I loved “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”
Tim Roth and Gary Oldman in a Tom Stoppard work. For those who aren’t familiar with it, see this link:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100519
One of my favorite movies of all time. And the play’s even better.
By the way, I LOVED “Shakes the Clown,” too!
The one I always bring up in this sort of thread is The Year My Voice Broke, a gem of a movie about coming of age in rural Australia. Its sequel Flirting is a winner, too (and features a young Nicole Kidman).
I’ll second Leon (a/k/a The Professional) as well as the French action film Nikita (a/k/a La Femme Nikita) (the French film which introduced us to Jean Reno in the role of an assassin).
Two movies I liked but have not seen much:
The Power of One : Morgan Freeman is amazing.
the Public Eye : Joe Pesci’s greatest work ever. Period.
I agree with most of what’s been posted, especially Creator and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. And, I’d like to go on to add…
Joe Vs. The Volcano A Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle that flopped. Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley. A funny little fairy tale, with a superb performance by Abe Vigoda.
The Spanish Prisoner Brilliant plot. Good dramatic turn from Steve Martin.
Muppets From Space I laughed so hard, I hurt myself. Best collection of gags since Top Secret.
Silent_Rob kicks a**!! But he also su&*s because he beat me to it.
I love Six String Samurai!!!
Thank you all for the info…I’m always on the lookout for the overlooked films out there–and God knows, there are plenty of them. I’m seeing films posted I’ve never even heard of.
And a few that I have…
mrvisible: You nailed it–The Spanish Prisoner is marvelous, and Steve Martin was terrific in it.
CallMeacham: I saw Creator years ago and still remember how moving it was at the end. Good choice.
Gatsby: I have a copy of Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead and have watched it many times. Excellent.
Dr. Rieux: Yes, I’m a Boorman fan too. I didn’t realize, till I read your post, that anyone else had seen The Emerald Forest besides me. Such an underrated and powerful film.
Star 80. This movie simultaneously made and destroyed Eric Roberts’ career. His portrayal of Paul Snyder is so creepy, you’ll need to wash after seeing it.
Glengarry Glen Ross. Superb, riveting performances all around.
A small french Candian film called (in english) Black Robe. About Jesuit missionaries in Canada in the 1600’s (not sure of the century, actually, but it was back there). Heart-breakingly beautiful scenery interspersed with frighteningly graphic violence.
Naked Lunch. David Cronenburg adapted William Burrough’s drug-addled visions beautifully. They are two sick puppies. Great performances from some very underappreciated actors: Peter Weller and Judy Davis.
Number Six, you sir, rock! Leon is a great, great movie (though I prefer the European version), as are Searching for Bobby Fisher (which would have been on my list if I had remembered), and Blind Fury (I own this movie and nobody has seen it).
riley dieffenbach; Citizen X is indeed a very cool flick. I rented it and was not disappointed.
RealityChuck, awsome! Nobody I know has heard of Noises Off, and were baffled when I bought it (and I bought Rozencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead at the same time, Superdude). It’s a really great piece with great performances (a wonderful cast). If you get a chance, check out the play version of it (it’s amazing to see it performed live).
KneadToKnow, I thought The Conversation (a very cool flick) was pretty popular when it came out.
Two other movies to add: The Blood of Heroes (an action classic) and Shine (same kind of thing with SFBF, where people don’t want to see it but then love it if they do).
Shower, Serial Mom, Outside Providence, The Vanishing, Eating Raoul, Mass Appeal, City of Lost Children, the Big Lebowski, Parents, The Paper, Arlington Road, Farinelli, the “three colors” films (Red, Blue, White), A Clockwork Orange.
There are more, but my working memory is only providing me with a partial list at the moment.
There’re plenty of great movies in this thread. The Conversation, The Duellists, La Femme Nikita, Glengarry Glenross, The Spanish Prisoner, Naked Lunch, etc., are all excellent.
More comments:
viva, you stole my first choice. I think Ed Wood is fantastic! Normally, Tim Burton’s characters are secondary to the production design, but there was real depth of character in this movie. Definitely Burton’s best.
Sorry RealityChuck, but everything Verhoeven does is supposed to be funny. Whether or not he succeeds is a matter of debate. I went to Showgirls for the sleaze, but I stayed for the comedy. As for Starship Troopers, I think his reach exceeded his grasp but his intent was clearly satirical.
I like to think of Black Robe, as the Anti-Dances With Wolves. Whereas DwW romanticized the “noble savage”, BR is more bleak and realistic. It makes the point that “civilized” European culture isn’t that far removed from the savagery of aboriginal society. Life is suffering, but love makes it bearable.
In a similar vein, I’d like to recommend Clearcut. It’s a Canadian movie about a sawmill operator, the activist lawyer who’s suing him, and the badass Native American (who may or may not be Coyote) who’s kidnapped both of them to teach them a lesson. For the most part it is a fairly even-handed treatment of controversial environmental issues.
Also, I’ve never been able to figure out what the critics have against The Frighteners. I think it’s a great horror-comedy that I describe as Ghostbusters with an edge. Michael J. Fox’s best movie.
Hodge
My $.02
If you love music than you MUST see Brassed Off. It has some of the best movie music I’ve heard since Hunt for Red October.
Oh, geez - I thought we’d covered this… Look up the thread from a month or two ago. Read the book if you want to see what the story is really about.
Ironically enough however, I had actually intended to make the same point about “Natural Born Killers”. We’ll see if this one goes over better:
I felt everyone who decried NBK’s as senseless violence missed the point completely. It was supposed to be a mirror of ourselves, and therefore was indeed full of senseless violence. I felt this was quite obviously done intentionally. In fact, I couldn’t see how one could miss it, especially when there were shots of OJ Simpson edited in to one of the montage sequences.
I love this movie. Absolutely incredible. The soundtrack is great too - Billie Holliday, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, the Cocteau Twins and Portishead. Spectacular.
Also, Big Night with Stanley Tucci was great. Two genuine Italian restauranteers are competing with the big fake plastic Italian place restaurant down the street. They plan a huge dinner with an opera singer and all these famous guests, but of course plans go awry. Very sweet and sad. Shall We Dance? is the best sort of love story - very Casablaca-esque. The two main characters don’t end up together, don’t even make love, but it’s so great to see their chemistry.
The Pillow Book with Ewan McGregor was incredible. Ewan takes it all off, for that sort of audience, but it’s also classily erotic and sensual. I haven’t seen it in a year, but some of the scenes have remained with me - especially Ewan’s character painting Chinese calligraphy on his lover’s naked back.
Requiem For a Dream - It left me felling hollowed out, despondent, abused, and utterly numb, but kind of in a good way.
Also, Memento - A fascinating crime drama, told backwards.
Sure, like anyone named Grok is going to be objective about Heinlein. 
Hodge
I really hope you’re kidding. Now, I would like to name Exorcist III as a movie that few have seen and is worth watching.
Searching For Bobby Fischer as menioned above is a movie that everyone should see.
Black Robe. My all-time favorite “Native American” movie.
Heathers. Very funny.
Here are a few more (older) duds that I actually liked:
They Call Me Bruce. Well I thought it was funny!
Being There. Peter Sellers at his best.
Rock and Roll High School. The Ramones at their best!
On a related note, has anyone seen Escanaba in da Moonlight, staring Jeff Daniels? I haven’t seen it, but I heard it was hilarious. It’s about deer hunting in Michigan’s U.P. I figure it’s gotta be good…
Hold on a second about “Natural Born Killers”. I know, Stone thought he was parodying violence in society/media. But instead he created exactly what he was commenting on…a sadistic and vicious piece of trash that patted itself on the back about how much it was against violence and sadism. Natural Born Killers was awful, and especially awful was how Stone revels in the violence while pretending to deplore it.
Drugstore Cowboy
A Patch of Blue
Ironweed
Reefer Madness
Enemy Mine
Prizzi’s Honor
The Dark Crystal
The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball
The Madness of King George
Many, many more…
That’s not the worst, Lemur - Stone also tried to manipulate his audience into sympathizing with his two “heros”, and failed completely. He failed because he forgot that people make their own moral judgements, and don’t accept everything spooned to them by some self-important “auteur”. Besides, as satire, it was as sharp and subtle as a Louisville Slugger, only less likely to leave an impression.
Anyway…
The Thirteenth Warrior - much better than it should have been, with interesting characters, great action and perhaps the most impressive death scene ever filmed.
No Escape (AKA Escape from Absalom - a Mad Max sort of film starring Ray Liotta which… well, I don’t know why, but it’s a great movie. Really. It has an actual sense of humor, a well-thought out plot, and characters which are far more than just cardboard cut-outs.
Besides, how many post-apocalyptic style movies are there which include a scene in which the beseiged warriors/criminals hold a New Years bash, wear stupid hparty hats and dance drunkenly to Dusty Springfield?