Obscure Movie Suggestions!

[Gail Simone]

I've really grown disenchanted with the big hollywood productions lately (although the Lord of the Rings films still slay me).

So, please recommend foreign and indy films, or classic obscurities, that I might enjoy, okay? I have wide open tastes, from sappy love stories to dark horror stuff.

Suggest away!

gail

[ChthonicSpirit]

The original, Black-and-White Godzilla. I hear it's recently been released on DVD.

Also the BBC Phantom of the Opera starring Charles Dance.

[EspanolBot]

Strings. It's a fantasy film (Danish I think) done entirely with wooden puppets that acknowledge that they've got strings. It' cool, in a 80s-style fantasy way.

[KenK]

Almost anything by Takashi Miike, except Visitor Q. If only for the fact that there's one scene that involves Necrophilia and feces.

Interstate 60; directed by Back to the Future writer Bob Gale (and featuring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd), about this guy (James Marsden) who takes a job delivering this package cross country and meets this guy who claims to grant wishes(Gary Oldman), and they pretty much drive on this mystical road and have these strange adventures. Very fun, funny movie.

Ginger Snaps (trilogy); great werewolf movies revolving around two sisters. For some reason, the third one takes place is 18th Century Canada.

[the4thpip]

Maybe, Maybe Not (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109255/) aka Der Bewegte Mann based on a Ralf König comic book.

[Gail Simone]

Almost anything by Takashi Miike, except Visitor Q. If only for the fact that there's one scene that involves Necrophilia and feces.

Interstate 60; directed by Back to the Future writer Bob Gale (and featuring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd), about this guy (James Marsden) who takes a job delivering this package cross country and meets this guy who claims to grant wishes(Gary Oldman), and they pretty much drive on this mystical road and have these strange adventures. Very fun, funny movie.

Ginger Snaps (trilogy); great werewolf movies revolving around two sisters. For some reason, the third one takes place is 18th Century Canada.


I saw Visitor Q. It almost made me barf. His other movies aren't that gross?

Gail

[siviusx]

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter.

[Seriously, like I could offer anything after that that would be nearly as impressive!]

[OzBat!]

Early Jackie Chan movies, before the move to US films. These are simply brilliant. Unless you're looking for a plot. I think he had a plot a couple of times, but fortunately went and lost it about half way through. Jackie Chan movies do not suffer from a lack of plot. Which automatically elevates them above 99% of Hollywood's drek.

[Karen El]

Is Iron Monkey obscure enough? I have no idea whether it has the popularity it deserves in the USA.

Kind Hearts and Coronets - classic british black comedy.
Belles of St. Trinians and Blue Murder at St. Trinians - also classic british comedies.
Bride of Frankenstein - best of the Universal monster movies.
Muriel's Wedding - chick flick about a woman whose twin obsessions are Abba and getting married.

You could also try a few Bollywood musicals. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is a good example, I am told. The dance set pieces are excellent, but it's a very long film. There's a flashback sequence near the start that I expected to be one scene, but in fact it goes on for like 45 minutes.

[singoalla]

Also the BBC Phantom of the Opera starring Charles Dance.


I've been trying to get my mitts on that for years.

I'd recommend Brotherhood of the Wolf. French adventure action movie. I loved it. Crimson Rivers (also french) if you haven't seen it either.

[Graham Vingoe]

Miracle Mile - a great little nuclear war film immediately came to mind

[blackcanary_416]

I don't know if you have tried it but what about 'Frequency?' it is one of my all time favorite movies and has emotional stuff in it. But I don't know if it considered obscure.

[hellokittykat]

A Very Long Engagement-it's in French but it has english subtitles.

[Bradley]

You may have already seen this, but last night my wife and I watched and enjoyed The Rapture, Michael Tolkin's nifty, intelligent movie about alienation and religious faith starring Mimi Rogers and David Duchovny (with a mullet). I was struck by the way Tolkin is neither preachingly evangelical nor snide and dismissive in his presentation of such sensitive material.

Hard Candy was pretty intense, but ultimately left me a little disappointed. It wasn't as gruesome as the reviewer from The New York Times made it out to be, but nor was it as powerful as a lot of the fans at Aint It Cool News suggested it was.

There was that documentary from a few months ago... Word Wars, maybe? About crossword puzzle enthusiasts. It was really good-- much better than you might expect it's going to be.

[Sharpandpointies]

Seducing Dr. Lewis (aka 'La Grande Séduction') is a hilarious movie from Quebec - very different from the usual Hollywood 'comedies'.

[the4thpip]

I really enjoyed Km. 0 - Kilometer Zero (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251777/) a Spanish episode movie with interesting characters and some great actors.

[Dr. Killbydeath]

Tank Girl...



Hebrew Hammer is also good.

[KenK]

I saw Visitor Q. It almost made me barf. His other movies aren't that gross?

Gail

Some of his other movies are gross, Visitor Q was just a little too much. I suppose you won't fair any better with his other stuff. I have a friend who's still mad at me for suggesting he see Gozu, and understandably so, 'cause Gozu is some fucked up shit!

I'd also suggest So Close, pretty cool Honk Kong action movie, basically like Charlie's Angels, but better.

[Dreadstar]

Have you ever seen Zero Effect?

Bill Pullman as a Monk-like detective, with issues even DEEPER than Monk, 5 years before Shaloub went to the screen with the character.

[Michael P]

I don't know if you have tried it but what about 'Frequency?' it is one of my all time favorite movies and has emotional stuff in it. But I don't know if it considered obscure.
That's a good movie. The SF is a pretty wonky, but it's got a lot of heart.

"Brick" was fun, I thought. Joey Gordon-Levitt's got skills.

[EdContradictory]

OBSCURE FILMS TO ENJOY:

Wings of Desire- Wim Wenders (1987)
Beautiful and moving. One of my five favorite films.

Night on Earth- Jim Jarmusch (1991)
The Rome section is one of the funniest things ever filmed.

Delicatessen- Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991)
Bizarre and brilliant.

Barcelona- Whit Stillman (1994)
I remeber enjoying this but haven't seen it in years.

[David Bedlam]

Kind Hearts and Coronets - classic british black comedy.

Seconded!

The ending! Oh, that ending!

[Merey]

Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114134/).

I first saw this film in my International Cinema class in college and it's become one of my favorite films of all time. It's artistically stunning with a fascinating(albeit slightly disturbing) story. Also, it stars an often naked Ewan McGregor. ;)

[the4thpip]

Oh, I liked Delicatessen a lot.

[Noah Johnson]

Find bootlegs of old Jet Li movies. In particular, TAI CHI MASTER, FONG SAI YUK, SWORDSMAN II, and FIST OF LEGEND are terrific. Each one of them has about four movies' worth of plots and events, as well as the most awesome kung fu ever. FIST OF LEGEND is the best martial arts film I've ever seen. A caveat, however. Do not, do not do not do NOT, get the dubbed American versions. They are atrocious. Unwatchably bad. Flee from them as though they carried the plague.

[Grazzt]

Run, Lola, Run is a great German film about a girl who has twenty minutes to save her boyfriend's life.

Last Night is a Canadian film about the end of the world. Only instead of an Armageddon-style heroic last-ditch attempt to save the planet, there's nothing anyone can do so the whole film shows how people decide to spend their last night alive.

Brotherhood of the Wolf is a French action movie, retelling the story of the Werewolf of Gevaudon.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Christmas In August

Jung-won is a thoughtful and sensitive shopkeeper who is diagnosed as being teminally ill. He decides for the sake of his family and friends to suffer in silence, running his photography business and his life as if nothing was wrong. However, when he meets the lumnious Dam-rim and instantly falls in love with her, his life and his decisions are given a stark reality that brings home the seriousness of his situation...

Christmas In August is one of the most wonderful films i've had had the pleasure of watching. The story unfolds beautifully and the chemistry between the two leads in particular is sensational.

Whilst not having the expensive set design of Wong Kar wai, the direction is wonderful, with each shot framed in the most exquisite and considered fashion.

It's been a long time since a film has moved me this much, probably since In The Mood For Love - and as such Christmas In August is one of those films that's become so personal it's now a part of me, and containing some of my favourite moments in cinema.

Recommended with the utmost distinction for anyone who believe in love and cherishes cinema that moves them thusly. An absolute gem.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

3 Iron

About a young man who breaks into peoples houses when the're away, stays there, eats their food - and fixes things in return. One day he breaks into a house which he believes if empty, only to find a quiet wife, bruised from her husband beating her ... and of what happens therin.

*Another* Korean film which has become one of my all time favourites. A genuinely sensational film. Why is it the Korean's have such a fabulous grasp of the *art* of cinema?

A really stylish and graceful film. Wonderfully acted, stunning direction. Genuinely breathtaking. The use of music, is so powerful when it's used - and utilised so very naturally within that.

The greatest compliment I can pay 3 Iron is that after I'd watched it I wanted to watch it again. Beautiful, clever, touching .. I was still with me the next day - and even a year on it's still a work of absolute genius.

The story takes goes in some wonderfully unpredictable directions, which initially seem rather jarring, but play out immaculately as the film closes.

Oh and a film where the lead actor has no dialogue and the lead actress one line!

Director Kim Ki-Duk also did the stunning Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter & Spring Again, which once again shows his absolute mastery of cinema.

[DubipR]

Something a little more recent, I recommend Brick starring Jospeh Gorden-Levitt and Emile DeRavin (of Lost fame). High school noir film. Smart and edgy.

As for Miike goes without the uber-violence, I'd suggest the engilsh titled The Happiness of the Katakuris. What's not to love about this film? A murdering family that owns a bed & breadfast...oh did I tell you its a musical?

Other obscure ones:
Mystery Train- Jim Jarmusch once again telling stories about Elvis.
Twin Town- a seriously honked up comedy, from the producers of Trainspotting.
Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead

[Typo Lad]

I heartily second Run Lola, Run and while we're on the topic of subtitled movies, try Ushpizin, a movie about a destitude Bresslover Chassidic Jewish couple, set in the ultra-orthodox community of Meia Sharim. What's facinating is that the couple are realy husband and wife and the chemstry that results is facinating to watch.

[CanaryNoir]

I third Run Lola Run and in a similar vein, Memento.

I just finished rewatching The Winslow Boy (the version with Jeremy Northam) and it is a masterpiece of stiff-upper-lip, early 20th Century British life done with that undercurrent of strong emotion. Great acting, great story.

I love British films, so two of my other all-time favorites are Cold Comfort Farm with Kate Beckinsale and Ian McKellan (amongst many others) -- very funny; and Enchanted April starring Miranda Richardson, again, amongh many others (which is not on DVD, unfortunately, but is on video). I also cannot recommend highly enough My Brilliant Career -- a very early film starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill, and, speaking Down Under, if you haven't seen Heavenly Creatures -- very early Kate Winslet directed by His Ringness himself, you're missing a masterpiece.

Also, in theaters, Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed are just wonderful.

[PatrickG]

The Spanish Prisoner.

By David Mamet. Featuring Steve Martin in a rare dramatic role.

Ripped off by THE GAME with Michael Douglas.

Very "Maltese Falcon".

[Hush Little Batman]

Have you ever seen Shaun of the Dead? It's brilliant but I won't detail it for you because it's not exactly "obscure" and there's a chance you've seen it.

[scratchie]

Featuring Steve Martin in a rare dramatic role.Speaking of which, there's always Pennies From Heaven (1981) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082894/), the strangest, most depressing musical you'll ever see.

If you have six or seven hours to kill, you should rent the 1986 British miniseries The Singing Detective (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090521/) (not the 2003 remake with Robert Downey Jr.). Same writer as Pennies From Heaven (Dennis Potter) and an absolute masterpiece.

If you like Bob Dylan, you should really see Masked and Anonymous (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319829/).

For All Mankind is a great documentary on the Apollo space program, with music by Brian Eno (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097372/)

Three Businessmen is a quirky character study by Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167454/)

Also by Alex Cox is The Revenger's Tragedy, an over-the-top, Leone-esque adaptation of a 17th century play. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286921/)

And top it off with a handful of forgotten classics from the 80s:

River's Edge (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091860/)

Paris, Texas (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087884/)

Secret Honor (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088074/)


EDIT: And, speaking of "dark horror stuff", there's finally a good DVD version of Eraserhead available! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/)

Also, if you're not put off by subtitles, Rules of the Game is one of the greatest movies ever made. I just saw it for the second time and it's a real treat. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031885/). Not really "obscure" but one that a lot of people probably haven't seen.

[Briareos]

Moon over Tao:

http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Over-Tao-Keita-Amemiya/dp/B00005KB6U

[NickG]

One person said it already but, Memento, also Trainspotting is pretty good.

[Dark Galaxy]

Have you ever seen Shaun of the Dead? It's brilliant but I won't detail it for you because it's not exactly "obscure" and there's a chance you've seen it.


If you haven't caught the series "Spaced" written by the same guy who did Shaun of the Dead, I highly recommend it!! Fun Funny Silly Good Stuff!

[Nicola Scott]

Ive been a huge fan of Spanish writer/director Pedro Amaldova's work but especially his most recent three films.

"All About My Mother" won best "foreign language" at the Oscars a few years ago, it's brilliant.

"Talk to Her" is my favourite of the bunch, dealing with a very controversial topic in a gentle, beautiful and charmingly melancholy way. The Best soundtrack too, btw.

Most recent was "Bad Education" which is fun and dark.

I'd highly recommend all three to anyone who doesn't mind reading subtitles and is over the age of 16 (adult content and all that).

Nicola.

[CanaryNoir]

For subtitled flicks, my favorite is Eat Drink Man Woman, an early Ang Lee film which is moving and very funny. I also really like Les Tricoleurs series, especially Bleu; and Babette's Feast, based on an Isak Dineson short story.

[Screwtape]

Here's one I'll be surprised if anyone has seen:

"Barcelona" by Whit Stillman. It's an American comedy made in the 90's about an nerdy Christian guy and his morally bankrupt (and very funny) cousin working and living in Spain. It's not like any other movie I've ever seen, except maybe "Metropolitan" or "The Last Days of Disco," Stillman's other two movies. "Metropolitan" got an Oscar nod for Best Screenplay.

Go watch them, all of you.

Also good and a little obscure:

"Enigma," a thriller about cryptographers in World War II with Kate Winslet and Dougray Scott,

"Billy Bathgate," the only film I know of about the Jewish mafia (and hey, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, and Nicole Kidman are great in it),

"Murder My Sweet," a Philip Marlowe mystery starring Dick Powell, whom Chandler actually liked better than Humphrey Bogart,

and "The King of Comedy," a Scorsese/De Niro materpiece about a guy who stalks a Jerry Lewis-style comedian... played by Jerry Lewis. I'm on a Scorsese bender after "The Departed," maybe the best movie I've seen in years.

[scratchie]

"Billy Bathgate," the only film I know of about the Jewish mafia (and hey, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, and Nicole Kidman are great in it), Once Upon a Time in America is also about the Jewish mob.

"Murder My Sweet," a Philip Marlowe mystery starring Dick Powell, whom Chandler actually liked better than Humphrey Bogart,

and "The King of Comedy," a Scorsese/De Niro materpiece about a guy who stalks a Jerry Lewis-style comedian... played by Jerry Lewis. I'm on a Scorsese bender after "The Departed," maybe the best movie I've seen in years.Excellent choices! The King of Comedy is one of my favorite Scorcese movies.

Another excellent movie by the director of Murder My Sweet is Crossfire, starring Robert Ryan.

[Screwtape]

Another good reason to watch OUaTiA. Noted.

[siviusx]

These probably aren't the most obscure, but I'd add all the Christopher Guest movies here, as well as anything Parker Posey was in in the 90s in general. [Particularly, The House of Yes, if you like her and have a very twisted sense of humor. But Clockwatchers was also excellent.]

[shrike]

I've really grown disenchanted with the big hollywood productions lately (although the Lord of the Rings films still slay me).

So, please recommend foreign and indy films, or classic obscurities, that I might enjoy, okay? I have wide open tastes, from sappy love stories to dark horror stuff.

Suggest away!

gail

Get some old Italian horror movies, stuff by Fulci and Argento.

[Cream Filled Taco]

Little Miss Sunshine was very good.

[sk716]

Most of the good ones I can think of have already been mentioned but early Peter Jackson stuff is always worth a viewing.

Bad Taste (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092610/) - Weird, just weird.
Dead Alive aka Braindead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/) - Super gory horror.
Meet the Feebles (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097858/) - Like Muppets on crack with STDs... seriously.
Heavenly Creatures (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110005/) - Brilliant flick that put Peter Jackson on the map.

[EdContradictory]

OBSCURE FILMS TO ENJOY:

Wings of Desire- Wim Wenders (1987)
Beautiful and moving. One of my five favorite films.

Night on Earth- Jim Jarmusch (1991)
The Rome section is one of the funniest things ever filmed.

Delicatessen- Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991)
Bizarre and brilliant.

Barcelona- Whit Stillman (1994)
I remember enjoying this but haven't seen it in years.

Also, check out The Kingdom- Lars Von Trier (1994?). Whacked out Danish horror TV mini-series.

[Tobias March]

Jump Tomorrow - One of the sweetest movies I've ever seen. George, a tall, incredibly shy office worker is on his way to meet his arranged bride. His family are Nigerian I believe and this wedding has been planned since he was a child. En route he meets a suicidal Frenchman (hence the title) who decides to find George true love. Funnily enough he's just met a cute Spanish girl who's stuck with a pompous, uptight Brit. I'm not doing it justice, but everything, the music, the dialogue, it's a great little film. And the Mexican Soap fantasy sequences make it for me.

Last Night Canadian film about the end of the world with David Cronenberg as a gas controller.

Reyjavik 101 Feckless guy meets girl. Girl is friends with his ma. Guy gets it on with girl. Girl turns out to be ma's lover. Problems ensue. Oh...and it's set in Iceland, so everyone does nothing but get drunk and screw :D

Chungking Express The first Wong Kar Wai film I ever saw. Does for the Cranberries what Butch and Sundance did for Burt Bacharach.

Peeping Tom Creepy film by Michael Powell. The early chapter of the Filth reminded me a lot of it for some reason. This is the one where a guy is murdering prostitutes using a camera with an attached blade, so we see what he sees.

Jesus' Son One of the coolest films from the 90's. Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton addled on smack, hallucinating some crazy stuff. Features the best seduction by dance since Salome. Dennis Leary, Holly Hunter, Jack Black and Dennis Hopper pop up too.

Night Hawks Sylvester Stallone decks himself out in drag. Twice! In order to catch Rutger Hauer (who just acts him off the screen - it's a Hans/John McClane kinda thing).

Oh and for a funky 70's flick - The Warriors!

[Tobias March]

Also, check out The Kingdom- Lars Von Trier (1994?). Whacked out Danish horror TV mini-series.

Second.

Udo Kier is a big freak but I love him.

[TCJohnson]

Has anybody seen Six String Samurai? Whacky fun.

ANd Fearless...one of my favorite movies of all time.

[tangentman]

Cemetary Man--Early Rupert Everett cult classic about a gravedigger and Italian zombies. Much fun, check it out!

Eat, Drink, Man, Woman and The Wedding Banquet are early Ang Lee works. The first is about the family dynamic between a highly renowned chef and his three daughters. Emotionally gorgeous movie. The second is about a gay interracial couple, one of whom's Chinese parents are visiting. Misunderstandings and arranged marriages are involved, but there's a nice payoff in the end. Check out The Ice Storm if you want the darker end of the Ang Lee spectrum: "key parties", precocious teens, a Fantastic Four reference, Watergate, and an ice storm add up to heartbreaking tragedy.

The Velvet Goldmine--Todd Haynes' piece about the glam rock years. A fictional retelling of the lives of key glam rockers--many references to David & Angie Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Marc Boland, and Mick Jagger, among others. A lush visual spectacle with a killer soundtrack.

[Tobias March]

Cemetary Man--Early Rupert Everett cult classic about a gravedigger and Italian zombies. Much fun, check it out!
.

Also known as Dellamorte, Dellamore. Zombie Cub Scouts. Rock! ;)

[Merey]

Not so obscure, but not hugely popular films either:

Empire of the Sun - I'm not a huge Spielberg devotee but this, IMHO, is by far his masterpiece. And it doesn't hurt that the screenplay is by Tom Stoppard.


Defending Your Life - My favorite existential comedy.

[astronato]

The Anniversary - Bette Davis with an eye patch in a 60's Brit flick about a crazy family. Bette drops nasty insults like daisy cutters. There is also panty thievery.

Wild in the Streets - a teen pop star leads a youth movement that successfully lowers the voting age to 14. They put the over 30's in internment camps where they are fed LSD. It's got Shelly Winters, Greg Brady and Richard Pryor with a hook for a hand.

Man Bites Dog/C'est arrivé près de chez vous - a french film crew follows around a likeable serial killer.

Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - a two hour insult fest and the worlds greatest arguement against marriage. And yes, Richard Burton does say monkey nipples.

Harold and Maude is everyones favorite cult movie

Hidden Fortress/Kurasowa - see where star wars comes from

My Man Godrey - my favorite 30's screwball comedy and look at classism.

Clash by Night - Barbara Stanwyck soul crusher.

There are too many good (or so bad they are good) movies to list

[Kyuubi]

Anything with Bruce Campbell, especially the Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness.

[MacQuarrie]

Deeply disturbing:

The Devils. Ken Russell directs Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave in the true story of a 16th century french village gone mad. The local nuns are possessed by the devil, and they, led by the psycho hunchback Mother Superior (Redgrave), accuse the venal, vulgar, egotistical priest (Reed), whom the Mother Superior lusts for. The tortures of the inquisition, political intrigue, and shieking madwomen follow. Not for the squeamish, but a brilliant film.

The Persecution and Execution of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Tarenton Under the Direction of the Marquis DeSade. A surreal exploration of madness. Exactly what the title says. You'll find it under the shorter title of Marat/Sade.

[MacQuarrie]

Anything with Bruce Campbell, especially the Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness.
Bubba Ho-Tep. Campbell plays Elvis living out his last days in a nursing home. Until a zombie mummy in a cowboy hat shows up to suck the old people's souls out through their butts. Then Elvis and the paraplegic JFK (played by Ossie Davis) have to stop him. Like the best cheese flicks, the movie isn't about what it's about. It's a melancholy meditation on aging, celebrity, family and meaning, wrapped up in a horror-comedy.

[astronato]

Between Two Worlds - John Garfield and a luxury liner full of people realize that they have all died, and they don't know where the boat is headed.

The Black Cat - Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Boris plays an architect who builds an art deco mansion on top of an eastern european battlefield, He is paid a visit by Bela, his former opposition in the war. Bela has been tortured in prison for 15 years and now seeks his wife and daughter. And Boris is doing twisted things to both.

The Mad Monster Party - from Rankin/Bass, the company that brought us those great Christmas specials with Rudolph comes the similarly animated monster mash of all time. A Mummy rock band, Phyliss Diller and King Kong.

[CanaryNoir]

Empire of the Sun - I'm not a huge Spielberg devotee but this, IMHO, is by far his masterpiece. And it doesn't hurt that the screenplay is by Tom Stoppard.

Brilliant film. Been a fan of Bale's ever since I saw this in the theater. My theory was that the critics didn't get how well Spielberg nails the tone of the book. They thought it was more of his "kid's POV" stuff like ET when it is, in reality, an amazing transfer to film of JG Ballard's book.

The Velvet Goldmine--Todd Haynes' piece about the glam rock years. A fictional retelling of the lives of key glam rockers--many references to David & Angie Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Marc Boland, and Mick Jagger, among others. A lush visual spectacle with a killer soundtrack.

Also starring Bale, oddly enough. I didn't think this worked. It relied far too much on our caring about the urDavid/Iggy character who was thoroughly unlikable. Ewan McGregor's character was MUCH more interesting. And it had far too many plot lines going on. It had a sort of Citizen Kane story without the filmmaking ability supporting that pretension to finesse the payoff.

Best things in the film are Eddie Izzard and Toni Collette who are not in it nearly enough. Bale never looks good enough in the flashbacks nor does Ewan McGregor which is just a DAMN shame, considering the fact that many of their scenes should be fangirl (and boy) fantasies come to life but they're far too kitchen sink to feel really glam. I can't agree that it's lush, either. That's where I thought they really fumbled -- it looked so seedy and after-the-party-rundown. Sometimes that fit but too often it undercut the scene the filmmaker was trying to set.

The soundtrack, though, is quite good.

[Kyuubi]

Bubba Ho-Tep. Campbell plays Elvis living out his last days in a nursing home. Until a zombie mummy in a cowboy hat shows up to suck the old people's souls out through their butts. Then Elvis and the paraplegic JFK (played by Ossie Davis) have to stop him. Like the best cheese flicks, the movie isn't about what it's about. It's a melancholy meditation on aging, celebrity, family and meaning, wrapped up in a horror-comedy.



Holy crap YES! That's playing at local theatre here this weekend.

[Michael P]

Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - a two hour insult fest and the worlds greatest arguement against marriage. And yes, Richard Burton does say monkey nipples.

I wouldn't call this obscure. It's a classic.

Great movie, though, and anyone should see it who hasn't.

[astronato]

I wouldn't call this obscure. It's a classic.

Great movie, though, and anyone should see it who hasn't.

true. neither is Clash by Night or Godfrey. I just got carried away

[Merey]

The Persecution and Execution of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Tarenton Under the Direction of the Marquis DeSade. A surreal exploration of madness. Exactly what the title says. You'll find it under the shorter title of Marat/Sade.


Ah, brings me back to Play Analysis class days. I think I still have that script on my shelf. Yup, I do. Peter Weiss...Good stuff.

Brilliant film. Been a fan of Bale's ever since I saw this in the theater. My theory was that the critics didn't get how well Spielberg nails the tone of the book. They thought it was more of his "kid's POV" stuff like ET when it is, in reality, an amazing transfer to film of JG Ballard's book.

I haven't read the novel, but it's good to hear that it's a good adaptation. I tend to hate reading the novel after seeing a movie (I almost always read the book first) because I hate being spoiled for major plot points, but if I hear good things about the adaptation or if the screenplay is by someone I admire then I'll give it a chance.

And you make a good point, I think this film was made a little before its time in relation to where Spielberg was in his career at the time. If he made the film now, I think it would have garnered a lot more respect. But then, we wouldn't have had a young Christian Bale and that would be tragic.

[astronato]

anyone ever see Ravenous with Guy Pearce? i liked it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenous

[Noah Johnson]

Oh, I forgot to mention L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE, this amazing little young-bohemian student-cohabitation fantasy that wanders around eight or nine languages in a study of the emerging generation of Europeans.

I fell in love with it when a lesbian finally came out and said "Chicks are wacko, man, I swear."

[Tobias March]

anyone ever see Ravenous with Guy Pearce? i liked it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenous

It's weirdly funny in places. Whent they play that manic banjo music as Robert Carlyle goes nuts? Yeah - disturbing little flick.

[Fish Sauce]

Tom Yum Goong. It's a Thai movie and the actor, Tony Jaa, is being touted as the "new Jackie Chan".

Not big on plot, but has some awesome scenes, one involving a continuous shot of him going round a huge flight of stairs taking out numerous henchmen. It goes for around five minutes and is done in one take! Insane.

Even better for Australians as they can laugh at the way Australians are made to look.

[Sally Sensational]

For laughs - go with But I'm A Cheerleader! starring Natasha Lyonne, Clea Duvall and Rupaul as a man!

Creepiness - Bruiser - George Romero looks at what people would do if no one could possibly know who they were - stars Jason Flemyng very pre-LXG.

Fun with literature - Pride & Prejudice (not that one!) - the indie version - set in Utah and Las Vegas - it's a fun reinterpretation of the classic (2003)

Or you could always have an actor-centered obscure film-fest! Try Ewan Macgregor in Brassed Off, The Pillow Book, and Velvet Goldmine or Christian Bale in Velvet Goldmine, Royal Deceit - which is a fascinating tapestry of both the Tristan and Isolde legends and Hamlet, and Secret Agent - which is star-studded and yet obscure at the same time.

And for true obscurity, you can't go wrong with Walkabout - a 1971 Australian film about three kids surviving in the outback.

[shrike]

Virgin Spring. Ingmar Bergman film from 1960.

It's an amazing foreign film that Wes Craven tried to create Last House On The Left with. It's deeply disturbing.

[Rynehawk]

Ok, so maybe not so obscure but one of my favorites - Amelie.

Highly recommended.

[Damo]

...darnnit darnnit dannirt, most of the things I was gonna say have been said.

Oh well.

"City Hunter" with Jackie Chan. Still my favorite martial arts comedy. But you should see Kung Fu Hustle if you haven't already, the evil Axe Gang dance better that West Side Story's Jets.

Downfall, the movie about the last few days of Hitler, really is amazing. It doesn't demonize. He was a monster, it doesn't need to demonize, but he was human too.

Goodbye Lenin, an EXCELLENT comedy. Premise: East Berlin woman goes into coma just BEFORE the wall fell in 1989. She wakes up years later, the doctors tell her son "any shocks will probably kill her."

He looks outside at how different East Berlin is from how it was under Communist rule. How VERY different it is. How VERY VERY different it is. And so begins an elaborate attempt to protect her from the fact that the Soviet Union fell.

[MacQuarrie]

Or you could always have an actor-centered obscure film-fest!
Tom Conti!

Rueben, Rueben Tom plays a Dylan Thomas-esque poet drinking his way around New England and seducing the women who run the "friends of the library" groups to which he lectures, while supplementing his income by stealing tips off restaurant tables. He hasn't written a word in 10 years, his teeth are going, and he intends to kill himself while he still has a few poems and a few teeth left in his head. Then he meets radiant college freshman Kelly McGillis (in her first role) and falls head-over-heels in love. A sad, sweet little film. Conti was nominated for a Oscar for his performance. Look for Roberts Blossom (the scary old neighbor in Home Alone) as a genuine Connecticut Yankee.

Miracles Tom is a doctor, Teri Garr is his soon-to-be-ex-wife, a lawyer. Somewhere in Mexico, a little native girl is dying. The local shaman will be killed if she dies. He desperately cries out to the heavens for help, and a chain of "coincidences" is set in motion that will eventually bring Tom and Teri to the village and possibly back together. Written and directed by Jim Kouf ("National Treasure") and co-starring Christopher Lloyd and Paul Rodriguez.

The Gospel According to Vic (Also known as "Heavenly Pursuits") Tom plays an agnostic teacher at a Catholic school in Scotland, the Blessed Edith Semple School. Blessed Edith needs two more miracles to her credit in order to be promoted to sainthood. Suddenly and much to his chagrin, Vic begins to have miraculous events occur around him. Is he doing it, or is it due to Blessed Edith, or is it a fraud? Costars Helen Mirren.

American Dreamer JoBeth Williams plays a housewife/writer who wins a trip to Paris to meet her favorite romance-novel author. She gets klonked on the head and wakes up thinking she is Rebecca Ryan, the heroine of the novels in question. Eventually she meets the woman who writes the Ryan stories, and her son, played by Conti. International intrigue and a bit of romance follows.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence David Bowie plays a POW in a japanese prison camp. The camp commander thinks the prisoners are all cowards because they surrendered rather than commit suicide. Col. Lawrence (Conti) serves as translator and tries to explain the japanese mindset to his fellow prisoners, but is considered a traitor.

Saving Grace (the 1985 film; there are several with the same title) Tom plays the recently-installed and already dispirited Pope Leo XIV. After he accidentally locks himself out of the Vatican in his gardening clothes, the guards, who don't recognize him, won't let him back in. So he does the only thing he can do; he goes to a small village not far away that has no priest and sets up shop. Costars Edward James Olmos, Giancarlo Giannini, and Angelo Evans*.

*Angelo Evans is the subject of Robert Duvall's brilliant semi-documentary "Angelo My Love", a fictionalized look at the lives of New York's Romani (Gypsies), all portrayed by real Gypsies. The movie is fascinating and the kid is a natural actor like you've never seen before.

[scratchie]

Tom Conti!Also Blade on the Feather (released in the USA as Deep Cover). Conti plays a mysterious man who pays a visit to a retired secret agent at his country estate. Another great one from the incomparable Dennis Potter.

[ChadtheH]

Good recent indie or "obscure" movie -- Little Miss Sunshine. A great "here's-to-the-losers" bildungsroman.

Good older indie of "obscure" movie, for COMPLETELY different reasons -- Straight To Hell, released in 1987 and starring a then-unkonwn Miguel Sandoval and Courtney Love (this may have even pre-Cobain for her) among many other actors who never really amounted to much. Plot is a bit familiar -- bank robbers attempt to lay low in a small desert town after a big heist, only to meet with surreal events and growing conflict. If nothing else, see it for the unlikely a cappella cover of "Danny Boy" in a barrio tavern. Outstanding.

[matterconsumer]

Lemming

Arty film out on DVD. Rampling gives a heady performance. Less you know the more enjoyable it is going in :)

[Corrina]

One, Two, Three---a more obscure Billy Wilder film. James Cagney is a Coca-Cola executive in West Germany trying to sell Coke to the East Germans. Then he has to deal with his boss' daughter falling in love with a Communist.
Fun ensues, on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Only Billy Wilder could manage to skew capitalists and communists in the same movie, with such good results.

[MacQuarrie]

One, Two, Three---a more obscure Billy Wilder film. James Cagney is a Coca-Cola executive in West Germany trying to sell Coke to the East Germans. Then he has to deal with his boss' daughter falling in love with a Communist.
Fun ensues, on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Only Billy Wilder could manage to skew capitalists and communists in the same movie, with such good results.
Heh. I actually was considering recommending this one.

It's from the late '60s, and it was going to be Cagney's farewell performance, until he later decided to come out of retirement to do "Ragtime." It's a funny movie.

[Tobias March]

Speaking of Billy Wilder

The Private Life of Sherlock. His last good film.

[Ed Cunard]

Here's one I'll be surprised if anyone has seen:

"Barcelona" by Whit Stillman. It's an American comedy made in the 90's about an nerdy Christian guy and his morally bankrupt (and very funny) cousin working and living in Spain. It's not like any other movie I've ever seen, except maybe "Metropolitan" or "The Last Days of Disco," Stillman's other two movies. "Metropolitan" got an Oscar nod for Best Screenplay.

I liked Barcelona. If you like Whit Stillman, you'd probably like Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming (http://imdb.com/title/tt0113537/) (not the soccer one with Will Farrell)--Eigeman's in it, even. It just came out as a Criterion DVD.

"Billy Bathgate," the only film I know of about the Jewish mafia (and hey, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, and Nicole Kidman are great in it),

Did you read Neil Kleid's graphic novel Brownsville? It's a Jewish mob story.

[Tommy]

Doing Time On Maple Drive--

This is the ULTIMATE Lifetime movie. One family. Too many secrets. Over the course of the movie we get to see alcoholism, abortion, someone hiding their homosexuality, a jilted lover, a jilted wife, a suicide attempt, emotionally abusive parents and one family member having a nervous break down. It is so over the top you can't help but love it. You also get to see Lori Loughlin and Jim Carrey prior to their becoming famous. Of course I will always love it since it is the first movie dealing with gay themes I ever saw.

[Corrina]

Speaking of Billy Wilder

The Private Life of Sherlock. His last good film.

Eh, it goes on too long.

but worth it, just for the line "So...Watson is your...cup of tea?"

[Tobias March]

Eh, it goes on too long.

but worth it, just for the line "So...Watson is your...cup of tea?"

:D

'You couldn't go wrong with Tchaikovsky,'

'You could, and we did. It was . . . catastrophe.'

The sad thing about this film is just how much is was butchered by the studio involved. But Christopher Lee as Mycroft owns the screen.

[Fish Sauce]

Goodbye Lenin, an EXCELLENT comedy. Premise: East Berlin woman goes into coma just BEFORE the wall fell in 1989. She wakes up years later, the doctors tell her son "any shocks will probably kill her."

He looks outside at how different East Berlin is from how it was under Communist rule. How VERY different it is. How VERY VERY different it is. And so begins an elaborate attempt to protect her from the fact that the Soviet Union fell.

Yep, that was a very good movie. Watched it at school last year.

Might I add Merry Christmas, or Joyeaux Noel to the list. It's about a Christmas in World War I where the French, Scottish and German soldiers left their trenches to celebrate with one another. Probably one of the saddest movies I've seen in a while.

And if Little Miss Sunshine is counted as obscure, I'll second it.

[The Xenos]

Funny. On another board someone started a similar thread.

They said
-Wonderboys (not realy that unknown, but never got the audience it deserved)
-Equilibrium (Somewhat predecessor to ultra-violet, except it doesn't suck and has christian "bateman" bale)
-Existenz ( i allways wondered why this wasn't more popular)


I replied with,

Equilibrium was awesome. Was it Fahenheit 451? No. It surely too ideas from it, so I'm still waiting for that movie to be made, but it was a nice movie inspired by the book. Plus we already had the 1984 movie with John Hurt, so why just remake 1984. Instead the creator mixed it into a new movie even if it is similar to what inspired it.

Existenz - I still need to see it. My art teacher back in highschool told me about it after she rented it.

Terry Gilliam's "Baron Munchausen" - I saw that as a kid and it freaked me out. I bet I'd love it if I saw the whole thing again. Only caught part of it on TV.

Dark City - More of an underdog to its big brother the more famous The Crow.

Dear Wendy - My roomate had this DVD at his arthouse theater. I saw it when he brought it home and it blew me away. It's about a small mining town and a bunch of kids who start a pacifist gun club.

Brotherhood of the Wolf
Oshii's Avalon
Sahdow of the Vampire

I mention those three films as they are the three movies I bought because they looked awesome... but I myself never got around to watching. Well them and the Full Metal Alchemist movie that finishes the anime series.

[Budgie Inspector]

Putney Swope (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064855/) is one of my all-time faves. Directed by Robert Downey, Sr., and featuring a young Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas.

Closet Land (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101597) isn't out on DVD in the States, yet, but it's another great one. Two actors only: Alan Rickman & Madeleine Stowe.

I'll jump on the Eat, Drink, Man, Woman bandwagon, and suggest it as part of a food-themed quadruple feature alongside Babette's Feast (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092603), Like Water for Chocolate (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103994), and Big Night (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115678).

[Dr Manolis Dooplove]

french: A very long engagement
the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover
amelie (not that obscure ;) )
delicatessen
taxi 1

asian:Lady Vengeance
battle royale
oldboy
house of flying daggers (did that make it to US?)

spanish: Volver
all about my mother
talk to her
20 centimeters
kika

greek (duh): Testosterene http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463379/
blackmail boy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399465/
touch of spice
never on a sunday
stella

[Merey]

Reds - Another not really obscure one, but I'm super excited to finally get a chance to see it. Tuesday it was FINALLY released on DVD. Also, it's currently playing at some art house cinemas in various cities throughout the country.

[stealthwise]

RAVENOUS!

Seriously, Gail, go rent Ravenous. It stars Robert Carlyle and Guy Pearce and is just fanastically gory, funny, and dark. One of my top three favourite movies of all-time (on my ever-shifting list of favourite movies of all-time), I can always watch it and enjoy it.

[Rob Allen]

How about some British surreal social satire - the Lindsay Anderson/Malcolm McDowell trilogy:

If...
O Lucky Man!
Britannia Hospital

[bert]

Some very good suggestions in this thread:

Brotherhood of the Wolf is a gorgeous film

KM.0 (Kilometer Zero) is one of my favorite films (in the most simple terms it's about the part of town where several folks go to meed for "Blind Dates" and mistakenly hook up w/ the wrong partners)

also very good, and my recommendations:

Come back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean -- Karen Black, and Cher, in a film that PROVED she's a great actress before Moonstruck. This film makes me cry almost every time!

Experience Preferred, but Not Essential -- a coming of age story about a Summer spent working at a British seaside resort, and the colorful co-workers the main character meets. (easily my favorite film EVER)

High Tension -- a brutal, bloody, French film, and a mind-fuck of the highest order. just make it past the horrid maturbation scene near the beginning that seems to not fit into the rest of the film.

Breaking the Waves --the film that introduced me to Emily Watson. Stunning cinematography, and a deeply disturbing storyline (he husband injured in an accident, a woman in a small sea-side town, allows him to turn her into his private sex story. . sending her out to have affairs for him).

and speaking of Tom Conti (ealier). . did anyone bring up the film adaptation of Shirley Valentine ? VERY well done

[astronato]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains with Diane Lane and Laura Dern and some ex Sex Pistols.

Trilogy of Terror with Karen Black. That little voo doo doll witth the butter knife still scares me.

Monster Club - Vincent Price, David Carradine in a horror antholgy set in a nightclub full of vampires and ghouls. With bands like the Pretty Things and UB40

The Losers - Biker gang sent to Viet Nam to fight in the jungle on their choppers.

[TheLyle]

Two of my favorite films are:

Welcome Back Mister McDonald: A Japanese screwball comedy about a live performance of a radio drama where things go wrong. If you've ever seen a good live performance of Noises Off this movie manages to capture that feeling on film. It's light entertainment, but has a sincereity that most Hollywood comedies lack. I don't remember if the DVD has a dubbed version, but pick the subtitled, if only to hear the Japanese actors say "Mary Jane" over and over.

Millenium Actress: Satoshi Kon uses anime to tell some really weird stories but that weirdness almost always makes perfect sense for the story he's telling. (Paranoia Agent excepted, which is an amazing series to people who aren't familiar with Kon's work.) With MA, Kon makes a drama that probably wouldn't work as well as a live action film, exploring the life of an actress, mixing scenes from her movies into her life. I don't watch this one often because it leaves me in tears every time.

I also think you'd like Kon's other work -- Perfect Blue, a strange and moody thriller, Tokyo Godfathers, a remake of Three Godfathers and Hell's Heroes that says on the border of heartwarming without stepping into sappy as well as the bizarre Paranoia Agent, which has some compelling character stories even if I don't think the ending worked. Plus, you have to see the opening sequence.

I'll second that recommendation for The Happiness of the Katakuris. It's the only Miike that I've liked, though I had an intellectual appreciation for Audition -- I just didn't enjoy watching it.

Have you seen the low budget horror film Cube? It's my kind of horror, very high-concept Twilight Zone-ish, more about human interaction than about gore. Avoid the sequels, though.