In other words: What’s a hidden gem I probably haven’t seen but totally should? And why is it a must-watch?
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The Nice Guys
This movie drove me crazy
spoiler
Everyone they are supposed to help and save, gets killed, but they play it off like a victory
Jacob’s Ladder.
A largely forgotten psychological horror film from 1990 with Tim Robbins and Macaulay Culkin.
Saw it on TV once by chance and loved it ever since.
I’d say it’s must-watch for being influential despite its moderate success and being incredibly gripping as you try to get your head around what’s actually going on.
Flight of the Navigator
I think no one has mentioned “the man from earth”, it is a great movie that got a lot of success thanks to piracy, enough that it allowed it to even get a sequel (I haven’t watched it it seems to be far less recommended).
I recommend to just watch it without looking too much at the theme or plot. I’ll just say that it’s a movie with a lot of conversations and basically no action at all. You could compare it in that sense to the classic “12 angry men”, not in plot or theme, but style, mostly something that happens between a small cast of actors through dialogue.
Edit: and just a few minutes before me someone did actually share it…
It’s just a very weird romantic comedy that works for people who don’t like romantic comedies.
Rubber.
It’s a small budget indie movie, and if you don’t like people talking and prefer action, then maybe this isn’t for you. Buut, for me, it was a great movie. It only uses one set, a room or two, for the entire movie. And it’s still great.
Huh, I need ti actually rewatch I’ve been suggesting it so much lol
Edit “Timecrimes” was a good one imo as well iirc https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0480669/
A decent number of folks have still never seen “Primer”, since it was kind of an indie classic before it got a cult following.
It’s a a must watch because:
A. It’s just really well made. B. It’s delightfully mind bending.
These are some of my favourite, in no particular order:
The Phantasm series
Dale and Tucker Fight Evil
Cabin in the woods
Snowpiercer
Equilibrium
A bitter sweet life
The man from nowhere
I saw the Devil (you may not want to watch this one)
Train to Busan (1 and 2)
Lady Vengence/Sympathy for Lady vengence
Sympathy for Mr Vengence
OldBoy (the Korean version - you may also not want to watch this)
Wrath of man
The Family (DeNiro and Pheiffer)
Keeping up with the Joneses
Gran Torino
Boondock Saints
Layer Cake
RocknRolla
Operation Fortune
Lucky Number Slevin
A man called Otto
Stand up guys
King of New York
The Dead Zone
7 Psychopaths
Biloxi Blues
In Bruges
The Matador
From Paris with loveRocknrolla but not Snatch or Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels!? It’s been a very long time but I distinctly remember being disappointed in rocknrolla when compared to the other two I mentioned.
Love Guy Ritchie!
+1 for In Bruges. Love Martin McDonagh’s films and this one might be my favorite. At first glance, it looks like a kinda generic action movie, but that’s not the case at all.
Snowpiercer looked like such a dumb action movie, but I read so many good reviews of it that I decided to try it. Was not disappointed at all!
I quote In Bruges anytime I get angry at an inanimate object lol
Agreed! I honestly not sure which was the most messed up of all the revelations
Perfume: Story of a Murderer
Volcano (1997) - It is a brilliant 90’s version of a classic 50’s disaster flick. One thing after another, never letting up, and all of so catastrophic as to defy belief; and yet suspension of disbelief is maintained. It is quite possibly the most 90’s movie ever made. The writing is solid, there’s very little cringe, and the practical effects are amazing. This movie would look completely different if made today, and would probably suck.
Cashback I feel is pretty unknown. Maybe not but still very good. Also Gentleman Broncos is fantastic if you’re into the napoleon dynamite style of comedy, same creators.
Snatch mighhhhht be well known? It is hilarious and just fun to watch!
It’s a Guy Ritchie movie that follows a few groups of people and how they all come to be involved in either chasing or having been in the presence of a diamond that was stolen. It’s a lot of fun to see the interaction between the different groups they follow and some of the lines are absolutely hilarious.
Rampage, it’s such a good popcorn flick. It’s so over the top that I wouldn’t blame you for writing it off without watching it, but give it a chance, it’s ultimate action silliness.
Cabin in the woods, its a top 2 horror satire, but you may have heard of that one
Tucker and Dale vs evil, maybe watch this one before cabin in the woods, it’s the best horror satire.
Galaxy quest, easily the best star trek movie ever made, one of the top 5 movies ever made.
I’m not sure how many of these are hidden gems, it depends on your viewing habits (not many people would consider horror to contain much good cinema)
Yeah. Tucker and Dale vs Evil still gets way too little love.
It’s a must watch because:
- The twist is perfect.
- Even after the reveal, it’s just so dang fun and hilarious.
- Horror movies with a deep respect for life are often the best horror movies. Tucker and Dale has that, even if in a stupid goofy way.
As a horror fan, I disagree.
The premise gets old fairly fast and then the twist doesn’t really add anything or accentuate the spoofiness, just makes the film more generic.
If you’re a fan of a certain era of teen slashers, sure go for it.
《Little Monsters》 and 《The Rise of Leslie Vernon 》are recent takes on horror films I personally prefer.
Well, yeah, as a horror fan it’s likely a little too spoofy to be terribly engaging, but it sounds like you might specifically be ‘not’ a fan of that.
If it’s never occurred to you to label yourself a horror fan, but kind of like movies in general, you’ll probably get a kick out of it.
I dunno, I credit Scream with getting me into horror, and it’s hardly a genre known for being not-silly. Guess it’s a little more thinky though.
Braindead is brilliant, as is Army of Darkness and What we Do in the Shadows, which is not horror, but is silly.
filled in depth discussion:
I think my main issues with TdD Vs. E is that I didn’t feel any chemistry between Dale and the girl, which seems like it is meant to be a core part of the film. And then, after a good set up the second half of the film feels very paint by numbers, what happens and where they go dictated by genre tropes rather than what their trope inversion story needs.
It’s probably just a comment on the way that slasher film protagonists don’t get PTSD and keeping the film light, but the girl really doesn’t seem to care much about her friends dying. And never has her relationship with Dale challenged by anything.
Then the antagonist being revealled to be the son of a hill billy and that that’s probably why he’s really a slasher villain undermines what was more him being a prejudice burk leading to his maybe friends dying.
There was a lot of potential with it, but I feel the film decided to inverse a tropey premise and then rather than fully investing in that scenario - hillbillies surrounded by fatal accident prone horny teens - and taking letting its results grow organically, the rest of the script just reached for as many slasher tropes as possible to cram in to make sure the “satirical take” part wasn’t subtle, so even a bat with a blindfold and earmuffs on would be sure to “get the joke”.
Tudyk and the other guy had great chemistry and their relationship worked, I just found it the only thing to make me finish watching the rest of the film, and in the last 1/3 they get precious little screen time together.
Once the core conceit of the film is obvious, it doesn’t do anything new, exciting, or interesting with it - just gore for its own sake. (Edit: this is probably exactly what you meant in your post by “too spoofy”, so yes. You’re right, it is and I am. Sorry it took me too long to clock your meaning. As Soccy himself told us “written words are hard”.)
Now maybe I’m missing that the flat romance subplot or nature of the killer, along with gore without substance are high brow meta critiques on the state of horror at the height of the slasher era… And sure, I can dig that. But if you make a film that’s deliberately weak in areas as a joke or comment on other films’ weaknesses, you’ve still made a film that’s not going to hold folks attention.
That said, clearly it’s a very popular film amongst a lot of folks so it’s probably me in the minority here. Thanks for giving me an excuse to organise my thoughts and present them. It feels better to get them out of my head in an organised way, and I’m glad you enjoy it as Alan Tudyk getting work that is a success is only a good thing.
So enjoy it, and don’t care what I say. But for those of you who felt it was missing a little something… Well know you’re not alone.
Hey, no problem, i was trying to challenge your take a little without coming off as dismissive. Thanks for the honest follow up. Nice to follow along with a well thought out response, along with an acknowlegment of some points instead of the sometimes snarkiness you see here.
Barring Rampage these are massive cult classics.
Which is generally defined as a lesser known movie that people consider worth watching?
Here are a few movies from my Jellyfin server that I loved and that seem less popular:
- Blow the Man Down
- The Holdovers
- Jojo Rabbit
- This movie made me shriek at points. Like, not because I was scared, but just from… I dunno, delighted outrage?
- Me and You and Everyone We Know
))<>((- If you haven’t seen the movie, don’t look this up.
How did you like The Holdovers? I’ve been wanting to add that to my streaming queue
I loved it. It has a lot of heart and can be quite bittersweet at times. It’s definitely one of my favorite movies I’ve watched this year.
Thanks for the suggestion! I think that’s how I’d describe A man called Otto, and I love that movie
