Let's discuss under-the-radar streaming channel movies we've watched recently

Cafe Society
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So my wife and I have run out of series to binge for the moment, and have been finding some slightly offbeat, under-the-radar movies on the streaming channels, some of which have been pleasant surprises. I’ll give a little capsule review of what we’ve watched lately, roughly in order of our viewing:

The Vast of Night (Amazon)
Strange goings-on in a small southwestern town in the late 50s. It has a “Twillight Zone”-like tv show as a framing device, making it seem like it’s going to be a parody, or at least not too serious, but it has a very serious, moody, suspense-building tone. My wife thought it was kind of boring because, for a movie about aliens nothing much really happens for a long time, but I enjoyed the slow burn.

7500 (Amazon)
Joseph Gorden-Levitt is a co-pilot on a German plane that gets hijacked. That’s pretty much it-- simple, quick watch at barely 1 1/2 hours, well-made but very gut-wrenchingly suspenseful, to the point of being uncomfortable to watch. It’s a good movie, but if you’re looking for a more light, feel-good choice, maybe try…

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflxi)
This one is not as under-the-radar, and has been discussed at length in the “What Happened to Will Ferrell” thread, so I will simply say we started watching with low expectations and were pleasantly surprised. It’s not laugh-a-minute but a fun watch.

I See You (Amazon)
A serial killer of children seems to have resurfaced in a small town. The detective on the case, and his family (wife played by Helen Hunt) have issues (wife had an affair and husband and teenage son are still pissed at her but trying to get over it). Then weird things start happening to the family. What’s going on-- is it supernatural? Very plot-twisty movie. My wife thought the plot twists were well-done, but I thought it was kind of a cheat, as the twists were created by incomplete narration. Part of it was “events as seen from this character’s point of view” then “same events as seen from another character’s POV” which is fine, but there are big key parts of the action as shown from one character’s POV that are left out and only revealed later, which seemed like cheating. Hard to describe better without revealing too much. Worth a watch, anyway I’d say.

Serenity (Amazon)
Not the Joss Whedon Firefly movie, but Matthew McConaughey playing a burned-out charter fishing boat captain whose ex-wife, played by Anne Hathaway, shows up wanting him to kill her abusive current husband. And there’s an underutilized Diane Lane, too! This one I thought was in the “so bad it’s good” category, but you may say “so bad it’s bad”. Starts out like a cheesy noir flick-- I think the director told Anne to watch Kathleen Turner in “Body Heat” and turn up the noirishness 150%. Then (very slight spoiler) a silly, silly very ridiculous plot twist is gradually revealed. Don’t know if I can fully recommend this one but it’s entertaining if you don’t take it too seriously, and it’s gorgeous to look at, being shot on the island of Mauritus and surrounding waters. Also lots of bare McConaughey butt, if you’re into that sort of thing. My wife certainly didn’t mind.

The Night Clerk (Netflix)
A young autistic guy who works the front desk at a hotel secretly puts cameras in the rooms, not because he is a perv (or maybe not JUST because he is a perv…?), but because he wants to study and mimic people’s behavior in order to act normal. Sure, great plan, what could go wrong? You probably guessed it-- he witnesses, and gets tangled up in, a crime, but can’t tell the cops because he’d reveal his own crime. A pretty straightforward suspense/thriller with a dash of odd couple romance thrown in. Poor Helen Hunt, who plays his mom, seems typecast into only playing moms of troubled youngsters at this point in her career. Also features John Leguizamo as a detecive, and the lovely Ana de Armas from “Knives Out”.

Please let me know what you thought of these, and/or share your under-the-radar streaming flicks you’ve seen recently!

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I really liked “I See You.” Mrs. L was less fooled by the twists.

If you haven’t already, check out (descriptions from wikipedia or imdb where possible)—

“Man in the High Castle” (series)

The Man in the High Castle is an American alternate history web television series depicting a parallel universe where the Axis powers win World War II.

“Sneaky Pete” (series)
Sneaky Pete is an American crime drama series created by David Shore and Bryan Cranston. The series follows Marius Josipović (Giovanni Ribisi), a released convict who adopts the identity of his cell mate, Pete Murphy, to avoid his past life.

“The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia.”

Not sure the trailer is safe for work: The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009) Official Trailer #1 - Documentary Movie HD - YouTube
The film follows the White family over the course of a year in their daily life through first-person interviews. The film mentions the details of the death of patriarch Donald Ray “D. Ray” White, as well as his rise to stardom as one of the most famous mountain dancers of his time. The illness of his widow, Bertie Mae White, is documented throughout the course of the film. Locals consider Bertie Mae “The Miracle Woman” because of her lifelong dedication to raising abandoned children.

“Off the Cuf” (series)
Looks at various places in short docs. Example: Slab City in California.

ZeroZeroZero (series)
ZeroZeroZero is an Italian crime drama television series created by Stefano Sollima, Leonardo Fasoli and Mauricio Katz for Sky Atlantic, Canal+ and Prime Video. It is based on the book of the same name by Roberto Saviano,[1][2] a study of the business around the drug cocaine, covering its movement across continents.

“Blow the Man Down” (film)
Sisters Priscilla and Mary Beth Connolly attend their mother’s funeral. After both sisters have a verbal confrontation, Mary Beth storms out, and goes to a bar where she meets a man named Gorski. Drunk, Mary Beth leaves with him and drives his car for him, eventually crashing it. When they get out to look at the damage, Gorski opens his trunk and Mary Beth sees blood inside. Gorski immediately tries to attack Mary Beth but she flees into the night.

“Spies of Mississippi” (film)
Filmmaker Dawn Porter explores the history of the secret spy agency created by the state government in Mississippi to preserve segregation and maintain white supremacy.

“Salute” (film)
Salute (occasionally known as Salute: The Peter Norman Story ) is a 2008 Australian sports documentary film directed, produced and written by Matt Norman. It tells the role of Peter Norman, Norman’s uncle, in a defining moment of the American civil rights movement: the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.

“Camp Hollywood” (film)
A porn star, a bank robber and a Shakespearean actor are some of the subjects of Camp Hollywood, a feature documentary about the residents of a legendary Hollywood hotel. Seen through the eyes of a Canadian comic who’s come out to L.A. for the first time, Camp Hollywood is an intimate portrait of the actors, musicians and other transients he meets during his two-month stay.

“Black, White, and Us” (film)
White families in an all-white society and believe racism doesn’t exist anymore until they adopt a black child.

“Great Greek Myths” (series)
I know almost nothing about Zeus etc. so I thought this might catch me up. This is animated.

Meh—most of the comedy offerings. Gina Brillon was kinda funny.

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Wel, the lobotomy can’t have helped :grin:

Thanks, a lot here I haven’t seen! In fact, the only stuff I have seen is "The Man in the High Castle (couldn’t get into it-- alternate history just ain’t my thing) and “Sneaky Pete” (stopped watching it after a few episodes, but not sure why-- I was enjoying it. Might give it another chance).

I see you like the documentaries. I like a good doc but haven’t watched too many for some reason. So these are some interesting recs. Looks like “Camp Hollywood” is on Amazon Prime, so I may give that a watch. The description starts out like a joke setup-- “A porn star, a bank robber and a Shakespearean actor walk into a bar…”.

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True!

Everything I listed is included with amazon prime. I figure that library is so dep that I don’t need to get Netflix etc. for quite awhile.

“What We Do In the Shadows”-A mocumentary on FX

Not sure if you can find it on demand, but Lodge 49 ran for 2 seasons.

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Yesterday I watched Andy the Talking Hedgehog. A little girl randomly encounters Tara Reid the fairy, who offers to grant one wish. The little girl wishes that all her plant and animal friends could talk. This primarily means the aforementioned hedgehog and a bitter old sphynx cat, with the occasional brief interjection by various flowers. The talking animals are quickly accepted by the little girl and some cheerleaders, but Dean Cain has a mental breakdown, mostly shown by not going to work or grooming himself and by eating lots and lots of potato chips. Meanwhile, a guy with a horrible fake Italian accent and a fat clumsy black guy who talks like Curly from The Three Stooges are trying to kidnap the hedgehog, assisted by the cat. Here is a brief clip I made, which sadly is very misleading.

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Here’s some of the stuff I’ve enjoyed on Amazon Prime. Not all of it is under the radar.:
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Discovery
Nico and the Sword of Light
Rocky and Bullwinkle (new series)
The Tick
The Expanse (New Season)
Carnival Row
Kung Fu Panda (New series)
Lost in Oz

Be warned. All though there are no major cliffhangers, there is no sign several of these series will ever have another season.

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I really enjoyed Lodge 49 the way it kind of meandered from quirky, to surreal, to supernatural. Also, I lived and worked in Long Beach for 20 years and the characters seemed as familiar as the locations.

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If you want to watch something really good and creepy, check out Hidden on amazon. I just finished season 1. It’s not horror movie creepy but more real-life creepy complete with the worst mother I can remember and nobody is particularly attractive. It’s set in the Snowdownia region in Wales which I visited in my youth and thought was beautiful but the show portrays it as economically blighted and full of sad sacks.

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On Netflix I just watched The Old Guard, based on the graphic novel of the same name. I had read the book first, and was happily surprised at how much they kept to the original story. Imagine if Highlander had been written and directed by people with IQs over 85 and an understanding of how hard it would be to keep immortality a secret in this day and age. I loved it.

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We just watched Cast A Deadly Spell on HBO Max – a made for cable movie from 1991 about a version of Los Angeles in 1948 where “everybody does magic,” except for the main character, a hardboiled PI named Phil Lovecraft and played by Fred Ward. Magic is a part of everyday life, but Phil refuses to use it, much like some PIs refuse to carry a gun. The plot is basic noir with David Warner as the creepy client, Clancy Brown as the bad guy nightclub owner, and Julianne Moore as the nightclub singer slash femme fatale. I wouldn’t exactly call it a comedy, but the movie clearly doesn’t take itself very seriously. Oh, and the Necronomicon and Dread Cthlulhu also make appearances. Overall, it made me think of a cross between Chinatown and Roger Rabbit. Good lightweight fun.

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An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn (Netflix)
Really really weird movie with Aubrey Plaza and Craig Robinson. I can’t even describe it. If you like Jon Waters and movies like The Lobster you’ll like this. I liked it.

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Just finished watching it. I had doubts about Joseph Gordon Levitt but I thought he was good. I’m not sure why I didn’t like it more. Sometimes I think films develop the plot more and neglect the characters, making you not care enough about what happens to them. It’s a tricky balance.

One I rewatched today: Big Fish. It’s a charming little film.

As of a couple years ago, you could still visit part of the movie set…as Mrs. L and I did.

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Just watched “The Old Guard” on Netflix: a small band of immortals, led by a thousands-of-years-old Charlize Theron, fight for justice around the world and across history, and have just discovered a new member to bring into their group. But they are also being targeted by a Big Pharma CEO who wants their secrets to make life-extending drugs, and he doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get it. The ending clearly sets up a sequel. There is one speech in the middle of the movie, about the pain of being immortal, that could have been copied directly out of Methuselah’s Children. Lots of good fighting and action, decent characters. Could have used a bit more humor.

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I watched Lovebirds on Netflix a few weeks ago. Liked it a lot, fast moving comedy about a normal couple on the verge of break-up, who are framed with a crime and run from the police to clear their name. Everything happens in the course of one night, so has a similar vibe to After Hours and Date Night.
The leads have good chemistry and the dialogue is fairly snappy. It seems that reviews are mixed, though, so take this opinion for what it’s worth.

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I don’t think this qualifies as “under the radar” since it’s one of Netflix’s big promoted original features this summer, but I watched it and loved it as well. Great superhero flick. Highly recommended.

To add a also probably not “under the radar” suggestion of my own is the Waco miniseries starring Taylor Kitsch. I suspect this one got a lot of publicity when it premiered in 2018, but I stumbled upon it by chance when scrolling Netflix and found myself totally hooked.

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Thanks for the refs so far! I’ve seen some of these but there are a lot I have not.

A movie we just watched last night I think qualifies as offbeat and under-the- radar: “The Lighthouse” (Amazon I think). Willem Dafoe is an old lighthouse keeper and Robert Pattinson is hired on as an assistant keeper. The movie is shot in black and white, and for some reason an aspect ratio that is pretty much square (more narrow than the old TV 4:3 ratio; 3:3?) giving the movie a claustrophobic feel. I won’t give any more spoilers than to say madness ensues, and it gets pretty nutty. I’m not exactly sure what was supposed to have happened at the very end.

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I just watched a 2018 Jodie Foster movie on Amazon called Hotel Artemis that I don’t recall ever being in theaters. Foster plays an elderly nurse who runs a secret hospital for criminals in Downtown LA. Lots of action and fun characters. Foster is great and Dave Batista has a role that feels like it was written for him. Lots of other notable actors show up in smaller roles.

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It was. As was “The Lighthouse”. “The Lovebirds” is hardly “under the radar” as well as it was heavily promoted prior to COVID.

I guess this thread is now “what movie have you recently seen?”

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Well, now I guess this thread is about bitching about other posters.

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If you’re into shows like Homeland, you might be interested in Fauda and Caliphate on Netflix.

Fauda is Israel-produced action-packed fare, with the combatants being an Elite Mossad unit vs. various Palestinian uprising groups.

Caliphate Takes place mainly in Sweden and ISIS-controlled Syria and goes more into recruitment, the pipeline of young women into Syria to become brides, Domestic terrorism, a family with two teenage girls flirting with Islam and a rogue Swedish Counterterrorism agent who keeps squeezing her informant inside ISIS-held Raqqa who desperately wants to get out.

Both shows are subtitled but well worth the effort IMO.

I just remembered the other show I mentioned, Hidden, is in Welsh with English subtitles.