Is the Kieslowski "3 Colors" trilogy too mainstream now? I really enjoy the cinematography in those movies.

breaking the waves

this movie is amazing. It's somewhat well-known but I'd still consider it obscure.

This movie is awful. Few cool action scenes and nothing more

Pi is an outstanding choice. I need to dig up my VHS copy of this one.

I think it's probably obscure enough to deserve inclusion here.
And I definitely consider this film a 'must see'.
Really really loved this film.


Pi and Harold and Maude are in my top 10 favorite movies. Possibly both in my top 5.

I can't say I get all the Oldboy love. Sweet premise, and intense, but beyond that I didn't find it all that satisfying. It also seemed like a fairly gratuitous exercise in shock, in places, kinda like a somewhat gentler Miike film (which from the little I've seen I'm not a big fan of either.)

I don't know if it is a MUST SEE, but it is pretty cool:

Formula 51
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0227984/
Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Meatloaf, Emily Mortimer
From IMDB:
Elmo McElroy (Jackson) is a streetwise American master chemist who heads to England to sell his special new formula - a powerful, blue concoction guaranteed to take you to 'the 51st state.' McElroy's new product delivers a feeling 51 times more powerful than any thrill, any pleasure, any high in history. But his plans for a quick, profitable score go comically awry when he gets stuck in Liverpool with an unlikely escort (Carlyle) and his ex-girlfriend (Mortimer) and becomes entangled in a bizarre web of double-dealing and double-crosses.

Persona - if I could only own one DVD, this would be it. This is Ingmar Bergman in his most experimental period, yet it is the most complex movie I have ever seen. Mulholland Drive was heavily inspired by Persona, it's got a lot of the same plot points and themes. You got to see this even if you didn't like Mulholland Drive though, this is an obvious masterpiece and a must see for every movie buff.


The Celebration is Danish, and the original title is Festen.

Here, let me help you guys out:

1. Raw Justice: Pam Anderson and a couple of other [censored]. Awesome movie.

2. Au Voir Les Enfants: Lots of holocaust movies out there, this one was easily the most quietly earnest I've seen. The treaasure hunt scene is one of the finest I've seen in the 90s.

3. Scarecrow: Nobody's [censored]' seen this. Nobody! Al Pacino and Gene Hackman are two street wanderers who meet each other on a road in the middle of nowhere and go on a road trip. Any further description fails to give the film justice. One of the best films / endings I've ever seen.

4. "The Dreamers": Not really "obscure," but I doubt most of mainstream society's heard of it. Bertolucci contemplates fine lines between sexuality, political revolution, and cinema obsession. Eva Green is hot.

5. Bad Company: Jeff Bridges, who is one of the finest and most underrated actors of his generation, plays a thief who takes a civil war draft dodger under his wing. Directed by Robert Benton.

6. Croupier(!): Everytime I mention this film, I get two responses - "holy [censored], that film was awesome" or "what?" Clive Owen plays a writer who's father is a professional gambler. Dad hooks Clive up with a job at a Casino, and Clive has an intense (which is what he does best) internal struggle between being a writer, gambler, and card dealer. Crisp, edgy, and it earns its darkness every step of the way.

7. Barry Lyndon: I get a ton of "what?"s everytime I bring this film up. Directed by Kubrick, the film easily ranks up there with "Full Metal Jacket" and "Dr. Strangelove" in terms of quality.

You can go to imdb for more detailed descriptions. Enjoy.

This thread is more on track than I had thought it would be. I did shake my head at some of the suggestions (how is All The President's Men possibly considered obscure?), but there are some decent suggestions, enough that I added two movies to my netflix queue.


not really obscure, but close enough that I agree with:
primer
following
city of lost children (borderline on obscure)
oldboy (not really obscure)
city of god (not really obscure, but soooooooo good)
Grave of the Fireflies


my suggestions:
mirrormask
intacto
the cooler
immortal beloved

Croupier was good.


Obscure (kinda) mob/crime movies, that while may not be must see, I like:

Wannabes
10th and wolf
The Good Thief
Criminal
Thief

Manito

This took a prize at 2001 Sundance I think. I stumbled onto it one night on the Sundance channel and it was just a really raw movie. All nonames add to the gritty realism.

Festen - You will find it mostly as 'Celebration' in video stores. Breaking the Waves is the best known of the Dogme 95 group of films, but Festen is the best. The idea is that films are shot only with natural light and sound, and use a hand held camera to restore realism and immediacy to film. I actually think the uses of this technique are very limited, but Festen is a masterpiece.

It centers around a reunion of a dysfunctional family and simply follows the family from the dinner table to the bedroom as secrets are revealed and the family falls apart. It is brilliantly acted and filmed and is one of the best films I have seen that was made in the past couple of decades.

M - M stars the wonderful Peter Lorre (see my avatar) as a child murderer who can't help himself. For people interested in film history this is a brilliant bridge between the world of silent film and sound. Compared to today's movies there are long periods of silence, but it has one of the most famous speeches in movie history. It also has the unforgettable whistling of the killer before he strikes. Fritz Lang directs and the imagery is unforgettable, check out the child's balloon drifting slowly away. We don't need to see the actual murder. This is one of the few films on the thirties that is just as gripping today as it was when it was filmed.

the castle was awesome.

Hey Guids have you seen The General? Another semi-obscure but, I think, really good flick. It's about Martin Cahill the famous Irish gangster. It was directed by John Boorman and Brendan Gleason plays Cahill-- and does an awesome job. He also looks alot like Cahill IIRC. If you haven't seen it I think it's right up your alley.


For the OP I'll add another crime film. Rififi. I'm sure a lot of people here are aware of it but I think as far as the general public goes it would be considered obscure.

Russian Ark - I have praised this movie in the past, but I think this fits in perfectly with the idea of an obscure MUST SEE movie.

This movie is quite simply, a piece of cinematic history. The movie spans the course of 300 years of Russian history doing so in ONE continuous shot. The film is beautifully filmed, crescendoing into one of the most magnificent, and well choreographed scenes ever. If you havn't seen, or heard of this movie, and are a fan of history and the arts, this is a MUST SEE movie.

If you are looking for the sequel to Armageddon, feel free to pass this over.

Wikipedia entry on Russian Ark. (May contain spoilers)

Permanent Midnight was an excellent movie. It's the only Ben Stiller movie I have ever liked. I'm not sure how many of the movies I am about to list you guys have seen, but most people I talk to have not seen or even heard of these movies. If you haven't seen them, you should:

Birthday Girl- Nichole Kidman as a mail order Russian bride. Her husband gets a lot more than he expected in the deal.

Spanish Prisoner- Steve Martin as a sinister con man. A wonderful departure from his terrible family comedy flicks.

The Man Who Wasn't There- Billy Bob Thornton and James Gandalfini. Shot in b&w, it really gives the feel of the 50's they were going for.

Novocaine- Another one with Steve Martin. He plays the dentist, Laura Dern plays his psychotic wife.

Here are a few great Canadian movies most of you have probably never heard of:

On the Corner
Angel and Randy Henry are a sister and brother, caught on the mean streets of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. While Angel finds the strength to escape her seemingly hopeless situation, Randy slips deeper into a world consumed by abandonment and fuelled by drugs.

The Rocket
In the late 1930s, a young machinist named Maurice Richard distinguished himself as a ice hockey player of preternatural talent. Although that was enough to get him into the Montreal Canadiens, his frequent injuries cost him the confidence of his team and the fans. In the face of these doubts, Richard eventually shows the kind of aggressive and skillful play that would make him one of the greatest players of all time as "The Rocket." However for all his success, Richard and his fellow French Canadians face constant discrimination in a league dominated by the English speaking. Although a man of few words, Richard begins to speak his own mind about the injustice which creates a organizational conflict that would culminate in his infamous 1955 season suspension that sparks an ethnic riot in protest.

The Snow Walker
A pilot who delivers supplies to tribes in the backwoods of the Canadian north is implored to escort a sick young Inuit woman to a hospital. On the flight back, the plane's engine fail and they crash in the wastelands. Rescuers are unable to locate them and the two are left to struggle for their survival. The ailing woman thus teaches the hot-headed pilot the way to live in these regions.

All,

Haven't had time to go through this thread yet, but I just want to make one quick comment.

There are two schools of thought re: the movie Equilibrium.

One school thinks it is an awesome movie.

The second school thinks it is idiotic.

Trust me on this, the second school is right. That movie sucks very, very hard.

Yeah, I agree, it's incredibly beautifully shot, and some of the scenes are just breathtaking visually, but all the "vengeance trilogy" movies are really shallow, which robs them of the emotional impact they could have had. I would say it's analogous to "Kill Bill" in that it's technically very well done but totally lacking in character development and plot, which makes it more a work of art than a story.

Another must see that whenever I mention it nobody has seen it. The Pledge. Directed by Sean Penn and starring Jack Nicholson and Benicio del Toro. A dramatic thriller, it just blew me away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pledge_%28film%29

Russian Ark has been added to your Queue at position 327.


A couple more

Chocolat (2000) (not quite obscure, but chick flicky enough that most of you probably haven't seen it)

Freejack (1991) (also not really obscure, but many of you younger folk probably haven't heard of it. it has mick jagger driving around in a tank, which is automatically awesome)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) (another age-might-equal-obscurity shot. robert redford goes around and kicks ass in the mountains.)

Swimming with Sharks (1994) (this is definitely obscure. kevin spacey being awesome)

Another really cool movie is "Spun". It's a wierd tale about a speed freak and all of his associates. Brittany Murphy and Mickey Rourke are great as the drug cook and his girlfriend. Eric Roberts plays a gay drug lord, and Debbie Harry plays the lesbian-phone sex operatro-neighbor to the main character. John Leguezomo (sorry about spelling?) is in this as well.

Oh dude, this movie was so bad. We came out of the theatre in disbelief. I'll never forgot one of the lines. Guy is dying and manages to get out,

"Keep my grandmother smiling."

Keep my grandmother smiling? What does that mean? That I have to go around and do the sexy time with her? Oh, this movie was bad.

How has no one mentioned "Miller's Crossing", the best and least known Coen brothers movie?

Will also add "Bodies, Rest, amd Motion" with Bridget Fonda and Tim Roth and "The Believer".

Gotta 2nd the mentions of "Living in Oblivion", "Barcelona", "Pi", and "Lone Star".

This movie really, really sucked.