Good but obscure movies you've recently discovered...

[Steel_Wind]

While it's not a recent love (I'm a longtime fan) I rarely see it mentioned here and thought I would give it some well deserved hype:

Ridley Scott's "The Duellists".

"Set during the grand, sweeping Napoleonic age, an officer in the French army insults another officer and sets off a life-long emnity. The two officers, D'Hubert and Feraud, cross swords time and time again in an attempt to achieve justice and preserve their honor."

It stars Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel as the hero and villain. Amazingly shot and utterly authentic to the period. Great swordfights as well, to be sure.

 

[frankthedm]

Altered

 

[Tewligan]

Immortel (ad vitam).

I first saw this on Sci-Fi late at night but it is not one of thiers. This is a French made film but it is filmed in English. The movie is by Enki Bilal who directed this adaptation of the first part of his own Nikopol trilogy comic book series. The movie has a very Blade Runner feel but done in the mixed cgi-live actor style of Sin City or Sky Captain. It mixes a future Blade Runner/Cyperpunk world with the god Horrus. Like Blade Runner the movie is low in action but very interesting. For those who care the subject matter is very adult and not for kids. I'm not sure if it was ever rated but even edited for TV it is something that should only really be shown after midnight do to the adult nature of the story.

I watched part of this, but I was put off by the CGI/live mix - the CGI isn't very good, so it was kind of jarring. Also, I was a little confused as to why some human characters were unnecessarily CGI rather than an actor - I occasionally found myself wondering why that was happening rather than following the story. It's a shame, because I WANTED to like the movie, but the CGI combined with a not-very-gripping story meant that I never made it more than 30 minutes into the movie, despite multiple tries.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I watched part of this, but I was put off by the CGI/live mix - the CGI isn't very good, so it was kind of jarring. Also, I was a little confused as to why some human characters were unnecessarily CGI rather than an actor - I occasionally found myself wondering why that was happening rather than following the story. It's a shame, because I WANTED to like the movie, but the CGI combined with a not-very-gripping story meant that I never made it more than 30 minutes into the movie, despite multiple tries.

You are correct in some parts on your points but I had a different end result. Yes the cgi isn't as good as some otheres but it was also filmed on a much smaller budget than Hollywood. Even so I still ended up accepting it in part because I viewed it as an animated film, not a live action film. In this way it also felt more like it was based on a comic to me. As for the why of what was happening that is something else altogether. As I said it is not an action film. It does feel much more like a French film than a Hollywood film in is style and pacing. Given time the movie does address what it is about with conversations between Nikopol and Horrus. I can see where this could cause problems the fiirst time around but in my personal experience I didn't mind. A good anology might be Blade Runner again. I prefer the Director's Cut over the Theatrical Release of Blade runner because it doesn't have the voiceover naration, but I understand the reasons they put the voiceover in for the Theatrical Release.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

I wouldn't say it's a recent discovery (got it back in 2001 or thereabouts, IIRC), but The Specials is a pretty good live-action superhero comedy. If you liked the Incredibles, you might like this one. Funny stuff, with some memorable moments and a great cast.

 

[Chaldfont]

Primer. Awesome movie about time travel. Reminded me a bit of Memento, but even more twisty turny. It's a low budget story about some guys who invent a time-travel machine. You turn it on and leave it running. At any later point, you can climb inside the machine and travel back to when you turned it on. And it kinda takes off from there. Won't give away any of the twists. Worth checking out for sure.

Sweet Holy Crap, that movie is awesome.

I'll add one: Nine Queens. I found this on Netflix. My wife and I are sucker for con artist movies and this came up.

And while I'm at it, how about The Spanish Prisoner. We never heard about it when it came out, but got it on netflix too. Its another con artist movie.

 

[sniffles]

I second the recommendations for Immortel, The Specials, Six-String Samurai, and The Duellists.

I've long wanted to see Dead Man. Need to add that to my Netflix queue.

I'd recommend folks hunt down a copy of A Boy and His Dog (1975). Script by Harlan Ellison. Ignore the fact that it stars Don Johnson - it was well pre-Miami Vice and his callowness suits the role. A great cynical post-apocalyptic story. But I'm not sure if it's been released on DVD.

 

[Mistwell]

once

Best movie of the year so far.

 

[Dubya]

Primer. Awesome movie about time travel. Reminded me a bit of Memento, but even more twisty turny. It's a low budget story about some guys who invent a time-travel machine. You turn it on and leave it running. At any later point, you can climb inside the machine and travel back to when you turned it on. And it kinda takes off from there. Won't give away any of the twists. Worth checking out for sure.

Great Movie. I caught this at Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival here in Champaign. When I got the DVD I had to watch it again to make sure I followed everything correctly. It is a great inde movie. Things I found interesting about the making of the film. Shane Carruth was there and if I remember he made the movie with $7000. He said that every scene was done in one take except for the three or for times that Shane messed his lines own lines up.

BTW if you ever get a chance to come to the Ebertfest buy the tickets early and make the trip. It is a great festival for film fans. People from all over the world come to see Roger and his films.

Dubya

 

[sckeener]

here are 3 I would recommend:

Salome's Last Dance Oscar Wilde's play done in a play.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
Run Lola Run