Too late to add as an edit-- The Snapper which got great reviews but I don’t know if it was seen by many in the states. Stars Colm Meaney as the dad of a pregnant girl who won’t reveal who the father is.
English family dramas are great.
Ride With the Devil is an enjoyable movie with a good cast. It fits the bill since it wasn’t released widely to theaters so it made less than a million off of a 40 million dollar budget.
It’s a good story, with compelling characters and a believable but interesting plot. It takes place in Missouri during the Civil War. I suspect it was banished from theaters because of the lack of political correctness. The characters it follows fight for the south. Some are good and some are bad, but one of them is a freed slave fighting against the north. I think this was just too complex for some studio exec to handle so they killed it.
On my last post, I meant to also add Passed Away, with Bob Hoskins, Maureen Stapleton, Tim Curry, and Pamela Reed.
Great movie, I didn’t even hear of it when it came out, until several years later and fell in love. I’d classify it as a dark comedy.
Millions and The Snapper are indeed two great movies.
Oh wait, I just thought of another “black Irish” movie. It’s called The Nephew. A young black American goes to meet his mother’s estranged family in Ireland after her death. More family drama, more racial issues. Great movie.
Two Colin Farrell movies:
In Bruges, especially if you’re a Harry Potter fan (this is NOT a kid’s movie–but you get Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes).
Seven Psychopaths, same writer & director (Martin McDonagh) as above.
These are fantastically entertaining and thoughtful films (and I think both stream on Netflix) that force you to decide whether to laugh or be horrified or be inspired, unlike more popular movies that pretty much direct you how to feel about a story.
I wouldn’t say I adored it, but the movie Foxes was just on the other day. One of the few roles for Cherie Currie from the Runaways. It was a very interesting look at teen girls in the late 70s. I don’t recall it in the theaters at all, and not seen that often on TV.
I love In Bruges but I’ve never seen a Harry Potter flick. What’s the connection?
I watched this after seeing you mention it. It’s pretty good! I could do without the narration. But enjoyable all in all.
Gleeson & Fiennes play significant characters in the series, and it’s somewhat disorienting to see their roles in Bruges. Not a big deal.
Straight Time (1978) - Dustin Hoffman
Charley Varrick (1973) - Walter Matthau
Bandolero (1968) - Jimmy Stewart, Dean Martin
Blow (2001) - Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz
Christmas in Conneticut (1945) - Barbara Stanwick
Coming Home (1978) - Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern (It wasn’t exactly unknown but given the actors who starred in it, this film should have been much more widly known.
Deterrence (1999) - A very fine film that was widely unnoticed. I really like Kevin Pollack. One of the most underrated actors ever.
Path to Paradise (1997) - Peter Gallagher - Amazingly fortells the WTC attack.
The Siege (1998) - Another amazing predictor of true events. Predicted the wave of anti-Muslim attitudes. Excellent, Excellent film. Annette Benning is one of the most underrated beauties in films. If you’ve never seen The Grifters, it is quite amazing. It is my next pick:
The Grifters (1990) - A most fine film in its own right. But if you like beautiful women, Annette Benning has an outstanding naked scene - unbelieveable for its time in 1990. Also unbelievable because she was such an amazing beauty in 1990. She left me with my tongue hanging out on the floor. I kid you not.
Drugstore Cowboy (1989) - One of the very most underrated films ever made IMO. Starred Matt Dillion, Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, Max Perlich. Directed by Gus Van Zandt. I just raved and raved over this film. If you ever have ever pulled any scams on drug stores in your youth, this film will hit you like a tone of Oxy Contin. Amazing movie.
Thursday (1998) - Paulina Porizkova, Wow! Wow!
One False Move (1992) - Billy Bob - Incredibly underrated film - many fine actors that would become famous in the following years. This film included many actors who were all pumping on eight cylinders and the result was just a fabulous effort. Riveting film. Beautiful women. Take a chance on this one. You will be happy that you did.
I remember this one getting a lot of attention when it came out. Rather than falling through the cracks, I think it faded from public consciousness.
Wikipedia, which in turn cites Entertainment Weekly: “The price of re-creating L.A. in all its 1938 glory, then piling on plenty of airborne special effects, was high. In his famous budget-cutting memo, Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg praised The Rocketeer as an example of the studio’s new cost-consciousness. But even as he was citing the movie as a calculated $35 million gamble, its budget was rising, eventually reaching the $40 million mark.”
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All right! I succeeded! 
I’m a big fan of the then-recent-post-Hays films of the late 60s and early 70s. Things like “The French Connection” (which doesn’t qualify for this thread as having fallen through the cracks), but “The Seven Ups” did. It was an unofficial sequel to the French Connection, and has one of the best car chases I’ve ever seen.
Another I’ve been trying to find is Bless the Beasts & Children, one of those “message” movies from that era.
“Bad Words” with Jason Bateman. No publicity, wicked small opening, small budget and still lost money, but it’s hilarious. 40-year-old wants to participate in a nationally-recognized middle school spelling bee. Such a funny movie. Critics derided it as “mean-spirited humor,” which is a pretty solid recommendation to me.
I’ll contribute Top Secret, a Zucker brothers (cf. Airplane) film about an American rocker who gets unwittingly tangled up with the resistance in East Germany. Val Kilmer stars and sings a bunch of songs surprisingly well. Chock full of wonderfully terrible puns (both visual and verbal). I like it better than Airplane, but IME most people don’t know it well.
A few more:
Bunny and the Bull - A roadtrip movie about two friends, remembered in a surrealistic fashion.
Third Star - One final camping journey of four best friends granting a last wish for a dying buddy. Lots of info about this film, and many others, at www.wearecolony.com
White Lightnin’ - A quazi-doumentary about ‘dancing outlaw’ Jesco White… stars Carrie Fisher.
Starter for 10 - Set in the 80’s, a light comedy revolving around college students participating in University Challenge(like a version of UK Jeopardy)
Clockwise with John Cleese. Hilarious film, a lot like a 90-minute episode of Fawlty Towers, with Cleese’s character continually digging himself into deeper and deeper trouble through his self-centeredness and stubborn pride.
I watched the first 20 minutes last night and I agree that it is mean-spirited. The main protagonist is unnecessarily offensive and nasty to everyone. Even (especially) the kids.
I thought it was excellent. I laughed out loud several times just in the first 20 minutes. I’m going to watch the rest tonight. I hope it doesn’t turn schmaltzy toward the end.
Frailty, on the other hand, didn’t really do it for me. I watched it the other night on the strength of this thread. It was OK but a bit B movie and I pretty much guessed the end 5 minutes after it started.
Also, one of the female love interests is played by Clémence Poésy, who played Fleur Delacour in 3 Harry Potter movies.