Best movie nobody's heard of...

[buzzard]

I'm rather fond of The Producers, an extremely unknown Mel Brooks movie, though definitely one of his better ones. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel deliberately try to lose money on a play, and fail.

One other, though it may only be unknown because people have forgotten about classic comedies would be The Naughty Nineties. An Abbot and Costello classic which featured the big screen rendition of Who's on First.

buzzard

 

[Frostmarrow]

ing Åmål
No not pr0n, but a very good film about two young girls that explore their relationship. A very warm, mature film and absolutely not related to Fantasy or Sci-Fi. Still, great film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150662/

PS: Åmål is the town the girls live in, not a character (of course some critics say environment is also a character (point in case PJ's LOTR) but you get the point)

It's called Show Me Love in English (score by Robyn). The original title comes from a tirade of curses from the main character about the dreary place they live in (Åmål). -And yes there are some american four letter words in there.

I'd like to add that Dog Soldiers was the best I've seen in a long while in that horror genre. The film scores points on dialogue - not special effects.

Also there is a pretty good flick called Bolier Room featuring the ever so fantastic Giovanni Ribisi. Perhaps it was bigger in the States mind you. Still, it also features a winning Vin Diesel and a not entirely catastrophic Ben Affleck.

 

[The Sigil]

Ye gads... I was thinking about this on the way home last night, and remembered one of my all-time favorite (yet obscure) movies... Time Bandits. Terry Gilliam's finest non-Python work, IMO. Full of non-sequiturs, with a great bad guy, and an amusing premise... brilliance.

--The Sigil

 

[Atridis]

I've only seen [Repo Man] once - the redubbed-for-TV version.

Ugh. I feel for you, man. I make it a point to avoid movies on television.

I find this thread fascinating. First and foremost, I'm getting a bunch of things to add to my Netflix queue (Dog Soldiers, Way of the Gun, Boondock Saints). Second, I'm knocked over by some of the movies that people think of as obscure (Repo Man, City of Lost Children, The Producers, Bringing Up Baby).

Genre movies:
- The "Chinese Women Kicked My Butt, and I'm Glad they Did" trilogy: Heroic Trio, Dragon Gate Inn, and Moon Warriors. You've probably seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Non-genre movies:
- The "Jacqueline McKenzie Rocks My World" double feature: Romper Stomper and Angel Baby. You've probably seen Deep Blue Sea, but don't hold it against her.

- The "Maggie Cheung Rocks My World" double feature: Comrades, Almost a Love Story and Irma Vep. You've probably seen Police Story III: Supercop, but don't hold it against her.

I see that Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet have already gotten their props, so I'll add...

- The "Tom Tykwer Rules" double feature: The Princess and the Warrior and Heaven. You've probably seen Run, Lola, Run.

- The "No, Wong Kar Wai Rules" double feature: In the Mood for Love and Fallen Angels. You've probably seen Chungking Express.

- The "You're Both Wrong, Paul Thomas Anderson Rules" double feature: Hard Eight and Punch Drunk Love. You've probably seen Boogie Nights.

 

[CSB046]

I'm rather fond of The Producers, an extremely unknown Mel Brooks movie, though definitely one of his better ones. Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel deliberately try to lose money on a play, and fail

Not nearly as unknown as it was BEFORE the Broadway version (and the rumors of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprising their Broadway roles in a new version of the movie).

However, I agree completely...really funny movie, especially the first meeting between Mostel and Wilder. "I'm hysterical! I'm hysterical! [Gets splashed with water] I'm wet! I'm wet...and I'm STILL hysterical!"

 

[Mallus]

I'm a little surprised too about what some people find obscure.
Repo Man? --the film that gave us the immortal exchange:
"John Wayne was a fag."
"He was not!"
"I went to install two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress"
--err, I should stop right about there...

Repo Man's been a cult classic so long its now mainstream.

And The Producers? I thought that was regarded as a classic Who hasn't heard of "Springtime for Hitler?"

Also, I'd like to second Irma Vep, The Hudsucker Proxy --I'm a little in love with Jennifer Jason-Leigh as every tough, fast-talking, 40's/50's career-girl rolled into one, and Until the End of the World.

And one more, though its hardly obscure, Operation Petticoat. Cary Grant+Jack Lemmon+pink submarine = genius. Note the previous sentence is entirely devoid of subtext...

 

[reutbing0]

It's called Show Me Love in English (score by Robyn). The original title comes from a tirade of curses from the main character about the dreary place they live in (Åmål). -And yes there are some american four letter words in there.

I believe the American version is edited somewhat so I can't really consider that to be the real film (as I have hunch what scene would have been edited out, and it's a crucial one). Anyway definitely a great example of Swedish (indie) film. Some good stuff coming from Sweden.

Oh and I don't know how obscure this is in the US (it is in the Netherlands), but I really like Glory Daze. So ok it's teenage angst, but I could actually relate to that.

 

[CarlZog]

Well, for pure cheesey fun you have to see Damnation Alley, the '70s post-apocalypse adventure, featuring the coolest SUV ever!

Omega Man was a favorite when I was a kid, but I haven't seen it in years and wonder how it would hold up now.

Those of you mentioning My Girl Friday and Bringing up Baby, owe it to yourselves to find the original Topper and, of course, Philadelphia Story (though that's really pushing the "obscurity" criteria for this thread!). Another great old Grant movie, Only Angels Have Wings, is a romance/adventure about ex-pat, bush pilots in South America.

As for Kate Hepburn, The Lion in Winter is required viewing, but perhaps too well known for this thread.

The realm of old movie serials is so rife with forgotten classics it's hard to know where to start. Anybody with even a passing interest in the origins of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, et al. should visit serialsquadron.com and check out some the cool stuff available there.

Time Bandits was mentioned -- certainly an all-time favorite.

Michael York's The Three Musketeers (1973)with Raquel Welch is a ton of fun!

She (1935) is way cool and, I think, available on DVD now! An immortal queen rules a forgotten civilization in the Siberian mountains.

Genesis II, The Questor Tapes, and Planet Earth are all Gene Roddenberry's failed, post-Star Trek TV pilots from the early '70s. You can find them on VHS on ebay now, and their storylines eventually morphed into the show, Earth:Final Conflict. There's a lot of familiar faces and concepts that make them fun to watch even now.

 

[Dragonblade]

A lot of people are familiar with Hard-Boiled, which is perhaps John Woo's greatest work. The ultimate gun fight movie.

But not as many people know about "The Killer", another Chow Yun Fat and John Woo team up movie. I highly recommend it. The ultimate in stereotypical HK action. Nobody ever reloads and the mooks are endless! Very dark and moody too. Much like Hard Boiled.

 

[CarlZog]

Oooh, I almost forgot Parents, a hysterical horror movie about a little kid who's convinced his parents are cannibals.