# Your Hidden Gems of Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302 "2005-09-06T04:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/121 "2005-09-10T05:51:56Z")
> [@dwyr](#): > > It’s not easy to find but I must recommend “Gigot”, it’s a fabulous film. The story by Jackie Gleason who also composed the music and plays the title role, never uttering a sound during the movie. I liked the original far better than the recent remake with Bill Macy. Macy’s a good actor but no one can match Gleason in this role. I saw that movie when I was about six years old, almost fory years ago. I cried so much that I’ve never had the guts to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/122 "2005-09-10T14:44:41Z")
I just watched _Miami Blues_ again because it is now available on DVD. It is a very dark little piece starring Alec Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Fred Ward. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/123 "2005-09-10T15:18:36Z")
I guess I’m picky. Have seen and noted some true hidden gems, but a lot of the selections I am reading simply aren’t all that unknown. Perhaps one person’s obscure film is another’s first run must-see. **Robot Arm** I think I was the one who got on your case. No diss intended, I own and love The Right Stuff, I consider it very much a gem–just not hidden. I saw (and very much enjoyed) _Le Trou_! (It helps that I have a son who graduated with a degree in French.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/124 "2005-09-10T18:44:17Z")
**Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.** Very quotable, funny, violent. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/125 "2005-09-10T18:54:55Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > **Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.** Very quotable, funny, violent. Awesome cast (Andy Garcia at his smoothest ever, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd, William Forsythe), and great use of “Jockey Full of Bourbon” by Tom Waits in the opening credits. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/126 "2005-09-10T19:23:08Z")
Just thought of two more: [Necronomicon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107664/): OK, it’s the cinematic version of the greasy spoon you drop into for a bite on the way to your night shift. Cheap and rancid, but it’s good anyway. [Dagon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264508/): No . . . I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/127 "2005-09-10T22:14:46Z")
_Trainspotting_ - Perfect book, intriguing movie, gorgeous dialogue and the very best ending. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/128 "2005-09-11T00:38:26Z")
**The Vanishing** (aka Spoorloos), a movie from the Netherlands. It’s about a young couple on a road trip to France. They stop off at a gas station where the girlfriend goes to get a soda and never returns. The boyfriend spends the next few years trying to find out what happened to her. Enter the killer, a school teacher who decides to see how evil he can really be. I guess there was an American remake, but I’ve read that it’s really really bad. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/129 "2005-09-11T00:42:10Z")
**Sweet and Lowdown** : A false biopic about “the second best Jazz guitarist in the world,” played by Sean Penn. Another excellent Woody Allen film – without Woody Allen. The guy should seriously consider remaining \*behind \* the camera. **Joy Ride** : Some youngsters on a road trip are stalked by a psychotic truck driver who taunts them over the CB. A surprisingly entertaining horror film, low on the gore, heavy on the suspense. The characters are refreshingly smart, by horror movie standards anyway. A good date film. **Roger Dodger** : A Don Juan uncle attempts to show his awkward, teenage nephew how to pick up women. It sounds like the setup for a dumb sex comedy, but it turns out to be a thought-provoking satire with some sharp dialog. I second **Wicker Man, Run Lola Run, Radio Days, Shattered Glass, Mean Creek, the Man Who Wasn’t There** , and **Donnie Darko**. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/130 "2005-09-15T23:02:10Z")
If it’s not too late, I have a few more. _Dog Soldiers_ British troops on maneuvers in Scotland run afowl of a band of Werewolves. Kinda like a cross between _Zulu,_ _Army of Darkness_, and a good Clancy novel. 🆒 _Return to Me_ Romantic comedy, written and directed by Bonnie Hunt, starring Minnie Driver as a heart-transplant recipient, David Duchovny as a recent widower. Carroll O’Connor’s final role. Sweet, sweet movie. _Ever After_ Drew Barrymore’s “Cinderella” retelling. It’s nice, really! _Kelly’s Heroes_ Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and a host of other fellas are American troops during WWII…who set out to rob a bank behind German lines. You’ll never listen to Hank Williams the same way again. _Revenge of Frankenstein_ One of the Hammer Frankensteins, with Peter Cushing as the good doctor. The Mad Scientist in your will be cheering at the end of this one. _The Bride_ A “re-imagining” of the Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein tale. Jennifer Beals as the Bride. Clancy Brown as the monster. Sting (!) as Dr. Frankenstein. _The Raven_ One of Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe movies, but this one’s a comedy, with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff (!), and Jack Nicholson (!!). “I, too, have failed at the task of living.” 😃 _Masque of the Red Death_ Also a Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe movie, with Vincent Price, but is absolutely NOT a comedy. Vince makes a terrific villain. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/131 "2005-09-16T01:21:52Z")
[The Dish](http://imdb.com/title/tt0205873/) Based on the true story of the people who ran a satellite dish in Australia (in the middle of a sheep field) during the first moon walk. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302/132 "2005-09-16T02:22:33Z")
_A Simple Plan_, starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda. Three guys find a crashed plane and a bag full of money in the woods and decide to keep the money. Somehow their plan doesn’t work out very well. Billy Bob Thornton is amazing, and like _Frailty_, it shows how underrated Bill Paxton can be. Sam Raimi directed it, but it’s very unlike his other movies – it’s not action or splatter or horror, really. It’s _definitely_ not comedy. It’s the kind of movie that stays with you for a while after you’ve seen it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-hidden-gems-of-movies/320302.md?page=6)