IMDB ratings are a very low bar. Haven't looked but I'd bet there are best picture winners that would qualify due to low number of IMDB ratings. "Most" older movies will qualify. And this thread is populated by older folks who remember most of these movies as being very popular. Younger people probably never heard of any of them.

One of my favorite movies of its kind; second only to The Enemy Below starring Robert Mitchum and Curd Jurgens. I watch both whenever TCM puts them into rotation.

Which is why I think that they (and all nominees for Best Picture) should be excluded as "lesser known" movies, regardless of the number of imdb ratings. But that's for the OP and the participants to decide; I'm just making my suggestion as an interested observer.

Love that one too! And considered it here. One of my all-time favorite movie scenes is when Mitchum and Jurgens salute each other.

[My Bold]


I saw Repo Man when it first came out. I loved it. You would too, if you slid off your high horse and smoked a fat reefer to prime yourself for the test. It’s a silly movie, with silly people, with a silly plot, that goes almost nowhere with silliness. Not Serious. No way, Dude. If you pass on the reefer, drink a six pack of BEER. Squirm yourself down into a roach infested dusty couch and enjoy. Life is garbage. If you think any different you have lost all sense of proportion and reasoning capacity.


Some Teaser Dialogue:

Miller: The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.

Duke: The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.
Otto: That's bull****. You're a white suburban punk just like me.
Duke: Yeah, but it still hurts.

Miller: John Wayne was a ***.
All: The hell he was.
Miller: He was, too, you boys. I installed two-way mirrors in his pad in Brentwood, and he come to the door in a dress.


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

You own me $500 for the above advice. My time is precious and I'm expensive; and life is short. Payment in Gold Bullion only.

[Bolded to make sure you read it]

Round 3 - Crime - Happy End (1967)

IMDb Page


With only 786 ratings on IMDb I think this might be the low number currently drafted.

Czech movie that's a really fun watch. It's a dark comedy by today's standards and I can only imagine that it was outrageous for a comedy in the 60s.

I would say that I won't spoil the ending but the ending is at the beginning. I guess I won't spoil the beginning for you.

Here's the whole movie which is perfectly watchable if you speak Czech, otherwise you might have to seek out some subtitles or another version of it. I really recommend you watch it if you can get a hold of it.

Fun Fact: When searching for this movie on IMDb it's the 12th suggestion.

Round 4 - Thriller - Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

IMDb Page


With 43,859 ratings I can safely say that it's on the well known side of lesser known but if you have never seen it then you need to check it out.

It's a revenge movie by Shane Meadows that makes This is England seem "ok I guess". There's an incredible central performance from Paddy Considine who I would watch in anything at all. Great screen presence on top form.

If you have seen this movie then the image I used above should evoke an strong emotion from you. If you've not seen it then you'll certainly identify that moment and realise why I used it.

Fun Fact: As well as giving the performance of the movie Paddy also co wrote this one.

Well, the movie I wanted to take is only in a category I've already picked, I'll take The Japanese classic in the Crime category Tokyo Drifter.


http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0061101/

Round 4

The Flim Flam Man (1967)

category: crime 1759 IMDB ratings





When I first saw this as a young lad in 1967 at the theater it immediately became my all-time favorite movie. As I got older and experienced more movies it drifted down the list but I still really like it and enjoy watching it.

George C. Scott stars as a cantankerous old con man (aka The Flim Flam Man) and he takes on Michael Sarrazin as an apprentice. They run through the south doing many entertaining scams. I almost always enjoy con man movies as they set up for interesting entertainment. Sue Lyon plays Sarrazins love interest and it has many of the fine character actors of the late 60's. This is a totally entertaining movie.

so far:

Mister Roberts (drama)
Vibes (adventure)
The Bedford Incident (thriller)
The Flim Flam Man (crime)

Have seen all of these except for Vibes. Completely entertaining movies.

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I get what you're saying but it's just a thread for fun, so no need to obsess over the definition of "lesser known". It can certainly include Academy award nominees, hell I could probably pick a random year from the 50s-80s and find several nominees a lot of people have either forgotten about or never heard of. I think the 50k threshold is fine. I mean, if you think a film is too well known, even if it meets the imdb ratings criteria, then feel free to ignore that post I guess. I think Breaking Away fits the spirit of the thread, but if others disagree then no worries.

After years of teaching film, I discovered only a handful of well known movies by the average film goer. Most college age kids haven't seen anything older than they are.

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Next pick:

Romance

Truly, Madly, Deeply, Anthony Minghella, 1990



It's one of those great British comedies/romances that is totally original and funny and one-of-a-kind. If you're like me, you're a huge Alan Rickman fan. And if you are, then you're in for a treat.

The simple story is this: Juliet Stevenson is mourning the death of her long-time love, Alan Rickman. She's so distraught, she can't move on with her life, even though there is a quite elligible fellow who would be good for her. Alan Rickman's ghost comes back to her (with an odd assortment of dead friends) and at first, Juliet is thrilled to have her lover back again, but gradually realizes that things weren't always so perfect bewtween them. And she moves on as he lets her go - just as he was meant to do.

It's funny and heartbreaking at the same time. There's a scene where Rickman recites a part of a Pablo Neruda poem, with Stevenson translating, that will break your heart to pieces.



And what about Juliet Stevenson? You've probably seen her in a few British movies here and there - she's a character actress, very plain looking, and not at all romantic comedy material. Except for the fact that she is an utterly brilliant actress. I name this as one of the best female film performances of all-time. Seriously.

The movie opens with her sobbing uncontrollably in her therapist's office, talking about her dead love and how angry she is. It's a tour-de-force scene with tears and snot and a realness to it that you actually feel ashamed for intruding on this woman's grief.

A great film. One everyone should see and share it with someone they love.



****

Drama - Fat City
Crime - White Mischief
Sci-Fi - Coherence
Romance - Truly, Madly, Deeply

Great pick, Dom. I love this movie.

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Next pick is a western, The Shootist, 1976.



Was never a huge John Wayne fan, but he is excellent in this (his final film role - he died 3 years later). He plays a gunfighter whose exploits are legendary and have made him something of a celebrity. He is now aged, and dying of cancer. He arrives in Carson City NV and rents a room in a boarding house run by Lauren Bacall, who lives there with her son, played by a young Ron Howard.

The Shootist feels like an elegy for not only Wayne and his career, but for the romantic idea of the Old West that he represents. In many ways it is a pacifist western... a running theme is the moral use of violence, and why it shouldn't be glorified or romanticized.

As westerns go it is quieter and more thoughtful than most, more of a character study. Definitely worth watching even if you don't generally like Wayne movies, or westerns.

Half of you will say, "Wtf, everybody's seen that!" and the other half will just say, "Wtf?"

Fourth Round. Category: Sci-Fi. La Jetee

It the flick 12 Monkees was based on. Whenever I meet an actor or somebody in the movie business, I buttonhole them and get their opinions on this movie.

I won't post a clip, I'll post the whole movie. It's less than a half hour.



Watch it or watch it again. Tell me what you think.

Come on. That's not lesser known to any film fan, especially in the Lounge!

But it's a great, great film.

True, but movie fans may have never heard of it.

I owe two write ups, but let's keep this going along.

For Documentary I choose Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father



This is a true-crime esq documentary created by Kurt Kuenne. Kuenne's close friend was murdered and it later turned out his lover was pregnant. This documentary began as something for family and friends as a scapbook about his father for his son but went on to be one of my favorite documentaries of all time.

For my next movie I will go to the Film Noir category and go with an under-rated 1947 film.

Out of the Past
Out of the Past sees Kirk Douglas in one of his first movies, play a high ranking gangster who hires a Private Detective to find his mistress who ran off with $40k of his money (quite the sum for the 1940's!)

The movie takes multiple turns as the detective finds said woman and falls for her seductive charm which leads him spiraling down a path of events not to be expected from a private detective.

Movie List:
Bad Taste - Sci-Fi
The Rules of the Game - Comedy
Lords of Dogtown - Drama
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father - Documentary
Out of the Past - Film Noir

fixed

Shuffle, I have never heard of that Jenny movie! You've done something I didn't think was possible lol. I'm going to search that out immediately.

Eleanor, Dear Zachery is just devastating. Good pick.

Devastating doesn't do it justice. I can't think of a movie that has a bigger impact on the viewer.

Have you seen/heard of Happy End?

If you've seen it then what did you think?

I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it