Little-known enough that I doubt any one of a hundred people I randomly polled in the middle of Times Square would know what it is. It’s a foreign film, after all, and a lot of Americans don’t dig on foreign films.
Do we count Klinger, now that Disney owns MASH?
I’ve been meaning to see that. I’m a big fan of The Bard and of McKellen. Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up and showed that, allthough set in a time with automobiles, they found a good reason for Richard to shout “A horse! A horse! My Kingdom for a horse!”
He’s riding in a jeep which gets thoroughly stuck in the mud. Genius
Ah, you’ve reminded me of
Looking for Richard - Wikipedia
An Al Pacino documentary that is both a recital of several pivotal scenes, but also an analysis of the play and Shakespeare in general. Accessible, informative, and entertaining, it’s a shame he didn’t go on to make a series of them.
After the success of Evil Dead the director / actor pairing of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell made a film called Crimewave (1985) with scripting help by the Coen brothers. The studio interfered during production and made the final edit instead of Raimi and the film received pretty poor reviews. Both Raimi and Campbell apparently hated and indeed still hate the final film.
Personally I found it very funny and a great film. Pretty close to Airplane! levels of funny to me.
For an obscure film there’s the Australian 1993 film Bad Boy Bubby. It’s a black comedy and has jokes based on incest, rape and animal abuse. However it’s not aiming at deliberate, puerile shock horror-comedy (such as something like Freddy Got Fingered). It’s more art-house style (well…Australian art-house style) and although it’s not laugh a minute I did enjoy it.
TCMF-2L
When I read the thread title I immediately thought Local Hero. Since that’s in the OP I’ll mention the filmmakers next movie, Comfort and Joy. A funny quirky movie about a radio DJ and ice cream wars in Scotland. Why did Bill Forsyth stop making movies?
I always confuse the director, but of the same style as Local Hero is the Scottish comedy Restless Natives, where a couple of fun locals rob tourist buses in the Highlands and become celebrity criminals and “local heroes”.
A couple of movies based on the war years in England should be on the list.
First, Hope and Glory, a story of a family living through the blitz during the early days of WWII. Mainly a light comedy seen through the eyes of a young boy it’s wonderful to see a movie set in this time that isn’t the same old borefest of a young woman anxiously saying goodbye to a young soldier about to leave for the fight. This one tells that story amid fresh and enjoyable vignettes of life at the time.
The second one, set in the post-war years is 84 Charing Cross Road. This is a very talky movie that wouldn’t appeal to some. It recounts the relationship between a woman in New York and the manager of a book store in London told through their written correspondence. The emergence of a real relationship starting out with basic cordiality and turns into much more including the other employees of the store and their families. Perhaps it originally appealed to me while stuck in a hotel room with nothing but infomercials, televangelists, and this movie on the TV, so don’t spend too much time watching if it’s not your kind of movie.
Beyond the Law: fairly obscure Charlie Sheen movie about an undercover cop infiltrating a biker gang that’s trafficking meth and guns. Also stars Michael Madsen and Linda Fiorentino. Came out in 1993 but has a very 80s feel to it. Not a great movie by any stretch, but it’s very entertaining. Best part is a “rogue” biker with law enforcement aspirations teaching Sheen to be a biker.
When Trumpets Fade: HBO-produced movie about the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, a fight that lasted 3 months and is the longest single battle the US Army has ever fought. The movie focuses on an Army private who, being the only survivor of his platoon, is rapidly promoted up the ranks against his will and finds himself leading a squad of replacements. He struggles with survivor’s guilt and is mostly just angry he has to be there at all. His superiors are incompetent and clueless, just sending men blindly into a meat grinder. This was a good Kubrick-style anti-war movie.
Starman “little-known”? Jeff Bridges was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor. Or am I reading your post out of context?
I love this movie. Ann Bancroft was so right for the role. I always think of the Christmas package when I think of this movie.
Widow’s Peak. A “small” movie but really true to small town life with a more serious side than is first evident.
OK, here’s the deal.
On the SDMB, a movie that came out in 1932 and starred Wallace Beery, is considered “well known.”
In the real world, if you walked down the street and asked 100 people if they had ever seen, let alone heard of Starman, I would suspect that only a few percent would say “yes.”
That’s the definition of “little known.”
I read someplace that Mel Brooks bought the rights and produced the movie because his wife was such a fan of the book. I liked the movie, though the ending was kind of sad.
Another one I liked was the movie adaptation of Cold Comfort Farm, though I’ve never read the original book. Also liked Bright Young Things, written and directed by Stephen Fry and based on the novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh.
I love Cold Comfort Farm! I have read the book, and it’s one where I think the movie is a smidge better. So many good performances. I’ve read Vile Bodies, but I haven’t seen Bright Young Things.
Cold Comfort Farm? I’ll third that.
Seconding (or thirding) this! Hilarious. I showed it to my book club and everyone loved it.
“I saw something nasty in the woodshed!!”
“Sure you did, sweetheart!”
“But did it see you?”
The more recent movie is terrible compared to the miniseries that appeared on Masterpiece Theatre back in the early 70s. It’s actually available on YouTube.
I meant the miniseries, not the movie. Sorry!
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day with Frances McDorman, Ciaran Hinds, Amy Adams, Shirley Henderson. It’s another one that was a book originally, and though the movie decided on a happy ending, I love it so much, I can’t object.