The point of this series is for us bloggers to tackle films they've never seen before, and swing them into a monthly series tackling one at a time. Some of you may remember my doing something similar this year with an 11 in 2011 list which I've achieved - to date - a decent portion of viewing. Though completing a couple of films still elude me.
However, this time I want to do something new. I don't want it to be a list of films I'm too lazy to get around to viewing because, well, there's a reason I probably haven't bothered to view them until now anyways.
No, this time I want it to not just be films I haven't seen. I want it to be films I may have never even heard of, or even you for that matter. For that, I turn to you. What are some of those films you absolutely love but can never strike up a conversation with anyone about? You know, those movies you think are brilliant yet still only rock a few hundred (or thousand) votes on IMDB. Movies you feel like never get the audience they deserve.
It doesn't matter if they're a so bad, they're good. Or just amazing films that nobody watches. Sound off in the comments and if you can sell me on them I'll add them to the list! If I've seen them already I'll let you know you're not alone as well.
So, let me have it. What's that one movie you love but seemingly nobody has seen?
Note: While I'll do my best to measure everyone's equally, the ability to get the movie here in the states is going to be a big deciding factor on what gets chosen.
13 better thoughts:
Here's a film that's hard to bring up in conversation that I think is great, but also tough...
It's Gaspar Noe's Irreversible. If you've heard of it it means we're all on the same page. It's immense and at times grotesque.
Here's my review http://www.gmanreviews.com/2011/02/28/1001-films-irreversible-2002/
And a podcast I did on the film http://www.gmanreviews.com/2011/03/06/tump-ep79-irreversible-guest-kevin-ketchum/.
Have you seen it? Get on it man.
Have you seen Box of Moonlight? Probably th most underrated film of the 90s.
Never Cry Wolf (1983) directed by Carroll Ballard is really good, similat style to Into the Wild, somehow nobody knows about it.
A foreign film that gets overlooked a lot is Woman in the Dunes (1964), I loved it. in b/w, kind of slow-paced indiana jones.
I'd be interested to read a review of any of them ( :
@Andrew I've heard of it but never seen it. Will jot it down for a slot on the list. Thanks!
@Movies&Songs You know, not only have I not seen any of those, but I've not heard of any of them. Will definitely look into them!
Umm, tough question trying to think of stuff that flies under the radar for many. Here's three that eluded me for a long time as I pushed them down the list, only to regret waiting so long to see them.
The Red Shoes
Onibaba
The Steel Helmet
They're all excellent.
These aren't super-obscure, but I'd definitely suggest seeing them if you haven't yet:
Any of Whit Stillman's three films from the '90s, especially Metropolitan.
John Sayles' films, particularly Matewan, Lone Star, and Limbo
Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, an intriguing story of a thief from 1959
Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai, an awesome and influential look at a French assassin
Probably the most obscure movie I love is Ostrov (2006). It's got about 4000 IMDB votes and I only know a couple other people who have seen it.
Just one? Let's see...
I'll limit it in one way. It's really hard to find people to talk about Czech New Wave movies. And you can find a decent chunk of them available either through Netflix. In fact, quite a few are Criterion Collection movies. So you should be able to find them. Some suggestions:
-Closely Watched Trains
-The Firemen's Ball
-Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
-Daisies
The last two are much more experimental, so, fair warning and such.
I'd also say that the work of John Cassavetes is underrepresented in film discussion. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie would be a fantastic place to start.
I've seen a lot of movies no one has seen - but to remember any of them now? I'll just have to go with what came to mind first:
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Monsters (2011)
Brotherhood of the Wolf
I almost want to add Memento since almost no one I know has ever seen Nolan's masterpiece.
@Will Have heard of The Red Shoes but not the other 2. Shall check them out!
@Dan I've seen Le Samourai but I might pick another of Melville's collection. As to the others, have heard of some but don't recall seeing them. Thanks!
@James Interesting, thanks for the suggestion.
@John You can do as many as you like, but those are some quality unknowns. Czech New Wave sounds a bit interesting, I might stick with one of the first two.
@AlexJ Love Memento, it's in my top 100 and I've got a review of it around here somewhere. If you ever want someone to talk about the film with, let me know.
Three Blind Mice was, I believe, one of the finest films of 2009, but it was an Australian indie film that almost no one seemed to have heard of - so I'd recommend that.
Great question Univarn. Here is a few:
- Cell 211
- Twilight Samurai (You've probably seen this one but just about nobody else has)
- Devils on the Doorstep
@Andrew I remember hearing about it and hearing people talk about but not much and I've not personally seen it.
@Castor I reviewed Twilight Samurai on here a year or two back I believe. Great film. I've been meaning to see Devils for some time (since I read the post of unseen foreign films on your blog), that might definitely make the list.
The first one that came to mind was The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, a hilarious parody of 1950s B-movies that nobody seems to have seen. It's probably my favorite movie parody of *all* time.
I'm also tempted to recommend Sinbad of the Seven Seas (NOT Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas - this is a completely different movie) as my all-time favorite so-bad-it's-AMAZING movie. Nobody's ever seen it but it's hilariously awful.
I wrote a blog post last June about my favorite underrated movies, and I would recommend ALL of those. My main suggestion is Lost Skeleton, but all of these would be on my recommended list.
http://unpublishedforareason.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-favorite-unknown-movies.html) so feel
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