Ooo… I forgot the original Wages of Fear The most tension-filled film ever
It’s in foreign, but that matters less in this film than most - (and if you don’t mind subtitles of course that opens up Amelie,Delicatessen, Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources, Closely Observed Trains, Das Boot, the original La Femme Nikita etc, etc, etc, etc
Not exactly a “hidden” gem - but a film that is a hell of a lot better than I expected given the way it was sold:- Three Kings, much more to it than Mr Clooney running around Iraq with a gun
I’m guessing Withnail and I isn’t that well known in the US - a film you’ll either find totally “meh” – or quote shit from for the rest of your life
For those of you interested in The Man Who Wasn’t There, you can view the trailer here. In my opinion, it does a wonderful job of conveying the mood and setting of the movie, and establishing many of the characters. Check it out.
I would also like to mention Way of the Gun, a movie my roomate had me watch recently. If you like Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Boondock Saints, or Desperado, look into it. It’s very tarantino-esque, and features good dialogue, realistic shoot outs, and plenty of twists and turns. Plus, there’s not a single “good” character in all the film…but that doesn’t keep you from liking anyone. the only thing holding it back is that Julliette Lewis stars in it, and IMHO she’s annoying in everything
I’d like to nominate Saving Grace, a charming little gem of a movie in which Tom Conti plays a newly-elected Pope who is accidentally locked out of the Vatican and has some adventures in the real world with simple folks who don’t recognize him. Sounds sappy, but isn’t.
I’m not sure exactly how hidden it is, but Cannibal! The Musical is a gem.
You see, it’s the movie that really got Trey Parker and Matt Stone started. They basically paid for it all with credit cards. It’s based on the story of Alferd Packer, one of the few people in the history of the US convicted of cannabalism. What really makes it weird, though, is the juxtaposition of extreme goofiness and historical accuracy. For example, the courtroom scenes were taken from court transcripts and shot in the actual courtroom Packer was tried in. And the first song introduces a word they invented simply because they needed to fill three syllables in the tune: Shpadoinkle. Which they keep using throughout the movie.
Even better, the DVD includes drunken cast commentary.
Another Matt Stone/Trey Parker (although more Trey than Matt) is Orgazmo. I mean, when you start with a mian character that’s a Mormon, martial arts expert, porno star, superhero, you just can’t go wrong.
Two of my favorite Bill Murray movies are two of his most obscure.
Quick Change Bill Murray, Gina Davis and Randy Quaid rob a bank and try to get out of town. I love the whole plan for the bank robbery and all the problems they encounter trying to get to the airport.
The Man who Knew Too Little. Bill Murray is a video rental manger who surprises his brother in England by showing up. His brother has a business dinner so he signes Bill up for a show where they simulate a spy adventure. However, he gets mixed up with some real spies.
Seconding Crossroad, Topsy Turvy, and Radio Days.
Broadway Danny Rose is maybe my favorite Woody Allen movie.
The King of Comedy. Somewhere I read that it is also diNiro s favorite, which is saying a lot.
And my alltime favorite comedy: Peter Bogdanovich s Noises Off. Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter and so on.
I recently discovered that it s also my mother s boyfriend s favorite. He s as unlike me as I can imagine- an eightyseven year old smalltown Kansas banker rightwinger, and we both have the same obscure favorite. Wierd.
The Whole Wide World–starring Vincent D’Onofrio as pulp writer Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan, Kull, and Red Sonja) and Renee Zellweger as the woman who tried to love him.
Masquerade, with Meg Tilly and Rob Lowe. A suspenseful thriller co-written by Law & Order creator Dick Wolf.
Big Eden - One of the sweetest, funniest, most romantic little movies ever. I even enjoyed the “making of” featurette.
Little Voice - A crackerjack cast, a great script, and the fabulous Jane Horrocks as the title character. Her spot on vocal impressions alone are worth the rental fee. Add Brenda Blethyn, Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, and Ewan McGregor (be still my heart!) and you have a nice “little gem”.
Seconding both of these. I saw Quick Change in the theater, and I love it dearly to this day. It’s been my experience that either you love this movie or you hate it.
Drop Dead Gorgeous- (1999) Kirsten Dunst, Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Denise Richards, Kirstie Alley, Brittany Murphy. Dark comedy about an obsessed mother and daughter (Alley, Richards) who go out of their way to win a beauty pageant in rural Minnesota. Funny? You betcha.
Freeway- (1996) Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Amanda Plumber.
Sutherland as a pshychotic killer and Witherspoon as trailer trash. Violent, funny, fun.
Adventures of Baron Munchausen- My favorite of the Terry Gilliam films. Not many people I know have seen it. Fantasy, adventure, lots of fun.
And Jennifer Tilly! With legs “that go all the way to the ground”.
Speaking of Tom Conti, how about The Norman Conquests. Regrettably only available now in VHS Not really a film, but rather a film of a play, (actuall three interconnected plays). Characters walk from one play to another, but each play is perfectly constructed to stand on its own. A brilliant bit of writing by Alan Ayckbourn, and featuring many of the actors/actresses that you see in classic BBC comedies.
Just thought of another of my favourites - "Sibling Rivalry"with Kirstie Alley, Jami Gertz, Ed O’Neil, Bill Pullman, Scott Bakula - the list goes on. Kirstie Alley is hysterical in this movie - if only she’d kept on being funny in this delightful, understated way, instead of going over the top.
I also have been adding to my Netflix queue, and second most of those I’ve seen.
I’ll add The Wicker Man, in which Edward Woodward is a cop who visits a remote Scottish island to investigate the disappearance of a young woman, and finds Christopher Lee in charge.
Then there’s The Tingler, a 50s horror flick starring Vincent Price, who discovers a parasite that grows when you’re scared - unless you scream! (OK, the movie isn’t that good, but Price is!)
Best of all is The Singing Detective (1986). (Be sure to get the original six-hour miniseries, not the later remake.) A writer, in hospital with severe psoriasis, avoids facing up to his life by living in his novel about a detective who is also a night-club singer. We also see flashbacks to his childhood, and fantasy song-and-dance numbers by nearly everybody he thinks of. Very strange and very good. (I won’t quite go as far as the writer of the review on IMDB, but it’s close.)
The movie is brilliantly written, and even more brilliantly acted. Tom Conti (who never got the recognition he deserved IMHO) was nominated for an Oscar for his role here.
Oh man, I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I loathed that movie. I got dragged into it by a girl who just wanted to ogle Matthew Mconahahnanhahawhatsisname.
Also, I would like to express my disappointment that almost EVERY SINGLE THING I thought of has been said already. Quiet American, Noises Off, Waking Ned Devine. Damn.
I posit two 80’s comedies: Heathers and Better Off Dead. BOD is the better of the two, in my opinion, but I love both of them. I know very few who’ve watched Better Off Dead.
Not really a film, but rather a film of a play, (actuall three interconnected plays). Characters walk from one play to another, but each play is perfectly constructed to stand on its own. A brilliant bit of writing by Alan Ayckbourn, and featuring many of the actors/actresses that you see in classic BBC comedies.