Genuinely good movies that have went under the radar?

strawdog

Ironman76 wrote: »

The french movie The Intouchables, is excellent. One of the best Ive seen in recent years actually.

+1 for intouchables

going to be a lot of top foreign language movies that understandably didn't make waves here, couple that spring to my mind:

The Best of Youth (Italian), originally made as a mini series but turned into two 3 hour movies, drama about 2 brother that sweeps through the decades of Italian life and politics, beautifully drawn and emotional movie.

The Beat that my Heart skipped (French)Romain Duris as a shady character who starts looking for redemption through classical piano playing. Long time since I watched it but stuck with me, remember it being a gripping interesting watch.

lardzeppelin

odyssey06 wrote:

36 Quai des Orfèvres, French crime thriller starring Daniel Auteuil & Gérard Depardieu.

Excellent film, and while we're in French territory, from long ago, enough to warrant a mention...the original 'la saliere du peur'...'the wages of fear', George Henri Cluzolt's riveting study of male bonding set against the terrifying ordeal of ferrying explosives across an inhospitable jungle to put out an oil field fire....remade by William Friedkin as 'the sorcerer', but falling far short of the original....

fxotoole

pixelburp wrote: »

Reviews here? Well, if you were annoyed about folks not reading them, I can tell you, they're less likely to go off and separately google/IMDB 14 separate titles; few of us are that idle Kinda comes with the territory of a discussion forum to scribble some thoughts and ideas rather than drop a bunch of names. Sure we can all do that!

Some of the movies mentioned work better if you go in blind, without any expectations or knowledge of the storyline. Hence why I didn’t post any synopses.

the purple tin

Alien Nation is a good cop, buddy, sci-fi flick. Think of Lethal Weapon but Riggs is an ET.


Get Carter starring Michael Caine. Excellent gritty revenge thriller set in the north of England.

the purple tin

reap-a-rat wrote: »

Duel.

It's a made for TV movie from the 70s directed by Steven Spielberg. Might have been released in cinema later.

Anyway it's about this regular guy travelling across the states and he overtakes a truck. Sounds basic enough but it's my go-to recommendation for a good thriller that people invariably haven't seen. I saw it 3 or 4 times on late night tv as a kid. I'd say my mother and I have seen it more than anyone else in the world!

Dennis Weaver was perfectly cast. If the role had went to a more macho actor like Paul Newman or Clint Eastwood etc. it would never have worked.

xalot

Aussie film Animal Kingdom some cast with mostly (at the time) unknowns Joel Edgerton , Jacki Weaver and the always incredible Ben Mendelsohn.

Also In The Bedroom from the early 2000's. Got a few Oscar nominations but most people haven't seen it. Same for 21 gramms.

I also thought Edge of Seventeen was a great little film.

Also Take Shelter with Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon. From the same director as Midnight Special which I really liked.

I thought Nocturnal Animals should have won everything in its sight that year.

On a lighter note, I think Drop Dead Gorgeous is bloody fantastic.

Gbear

pixelburp wrote: »

Miller's Crossing, Coen Brothers; When the 'best of' Coen lists pop up, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Big Lebowski get the plaudits - but for me this is up there with Coen's best work, with a career best performance from Gabriel Byrne. The soundtrack remains quite beautiful.

I mostly loved it - well made, acted, etc. When it ended it felt a bit insubstantial though. The story seemed to kind of peter out.

My pick is The Informant!

It's a biographical comedy drama with Matt Damon about price fixing in the corn industry. It's funny and very cleverly written and plotted out, with some great performances, particularly from Damon, but also from Scott Bakula, of all people.

It's a nice light fun film, but that leaves you thinking at the end of it and feeling quite a lot of empathy for the main character.

Art McCarrick

One Hundred Mornings - Post apocalyptic drama set in the Dublin Mountains.

71 - Young British soldier caught behind enemy lines in Belfast.

Somers Town - A Shane Meadows film that never reached the heights of his others but like "This is England", this film is all the more poignant with Brexit looming.

No Party For Billy Burns - Was on the film festival circuit over the last 9-10 months or so. A bit of a "Garage" vibe off it with Kevin McGahern playing the lead - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEtn8T86je0

fxotoole

Another vote for ‘71 from me. Jack O’Connell puts in a great performance as a British soldier stuck “behind enemy lines” so to speak in a hostile part of Northern Ireland

stormthecastle

Probably a lot of foreign language films fall under this category as they don't get enough attention here. Dangal (India), Memories of Murder (Korea), the lives of others (Germany) goodbye lenin (Germany) Departures (Japan) and I could name hundreds more brilliant movies that are under the radar for most people averse to subtitles.

fxotoole

Starred Up. Another Jack O’Connell movie that not much people seem to heard of. It’s a prison drama starring Jack O’Connel, Rupert Friend and Ben Mendehlson

EagererBeaver

fxotoole wrote: »

Starred Up. Another Jack O’Connell movie that not much people seem to heard of. It’s a prison drama starring Jack O’Connel, Rupert Friend and Ben Mendehlson

Exceptional movie.

tomofson

Just cause (1995) good film with great twists.

King of new york (1990) Christopher walken gangster movie, really good.

Suicide Kings (1997) Christopher Walken, movie where teens kidnap a gangster.

Things to do in denver when your dead (1995)

Dr_Colossus

Ironman76 wrote: »

The french movie The Intouchables, is excellent. One of the best Ive seen in recent years actually.

Thanks, just finished watching this and is was excellent, very funny also.

Watched a low budget movie The Endless last week and enjoyed it A bit of a David Lynch vibe to it. Hadn't heard of it previously.

spookwoman

Deleted User wrote: »

apologies if these dont meet the obscurity requirements or have been mentioned

gattaca- as good as drama-led 90's scifi got imo

once upon a time in the west- if 'america' qualifies, then we have to make room for this, the greatest western ever made for my money and three of the finest turns ever given in one movie from henry fonda, charles bronson and especially the incredible jason robards

bad lieutenant: port of call new orleans- the movie nic cage was born to make, genius direction from herzog, absolutely mental and so, so, so unexpectedly hilarious

dog soldiers- very nicely made werewolf vs squaddies cult british movie from mid 90s

if youve seen and enjoyed the french connection (and you really should have, obv) then the majority of the crew and a good few of the cast made a very decent cops and robbers flick called "the seven ups" that has style, pacing and what is genuinely a top 5 of all time car chase. roy scheider stars, this is never a bad thing (except jaws sequels)

hardly obscure but seldom referenced these days, the sting is an absolute beaut of a movie, a cracking story expertly told and the cast is a dream- and if you dont know the story going in do yourself a favour and watch it cold. even if you somehow guess it youll still have lots of fun.

If you liked dog soldiers try

Dog House British Horror Comedy with Danny Dyer and Noel Clarke. Virus infects a village and turns the women in man hating cannibals

Severance British Horror Comedy with Danny Dyer. During a team-building retreat in the mountains a group of sales representatives are hunted down one by one.

The Decent 1 and 2 - British Horror. A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

Hellraiser 1 and 2 - British Horror. Clive Barker's feature directing debut graphically depicts the tale of a man and wife who move into an old house and discover a hideous creature - the man's half-brother, who is also the woman's former lover - hiding upstairs. Having lost his earthly body to a trio of S&M demons, the Cenobites. Went downhill after these 2.

Outpost - British Horror - In war-torn Eastern Europe, a world-weary group of mercenaries discover a long-hidden secret in an abandoned WWII bunker.

the purple tin

The Keep is a great 80's horror by Michael Mann. Very atmospheric, great soundtrack.

Pii (the symbol) directed by Aronofsky is well worth a look
Ditto Happiness by Todd Solondz, bleak but good.

odyssey06

I really enjoyed "A Futile and Stupid Gesture".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5566790/

If you remember the National Lampoon movies of the late 70s and early 80s such as Animal House and Caddyshack, this is a cleverly written biography of one the founder members of the Lampoon. Domhnall Gleeson is one of the leads.

odyssey06

Hammett (1982) directed by Wim Wenders which may or may not have been reshot by Francis Ford Coppola, an homage to the classic private eye film noirs.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085640/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

I think it has its flaws - lacking a bit of star power in the casting, and the plot is a bit of a mess, but some of the scenes are just perfect and I love the score.

CalamariFritti

Night on Earth, not sure it got a mention yet. Jim Jarmusch' film featuring 5 episodes with taxis. Excellent stuff with a young Wynona Ryder.

5rtytry56

"My Beautiful Laundrette"

Reasonably well off but in poor standing pakistani gent recruits rough & ready cockney to set up and run Laundrette in tough part of London.

starring Daniel Day Lewis.

Surprised it has'nt been mentioned before now.

Ye Philistines.

5rtytry56

odyssey06 wrote: »

Some french films that were hits at home but may not have gotten much attention here.

If you can tolerate subtitles:

36 Quai des Orfèvres, French crime thriller starring Daniel Auteuil & Gérard Depardieu.

L'auberge espagnole, a romantic comedy about an Erasmus student starring Romain Duris & Audrey Tautou.

You forgot

"The Last Meteron"

had a different name in its country of origin

can't recall off the top of my head.

CalamariFritti

blackwave wrote: »

Once upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone's last film was a box office flop at the time. Because it originally meant to be close to four hours run time but it was edited to little over two hours with huge amounts of cuts made and ended up having massive plotholes. If you can get a copy of the European release it is well worth a look at

Awesome film. Watch the long version.

The Crowman

saintsaltynuts wrote: »

Wake In Fright(1971).About a school teacher who's supposed to stay one night in an Aussie town but get's caught up in the mayhem the place has to offer.Wont give too much away but it's a lost classic.

Great film

CalamariFritti

Run Lola Run

mistersifter

Brawl in Cellblock 99.

Vince Vaughn branches out from his typical "funny everyman" role to (brilliantly) play a brooding drug runner who gets into a feud with his boss and is forced to break into a prison to brutally murder some inmate.

Definitely worth a watch!

Joeface

road to paloma

Jason Momoa written and directed and staring..it not perfect by any means but I actually really enjoyed it.

I believe it is on YouTube so worth the look for free

wezzopalooza

The Ninth Configuration.

A real cult classic from William Peter Blatty, in the wake of the success of The Exorcist. It's definitely a love it or hate it kind of movie (the tone swings wildly from farce to harrowing drama), but everybody should see it at least once, as it features some of the best cult actors from the time, plus Blatty's witty and quotable dialogue.

Being a big fan of The Exorcist, I tried desperately to get a copy of this until Channel 4 came to the rescue with a late night Friday screening in the late 90's-early 00's, which of course I set the video for I've seen it many times since and it really adds something new with each viewing, it's a shame Blatty didn't direct more. The bar-room fight scene is a masterclass in tension and release- Stacy Keach has never been more badass

Picked up the Bluray of it last year, which had many interviews highlighting how crazy the production was, as it was made in Communist era Hungary with a fair few wildmen in the cast who got into trouble, such as Joe Spinell, Jason Miller, Richard Lynch and Neville Brand. Also an excellent story about how Nicol Williamson was fired the day before shooting began after running amok in a hotel in Budapest!

It got name-checked quite a bit around the time Shutter Island was released, but the similarities were superficial at best, as that lacked a lot of the Ninth's deeper themes. The movie was nominated for some Golden Globes (the screenplay won), but a lot of distribution problems let it slide into obscurity.

While other movies about the aftermath of war like Coming Home and The Deer Hunter got a lot more plaudits and exposure, The Ninth holds up as a great hidden treasure of a movie. I still enjoy the bemused/confused look I get when I bring it up in conversation


Hardcore and Blue Collar
2 excellent drama's from Paul Schrader, with brilliant performances from George C Scott and Richard Pryor. The late 70's-early 80's was truly a great time for gritty, underrated movies.

Sorcerer
What I'm sure William Friedkin thought would be his next huge success bombed as it went up against Star Wars, but still remains a superior and taut thriller. It has gladly got some recognition recently as it exited rights limbo, getting a proper release and seeing it in the IFI was a cinema highlight of the last year.
"That" bridge scene is still one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed imho. Roy Scheider was a big enough star at the time having just come off Jaws, but I do wonder how good original choice Steve Mcqueen would have been in that role.

Swimming with Sharks
A biting (and probably pretty accurate) satire on what it takes to make it up the Hollywood ladder, supposedly based on the director's time working as a PA for a nameless Film Exec. Kevin Spacey is in top class b'stard form as he makes his new ambitious assistant's life a living hell (played by the underrated Frank Whaley).

EagererBeaver

Don't know if The Raid has been mentioned. Loved it, which reminds me I've been meaning to watching the second one for about five years.

Gonad

Frailty

Movie from early 00’s with Matthew Mccaunaghy and Bill Paxton

Dr_Colossus

pixelburp wrote: »

I see 'Predestination' mentioned above, I had recommended it in the Netflix thread, and would do again here: very much a perfect example of a good film that just never gained any buzz, word-of-mouth and so on; probably didn't help that it was an Australian flick & didn't get much (any?) cinematic release - but it's arguably one of the best 'time travel' films of the last decade. To the point where I'd say it's a good example to anyone wondering on how to write a dramatic Time Loop without completely tripping yourself up.

+1, saw that a couple of years ago and was nicely impressed. Well worth a watch.