I met Mike Jittlov (with a “v”) at a science fiction convention in 1981. He showed a lot of his short films that I haven’t seen anywhere since. “THe Wizard of Speed and Time” started as a short made for the Disney folks circa 1977. At the con, Jittlov talked about turning it into a feature-length film, and I eagerly looked forward to it. The movie ** The Wizard to Speed and Time** that eventually emerged came out in 1989, coincident with the 50th anniversary of the very first WorldCon, and played a couple of miles away from the World Science Fiction Convention (NorEasCon III) in Boston. I went to see it.
I was disappointed – it wasn’t the film Jittlov had promised, or intended. I suspect he was more disappointed than anyone, but in film you do what you can with what you’ve got. Jittlov’s stuff is highly recommended. See TWOSAT. If you can, find his demonstration reel, ** Animato**.
Lots of the posts I second. Especially Twelve Monkeys, Dark City and 54. A must see for anyone who hasn’t yet. If you’re into demonology or anything apocalyptic like me, the following films are definately for you:
Fallen - Excellent movie about a cop chasing a criminal who is possessed by a demon.
The Ninth Gate - Unbelievably good Johnny Depp (as always) and great story. The ending was a bit too contrived though.
And two of my other (non-demonic) favorites:
How about Party Girl with Parker Posey? Who would have thought being a librarian would be so much fun? (No offense to all of you cool librarians out there.) I have the soundtrack - can we say grooovy? Oh yessss…
I watch Home for the Holidays every Thanksgiving. My absolutely favorite holiday movie - and I’m not even American! Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr, Anne Bancroft, directed by Jodie Foster. The dinner scene is so wonderfully painful. Jodie could have been filming at my house.
Great thread, and one that’s added immeasurably to my “must see” list. My own nomination is for a little seen 80’s vampire flick. NEAR DARK was sort of a modern day vampire western.
A midwestern farm boy accidentally falls in with a crew of bloodsuckers as they make their way across the badlands in a blacked out Winnebago.The casting is perfect, with Lance Henricksen and Bill Paxton as the gang leaders. You actually begin to sympathize with the creatures. These monsters have personality. Just some fellow predators trying to get by, ya know?
And then the outlaws happen upon an isolated roadhouse. The ensuing carnage is some of the most disturbing I’ve seen on film. Not particularly gory, or over the top, but very very brutal. These guys don’t just kill to survive. They like to play with their “food” first.
While not well known, NEAR DARK still makes a lot of top ten horror flick lists. And deservedly so.
I have to agree with Sofa King about The Hidden. I’m surprised I forgot to mention it – it’s a great almost unknown film. I think it steals too much from Hal Clement’s book Needle(one of the underappreciated classic sf novels) without attribution, but it stands on its own.
Ignore the “sequels” that the Sci-Fi channel cobbled together.
I’d also like to nominate Giorgio Moroder’s restoration of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. Purists, I’m told, hate it, and some people hate the music so much that theaters actually show this version without the sound, but I love it, music and all. (There is even a website put up by fans of the music. So there!)Say whart you will, the restored original title sequence alone (which is so washed out on the usual prints you see on film, Video, and even DVD that you can’t tell WHAT’S going on) will blow you away.
Wow! I get a “hell, yea” on The Hidden, and three mentions of films that I truly love immediately thereafter.
It’s a crime that To Live and Die in L.A. hasn’t been brought to DVD, or videotape recently, for that matter.
Thunder Road was great, and odd, too. Did you know that was Mitchum’s son playing the part of his brother?
Speaking of Mitchum, Night of the Hunter is friggin’ creepy as hell, and makes an excellent compliment to Kubrick’s Lolita. Shelley Winters plays essentially the same role in both films, not unlike Janet Leigh in Touch of Evil and Psycho.
My favorite movie that no one has seen is “Two-Lane Blacktop” (1971). It stars James Taylor (yep - Sweet Baby James) and Dennis Wilson (yep - the Beach Boy) as “the Driver” and “the Mechanic” who do nothing but race their '55 Chevy on backwoods dragstrips. The meet Warren Oates, driving a 1970 GTO, and decide to race cross country for pink slips. Oates, one of my favorite actors, has never been better. The whole thing is very existential and defies description.
It was finally made available on video last year and shows up occasionally on A & E and Bravo. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed.
If you love John Sayles' work, I hope you've seen both The Secret of Roan Inish and his latest, Limbo. Both are wonderful films.
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead is a modern classic. ("Give it a name.")
Shall We Dance? A touching love story that never was. Sometimes the sweetest fruit is that which we never partake.
Creator One of my favorite films of all time. Bittersweet.
A few of my own faves:
The Asphix A campy british ‘horror’ film that was sooo bad it was a riot!! The halting lines of the actors “What was my line?” to cheeeeesy special effects. Gentle viewer could only surmise that they didn’t have a script, and were making it up as they went along. Had it not been produced in the early 60’s, it would have swept the Razzies.
What Dreams May Come A dark film, granted, but I found it to be food for fodder. To be confronted with someone else’s idea of Heaven and Hell was downright thought provoking to me.
Seize the Day A fine straight performance by Robin Williams. Made back in 1986, it foreshadowed the talent that Mr. Williams has for drama. He portrayed a children’s furniture salesman in the fifties, and the viewer follows him down a dark path to nervous breakdown. His character is going through a divorce, and misses his wife and children very much. He struggles to make a living, support his estranged wife and children, and tries to make a new life for himself. But the odds are against him, and by the end of the film he collapses like a house of cards. Robin Williams does such a good job of being Joe Schmoe, that I want to reach into the screen and tell him everything is all right.
I must just be an Eric Schaeffer fan, but two I haven’t seen mentioned yet:
If Lucy Fell
Fall
Other romantic comedies:
Dream for an Insomniac
Say Anything (may not have been underappreciated, but it seems to have staying power)
The Rachel Papers (hmm, I’m seeing a trend here)
Miscellaneous:
Trees Lounge
Brazil
Ten things to do in Denver when you’re dead
A Clockwork Orange
For feel good movies:
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Radio Flyer
Original French versions of:
Three Men and a Baby
La Femme Nikita
The Professional
German:
M
Das Boot
Lola Rennt (run Lola run)
Die Weisse Rose (the white rose)
Tin Drum
Were once well received, but never see them on cable, etc.:
All the Presidents Men
One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Network
