I didn’t know that. I’ll skip my planned mention of the National Film Board of Canada’s Herring Hunt, which won the 1953 Best Short, one reel Oscar.
There have been a lot of SDMB threads about recommendations of obscure movies, and many of them have contained arguments about which movies are obscure. I don’t know that it’s possible to define the term “obscure” sufficiently precisely. There’s too much variance in the amount of film watching for that.
The last obscure movie I saw and loved so captivated me that I was moved to shout it from the virtual rooftop: Triangle (open spoilers, but not in OP).
Saw it. While I can totally understand why someone would like it, I did not.
High Strung. Definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it!
I don’t know if The Adventures of Don Juan (1949?) is considered obscure - maybe to the young who don’t know who Errol Flynn was. But I’m watching it on TCM this morning and am, as always, agog at the stunning costumes - yes, in color. This movie won an Oscar for best costume design, and rightfully so. Just stunning.
If we broaden “obscure” to mean “little indie film that nobody I know saw, but me” then:
If we mean really, really loved, it would be Mary & Max. It’s an Australian stop-motion movie about a pen-pal relationship between a rather sad little Australian girl and an obese middle-aged New Yorker with Asperger’s.
The animation is amazing and incredibly detailed while all looking very “handmade.” You can feel the love of the animators in practically every frame.
It’s also very, very funny, very touching, and charming and entertaining throughout.
Seems to have been totally overlooked, despite a great voice cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toni Collette.
Very, very worth watching.
Perhaps a little less obscure but even more loved, Sita Sings the Blues. Almost indescribably great. Animated almost entirely by a single woman in multiple styles, it combines the music of 1920s jazz singer Annette Henshaw with the story of Sita from The Ramayana (she’s sorta like Helen of Ancient India, sorta). It works far, far better than that description would suggest, and is easily one of my favorite movies. It’s also totally free to download and watch, since licensing rights with the music mean the creator can’t really sell it.
With that cast,* Dean Spanley* should not have been obscure! But I’d never heard of it until it was streaming on Netflix; just bought the DVD. (Written by Lord Dunsany!)
The Woman Chaser was a sort-of neo noir starring Patrick Warburton as an LA used-car salesman who becomes a filmmaker. I saw it on IFC or one of those weirdo networks; it was released as a VHS but sank out of sight. I did not love it as I did Dean Spanley, but it was certainly original & memorable. And obscure…
(Agora in in my queue…)
I was about to post The Guard also. Good movie, Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle make an interesting duo.
The four obscure movies my wife and I love:
The Grey Fox 1982
Richard Farnsworth’s masterwork as an actor. It wasn’t always obscure- it won a couple of Golden Globes, and dominated the Genie Awards that year (Canadian Oscars). It’s criminal that this film is forgotten and long out of print in any format.
Strangers In Good Company (also called The Company Of Strangers) 1990
Another Canadian treasure.
Kenny 2006
from Australia. A mockumentary about a professional portapotty service tech. Unbelievably funny at times, but also a surprisingly gentle and touching character study. It’s not a bunch of caca-peepee jokes. Americans may have to watch it with the subtitles- the actors (and non-actors) speak deep Australian. Fellow Dopers, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Happy Accidents 2000
Marisa Tomei, Vincent D’Onofrio. Young woman meets the man of her dreams, only to eventually learn that he’s delusional, believing himself to be a time traveler. A funny, touching love story.
Frozen River
Takes place in the days before Christmas near a little-known border crossing on the Mohawk reservation between New York State and Quebec. Here, the lure of fast money from smuggling presents a daily challenge to single moms who would otherwise be earning minimum wage. Two women - one white, one Mohawk, both single mothers faced with desperate circumstances - are drawn into the world of border smuggling across the frozen water of the St. Lawrence River.
My wife just got done watching Sleeping Beauty and really liked it. It’s about a young narcoleptic woman who works as a hooker. Australian, director got nominated for the 2011 Palme d’Or.
I dunno if it qualifies as obsure or not (it was nominated for an academy award), but I really, really loved The Secret of Kells - an animated movie based on a fantasy version of the story of how the (historical) Book of Kells came to be made.
If I ever have a white cat, I’m calling it Pangur Bán. 