Movies that you love but nobody else (in the world) seem to know about.

[Foggy]

What Richard Did and Adam & Paul, both directed by now Oscar nominated Lenny Abrahamson are well worth checking out. Adam and Paul tackles the streets of Dublin as two drug addicts looking for their next hit in various hilarious ways that also takes a turn for the tragic towards the end as you begin to understand their lifestyle. What Richard Did is dark thriller studying sociopathy in schools and young people, also playing with tragedy, but in a more cold, distant way, both are worth seeing, especially if you like Abrahamson's past 2 films, Room and Frank.

Marwencol is a strange but very intimate documentary that looks at a man on the fringe of society following a tragic event causing him to loose all his memory as he begins to re-piece his life through action figures and finds his identity all over again, while also shining a light on the nature of art and art form. It's the sort of film that will change your outlook on life, but it's often very funny and sweet.

Submarine, probably the most well known film I'll mention here. Is a funny look at adolescence and young love, along with the small scale sense of the world revolving around the individual and that sense of bigger things approaching that you can't fully comprehend. With great cinematography, hilarious dialogue and film literate foundation, many people dismiss it as wannabe Wes Anderson, but it far more approachable, and for my money, far better than any of his films.

Fish Story is probably the wackiest film I'll mention, a story of a failed rock band, and how their song stopped the end of the world, feels like a series of disconnected vignettes, but the story in fact weaves all the pieces together in the most unpredictable of ways, a sense of cosmic coincidence adds a sense of humour to the entire film and you won't be able to predict the outcome unless you see it.

La Zona is a Mexican allegory film following a civilised suburbs, that is enclosed from the outside world with a big wall, that is compromised during a storm and some of the people from the slums enter and a man hunt happens, turning the civilised middle class into blood thirst animals, in a story that seems all the more topical today with the current Presidential race than it did when it was made in 2007.

Birth is Jonathan Glazer's forgotten and much misunderstood second film that is on the verge of a resurgence and reappraisal, a mature and often haunting and uncomfortable story following a widowed woman who is finally moving on with her life by accepting the proposal of her new rich boyfriend, and young boy enters claiming to be the reincarnation of her husband. A supernaturally tinged story tackled with deft seriousness and drama, unflinching as it continues to push and explore the situation, it features career best performances and scenes that will be unshakable from the memory.

Spider from David Cronenberg is a very small film tackling a mentally ill person as he moves to a half-way house, retraces his steps from when he was a kid. The film feels often a bit larger than life, but is becomes clear that the main subject of the is an unreliable narrator, and reality becomes more and more warped by the past. It's a tough film to get into as Ralph Fiennes plays the main role in a way that makes him difficult to approach, but it's rather rewarding.

Buffalo Soldiers was heavily delayed after it debut the day before 9/11 at a film festival and got swept under the rug, but the film pre-dates Jarhead as a cynical satire of the irresponsibility and debauchery that can be found in the US army that most are oblivious to. Obviously badly timed and not entire accurate, it still has many funny moments and an energy to it not replicated by many films, plus it stars Joaquin Phoenix.

[growsinwater]

Three O'Clock High
Vision Quest
Mystery Date
New Jersey Drive
Fresh
The Sure Thing
Better Off Dead
Thursday
The Wackness

That's just a few off the top of my head, only met a couple people at the most who know some of these movies exist despite a few having been on Netflix lol

[P-Rock]

[Widescreenfilmguy]

Originally Posted by Blu Warrior

Here's a few that I get blank stares from when I mention them to people:

All the Pretty Horses
The Apostle
Black Narcissus
Breaker Morant
Eye of the Beholder
Hard Eight
Little Voice
One Man's Hero
Rogue Trader
The Cake Eaters

All excellent choices! I would add "Enchanted April", "500 Days of Summer", "Fat City" and "Touch of Evil"

[Impossible]

Originally Posted by Foggy

[Show spoiler]What Richard Did and Adam & Paul, both directed by now Oscar nominated Lenny Abrahamson are well worth checking out. Adam and Paul tackles the streets of Dublin as two drug addicts looking for their next hit in various hilarious ways that also takes a turn for the tragic towards the end as you begin to understand their lifestyle. What Richard Did is dark thriller studying sociopathy in schools and young people, also playing with tragedy, but in a more cold, distant way, both are worth seeing, especially if you like Abrahamson's past 2 films, Room and Frank.

Marwencol is a strange but very intimate documentary that looks at a man on the fringe of society following a tragic event causing him to loose all his memory as he begins to re-piece his life through action figures and finds his identity all over again, while also shining a light on the nature of art and art form. It's the sort of film that will change your outlook on life, but it's often very funny and sweet.

Submarine, probably the most well known film I'll mention here. Is a funny look at adolescence and young love, along with the small scale sense of the world revolving around the individual and that sense of bigger things approaching that you can't fully comprehend. With great cinematography, hilarious dialogue and film literate foundation, many people dismiss it as wannabe Wes Anderson, but it far more approachable, and for my money, far better than any of his films.

Fish Story is probably the wackiest film I'll mention, a story of a failed rock band, and how their song stopped the end of the world, feels like a series of disconnected vignettes, but the story in fact weaves all the pieces together in the most unpredictable of ways, a sense of cosmic coincidence adds a sense of humour to the entire film and you won't be able to predict the outcome unless you see it.

La Zona is a Mexican allegory film following a civilised suburbs, that is enclosed from the outside world with a big wall, that is compromised during a storm and some of the people from the slums enter and a man hunt happens, turning the civilised middle class into blood thirst animals, in a story that seems all the more topical today with the current Presidential race than it did when it was made in 2007.

Birth is Jonathan Glazer's forgotten and much misunderstood second film that is on the verge of a resurgence and reappraisal, a mature and often haunting and uncomfortable story following a widowed woman who is finally moving on with her life by accepting the proposal of her new rich boyfriend, and young boy enters claiming to be the reincarnation of her husband. A supernaturally tinged story tackled with deft seriousness and drama, unflinching as it continues to push and explore the situation, it features career best performances and scenes that will be unshakable from the memory.

Spider from David Cronenberg is a very small film tackling a mentally ill person as he moves to a half-way house, retraces his steps from when he was a kid. The film feels often a bit larger than life, but is becomes clear that the main subject of the is an unreliable narrator, and reality becomes more and more warped by the past. It's a tough film to get into as Ralph Fiennes plays the main role in a way that makes him difficult to approach, but it's rather rewarding.

Buffalo Soldiers was heavily delayed after it debut the day before 9/11 at a film festival and got swept under the rug, but the film pre-dates Jarhead as a cynical satire of the irresponsibility and debauchery that can be found in the US army that most are oblivious to. Obviously badly timed and not entire accurate, it still has many funny moments and an energy to it not replicated by many films, plus it stars Joaquin Phoenix.

Birth and What Richard Did are both amazing!

Have you seen the Spanish film Sleep Tight?

[dgoswald]

There was an Indian film I saw on TV around a decade ago late one night that knocked me for six. I say Indian instead of Bollywood because it had very little of the standard tropes that most of those films possess. It was a period drama set in the early part of the 20th century I think. Devdas is the film. Wonderful from start to finish. Heartbreaking but wonderful.

[jabbercash]

One False Move

onefalsemove-.mpg - YouTube

Freeway

Freeway, Vanessa Lutz is Pissed - YouTube

Dead Presidents

Dead Presidents Trailer SD - YouTube

3 right there that a lot of people haven't heard of.

[Nuck Horris]

Just a few... A lot aren't listed on the site yet.

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

[dallywhitty]

The Assassination Bureau (1969)
Exposed (1983)
Je t'aime moi non plus (1976)
Maitresse (1976)
The Moon in the Gutter (1983)
The Party's Over (1965)

Brilliant films but they get very little recognition.

[wonkavision]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Spider from David Cronenberg is a very small film tackling a mentally ill person as he moves to a half-way house, retraces his steps from when he was a kid. The film feels often a bit larger than life, but is becomes clear that the main subject of the is an unreliable narrator, and reality becomes more and more warped by the past. It's a tough film to get into as Ralph Fiennes plays the main role in a way that makes him difficult to approach, but it's rather rewarding.

Interesting choice. I was fascinated by the novel by Patrick McGrath back in 1990. A truly horrifying book, narrated by a paranoid schizophrenic, that I read multiple times. I was so excited that Cronenberg chose to bring it to film, but was ultimately disappointed in the final result. Obviously it is a difficult story to bring to film due to it's nature and I really shouldn't compare books to film too much. Perhaps I expected too much from my own thoughts on the novel. I'm glad you mention the film though and I need to watch it again, it's been many years.

[VictoryAtNight]

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Wow, the acting and editing in that trailer are flawless.

I don't know much about either one on a technical level, but I like the message of the film, and how its woven into the narrative instead of shattering it. Most of the story takes place in the restaurant, yet it never feels cramped or rushed. The first sequel is much the same way, taking place mostly on an airplane...but the third one branched out a little bit. The fourth is more of a spinoff, than a direct sequel.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Impossible

Birth and What Richard Did are both amazing!

Have you seen the Spanish film Sleep Tight?

Never heard of it. Which makes it perfect for this thread, I'll keep an eye out for it.

Originally Posted by wonkavision

Interesting choice. I was fascinated by the novel by Patrick McGrath back in 1990. A truly horrifying book, narrated by a paranoid schizophrenic, that I read multiple times. I was so excited that Cronenberg chose to bring it to film, but was ultimately disappointed in the final result. Obviously it is a difficult story to bring to film due to it's nature and I really shouldn't compare books to film too much. Perhaps I expected too much from my own thoughts on the novel. I'm glad you mention the film though and I need to watch it again, it's been many years.

I never read the book, which might be why I've taken to the film. It's really short, brief compact film so I imagine the book itself has a lot more depth to it, but I found the tone really disturbing, it felt like being led into the dark by someone you don't fully understand at that really creeped me out, the scenes where his jotting things in his book with some sense of purpose but it's utter jibberish really felt like it brought that first person perspective to what is essentially a third person medium. I hope you like it more when you get around to revisiting it.

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

I don't know much about either one on a technical level, but I like the message of the film, and how its woven into the narrative instead of shattering it. Most of the story takes place in the restaurant, yet it never feels cramped or rushed. The first sequel is much the same way, taking place mostly on an airplane...but the third one branched out a little bit. The fourth is more of a spinoff, than a direct sequel.

Fair enough, it's a shame the faith based movies don't get taken seriously enough to get proper productions around them. The idea of spending an afternoon with Jesus is an interesting one, questioning existence, morality and tragedy in faith and spiritual based way is always something that interests me. But it often feels like challenging subject material tends to either get pushed aside from most the Christian based films, or they create unnecessary villains to create easy answers. The film you posted looked interesting, it's just a shame the production around it seemed a bit cynical and cheap.

[greyghost1241]

"The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob" is a favorite of mine. Very funny. Only available on dvd/tape though.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Fair enough, it's a shame the faith based movies don't get taken seriously enough to get proper productions around them. The idea of spending an afternoon with Jesus is an interesting one, questioning existence, morality and tragedy in faith and spiritual based way is always something that interests me. But it often feels like challenging subject material tends to either get pushed aside from most the Christian based films, or they create unnecessary villains to create easy answers. The film you posted looked interesting, it's just a shame the production around it seemed a bit cynical and cheap.

Well, you can read the book, though there's one main difference: David Gregory's original story was about a man being given Jesus' invitation. The filmmakers changed it because they believed some of the more emotional moments would impact a general audience better, coming from a woman. The first novel is called "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger".

[wonkavision]

Originally Posted by Foggy

I never read the book, which might be why I've taken to the film. It's really short, brief compact film so I imagine the book itself has a lot more depth to it, but I found the tone really disturbing, it felt like being led into the dark by someone you don't fully understand at that really creeped me out, the scenes where his jotting things in his book with some sense of purpose but it's utter jibberish really felt like it brought that first person perspective to what is essentially a third person medium. I hope you like it more when you get around to revisiting it.

Your comments stirred the pot and I'm committed to track it down (the DVD is OOP) and probably will pick up a used copy sooner than later. I appreciate your thoughts as it got me motivated to give it another go.

[zorbonaut]

Illusion (2004)




This is one of my all time favorites and every time I recommend it to someone they say, "I've already watched it. Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors". Then I say, "That's The Illusionist, Illusion is a 2004 film that stars Kirk Douglas and Michael A. Goorjian". Then they say, "Never heard of it".

It was Kirk's last feature film and one of his best performances.

No Blu-Ray release (of course) but if you have not seen it yet it is worth picking up on DVD.

This film was in a few Film Festivals in 2004 but did not see a limited release until 2006.

One interesting fact from imdb: Michael Goorjian spent about six and a half years of his life working on this film.

[kylor]

Event Horizon (1997)



I love this movie, it has a great cast and actually has a good story. The dates are a little expired in the story but I still firmly enjoy the acting, story and effects.

[Blu Warrior]

I remember watching Event Horizon at the theater and thinking "this is the loudest movie ever." The sound design/effects were very overblown. I hated it.

[Ultra_Violence]

Lilya 4-Ever
Alan Clarke's Elephant