10 Great Movies You May Not Have Seen

DarkMatter

DarkMatter

Veteran
I thought it would be fun to list some great kinda obsqure (sp) films I think are great that may have fallen between the cracks and deserve to be watched. Hopefully, not many have seen these gems. Feel free to make a list of suggestions yourselves, just make sure that your lists don't include movies pretty much everyone has seen.
Here they are in random order.

1. Kiss Me Deadly (1955) This movie influenced alot of big players in hollywood, don't believe me check it out.

2. Hirakiri (1962) The perfect revenge film; watch with (The Sword Of Doom, Possibly one of my favorite films of all time.)

3. The long Good Friday (1979) Who says Bob Hoskins can't act? I say he's better than most F%&*(** Brilliant!!!!

4. The Scarlett Letter (2004) Not what you think! This is a korean film and man is it hardcore. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Hollywood ripoff anytime soon. (Of course under a different name.)

5. Picnic At Hanging rock (1975) Just watch it.

6. Alice (1988) Jan Svankmajer directs It may take a little getting into, step outside your head. If you like this you may also want to check out his Little Otik and Faust films.

7. The Serpents Egg (1978) Ingmar Bergman need I say more.

8. The Return (2003) Andrei Zvyagintsev Again not what you are thinking, A absent father trying to reconnect with his kids.

9. The Ninth Configuration (1980) William Peter Blatty his talents are not limited to the writing of the Exorcist, he also directs.

10. Double Vision (2002) Don't think it's just like any other movie, stay till the end
this movie will surprise you.
 
Great idea for a topic.

I actually haven't seen any of those, heard of a couple though. I'm interested now though, might throw a couple of these up on my netflix que.
 
Great list!

#2 is Harakiri though :) Or as the Japanese title is, 'Seppuku'. I haven't seen The Sword of Doom yet though.
 
Excellent list. I've seen half ... and now trust your taste in films. Will check out the others.

My own list:

1. Spirit of the Beehive - The closest thing I've ever experienced to cinematic poetry.

2. The Exterminating Angel - Bunuel's best IMO. Many point to The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie as his send-up of social mores, but I think this film does it much better. Embarrassingly, not available on DVD in the US.

3. Repulsion - Polanski. Deneuve. Insanity. Need I say more?

4. My Life as a Dog - Really sweet coming of age story.

5. 13 Tzameti - Visceral. And a first feature too.

6. Wristcutters - Coming soon .... finally. Saw it at a festival last year and was blown away.

7. Show Me Love - Coming of age story about two teen lesbians in a small town. Great, great flick.

8. Frailty - One of my favorite horror movies of the past 10 years and almost nobody's seen it.

9. Umbrellas of Cherbourg - An entire film done in song. Now *that* is a musical.

10. The Virgin Spring - If we're talking Bergman, let's talk about this one. A masterpiece.
 
ok - my list. I'm pretty confident most people here haven't seen all these:

1) Hadako no shima (Kaneto Shindô/1960)
beautifully filmed portrait of a farmer family on a remote island in Japan

2) Abhijan (Satyajit Ray/1962)
exploration of a taxi drivers' life in India > Director is one of Kurosawa's favorites, I might add

3) Spoorloos (Sluijzer/1988)
a very sinister abduction drama

4) Mirror (Tarkovsky/1975)
very unique insight into Russian history

5) The Battle of Algiers (Gilo Pontecorvo/1966)
one of the best historical films I've seen

6) Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara/1964)
very dark psychological thriller set in Japanese countryside

7) Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica/1948)
social realistic drama at its best!

8) Playtime (Jacques Tati/1967)
this is just one hell of a ride! Tati built a whole city for this!

9) Man with a movie camera (Vertov/1929)
for those who like to break the conventions...

10) Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki/1967)
a yakuza/gangster film, but breaking all conventions
 
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A handful of my choices--

White Heat - Cagney was never better. As well paced as any modern movie.

Night and The City - The 50's version with Richard Widmark. Best movie about a small time hustler I've ever seen. Brilliantly shot. Bleak as hell ending.

Pickup on South Street - Another Richard Widmark classic directed by Sam Fuller.
 
Herman Witkam said:
Great list!

#2 is Harakiri though :) Or as the Japanese title is, 'Seppuku'. I haven't seen The Sword of Doom yet though.
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It's the netflix title. The Sword Of Doom is outstanding (one of my all time favorites) also starring Tatsuya Nakadai. Great lists so far guys alot I haven't seen but I am sure to rent if I can find them.
 
Phenomenal topic. :)

I added a bunch and now my netflix list is approaching 450 (when will I ever watch all of these). :(

Here are my own additions to the list (in order by year):

1. Stage Door (1937) - Classic comedy featuring Hepburn, Ginger Rodgers, Ann Miller, and a young Lucille Ball.

2. The Killers (1946) - An amazing film noir based on a Hemingway Short Story

3. The Set-up (1949) - A Boxing Classic/Masterpiece w/ commentary by Scorsese

4. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) - Alec Guinness in a tour de force performance (he plays 7 different characters)

5. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) - Classic film noir caper w/ a young Marilyn Monroe in a bit part

6. High and Low (1963) - A crime thriller masterpiece from Kurosawa based on an American short story

7. Zulu (1964) - Classic film about a famous battle in South Africa featuring a very young Michael Caine

8. Man Bites Dog (1992) - An extremely dark mockumentary about a serial killer

9. Chuck and Buck (2000) - A dark comedy about two childhood friends who come together as adults

10. Mean Creek (2004) - A dark little drama about a group of teens seeking revenge against a bully

All of these are available on NetFlix and I hope I've come up with enough variety (and unusual ones) so that people can check something new out.

Chris
 
you may have seen some of these but they are all underrated gems in my eyes

Dead Man's Shoes - Shane Meadows' dark powerful brit flick, with the best lsd hallucination scene I've seen on film

Hukkle - hungarian surreal mix of human life, murder mystery & nature with no dialogue

Life Is Sweet - Mike Leigh's best - hilarious & affectionate slice of English suburbia

Festen - hard hitting Dogma film

Withnail & I - classic comedy rejoicing in the end of the 60's

Idi i smotri aka Come & See - traumatic, harrowing, but mesmerising Russian World War 2 film

Me and You and Everyone We Know - wonderful slice of disfunctional american suburbia

Performance - psychedelic 60s gangster film with Mick Jagger

Monsoon Wedding (2001) - funny & moving preparations for an Indian wedding

101 Reykjavík - black comedy, Icelandic style

there's so many others but this will do for now
 
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Chris, I think we need to buddy up our qeues. Yours is the only list that I know pretty well. Loved those. I'm stoked there's a Killers film! I loved that Hemingway short, so I'm on way to find that one. Man Bites Dog is one of my all time favorites and Chuck & Buck was pretty funny too.

I'll throw a few of my picks soon too.
 
Not completely obscure but worthy of mentioning...

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - Russ Meyer is God, this is why.

Flash Gordon - I was suprised to find out a few of my friends never seen this. You kidding me? Next to Clash of The Titans this is the best fantasy action film ever made.

Happiness - Suprised no one mentioned this yet. Best film in the world. I mean, a dog licks up spooge in the last frame, cmon!

Farewell My Concubine - Favorite romance film, complete with revolution, Emperor pedophilia and sword fights (yeah, those kind).

Ju Do - I take that back, this is the best romantic film ever made. Seriously. Awesome film!

Fidel - Makes you want to kick some arse and smoke a cigar.

Realms of the Unreal - Great doc about a disturbed but fabulous artist.

Pink Flamingos - Waters at his best.

Down By Law - Favorite Jarmush film. Waits, Lurie, Benigni, best trio ever. I'm biased though, Lurie is doing music for a doc I recently directed (total plug).

Me & You & Everyone We Know - A pleasant suprise. One of the best Indies released in recent years. I hope she comes back and Directs another. Anyone know?

Bicycle Thief - Mentioned already but a true gem of Italian filmmaking.
 
MOVIE STUNTS said:
It's the netflix title. The Sword Of Doom is outstanding (one of my all time favorites) also starring Tatsuya Nakadai. Great lists so far guys alot I haven't seen but I am sure to rent if I can find them.
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Sounds great!

Nakadai is one of my favorite actors. His performance in Kurosawa's Ran is amongst some of the most incredible performances I've ever seen.
 
Herman Witkam said:
Sounds great!

Nakadai is one of my favorite actors. His performance in Kurosawa's Ran is amongst some of the most incredible performances I've ever seen.
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Then you have to see Sword of Doom because it is his finest performance. IMO and many others.
 
No particular order:

1. Au Revoir Les Enfants by Louis Malle - Heartbreaking. That's all I need to say about it.

2. Slacker by Richard Linklater - Great concept, with a cast of about 100 interesting characters. Great use of long takes too.

3. Kicking & Screaming by Noah Baumbach - Not to be confused with the Will Ferrell masterpiece. Very witty, sophisiticated humor with heart.

4. Punch-Drunk Love by Paul Thomas Anderson - Surprising performance from Adam Sandler, with other interesting characters and an oddball story.

5. Naked Lunch by David Cronenberg - Great pseudo-adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novel and pesudo-biopic about Burroughs, mixed with surrealist drug fantasy and a cold war spy conspiracy storyline.

6. Opening Night by John Cassavetes - When everyone talks about John Cassavetes, they talk about Faces, Shadows, and more often than not, A Woman Under the Influence. While they are masterpieces in their own right, you don't hear people talking about Opening Night as much. Of all of Cassavetes' independent films, this one is probably the most unusual, and perhaps even the hardest to swallow, in true Cassavetes fashion. It takes a while to get used to, maybe even a few viewings, but it truely is the work of a master, though Cassavetes would have never allowed himself to be called such.

7. Hamlet by Lawrence Olivier - Although it isn't full text, like Kenneth Branaugh's 1996 Hamlet film, it's still brilliantly-shot and directed, and a great take on Hamlet the character from Olivier.

8. Eraserhead by David Lynch - So it's relatively well-known among Lynch fans and cult film fans, but most people probably wouldn't know about it. It's a visual masterpiece. It's atmospheric, ambient, and often disturbing, yet it never makes you want to look away. Not as many cult films, or even films in general, have so many iconic images in one film.

9. Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One by William Grieves - It's a failed experiment in narrative and documentary filmmaking, with one camera shooting the narrative scene in the park, a documentary camera filming the director filming the narrative scene, and a third camera documenting the second camera documenting the filming of the narrative scene, with cutaways of the crew planning to mutiny the director behind his back, shooting the scene as "surprise" footage for when he decided to edit the film. It's a really funny and unique film.

10. Harold and Maude by Hal Ashby - Not totally unknown, but still great nonetheless. One of the best dark comedies ever made, with one of the boldest love stories ever put on film.
 
I am terrible at making lists, but I will post them as they come to me.

Last Year at Marienbad and Hiroshima, My Love by Alain Resnais
 
Billy Pilgrim said:
8. Eraserhead by David Lynch - So it's relatively well-known among Lynch fans and cult film fans, but most people probably wouldn't know about it. It's a visual masterpiece. It's atmospheric, ambient, and often disturbing, yet it never makes you want to look away. Not as many cult films, or even films in general, have so many iconic images in one film.
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I hope to see this one soon. I saw pretty much all of Lynch's other work, including Inland Empire, and I finally got Twin Peaks Season 2 today (DVD release took a long time!)
 
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