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Author Topic: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed  (Read 158455 times)

Offline annabel

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #45 on: April 17, 2006, 08:13:59 AM »
OOPs.  Was trying to figure out how to highlight a quote and comment.  Forgot the comment.  Never mind :)

Offline Dave Cullen

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #46 on: April 23, 2006, 12:08:34 AM »
One film which made a huge impression on me at the time was 'Breaking the Waves' [1996], directed by Lars von Trier.  I was a wreck after seeing it and was haunted by it for a long time afterwards.  I don't know if I could bear to watch it again, but it's worth seeing. 

Briefly, it's about a child-like woman in a remote Scottish village who marries an oil rig worker.  When he's injured in an accident and unable to have sex, he urges her to have sex with other men and tell him about it. 

that film made me SO angry. not in a good way. i had forgotten why, until i saw "Dancer in the Dark." the next day, i posted a blog entry called "Charactericide."

http://blogs.salon.com/0001137/2005/10/03.html

characters are people too, and lars is a fucking sadist.

plus that jittery camera shit, dogma whatever is so painfully art-pretender. (i know, i'll write a story with no punctuation, that will make it art.)

he's got talent, but he's got serious problems.

Offline Dave Cullen

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #47 on: April 23, 2006, 12:10:52 AM »
did i mention Trust?

i absolutely adore Trust.

---

Also, Arizona Dream. (Dreams?) Picture johnny depp, faye dunaway and jerry lewis giving some of the best performances of their lives, and still being upstaged by this other guy. And a sweet, unsappy magical realism.

Offline annabel

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #48 on: April 23, 2006, 05:15:09 AM »
This is not an overlooked film necessarily, but a 1994 version of Lassie came out (got it for my kids in the bargain bin) and Michelle Williams is the lead teenage girl.  I never would have recognized her.

Offline maya

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #49 on: April 23, 2006, 12:04:19 PM »
Overlooked....i don't know, but great for sure :

U-Turn by Oliver Stone , with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Lopez (yes, i was surprised by her ... )  1997
i remember the big impression it had on me, ouh .... Sean Penn and Nick Nolte were fabulous and the end is terrific

_ Following by Christopher Nolan , with Memento for sure, but Following is quite unusual and deserved more attention
here is an interview with Nolan : http://www.indiewire.com/people/int_Nolan_Christophe_2A74A.html

_ Then and my favorite, Being John Malkovich by Spike Jonze with John Cusack  1999
how can i explain that, it was an incredible experience for me, such a great idea, i mean, it was so original and inventive, i have no word to describe how i love that movie.  Spike Jonze found tons of great ideas in this movie, it's simply brilliant, and eternal sunshine of the spotlessmind reminds me Being Malkovich with tons of good qualities
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Desecra

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #50 on: April 23, 2006, 12:20:55 PM »
Thanks for those, Maya - I haven't seen U-Turn but will see if I can rent it.

Following I agree - very worth seeing.  Not deep, but short, just enough time to tell the story.  I enjoyed it more than Memento - perhaps just because it was short. 

I loved Being John Malkovitch, but hadn't thought it was overlooked.  [Whereas I thought my Breaking the Waves suggestion was overlooked - turns it wasn't at all, so what do I know?].


Desecra

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #51 on: April 23, 2006, 12:57:20 PM »
'Night of the HUnter' [Charles Laughton] with Robert Mitchum - not really overlooked as I think some people see it as a masterpiece, but I don't know many who have heard of it.  Haunting, chilling,  unforgettable.  I keep imagining I see its influence in other films - maybe I do!

And another one, and maybe this one is just me because none of my friends thought much of it, but I loved 'Lilo and Stitch' - yes, the Disney film!  I loved the drawings/animation [I don't know the correct terminology], bright colours, GREAT music - Elvis instead of your usual Phil Collins/Elton John mawkish rubbish [apologies to their fans, but I cringe at songs like 'Can you feel the love tonight'].  But most suprising was the subject matter.  An orphaned dysfunctional family, a child looked after by her sister who does her best to avoid social services invoking child protection proceedings whilst trying to earn a living, the main character a little girl who is so aggressive, antisocial, lonely and grief-stricken that the only 'person' she can relate to is an evil, alien killing machine.  I lost it when Stitch describes the family as 'little and broken, but still good'.

jayiijay

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #52 on: April 23, 2006, 01:57:12 PM »
DESCRA & MAYA:

Being John Malkovich won all sorts of awards (including Best Picture from the National Society of Film Critics in a tie with Topsy Turvy), was nominated for all the guilds, several Oscars (though very surprisingly not Best Picture - not enough box office, plus over the heads of the old-guard Academy morons who snubbed Brokeback).

Night of the Hunter, however, was completely overlooked in its time, nominated for nothing.  As you said, now many considered it to be a masterpiece, it turns up regularly on lists of 100 Greatest films of all time (world cinema, not just American).  It is certainly one of my favorites, director Charles Laughton created an atmosphere that has never been matched.  Robert Mitchum & Lillian Gish were never better (and of course, not even nominated).

Offline maya

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #53 on: April 23, 2006, 02:01:10 PM »


I loved Being John Malkovitch, but hadn't thought it was overlooked.  [Whereas I thought my Breaking the Waves suggestion was overlooked - turns it wasn't at all, so what do I know?].



I'm French and i think this movie was quite overlooked here, i don't know what the Americans think about it, glad if it made its way ! Sorry for my english, sometimes i don't even know if it's really english ....
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jayiijay

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #54 on: April 23, 2006, 02:57:44 PM »
MAYA:

Your English is fine!!!

How has Brokeback Mountain been received in France?  As you know, it won almost every award in America (except the Oscar), the most ever, plus won everything in England and the Venice Film Festival.  Thanks!

Offline Dave Cullen

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #55 on: April 23, 2006, 03:50:00 PM »
I loved Being John Malkovitch, but hadn't thought it was overlooked.  [Whereas I thought my Breaking the Waves suggestion was overlooked - turns it wasn't at all, so what do I know?].

i loved Malkovitch for the first 40 minutes to an hour, but i think it had a dozen or two fascinating ideas too many. i don't know that i've ever criticized a film for having too many great ideas before, but it really overloaded its plate.

 it was one hell of a ride, but it kept hurling ideas at a so fast, there was no time to process any of them, much less reflect on them, or explore them. i love a movie that makes me think, but there was no time to think. and they didn't think through many of the ideas too thoroughly either, just moved on to the next.

it was jam-packed with brilliant stuff--way too packed.

some of the images stayed with me, but not many of the ideas, and few feelings. ultimately, it had the effect of a really great thriller/chase film: one hell of a great two hours, but not much resonance afterward. i found i wasn't thinking about any of it two days later.

i admire so much about it, there was more brillance in that film than in most of the other films that year combined. just not restraint.

and then along came eternal sunshine. wow. one great idea and just spun the hell out of it. nearly as many twists as Malkovitch, but all round the same central axis, exploring the one central idea deeper, taking its ramifications further and further and further and further.

mesmerizing.

one of my favorite film experiences ever. i can't wait to see what they cook up next.

Offline Dave Cullen

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #56 on: April 23, 2006, 04:17:35 PM »
A post about The Wizard of Oz in the over-rated films thread made me think of the song "How Are Things in Glocca Morra," the theme song from Finian's Rainbow.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0062974/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/finians_rainbow/

I'm not sure it counts as a great film, but it sure did stick with me for nearly 40 years.

I stumbled across it a year or two ago, and you definitely have to swallow a lot of hokum, but it's worth it just for the sight of Petula Clark rising over the hilltop in a field of (daisies?) in the opening shot, singing . . . singing i can't remember what, actually, but her glowing face and lilting voice are enough. (From a person who can't stand musicals that stop the action cold for a song.)

(It might have been "Look To The Rainbow" in the opening. It's all a big haze now.)

And it still makes my heart yearn for imaginary places like Glocca Morra, and the people who dream of them.

It was one of Francis Ford Coppola's first films, and one of Fred Astaire's last. There are definitely touches of greatness visible from both of them here. But Petula is what makes it for me. And that song.

I don't know how much it got noticed at the time, but no one I run into lately has heard of it, so I'm putting it on my list.

« Last Edit: April 23, 2006, 07:14:40 PM by Dave Cullen »

Offline Cletis

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #57 on: April 23, 2006, 09:26:21 PM »
Here is a list of movies that pierced my soul (in a good way) that everybody else hated or overlooked:

Gerry Gus Van Sant's existential journey.  Matt Damon and Casey Affleck lost in the desert.  Sparse dialogue. The boys invent an interesting idiolect.   This is an experience; not a movie.

Mullholland Drive David Lynch's haunting examination of an actress's psyche.

Requiem for a Dream  The inside/out of addictions.


The clock is frickin Tickin!

Offline maya

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #58 on: April 23, 2006, 09:55:45 PM »
MAYA:

Your English is fine!!!

How has Brokeback Mountain been received in France?  As you know, it won almost every award in America (except the Oscar), the most ever, plus won everything in England and the Venice Film Festival.  Thanks!

thanks....so much !!
i believe i can say here that BBM was totally overlooked in France, the medias didn't talk so much about the film, it was just a story between all the others, you know what i mean ....i was so sad, so when i saw this forum ..... what a relief, all of you feeling the same way as me on BBM, so great !

and cletis, mulholland Drive, i loved
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jayiijay

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Re: Overlooked Films--Great films (most of) the world missed
« Reply #59 on: April 23, 2006, 10:13:49 PM »
CLETIS:

You will be pleased to know that Mulholland Drive isn't now, and wasn't overlooked when released.  Yes, the idiot Academy didn't nominate it for Best Picture (Best Director was its only nomination; just like Blue Velvet in '86; Lynch is the only director to have that dubious distinction twice), but it received raves and won the prestigious New York Film Critics Award for Best Picture (just like Brokeback!).   Since then, if you check out movie buff sites, it is a clear front-runner for Best Picture of the Decade (along with The Pianist, Moulin Rouge, In the Mood for Love, Eternal Sunshine, Russian Ark, Brokeback Mountain, and maybe one or two others I am not thinking of).  It would have been my favorite of 2001, but admittedly the twist diminished it for me a bit for reasons I won't get into for fear of causing a spoiler.  It also put Naomi Watts on the map (wasn't she great; also not nominated, unbelievable), but so was unsung Laura Herring.

Requiem for a Dream also has a cult following, movie buffs remain outraged that Ellen Burstyn lost the Oscar to Julia Roberts.  Not a personal favorite, I frankly thought Burstyn way-overdid it, but many people love that movie.

I just saw Gerry and whole-heartedly agree.  Usually I don't like anything with Matt Damon or especially anybody named Affleck, LOL, but they were terrific.  Often really like Gus Van Sant - Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, though sometimes I don't get it (Elephant).


MAYA:  Perhaps Brokeback wasn't a big deal in France because they are not as puritanical as so many Americans - I hope.  Curious to see if it will receive a Cesar nomination for Foreign Film.  Thanks!