I really enjoyed Eve’s Bayou. It was, IMHO just beautiful.
I appear to be almost alone on this one, but I really enjoyed Road to Wellville. I normally cannot stand slapstick physical comedy and butt jokes. This film put them in the proper social and historical context for me to find them screamingly funny. Plus, as bonuses, it has John Cusack and Matthew Broderick in period dress, Dana Carvey playing someone other than his stock schtick characters, Colm Meaney playing the letch again, and Camryn Manheim. Mmm . . . Camryn Manheim. 
I though the TV movie “The Execution of Private Slovak” was pretty good, and for the most part, followed the book.
The King of Comedy. IMO this is some of the best work from both DeNiro and Scorsese. It is great overall, the scenes of DeNiro performing his own “Tonight Show” in his basement alone are worth the effort to watch.
I’ve had a hard time finding anyone who’s seen The Piano Teacher. I can’t believe Isabelle Huppert wasn’t up for Best Actress. Maybe the film is too disturbing for some.
I’ll Do Anything is a funny and heart-warming little film with Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, and Laura Linney. The script is excellent and all of the performances are terrific. Has anyone even heard of it before?
How about Nick Nolte in the film adaptation of Vonnegut’s Mother Night? Another very well done film which didn’t seem to get any attention.
Peter’s Friends may have received a more substantial British audience, but here in the States it seems to have gone mostly unnoticed. Yet it has terrific performances all around, especially by Emma Thompson and Hughe Laurie.
I’ve had a hard time finding anyone who’s seen The Piano Teacher. I can’t believe Isabelle Huppert wasn’t up for Best Actress. Maybe the film is too disturbing for some.
I’ll Do Anything is a funny and heart-warming little film with Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, and Laura Linney. The script is excellent and all of the performances are terrific. Has anyone even heard of it before?
How about Nick Nolte in the film adaptation of Vonnegut’s Mother Night? Another very well done film which didn’t seem to get any attention.
Peter’s Friends may have received a more substantial British audience, but here in the States it seems to have gone mostly unnoticed. Yet it has terrific performances all around, especially by Emma Thompson and Hughe Laurie.
An even better British film that didn’t get a bit audience here is Truly, Madly, Deeply, which features one of Alan Rickman’s finest performances. The female lead is also amazing. It’s romantic and funny, yet contemplative and heart-wrenching.
…but here are more votes for The Gods Must Be Crazy , Truly Madly Deeply and Galaxy Quest,
and I’d like to add The Blood of Heroes , with Vincent D’Onfrio and…that German guy <pounds forehead>…dammit…what’s his name…
plus I also liked Restoration w/ Robert Downey Jr. (but then I’ll watch almost anything he’s in), and I was happy to be reminded here of the excellent I’ll Do Anything …
I’ll second that one. In fact I would give huge kudos to nearly all of John Sayles’ work. Perhaps the best American director these days.
Other worthwhile films by him:
Matewan
Brother From Another Planet
Eight Men Out
and
Men With Guns
Damn fine movies all.
I also want to chuck a couple other into the mix while I have a chance…
The Stunt Man
and
Bliss (the 1985 Australian version)
I loved Diggstown, but I never talk to anyone who’s seen it. It was based on a book called the Diggstown Ringers.
I will also throw in a vote for Heart and Souls. Wonderful movie!
For a really funny comedy check out Cross My Heart (1987) starring of all people, Martin Short and Annette O’Toole. Funny as hell!
E3
Upon hearing of this film in other post, I rented a copy.
WTF?!
Am I missing something? I thought it was truly horrible and boring! Seriously…what is it about that film that has people singing its praises?
The Mosquito Coast is Harrison Ford’s second best work ever (after Raiders). One of my favorite films.
Big Trouble with Tim Allen and Rene Russo was, I thought, pretty damn funny.
Gotta throw in Gattaca in case no one else has.
"The Truman Show" and “Gattaca”.
(Stay away from “Simone” though)
You might want to try scouring the back editions of The Washington Post . They ran a ongoing but sporadic series of articles on Troy Duffy, starting when the film had terrible trouble in getting off the ground, then dealing with casting problems, and ending with a final and rather sad article after the video release in which Duffy described the disappointment he felt at the movies fate (neglible theatrical release, followed by a Blockbuster Exclusive release). He said, roughly, “Sometimes I’m not even sure it was worth it.”
I’d probably pick ** Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels **, although the humour may not be for everyone and some would probably need subtitles to assist them through the heavy British accents.
Secondly, I recommend ** Abre los Ojos (Open your eyes) **, which is the movie which ** Vanilla Sky ** was based on. The plot is pretty much the same, but I’d pick the acting and directing of A.L.O. over Vanilla Sky any day.
Maybe this doesn’t count as overlooked, but I think The Crow deserves a mention. The Crow was one of the earlier films based on a comic book and is certainly better than the current spate of them, such as Spiderman and DareDevil.
It stuns me how many people think that big studio movies which lasted for more than two weeks in wide release count as “overlooked.”
As far as movies which are actually “overlooked” - short, limited release if they got any at all - I throw another vote in for The Boondock Saints. I think it’s a shame they’re making a sequel, really.
Also another vote for Peter’s Friends. Fantastic ensemble cast. I fell in love with the song “The Way You Look Tonight” because of this movie, and was kind of racked off (in that elitist way) when it was raped by My Best Friend’s Wedding (which was neither overlooked NOR particularly good).
I have to add Noises Off: It’s about a bunch of people making a play…and everything which can and does go wrong. It’s hilarious on its own…triply so if you’ve ever been in a theater production. The cast includes Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Christopher Reeve, Marilu Henner, Michael Caine…
AND…Pass the Ammo. Starring Tim Curry and Annie Potts as television evangelists, and Bill Paxton and Linda Kozwolski(sp) as people trying to get back some money they bilked her grandmother out of. IIRC, it was supposed to be widely released…and then all of those televangelist scandals hit, and it was deemed “impolitic.” Oh my lordy…so funny I cried.
DMark, which version was it – the 88 min. or the 101 min. one? Easy way to figure it out – did it open with Sgt. Howie in the plane (short version), or in the police station (longer version)?
IMO the shorter (U.S. release) works better as a detective story, because it forgoes the relatively unnecessary characterization elements in the police station, as well as the overly-obvious foreshadowing dialogue between Lord Summerisle and Willow McGregor (about what is going to happen on May Day). The shorter version also works better as a detective story, oddly enough, by de-emphasizing the role of Sgt. Howie, in favor of the mystery itself (where is Rowan Morrison?) which he undertakes to solve.
There are many other differences between the two versions; there are actually some nice bits inserted in the truncated U.S.-release version that don’t appear in the longer one! The worst cuts made for the shorter version would have to be the omission of the pub sing-along “Gently, Johnny” and the brutal editing job on “Willow’s Song (How Do)”.
Now, as for why the movie is regarded a minor classic. So, in no particular order (and please pardon the carnival barker style):
It’s a crackerjack detective story! From my own experience showing this movie to friends, few guess the ending – in spite of all the clues scattered throughout which become more apparent upon the second (and third, etc.) viewings. And the clues are everywhere… even in some of the song lyrics and choreographies… the whole movie is rather like a deadly serious Easter egg hunt (no pun intended).
It’s a religous melodrama! …which sports a uniquely sardonic take on BOTH Christianity and pantheistic paganism – as dialogue and montage elements suggest, subversively to both mentalities, a fundamental parallelism between the two forms of worship. [Don’t believe me? Recall what Lord Summerisle said to the sergeant about the origins of Jesus Christ; Howie’s Anglican sacraments (and what they really mean); and Mrs. Morrison’s comment about his not understanding the “true meaning of sacrifice”.]
It’s an erotic exploitation flick! (Or, “art film with B-movie elements”). Namely, the, ahem, fertility celebrations and, of course, Willow’s nude dance/seduction attempt. Yes, people invariably giggle and cringe through that dance number, but the increasingly Bacchanalian aspects of the, ahem, choreography actually says something important about the paganism to which she subscribes – its fundamental otherness, its shamelessness and lack of self-consciousness, its wildness and refutation of the values and mores of modern “civilization”.
It’s a musical! And a really good one, too… with songs based on the poems of Robert Burns mixed together with Paul Giovanni’s original contributions (mostly instrumentals). The scorings’ often exotic qualities (the musical instruments used include everything from anklung to Nordic lyre) help create the eerie, uncanny atmosphere of the film, alternately underscoring the sensual, alluring aspects to life on the island, and the resulting sense of confusion and bewilderment that Sgt. Howie feels as he tries to solve the mystery.
It’s a very English, witty, tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek, black comedy! The overarching structure of the plot (classic… set-up), the wittily subversive dialogue, the merriment of the villagers, the transparency of the clues, and of course of Howie’s travails in the last few reels all suggest there’s a very dark joke being set up.
It’s a horror film! …the ending, natch, but also that weird atmosphere alluded to under “musical”. And also the small details associated with the fact that a police detective is trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl on a small island – an island where most of the residents deny ever having known her, or that she had ever existed in the first place. Nothing like suspecting that one is amongst a community of murderers – acting in collusion – to raise the little hairs on the back of the neck…
It’s a travelogue! The whole thing was shot on location in Scotland. Call me silly, but I can watch almost anything once if it features an interesting, unusual or exotic location. (That’s how I got through the lame James Bond flick, “The Man With the Golden Gun”. Which also featured Britt Ekland, come to think about it.) While “The Wicker Man” is a classic cult movie as a whole, the scenery and pre-modern rural locations help create ancillary interest and establish a credible setting for the offbeat story. You just couldn’t shoot this movie in, say, Los Angeles!
I love Tender Mercies and Robert Duvall in general. But he was a washed-up country star, I think.
L.A. Story is one of my favorites too.