A few more;
“Lion Of the Desert” with Anthony Quinn and Oliver Reed. Dir. Moustapha Akkad (1980)
“Dead of Night” British horror (1945)
“Contraband” with Conrad Veidt. Dir. Powell and Pressburger (1940)
“Bad Day at Black Rock” with Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan. Dir. John Sturges (1954)
“Mississippi Burning” with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. Dir. Alan Parker (1988)
“Eye of the Needle” with Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan (she’s hot). Dir. Richard Marquand (1981)
“The Seventh Victim” produced by Val Lewton. Dir. Mark Robson (1943)
they live has possibly the greatest fight scene ever filmed.
and freddy got fingered is a film i always champion as an auteurist masterpiece as there isn’t one scene in the entire film that could have been made by a director other than tom green…a really concise definition of self, he bleeds all over that one
New to the forum…..here are my fav films that are overlooked:
“Backbeat” Dir. Iain Softley, 1994 – wonderful film about the relationship triangle between Astrid, John Lennon, and Stu Sutcliffe.
“The Krays” Dir. Peter Medak, 1990 – Twins and Crime Lords Reggie and Ronnie Kray story- Morrissey fans watch this and then listen to “Last of the International Playboys” again.
“The Killing Fields” Dir. Roland Joffe, 1984 – “Year Zero”, Pol Pot, NY Times journalist Sydney Schanberg and his friend Dith Pran try to make it out alive. Riveting drama.
“In America” Dir. Jim Sheridan, 2003 – Personal filmmaking by Sheridan, with a script by Jim and his two daughters. The last 10 minutes WILL make you weep. It gets me EVERY time.
“Quiz Show” Dir. Robert Redford, 1994 – Historical inaccuracies aside, a top notch film with some wonderful performances from Fiennes and Murrow.
Oh, and I love that Bronx Tale is getting mentioned here…..I remember rushing out to see it when it debuted in theaters.
You know, I guess I’d have to agree with Troy about the Tom Green thing.
Still, I think I’d rather hire someone to punch me in the face for two hours than ever sit through that movie again.
I haven’t seen many recent films, but two that I really loved were ‘2 Days in Paris’ and ‘Down in the Valley’. The first is absolutely hilarious, and surprisingly touching, despite how appalling the characters can be; the latter is derivative and far-fetched, but also lovely and heartbreaking, with fantastic performances from Edward Norton (normally not my favorite, but fantastic here), Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse, and Rory Culkin (he is devastating).
WATERLAND, Tom Crick’s (Jeremy Irons) journey into memory and madness is a small, quirky film that I don’t hear much discussed any longer. It has its flaws but it is full of surprise, and it has Irons when he was still an intense young actor, before he become solidified as everybody’s bored aristocrat.
THE SWIMMER is another of these, but it has been discussed here from time to time.
“Bad Day at Black Rock” seconded.
Also, on the Japanese-American theme:
“Tokyo Joe”
“The Crimson Kimono”
Oh, I love The Swimmer……two of Frank Perry’s other works, “Ladybug, Ladybug” and “David and Lisa” should get mention as well.
Oh this is really random: One Soldier by Steven Wright. It’s a short by the comic Steven Wright. It’s hilarious, profound, and really touching—and very auteur. Youtube has about half of it online. It can be found as an extra on his most recent concert DVD.
Enchanted by Kevin Lima, starring Amy Adams and a chipmunk.
“I’ve been dreaming of a true love’s kiss…”
DEATH AT A FUNERAL, it’s a true British farce to the core and I just like it — and the performances are pretty much top notch. I know we have some anti-farce members on here, but it’s just a darn good film.
RATATOUILLE, the story and the animation combined are just a work of art.
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, Zemekis showed true brilliance as a director incorporating animated characters into a “real life” noir film. The idea that the creations are just as real as the creators, gets right to the core of my imagination.
I’m a big fan of an Australian film called HE DIED WITH A FELAFEL IN HIS HAND. I wouldn’t consider it a great work, but it strikes a chord.
A movie just watched and really liked was ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ with David Bowie and Rip Torn. Very interesting and strange movie.
Citizen Dog (2004) – so whimsical.
Eagle VS. Shark (2007)
Down By Law should have more of a cult following.
Renaldo and Clara – mistaken as a mistake
Babel. I only liked this one and LOVED Iñarritu’s two previous films.
This Island Earth.
The Long Kiss Goodnight – I guess the Geena Davis as action hero experiment didn’t quite work out, but this was the most under-appreciated gem from that post-Thelma and Louis era. How can you top lines like: “Are we gonna die mommy?”, “No sweetie, THEY are!”?
Only They Live has more cheesy lines than The Long Kiss Goodnight.
“still walking” by kore-eda, one of the films of the year
“ip man”, nearly as good as “fearless”
I’ll give a second nod to Malick’s The Thin Red Line. Malick gets flack for his visual digressions on nature and narration, but that’s his trademark, just like ripping off old martial arts, blaxploitation and bank heist films is Tarantino’s trademark. Other little known films that don’t get the recognition they deserve are Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio and Robert Redford’s Quiz Show. Then there’s one from my childhood that is the ultimate in cheese: Village of the Giants. This camp is great stuff. You get to see Ronnie Howard when he was a kid making magic potion in his basement laboratory, and Beau Bridges in a loincloth.
Freebie and The Bean. Good stuff!
MONTENEGRO, Dusan Makavejev (1981)
A surreal comedy that maybe nobody in the English-speaking world liked, outside of myself. Susan Anspach went way out on a limb in this. I loved it then, and watched it a couple of months ago, and feel a certain loyalty still.
Marissa: With both James Caan AND Alan Arkin, I was certain that I would love ‘Freebie and the Bean’. About half-way through, I thought, ‘What is this mess?!’ and turned it off, lol. Since you like it so much, I might have to give it another try. I guess you just have to be in the right mood; I imagine that, at the right time, watching the two of them do their thing with seemingly no direction would actually be pretty fun.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I don’t hear Kiarostami’s name mentioned too often. “Taste of Cherry” is a (sort of) random film that I really love. I don’t think I’ve seen any of his other films, but that one is great.
2046 – Wong Kar Wai
Bryan Forbes’ Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964).
Kim Stanley gives one of the best performances ever captured on film.
I’s just now available on DVD
Hopelessly Addicted
Blow up – Kiarostami does not get the credit he deserves and this is one of his fine films: funny, sad, frightening, thought-provoking and a must for cinephiles.