# "Dark Horses" from my Top Thirtyfive Movies List **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705 "2019-09-04T20:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/21 "2019-09-05T13:49:14Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Across the Universe > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Daybreakers I liked both of these movies quite a bit, particularly Across the Universe, but Daybreakers was also interesting and well-done. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/22 "2019-09-05T13:53:38Z")
Just now I clicked at Youtube to [find scenes from Crash and this one popped up.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph64Y9kL1nE) Watch it. Suspense; detective work; political hypocrisy and corruption; justice vs expediency. Is the fact that some cops are black and some are white absolutely integral to the story here? Absolutely … and _Casablanca_ needed those “letters of transit.” But to reject this story because racism is involved, you’d have to reject _Casablanca_ and _Lawrence of Arabia_ because war was involved. (Just watch the first 2 minutes of the clip to see my point, and to avoid some spoilage if you’ve not yet watched the movie.) By the way _I did NOT call the eight films of OP “dark horses” because I thought that others hadn’t heard of them._ (Though congrats to two who posted lists of films, none of which I’d heard of. 🙂 ) I posted them _because_ others knew of them, but might wonder why I rate them so high. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/23 "2019-09-05T15:14:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I won’t call these great movies, but these are ten of my favorites that I think are under-appreciated: > > Antz > Clerks II > Daybreakers > Dodgeball > Josie and the Pussycats > Mystery Men > Near Dark > The Professionals > 7 Faces of Dr Lao > Twelve Monkeys > > This is a pretty off the top of my head list. I’m sure I could name ten more if I took some time. - Mystery Men\* is a favorite of mine as well, and it is absolutely underappreciated. The other day, while I was pulling weeds in the garden, for some reason the line “Yes, of course. You may absolutely ‘bring zee brewskies’” popped into my head and I just started laughing. I’ll add _The Commitments_ (1991) as another movie that’s a great dark horse. It’s got great acting, a wonderful screenplay (based on Roddy Doyle’s book, of course) and absolutely electrifying musical performances, and you never hear anybody talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/24 "2019-09-08T08:00:44Z")
Something that makes my personal list different from others is that there are many genres I don’t particularly like, including Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi, Disaster. I _do_ like some sentimental (e.g. love!) films, but they have to be _very_ special to make my Top List. (Comedies I _do_ rate very high include _Good Bad and Ugly, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dr. Strangelove, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_ … though it’s a stretch to call some of these comedies! :eek:) But I’m not _that_ weird. 😛 Most of the films on my Top Seventy-five List have an IMDB rating of 8.0 or more. Even most of the “dark horses” in OP have highish IMDB ratings … 8.2 Dial M for Murder 8.0 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 7.8 Crash (2004) 7.5 Whale Rider 7.4 Across the Universe 7.3 To Live and Die in L.A. 7.0 Flower Drum Song 6.5 The Third Miracle … with the exception of _The Third Miracle_. (I wasn’t even aware that _Crash_ got Best Picture Oscar until after I posted OP. Are there other “Best Pictures” with IMDB as low as 7.8?) I _do_ especially like heist thrillers, crime drama and spy intrigue. My Top Seventy-five List might include 7.1 Spy Game 6.8 The Score 6.5 Good Thief ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/25 "2019-09-09T03:12:23Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > - > > Mystery Men\* is a favorite of mine as well, and it is absolutely underappreciated. The other day, while I was pulling weeds in the garden, for some reason the line “Yes, of course. You may absolutely ‘bring zee brewskies’” popped into my head and I just started laughing. > > I’ll add _The Commitments_ (1991) as another movie that’s a great dark horse. It’s got great acting, a wonderful screenplay (based on Roddy Doyle’s book, of course) and absolutely electrifying musical performances, and you never hear anybody talk about it. “I woont you to goo out there and say ‘ahm black, and I’m prood of it.’” ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/26 "2019-09-09T03:41:35Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > Watched “To Live and Die in L.A.” a few months ago. One of the few DVDs I own for some reason. While I have always like it, it is sooooo stuck in the 80s! One of the best car chases of all time. I like a lot of the dialogue as well, particularly any scene Defoe is in. “Do you know you’re living like a fuckin’ animal in the zoo?!” > [@](#): > > Everybody knows Rick Masters won’t go near a job without front money. You should also know that I never fucked a customer out of his front money. I’ve been coming to this gym three or four times a week for five years. I’m an easy man to find. My reputation speaks for itself. The fact is that if you can’t come up with the front money you’re not for real. I’m not sure whether I like Petersen better in this or Manhunter. Amazing scenes with the counterfeiting process. Shockingly violent. One of my favorites as well. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705/27 "2019-09-09T13:14:58Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > My understanding (having now reviewed my earlier comments on it): “Racisim is bad! It’s just so bad! It’s so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so _bad_!” > > ETA: And for what it’s worth, even the director disagrees with your “deserved its Oscar” sentiment. 🙂 And that proves my point. That was not the message of the film, which was that racism is not simple or black and white. It shows we all have racist tendencies and they we’re blind to them. That what might be seen as racist is due to complex factors. That even if we deny we’re racist, the racism can come out in certain situations. “Racism is bad” is the starting point, but that’s only the beginning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dark-horses-from-my-top-thirtyfive-movies-list/839705.md?page=1)