film where time goes backwards and it is a 'sunofabitch' moment where you get to see another point of view. I love those kinds of surprise, when they are well done.

One I did read about and happen to rent last week was The Maldonado Miracle. Salma Hayek's directorial debut, and a fine first-film.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 04 - 02:42 PM

There are some older obscure black and white films I keep my eyes open for on the cable channels because they don't seem likely to turn up in the video store or at the library. Edmund Gwenn in Mr. 880. Two with Robert Donat are The Thirty-nine Steps and The Ghost Goes West (great cast, also with Jean Arthur, Eugene Pallette and Elsa Lanchester).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 18 May 04 - 02:45 PM

reign-a great anime series...it centers around alexander the great

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JenEllen
Date: 18 May 04 - 03:02 PM

I've seen Reign---same animators as Aeon Flux, right?, and a little too gory for my tastes. For good anime and GREAT music, there's always the Cowboy BeBop series and movie. Yoko Kanno just plain rocks. Her mastery of musical genres never ceases to amaze me.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 18 May 04 - 03:06 PM

witch hunter robin is good. have you seen lodoss war?

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 18 May 04 - 03:48 PM

The Hollywood Knights.

Has an unbelievable cast in it. It's about a car club and one night of initiation for new members in October of 1965. And Jimmie Shine is off to Vietnam. The last GREAT movie of innocence prior to the Vietnam War.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 18 May 04 - 03:50 PM

Go here

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Cuilionn
Date: 18 May 04 - 07:01 PM

A few auld favourites o mine:

Everything directed by Frank Capra (read his autobiography fairst, then treat yersel tae a wee film fest o his maevies!)

Everything featuring Katherine Hepburn (Here's tae her, wha's like her!)

Metropolis (Luddite Android Labor-Rights Melodrama, circa 1920, originally silent but a techno-rock "soundtrack" was added in the 1980s. Ye can turn the sound aff if ye dinnae care for it!)

Bicentennial Man (Luddite Android Labor-Rights Melodrama, circa 2001. Bonus: luik for the dining room chairs. They were made by in the Arts & Crafts style by a friend o mine, an this wee commission fed ma friend's hoosehaud for mair than a month!)

Milagro Beanfield War (Big meanies vs. local peasants.)

Hairspray (Sairt o a parody o ither sock-hop musicals, but brilliant & funny & e'en a wee bit meaningfu!

The Linguini Incident (If Ah recall aricht, this features baith David Bowie AND Marlee Matlin. Bizarre & Funny.)

Leaving Normal (Naebody seems tae ken this ane but me. Ah LOVED it. Possibly ma verra favourite. Forget "Thelma & Louise". THIS is the ultimate women's road trip maevie, and it's NO a tragedy!)

Enjoy yir Film-Fest!

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 18 May 04 - 08:04 PM

life is sweet starring Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman. I cry every time I see alison steadmans speech at the end. Its a mike Leigh film

Treasure Island with robert Newton as Long John "Ha-Harr! It be me whats taking care hov Mr 'Arrow, Jarge MerrY!"

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 May 04 - 08:22 PM

I only saw 'The Point' once...

Might Joe Young (1930's) - much better than King Kong.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: MAG
Date: 18 May 04 - 10:29 PM

I'll second *Leaving Normal* -- and Lahti's *Housekeeping* is one you ponder for a long time, but it is no upper. She's good in *Running on Empty* too, but I think that might have been made for TV.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: CarolC
Date: 18 May 04 - 10:44 PM

I liked Local Hero a lot. That came out in the 80s, I think, but I only saw it for the first time within the last year or so. And I heartily second Cuilionn's recomendation of The Milagro Beanfield War.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Amergin
Date: 18 May 04 - 11:00 PM

once were warrriors is a good movie if you like depressing...

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: dwditty
Date: 19 May 04 - 12:23 AM

Birdy (not Bye-Bye Birdy nor Bird) with Matthew Modine and Nicholas Cage...early 90's. One of my all time favorites. Off beat.

Mudlark, I am a big fan of Ghengis Blues and am even starting to get a bit of the Tuvan throat singing down.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 19 May 04 - 02:17 AM

Carol, I'll second Local Hero. Then there was a wonderfully quirky Australian film called "Bliss"...I finally found a video store here that has it, along with other wonderful foreign and off-label films, and I'm going to watch it again soon. And I don't know if "King of Hearts" counts as rare or odd...but I know that between 1970 and 1977 I saw it at least 12 times!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 04 - 11:36 AM

A really sweet film is The Trip to Bountiful with Geraldine Page. She was an amazing actress.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: JennyO
Date: 19 May 04 - 11:38 AM

I liked Birdy too, especially the ending.

Others I can think of at the moment include

Pontiac Moon - Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen
The Ruling Class and High Spirits - both Peter O'Toole
The Neon Ceiling - Lee Grant
The Bedsitting Room - Spike Milligan and Peter Cook
The Last Wave - Richard Chamberlain (one of my favourites)
Phenomenon - John Travolta
What Dreams May Come - Robin Williams (and just about anything else with Robin Williams)
Carry On Regardless - Sid James and the Carry On crew
The Van - Colm Meaney
I Ought to be in Pictures - Walter Matthau
The Man with Two Brains and A Simple Twist of Fate - both Steve Martin
Wake in Fright and The Cars that Ate Paris - both Aussie thrillers
Mon Oncle - Jacques Tati
Heart and Souls - Robert Downey Jr, Kyra Sedgwick
The Swimmer - Burt Lancaster
Journey to The Center of the Earth - Pat Boone, James Mason
The Time Machine - Rod Taylor
Silent Running - Bruce Dern

and this is only the beginning. I keep thinking of more, but I have to stop somewhere. I have most of these, plus hundreds of others, on video - and a video recorder that is not working. I'd like to get my movies onto a better medium, but not sure how to go about it - I suspect it could be expensive and time consuming.

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: GUEST
Date: 19 May 04 - 12:28 PM

atomic cafe

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 May 04 - 01:05 PM

The Swimmer is a truly quirky film, but very interesting. It is from a an equally quirky short story by John Cheever. I hadn't thought about that one in ages. Thanks!

One that isn't so rare, but is a kind of middle-class Cinderella story I enjoy is Neil Simon's Max Dugan Returns with Marsha Mason, Jason Robards, Donald Sutherland, and Matthew Broderick. Another Jason Robards one I like is a 1984 taped version of You Can't Take it With You that aired on the Arts and Entertainment cable channel. He was marvelous, but I don't know if that performance is available. (There is a film version with a good cast that includes Lionel Barrymore, but he's just a little too full of himself for my taste).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Amos
Date: 19 May 04 - 01:10 PM

"Joshua Then and Now"

"Baghdad Cafe"

both little known, both excellent.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Best Movies You'd Never Heard Of??
From: Cluin
Date: 19 May 04 - 01:30 PM

20,000 Legs Under the Sea
A Tale of Two Titties
Battlestar Orgasmica
Beverly Hills Cock
Buffy the Vampire Layer
Butch Lesbian and the Lapdance Kid
Cliff Banger
Dial M for Missionary
Dog-Style Afternoon
Doing John Malkovich
Dun-Her
Edward Penishands
Ejacula
For Your Thighs Only
Forest Hump
Gonad the Barbarian
Guess Who Came At Dinner
Hannah Does Her Sisters
Honey, I Blew Everybody!
I Cream On Genie
Indiana Joan and the Temple of Poon
Intercourse With a Vampire
Jurassic Pork
Lawrence of Labia
Mighty Joe Hung
Night of the Giving Head
An Officer and a Genitalman
On Golden Blonde
Pornochio
Reservoir Bitches
Riding Miss Daisy
Romancing the Bone
Saturday Night Beaver
Saving Ryan's Privates
Sexcalibur
Snatch Adams
Star Whores
The Bare Witch Project
The Bitches of Madison County
The Fuckulty
The Hunt for Miss October
The Joy Suck Club
The Load Warrior
The Long Ranger
The Porn Birds
The Rodfather
The Sexorcist
The Slutty Professor
The Sperminator
The Touchables
The Whore of the Worlds
Thighs Wide Shut
Wetness for the Prosecution
Willie Wanker and the Fudge Packing Factory
You've Got Tail

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.