# The best movie no one ever heard of. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922 "2005-07-18T00:56:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/41 "2005-07-18T20:04:22Z")
_A Midwinter’s Tale_ - A depressed, out-of-work actor decides to stage a minimalist, low-budget production of _Hamlet_ in order to save his own sanity. Riotously funny, especially if you’re a theater person. The ensemble cast is top-notch and a real treat to watch. Kenneth Branaugh made this film around the same time that he was filming his own over-the-top version of _Hamlet_. Every time I watch it I have the almost irresistable impulse to scan the newspaper for audition notices. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/42 "2005-07-18T20:37:10Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Don’t know if [The Beast](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716/) is unheard of or not but it does at least appear to be underrated. George Dzundza, Jason Patric, Steven Bauer and even a tolerable Stephen Baldwin in a flick that grabs you from the start and won’t let go. I was going to mention The Beast as well, probably the best film about war ever, war is nasty bloody and nobody are heroes (or everybody are heroes but not admirable). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/43 "2005-07-18T20:41:29Z")
I caught a movie on German television once, and later figured out that it was [Le Trou](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0054407/). It’s a French prison-break film, and the details and execution of the escape are fascinating. I don’t remember if it was subtitled or dubbed, not that it mattered, and I’ll have to see it with an English translation to pick up the character stuff that I missed. It’s great even when you can’t understand a word of it (although I can think of one movie that got worse when I could understand the dialog) and gets some glowing reviews on the web. > [@Max Torque](#): > > **Sorcerer** , which is itself a remake of **The Wages Of Fear** , also a too-little-known movie. I didn’t see _Sorcerer_ in the theater, but I caught it several times during its initial run on cable and I remember it well. The only DVD version I can track down is not widescreen, unfortunately, but I will have to see it again. From what I remember, it was hyped as one of the big action/suspense movies during the summer it came out, but then faded pretty quickly. I still remember ads with the truck and the Tangerine Dream soundtrack. And I just borrowed _The Wages of Fear_ and saw it a few months ago. It was good, and I thought the differences with _Sorcerer_ were very interesting. I don’t know if it’s because of the intervening years, or differences from French filmmaking to American, but there seemed to be much more explicit photography and staging in the remake. In _The Wages of Fear_, you have to accept the actors description of the problems they’re facing. In _Sorcerer_, it’s filmed in a way that we can see what they’re up against. ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/44 "2005-07-18T20:42:03Z")
**Wanda** , written, directed, and starred in by the late Barbara Loden, wife of the late Elia Kazan. A sad, heartbreaking little movie about a woman who tries to escape her life in a coal mining town and gets caught up with a small time bank robber. It’s never been commercially available in the US for home viewing, which is tragic in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/45 "2005-07-18T20:50:27Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > _The 7 Faces of Dr Lao_ - I have it on DVD and everyone I’ve loaned it to has thought it was great. But it’s virtually unknown. (With the exception that Joel on MST3K said it was his favorite movie of all time.) Isn’t this the classic Tony Randall film that was even spoofed on the simpsons? Even had a pre-Jeanie Barbara Eden. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/46 "2005-07-18T20:55:36Z")
The only thing wrong with _A Simple Plan_ is Bill Paxton. If someone else had been the lead, it would be a great movie. He’s just a big cipher in the middle of an otherwise great movie. My nomination is [The Poor and Hungry](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259516/), written and directed by Craig Brewer, whose next movie is [Hustle and Flow](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410097/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9MXxmYj11fHBuPTB8cT1odXN0bGUgYW5kIGZsb3d8aHRtbD0xfG5tPTE_;fc=1;ft=21;fm=1), which will be in wide release this Friday. I highly recommend that everyone go see it, because it’s fucking great. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/47 "2005-07-18T20:56:10Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > [Waking Ned Devine.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166396/) > > :smack: Excellant movie. Highly recommend If this is obscure then I am guessing the Secret of Roane Innish [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111112/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111112/) is also. Excellant movie. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/48 "2005-07-18T21:00:18Z")
Angel Baby - A delightfully depressing movie about people with mental instabilities falling in love. It’s an Aussie indie film. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112362/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112362/) Fear Anxiety and Depression - a great quirky comedy made by Todd Solondz (Welcome to the dollhouse, happiness) about a loser playwrite who keeps looking for love losing it and looking again. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169895/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169895/) Bloody Angels (a.k.a 1732 Høtten)- A film from Norway about a detective trying to solve the murder of a man who was accused of raping and killing a mentally handicapped girl but was found innocent. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157411/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157411/) Romper Stomper - One of Russel Crowe’s first movies. About a skinhead gang in Australia and the tragedies that befall them. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105275/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105275/) ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/49 "2005-07-18T21:09:30Z")
[The Last Supper](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113613/) ---
**Author:** ![cruel\_butterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@cruel\_butterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cruel_butterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/50 "2005-07-18T21:10:47Z")
[Home for the Holidays](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113321/) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/51 "2005-07-18T21:15:46Z")
[_Leaving Normal_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104697/) Thelma and Louise for grown-ups. [_What Dreams May Come_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120889/) ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/52 "2005-07-18T23:16:51Z")
I nominate [Pretty Village, Pretty Flame](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0116860/) I’ve literally never met anyone who has ever seen it, and I only saw it because I had a Serbian friend and she showed it to me. As war dramas go, it’s right up there with _Platoon_ or _Full Metal Jacket_ or _Bridge Over The River Kwai_… and IMHO much better than all of these. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/53 "2005-07-18T23:21:39Z")
> [@Nature's Call](#): > > **Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead** I’ve been waiting for this DVD release for years, hopefully poking around HMV, never seeing it - until finally a couple weeks ago. Bought it on the spot. R&G, as you’ll recall, are Hamlet’s friends. They make a couple of appearances in Willie’s play then quickly leave. The movie is set simultaneously to the play, but the camera follows R&G. An intelligent, whimsical, silly comedy, My brother and I have been playing “Questions” for years, inspired by the flick. It’s out? It’s _out_? /me makes note to check local video stores and soon. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/54 "2005-07-18T23:30:51Z")
_The Beast_, about a day (or several, I don’t recall) in the life of a Soviet tank crew in Afghanistan. Really, rent it today. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/55 "2005-07-19T00:00:33Z")
Oh, and just FYI, **Nature’s Call** - R&GaD is based on [the play by the same name](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0802132758/qid=1121731232/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6441382-4144845?v=glance&s=books). Tom Stoppard wrote it. Oldman is excellent in it, as is Dreyfus. ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/56 "2005-07-19T00:14:16Z")
Are comedies eligible? Try ([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/)) Noises Off, by Peter Bogdanivich. Michael Caine, Carol Channing, even Superman. Really, really funny too. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/57 "2005-07-19T00:29:50Z")
I’ll have to go with [Bubba Ho-tep](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0281686/) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/58 "2005-07-19T01:58:24Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > Are comedies eligible? Try ([http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105017/)) Noises Off, by Peter Bogdanivich. Michael Caine, Carol Channing, even Superman. Really, really funny too. And John Ritter! 🙂 Bubba Ho-Tep was an awesome film, but seriously mismarketed, I think. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/59 "2005-07-19T02:31:01Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > **Citizen X** [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112681/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112681/) > originally an HBO movie, I think…one of the best serial killer movies i’ve ever seen. Not to mention a really intriguing look into the Soviet union pre and post Cold War. That movie was fantastic, and it was indeed an HBO original. Another excellent early HBO original that may fit the OP is [Freeway](http://imdb.com/title/tt0116361/). Not only Reese Witherspoon’s best performance, but also single-handedly revived Keifer Sutherland’s career by elevating him out of the brat pack. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922/60 "2005-07-19T02:38:28Z")
I just remembered another HBO original that may fit the OP: [Above Suspicion](http://imdb.com/title/tt0109034/): Christopher Reeve plays a paralyzed man. Basically a piece of crime story fluff – albeit well-executed – but it was noteworthy (and pulled) due to the fact that Reeve actually did get paralyzed while this was in post-production. His last role before his accident, and he played a paralyzed man. That’s got to fuck with you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-movie-no-one-ever-heard-of/312922.md?page=4)