# Recommend a movie not a lot of people have seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358 "2008-01-05T02:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othar_the_Tooth_Collector)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/141 "2008-01-11T04:21:43Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] [Being There](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841/) starring Peter Sellers is a wonderful movie about a sheltered gardener who is mistaken for a deeply and profoundly intelligent gentleman. He appears on talk shows, advises presidents and all the while he really is only talking about … his garden. A must see. [/QUOTE] This is one of my favorites, but I don’t think it qualifies for “not a lot of people have seen”. It won an Academy Award and several Golden Globes, had respectable box office figures for a late 70s political satire, and it used to be on cable all the time when I was a kid and I still see it at least a couple of times a year on TV. My suggestion would be “May”. Great dark comedy/horror, not many people have seen it or even heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/142 "2008-01-11T04:38:13Z")
Fail-Safe 1964, Walter Matthau in a cold war, doomsday thriller. Barely feels dated at all. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/143 "2008-01-11T04:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=Othar the Tooth Collector] This is one of my favorites, but I don’t think it qualifies for “not a lot of people have seen”. It won an Academy Award and several Golden Globes, had respectable box office figures for a late 70s political satire, and it used to be on cable all the time when I was a kid and I still see it at least a couple of times a year on TV. My suggestion would be “May”. Great dark comedy/horror, not many people have seen it or even heard of it. [/QUOTE] Wow. Thanks. Almost no one I know has even heard of this movie. (I’m in my mid-40s, so you would think it would be known.) I guess that takes “The Party” out of the equation also, eh? ETA: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othar_the_Tooth_Collector)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/144 "2008-01-11T04:54:08Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Wow. Thanks. Almost no one I know has even heard of this movie. (I’m in my mid-40s, so you would think it would be known.) I guess that takes “The Party” out of the equation also, eh? ETA: 😉 [/QUOTE] Until a few years ago, if you had asked me if I had ever seen “Being There” I’d probably say no, even though I’d probably seen it several times in my life - I just didn’t know the name of the movie, but I’d heard good reviews of it and rented it, and recognized the movie once the protagonist leaves his home and goes out into NYC. It was hard to miss if you had HBO in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/145 "2008-01-11T11:50:57Z")
[QUOTE=Othar the Tooth Collector] I hate you twickster, and anyone else who suggested Cashback…One of the worst movies I have ever experienced. [/QUOTE] **shrug** Sorry you didn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/146 "2008-01-11T12:09:26Z")
The Long Night (2005) - a funny Pakistani film, shown at the Dubai Film Festival. The Killing Fields (1984) - I am surprised how many people have never even heard of this despite a presence at the Academy Awards. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/147 "2008-01-11T12:41:00Z")
Another Walter Matthau flick: [Hopscotch](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080889/) . He is a CIA agent about to expose the KGB, FBI and CIA and himself. A little dated, but just enjoyable. Sam Waterson has the part of the fresh faced rookie. ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/148 "2008-01-11T12:46:27Z")
For the second time today I’m going to recomend **Abigail’s Party** and **Nut’s in May** Both awesome, low-key 70’s British comedies (not the Carry On kind of humour, funny humour) which I would consider to be ‘must sees’ for serious movie lovers. I’d link to the IMDB but they’re not even on there! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/149 "2008-01-11T12:52:57Z")
[Secrets and LIes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117589/) Pretty much changed how I view movies. Movies can actually be character driven instead of car chase-gun shooting-jiggly fests. [Educating Rita](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085478/) The movie that really changed everything for Michael Caine. (and began my lifelong lurve of Brit films.) ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/150 "2008-01-11T12:59:24Z")
My friends often come to me for “Obscure Film” recommendations, since I’m the guy with a shelf full of DVDs that no-one else has apparently ever heard of. 😃 Most recently, I watched _The Ninth Gate_, which stars Johnny Depp as a second-hand book dealer who specialises in rare and antique texts. He’s hired by a mysterious Wealthy Collector to authenticate a book which, according to legend, was written by Satan. Since there’s more than one copy, and only one of them is the “original” text, he has to either authenticate his client’s text, or else acquire the “original” copy from one of the other wealthy and well-connected people who is known to have the text in their library. It’s a very well done movie- directed by Roman Polanski, I believe, and virtually no-one has ever heard of it. I’m also a big fan of Hong Kong Action Films, of which my three favourites are _Hard Boiled, A Better Tomorrow II,_, and _Kung Fu Hustle_. The first two star Chow Yun-Fat and involve him spending a lot of time wielding dual handguns and firing off a lot of ammunition- and as such are rightly regarded as classics of the genre, and the latter film starts Stephen Chow in a a movie that’s part traditional Kung Fu movie and part the opening act of _Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom_, with just a dash of Looney Tunes thrown in for good measure. All great films, and ones that only about four other people I know have ever even heard of, much less seen. Some other good films that are worth seeing include the Western _Purgatory: West of the Pecos_, which is about a young man in the 1880s who wanders into a town that appears to be populated entirely by his heroes from dime pulp novels, _Hercules Returns_, which is a 1960s Italian Sword & Sandal film overdubbed by a group of Australian comedians (much like that game on _Whose Line Is It Anyway?_), with hiliarious results, _Der Untergang (Downfall)_, about Hitler’s last days in the Fuhrerbunker (Bruno Ganz _IS_ Hitler, and the film is just outstanding in every way), and _Les Pacte Des Loupes (The Brotherhood of The Wolf)_, best described as a cross between a French Period Drama and an episode of The X-Files. The latter two films aren’t in English (German and French, respectively), but as long as you don’t mind subtitles you’ll find two excellent and very enjoyable World Cinema gems, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/151 "2008-01-11T14:25:04Z")
Everyone has seen [Being John Malkovich](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/), right? One of my all time faves. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/152 "2008-01-11T15:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] The Button Test: (snip) And if I’m not mistaken **Sunrazor** , I think we’re the same age (mid-20s). A Bronx Tale was on TV like every day when I was in high school so I watched it a bunch of times. And my friends and I took the button test very seriously. [/QUOTE] Hmm, nope, you’re off by about 30 years, but thanks – now I can tell my sons that the old man isn’t as uncool as they thought. I wonder if they know about the button test. Wish I’d known about it back in the day – would’a saved me from a bunch of hellish dating experiences. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/153 "2008-01-11T15:40:11Z")
One more that I just remembered. [The Green Butchers](http://imdb.com/title/tt0342492/). A Danish movie with English subtitles about a butcher shop that, through a series of missteps, winds up selling a “different” meat. Hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/154 "2008-01-11T17:20:30Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Most recently, I watched _The Ninth Gate_, which stars Johnny Depp as a second-hand book dealer who specialises in rare and antique texts. He’s hired by a mysterious Wealthy Collector to authenticate a book which, according to legend, was written by Satan. Since there’s more than one copy, and only one of them is the “original” text, he has to either authenticate his client’s text, or else acquire the “original” copy from one of the other wealthy and well-connected people who is known to have the text in their library. It’s a very well done movie- directed by Roman Polanski, I believe, and virtually no-one has ever heard of it. [/QUOTE] That film was terrible! It was full of holes and didn’t attempt to explain a lot of itself. What made it even worse was that it was such a great idea - I got to the end credits and had to stop myself yelling “what the fuck?!?!?” loudly. ---
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/155 "2008-01-11T18:08:36Z")
**City of Lost Children** a visually stunning movie about a mad scientist who kidnaps small children to steal their dreams and a circus strongman teamed with an orphan girl who go to rescue them. **Boondock Saints** the story of two Irsih-Catholic brothers in south boston who decide they are the avanging arm of the lord and start killing criminals. Great film, plus the backstory to how it got made and what happened after is a fascinating story all by itself. **The Last Supper** a film about a group of graduate students living together who decide to start killing off people who’s politics they don’t agree with. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/156 "2008-01-11T18:21:40Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] One more that I just remembered. [The Green Butchers](http://imdb.com/title/tt0342492/). A Danish movie with English subtitles about a butcher shop that, through a series of missteps, winds up selling a “different” meat. Hilarious. [/QUOTE] I just shot off an email to my Danish husband, asking if he’d seen this already, and if not, perhaps we should rent it. He replied. . . > [@](#): > > [No, I] haven’t seen it – although I’ve had it highly recommended from several people – one guy (who I later found out was the lead editor on Independence Day - whoa) heard I was Danish and went into a 5-minute praise speech of all things Danish as regards movies, with special mention of this one. VERY dark humor, though, from what I hear. So thank you for the recommendation! They’ve got a copy of it at our local Hollywood Video, so I think I’ll pick it up tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/157 "2008-01-11T19:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] That film was terrible! It was full of holes and didn’t attempt to explain a lot of itself. What made it even worse was that it was such a great idea - I got to the end credits and had to stop myself yelling “what the fuck?!?!?” loudly. [/QUOTE] I don’t recall any holes, myself: perhaps spolier them? (I do recall, however, very empty sets (for instance, rooms full of nothing but books,) that seem to be an awkward attempt to create atmosphere until you learn that Polanski was accused of making off with some of the production money (thus the skimping on sets). Then again, they did work to a degree, it was just a bit over the top. But I agree, it could have been executed better. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/158 "2008-01-11T19:45:03Z")
Okay, my main contentions with it were: [spoiler] Who were the bad guys that kept turning up and trying to kill or get in the way of Depp? They weren’t working for Frank Langella’s character as that would have been counter productive. Always they seemed to be showing up just to create dramatic tension but in a very crude way. Who the hell was the French girl? Never explained, never expanded on, she just tags along for the ride. And what the hell was that bit about her flying and landing? Is she supposed to be an angel or supernatural being? Explanation please! They have that picture of the book with a woman in it with a dragon (if I recall) but is that supposed to be her? The ending - so, what happened then? Does Depp go to hell, meet Satan? What???[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/159 "2008-01-11T21:53:50Z")
another recommendation - a recent one - “After the Wedding” - Danish, I think. Stars the guy who played the villain in the newest James Bond movie. It’s corny, but well done. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358/160 "2008-01-12T20:35:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] > [@vetbridge](#): > > One more that I just remembered. The Green Butchers. A Danish movie with English subtitles about a butcher shop that, through a series of missteps, winds up selling a “different” meat. Hilarious. They’ve got a copy of it at our local Hollywood Video, so I think I’ll pick it up tonight. [/QUOTE] Ok, we saw this last night – loved it! Quirky, charming and funny as hell. Thanks again! “Smell this marinade.” “I smoke 20 joints a day. I couldn’t smell it if my hair was on fire.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-movie-not-a-lot-of-people-have-seen/432358.md?page=9)