Films you thought brilliant that others might not have seen or heard of.

UrbanSea

Haha,an awful film,but still brilliant,I think Boy Eats Girl is superb,a typical Irish zombie film.

Renn

Well, that's this thread ruined.

jaykhunter

blackalicious wrote: »

Paradise LOst: watched tthis for the first time last night and i was blown away, the best documentary ive ever seen. Following the brutal murder of three little boys in the heart of the bible belt in America, three teenagers who wear black clothes and listen to metalica, are charged and we get to see the trial unfold.. MUST WATCH its on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyTJgAfSRs

Thanks for recommending, just finished it, and would recommend (there's my spoiler-free thoughts). I can't believe the word "witch-hunt" could actually be accurate and applicable to a trial less than 20 years ago.

fontanalis

Macca3000 wrote: »

Whale Rider - a little gem of a New Zealand film.

A young Maori girl takes on the task of becoming leader of her tribe. A position tradition dictates only a man can hold. Her grandfather, the current chief, is very resentful of her not least because her twin, a boy, died at birth.

Yes, you can imagine the ending and indeed many of the details that lead up to it, but somehow it just doesn't fall into the cliche of 'overcoming adversity and proving yourself capable in the eyes of others' type movie.

Plus the scenery, as you'ld expect with New Zealand, is stunning.

Wonderful film, very uplifting. If you want to be depressed afterwards watch Once Were Warriors.

bonerm

The Streetfighter. It's an all out martial arts affair with plenty of action, laughs and some surprising visual moments

eg where one guy gets his head smashed in by the hero's fist and the camera quickly cuts to x-ray mode out of nowhere to show his skull collapsing

Referenced in 1993's True Romance.

sean corcoran

simple answer
battle royale: a group of students are sent to an island with detonating collars. they are forced to kill each other until only one student remains, they have 3 days to do so if after 3 days more than one student is still alive all the collars explode. its a film full of action and one of my favourites

battle royale 2 requiem: another group of students are sent to an island but this time not to kill each other but to kill the wild seven and their followers, a group of terrorist teenagers who declared war on all adults worldwide which include the survivor of battle royale 1

these are my favourite films of all time, if you have never seen them they are well worth watching

they are japanese films so they are subtitled
you can buy them both in hmv for around a tenner each and i promise you, you will not be dissapointed and you will watch them a lot more than once

LittleBook

bonzer1again wrote: »

Stephen Rea and Donald Sutherland, Excellent!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1qGHWPgU-4

The scene where Donald Sutherland is apologising to Stephen Rea was unforgettable

bubbaloo

"His & Hers" - Brilliant Irish documentary movie featuring women from the midlands talking about the men in their lives - from childhood to old age.
It's so enjoyable. So many stories we can all relate to. Not sure the men would like it though!

conorhal

Headwig and the Angry Inch:

A transsexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/band-mate who stole her songs.
Unexpectedly poignant, extremely funny, surreal and filled with some amazing music!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0248845/

Waltz With Bashir:
Flash animated documentary by an Israeli film director who u interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616/


Brothers of the Head:
In the 1970s a music promoter plucks Siamese twins from obscurity and grooms them into a freakish rock'n'roll act. A dark tale of sex, strangeness and rock music.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432260/


The Pillow Book
As a young girl in Japan, Nagiko's father paints characters on her face, and her aunt reads to her from "The Pillow Book", the diary of a 10th-century lady-in-waiting. Nagiko grows up, obsessed with books, papers, and writing on bodies, and her sexual odyssey (and the creation of her own Pillow Book) is a "parfait mélange" of classical Japanese, modern Chinese, and Western film images


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/


Ivans XTC:

Update on Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," set in contemporary Hollywood. It has an amazing central performace by Danny Hueston as a self obsessed Hollywood Agent

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238321/

3 Iron:

A young drifter enters strangers' houses - and lives - while owners are away. He spends a night or a day squatting in, repaying their unwitting hospitality by doing laundry or small repairs. His life changes when he runs into a beautiful woman in an affluent mansion who is ready to escape her unhappy, abusive marriage.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423866/

steddyeddy

little otik

candy-gal1

Last action hero!

I ve totally forgotton how fantastic this movie is, seriously. If you havent seen it i would seriously recommend, If you have seen watch it again!

johndoe99

Cold Prey (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808276/plotsummary

It kinda reminds me of Friday the 13th, except theres no Jason and its snowing, but it gets your blood pumping, the sequel is brill too.

losthorizon

Requiem - a truely great film.

Trailer below

Jasonw

I just wrote a list and all the descriptions but the filpping thing logged out so now you'll just have to do with the list:


Pan's labyrinth

Badlands

Harold and Maud

Zabriski point

The Basketball diaries

Goodbye Lenin

Walkabout.

CrazyRabbit

Twelve and Holding -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417385/

This is a movie by Michael Cuesta that follows three 12 year old friends who are each facing a very difficult situation.
Some truly great performances , especially from Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker), and Conor Donovan who plays the twins Jacob & Rudy.
The only letdown is the portrayal of Leonard's family (one of the 12 year olds), who are a bit caricature.

Possible spoilers :

Jacob has just tragically lost his twin brother and is trying to deal with the anger for those responsible. Malee is struggling with a serious crush on an adult guy who himself is facing serious issues. And Leonard is an overweight boy struggling to improve his health but is being held back by his grossly overweight family that refuses to acknowledge any problems.

I'd recommend NOT looking at the official trailer because it is riddled with major spoilers....hell, it even reveals the ending! I've not been able to find any trailer/clip that doesn't in some way spoil part of the movie, so I'll not

Jesus son
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186253/

An absolute gem of a movie, some great performances, but its hard to look past Jack Black and Denis Leary in this who both have brillant small roles. I recommend this to everyone.

steddyeddy

I loved nightbreed very dark.

nearyj

Great thread. Constantly trawling top 100's and cross-referencing rotten tomatoes scores (which are becoming less accurate IMO)

Tell no one (2006):
French thriller about a doctor trying to get on with his life after the murder of his wife. Years later, new evidence reveals more about the murder. Excellent movie with thrills, chases and an unexpected twist.

The lives of other (2006):
German drama about the lives of writers/playwrights under the survalence of the Stasi. Excellent script, great characters and emotional ending.

The Counterfeiters (2007):
Another excellent German drama about the nazi's attempt to destabilise the British economy by flooding it with counterfeit notes.

A prophet (2009):
French movie drama about a lonely, uneducated kid who is sent to prison and how how he grows up in such a ruthless environment.

I'll post a few more in the morning. Looking forward to watching many of your recommendations.

losthorizon

Yeah, some great posts!

First of all a great film - hard to get hold of but worth it (from Macedonia no less) all about ethnic strife. We hear about the problems between the Serbs and the Albanians but this film deals with the simmering tensions in Macedonia between Macedonians and Albanians. Way better than it sounds.

Trailer for "Before the Rain"

"Being John Malkovich" - You'll either love it or hate it

Downfall - I'm sure everybody has seen the funny pisstakes on youtube but how many have actually watched the film? For me its one of the top three films of the last ten years. Yes its that good.

La Balance - A French Cop thriller from the 80s directed by an American.
Tacky and hard. The theme music won't go out of your head.

BTW This is an over 18s trailer if the mods want to delete it.

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde- Make sure its the early 1930s version you buy. I think its 1932. The other versions are useless.

A Clip from the flim

All Quiet on the Western Front. There were three version made but its the 1930 version thats easily the best. You have to get by some 20 mins of ropey acting at the start (They were still making some silent movies at this stage). One of the saddest movies Ive ever seen by far.

Paul Verhoeven goes back to Holland and pulls out this cracker.

Black Book

Motorcycle Diaries - A film about Che Guevaras journey through South America as a young man which awakened in him his political consciousness.
Excellent film

filbert the fox

The Sunshine Boys

The Odd Couple

The Wages of Fear

Jacob's Ladder

Sl!mCharles

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE!!! Oh yes, ' The Greatest High Adventure Of All Time'.
A great WWII adventure with great characters and story. Check it

stormwarning

Foreign Films
Memories of Murder - Korean - kinda like zodiac
Infernal Affairs - Hong Kong - cop film like the departed
The Killer - Hong Kong - cop vs hitman vs bad guys = big shootout
Ip Man - Hong Kong - martial arts film with one of the best fight scenes

American Films
Rumble Fish - its a bit strange but well worth a look see
Romeo Is Bleeding - gary oldman is in it as a bad cop
Blue Collar - guys working at car plant decide to blackmail their union
The Conversation - gene hackman plays a paranoid surveillance expert
Titanic -

ship=iceberg=bye bye

azzie

Etre et Avoir
Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources
and for something totally different
No Surrender

All pretty old now, but still good!

PhiloCypher

The Believer - in the vein of and everybit as good as American history X , Ryan Gosling is a revelation .

Half nelson - Gosling knocks it out of the park again as a Charismatic but troubled innercity school teacher who forms a bond with one of his charges when she finds him taking drugs on school property .

spikeprint

nearyj wrote: »

Great thread. Constantly trawling top 100's and cross-referencing rotten tomatoes scores (which are becoming less accurate IMO)

Tell no one (2006):
French thriller about a doctor trying to get on with his life after the murder of his wife. Years later, new evidence reveals more about the murder. Excellent movie with thrills, chases and an unexpected twist.

The lives of other (2006):
German drama about the lives of writers/playwrights under the survalence of the Stasi. Excellent script, great characters and emotional ending.

The Counterfeiters (2007):
Another excellent German drama about the nazi's attempt to destabilise the British economy by flooding it with counterfeit notes.

A prophet (2009):
French movie drama about a lonely, uneducated kid who is sent to prison and how how he grows up in such a ruthless environment.

I'll post a few more in the morning. Looking forward to watching many of your recommendations.

Agree with all of these, top notch recommendations. A Prophet is a great movie, which in my opinion, was better than Mesrine, another great French gangster movie, starring Vincent Cassel.

Paddy Samurai

Saw this film first about 10 years ago and really enjoyed it ,have a copy on video in the attic somewhere.
I love the story and theres some beautiful scenes in it.

In the 17th century a Jesuit priest and a young companion are escorted through the wilderness of Quebec by Algonquin Indians to find a distant mission in the dead of winter. The Jesuit experiences a spiritual journey while his young companion falls in love with the Algonquin chief's beautiful daughter underneath the imposing and magnificent mountains. Dread and death follows them upriver.

Reminds me a little bit of The Mission story wise ,another film that i like alot.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101465/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101465/

PhiloCypher

Moon - the best Sci fi films in years

Sunshine - the second best Sci fi film in years

Peyton Manning

PhiloCypher wrote: »

Moon - the best Sci fi films in years

Sunshine - the second best Sci fi film in years

Both fantastic films. Moon is brlliant and very captivating, Rockwell just pulls it off so well. As for Sunshine, one of my favourite movies. It's just so beautiful to look at, and would be damn near perfect had they not

turned it into a teenage slasher film towards the end. That aside, Capa's jump is probably one of my favourite movie scenes of all time, accompanied by the magnificent score from John Murphy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFnn6iRcfEc

Hank_Jones

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Twelve and Holding -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417385/

Watched this one last night.
Quite a good film, but extremely weird and very unsettling.
Went through a range of emotions watching it.
Well worth a watch though, just expect the odd.

wapnote

Saw a Russian film called 9th Company the other day:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417397/

Was the most modern russian film I have ever seen..action, special effects, etc. It was similar in a way to Hollywood war movies, but the fact that it was made in Russia, with Russian helicopters, tanks, etc and Russian landscape backdrops made it kinda fascinating.