Great movies which never found an audience

Evac101

I was talking with the better half recently about this and was curious what folks input would be. Movies which, in my opinion obviously, are good/great, but which were box office disappointments. I'm excluding projects like Serenity which, personally, I loved, but which is something that was perceived by most as 'the film of that tv show I haven't watched'.

The best recent example of this which comes to mind is Edge of Tomorrow, a film which I found brilliant (though the last 10 minutes disappointed me with 'smarmy Tom' emerging from a previously enjoyable performance). Critic's generally liked it, it has both a critic and fan score of 90% on RT, word of mouth was very positive but considered to be a box office failure. Was it just the bad advertising, bad title or something else? I'm sure that there are other examples of this (Heavens Gate for instance is being increasingly re-evaluated as a very fine film) and I wonder is there common elements in these commercial failures which can point me towards a cause?

NachoBusiness

Most recently I quite enjoyed Schwarzenegger's Maggie but I think it was only in the cinema for a week, maybe two.

Evac101

Unfortunate - I had hoped to see it in the cinema - guess I'll be waiting for it's arrival on Netflix I guess.

Wedwood

I haven't seen it yet, but I suspect Tommorowland could be another good movie which missed its audience because of terrible marketing.

conorhal

Wedwood wrote: »

I haven't seen it yet, but I suspect Tommorowland could be another good movie which missed its audience because of terrible marketing.

Naaaa..

In Bruges was a great film felled by really crappy marketing, Tommorowland is a dreadful film which is unrecognised as such because dreadful marketing.

Of course In Bruges, like many good movies failed by uncomprehending marketing departments, managed to find an audience on DVD or video. I wonder if the torrent generation will discover more of such films, or, if the decline of physical media means that they will never get a second life after an inital release.

Queenalocin

Robot and Franks, 2012, is a good movie, story is very engaging.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1990314/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm

MrWalsh

Well the immediate one that comes to mind is Shawshank Redemption.

Wedwood

conorhal wrote: »

Naaaa..

In Bruges was a great film felled by really crappy marketing, Tommorowland is a dreadful film which is unrecognised as such because dreadful marketing.

Of course In Bruges, like many good movies failed by uncomprehending marketing departments, managed to find an audience on DVD or video. I wonder if the torrent generation will discover more of such films, or, if the decline of physical media means that they will never get a second life after an inital release.

Fair enough, I'll keep Tomorrowland for rental, or Netflix.

brevity

Is Tomorrowland really that bad? I was looking forward to seeing it.

Mickeroo

It was grand, pretty good for the first hour then kind of trailed off.

Aimead

MrWalsh wrote: »

Well the immediate one that comes to mind is Shawshank Redemption.

And a certain Peter Bradshaw.

Stone Deaf 4evr

some that spring to mind for me are:

Faster: A Dwayne "the rock" Johnson revenge film, gritty and unrelenting and not at all family friendly
Running Scared : A Paul Walker film about the search for a kid who uses a mafia weapon to kill his abusive stepfather and then goes on the run.
Frailty: stars matthew mc conaughey, avoid trailers and just watch this one.

Mickeroo

Yeah Frailty is very good, was directed by Bill Paxton too.

brevity

Mickeroo wrote: »

It was grand, pretty good for the first hour then kind of trailed off.

Lindelof.

Rebellion

buffalo 66 with vince gallo,

FortuneChip

Mr Nobody.
Never got a proper release in UK/Ire (or the States for that matter).
I made my friend watch it a few years ago and she believed it to be the most boring, terrible, and boring movie she ever watched. We're no longer friends.

I absolutely love it. It's a mess, but a glorious, gorgeous mess.

cloud493

I liked Maggie and Tomorrowland.

e_e

Snowpiercer, thanks to that stubborn Weinstein wanker.

We still haven't seen James Gray's The Immigrant on these shores either because of him and also got a butchered version of The Grandmaster. :mad:

fruvai

e_e wrote: »

Snowpiercer, thanks to that stubborn Weinstein wanker.

We still haven't seen James May's The Immigrant on these shores either because of him and also got a butchered version of The Grandmaster. :mad:

I think you mean James Gray :pac:

Dirty Dingus McGee

I saw State of Grace a couple of weeks ago and it was excellent a really top notch gangster film

I never heard of it before and only watched it because one of the lads in work recommended it .

Unfortunately it was released at around the same time as Goodfella's and so never picked up much attention or did well at the box office.

It features some great performances from Ed Harris,Sean Penn and Gary Oldman also features Robin Wright and John Turturro (which is always a good sign).

mullyboyee

I agree with Mr. Nobody it was fantastic.

Killer Joe would be my shout though.

droidman123

Seen a movie a few months ago called i origins, fantastic and moving movie, thoroughly recommended. I dont think it even got a cinema release.

NachoBusiness

Another film I'd give a mention to which I feel deserved far more time in the flicks and also which I rarely heard being recommended, was Dexter Fletcher's Wild Bill (2011). Wiki says it only did £60,430 at the box office. Is there anyway to find out how it's done with regards to DVD and online viewing? Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt it deserved to do better than it appears to have done at least.

conorhal

I'd add The 'Assassination of Jessie James'

It really is a beautiful meditation on the price of fame. It's a shame that it never got the recognition it deserved considering the star power and creative tallent behind it.

e_e

droidman123 wrote: »

Seen a movie a few months ago called i origins, fantastic and moving movie, thoroughly recommended. I dont think it even got a cinema release.

It played in Cineworld alright but nowhere else as far as I could see.

Mickeroo

Black Dynamite and Tucker and Dale Vs Evil are two movies I thought deserved a much wider release and recognition than they got, BD in particular, at least Tucker and Dale found a decent-ish audience on Netflix in the end.

Evac101

Absolutely agree on Tucker and Dale, that said a friend who would be a fan of Alan Tudyk in other projects (Dollhouse, Firefly, Suburgatory, etc) hated Tucker and Dale so it does seem divisive.

darkdubh

Scorceses The King Of Comedy,its kind of picked up a cult following over the years but bombed at the box office when it was released as people dident really know what to make of it.

fruvai

darkdubh wrote: »

Scorceses The King Of Comedy,its kind of picked up a cult following over the years but bombed at the box office when it was released as people dident really know what to make of it.

After Hours too

shazzerman

droidman123 wrote: »

Seen a movie a few months ago called i origins, fantastic and moving movie, thoroughly recommended. I dont think it even got a cinema release.

A good film. I think the writer-director made another interesting film before I, Origins called Another Earth. And there is yet another interesting film with Brit Marling in the lead role, this one called Sound of My Voice.
There's a great trilogy of thought-provoking - and criminally little-known - films right there.

Guy:Incognito

Mickeroo wrote: »

Yeah Frailty is very good, was directed by Bill Paxton too.

The guy from independence day? :P

dubscottie

Mean Creek..

Why that film was never in the cinema I don't know..

bur

No one i've ever asked has seen Chain of Fools. A pretty decent comedy with a great cast.

Dozen Wicked Words

Dredd. Terrific action, special effects and Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby are excellent as Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson. Crying out for a sequel but we'll never get one.

Tony EH

It's only out of the cinema a couple of months, but I predict 'Slow West' will be one of those films many people will catch by surprise.

Pity, because it's a great little picture.

kupus

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Dredd. Terrific action, special effects and Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby are excellent as Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson. Crying out for a sequel but we'll never get one.

Why no sequel?

One worth a look at....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Rapids_(film)
Cedar Rapids

Seve OB

I Went Down

FunLover18

A Cock And Bull Story starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as themselves (much like The Trip) as they try to make a film adaptation of The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy. Fantastic little comedy that is probably one of my all time favourite films.

shazzerman

Cutter's Way.

Chain Smoker

Take Shelter was a big one imo, a startlingly inept marketing campaign. Despite having an August 2011 release in the US, it still managed to appear in an awful number of "supposedly great films from 2011 that I haven't gotten around to yet" lists from film critics, that can only be down to not organising enough press screenings or sending out screeners.
A film that good with those leads from a highly touted director managing to only make $3 million is a bit of a disgrace.


The Immigrant is another good one but I really can't put the blame at Weinstein's feet, much like Gray's earlier film Two Lovers, I think it's great but I honestly have no clue exactly what its audience would be. Quite surprised its imdb rating isn't more negative to be honest.

check_six

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Dredd. Terrific action, special effects and Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby are excellent as Judge Dredd and Judge Anderson. Crying out for a sequel but we'll never get one.

kupus wrote: »

Why no sequel?

Dredd is a cracking movie. Unfortunately, it didn't do great business in the US which has scuppered the chances of that team doing a sequel. This is a real shame because the creative team really got the Dredd and Mega City One vibe down to a tee. Maybe in the future someone else will have a go at it. At least they have a great template to work off.

Tony EH

As far as I'm aware, everyone's on board for a sequel.

It's financing that's the sticking point.

Incredible really, when you think just how good the film was.

johnny_ultimate

Can't believe nobody has mentioned almost every great foreign language film ever made yet! :pac:

A-Trak

Dredd would make a fantastic Netfix series. There's so much material to draw from.

Aimead

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Can't believe nobody has mentioned almost every great foreign language film ever made yet!

But great films like Amelie or Sympathy For Lady Vengeance were pretty popular in their own countries – if they had tanked we’d likely never have heard of them.

I remember the BBC went through a stint some years back of showing subtitled films that featured some real gems. Jagoda In The Supermarket and Divided We Fall spring to mind, which featured some of the best awkward comedy I’ve ever seen. I’m assuming both of those did reasonably well since, had they not, we’d never have heard of them.

check_six

A-Trak wrote: »

Dredd would make a fantastic Netfix series. There's so much material to draw from.

I've got the ideas if you've got the mega-bucks. Just send the cash in a large bucket and I'll make it happen!

Chain Smoker

This finally found an audience, but it took 40 years!

SimonTemplar

Wadjda. Outstanding, funny and poignant movie.

fruvai

Punch-Drunk Love - derided by Sandler fans for being too strange and avoided by everyone else because it's an Adam Sandler film :pac: I'm of the unpopular view that it's Paul Thomas Anderson's best.Lovely little film

The Double - Richard Ayoade's sophmore effort.Terrific lead performance by Jesse Eisenberg with great cinematography/score/art direction. I can understand why it's not very popular though - it's very dark and I think that a lot of viewers just simply don't like nebbish protagonists

sm213

Has anyone here seen Ink?

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1071804/

I think its quite awesome.

Lamper.sffc

Tony EH wrote: »

As far as I'm aware, everyone's on board for a sequel.

It's financing that's the sticking point.

Incredible really, when you think just how good the film was.

http://io9.com/alex-garland-says-that-dredd-2-is-not-going-to-happen-1692186184

Unfortunately