Unsung little gems

Jordan_S said:
Stardust is my favorite Woody film, other than his earlier, funnier movies, of course.

Mentioning Trees Lounge makes me want to see it again.

edit: Just did. Very realistic. Beautiful ending.
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It's good to know other people appreciate these films.
 
Scarecrow (1973). Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.
My favorite road movie of all time.
Won the Palme D'Or at Cannes.

Day For Night (1973). Truffaut at his finest (in my opinion).
A movie about making movies. Truffaut himself plays the director.
If you like making movies (and I assume we all do) then you need to see this.
Won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Reds (1981). Epic movie. Not little but not as well known as it should be.
Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman...
Nominated for 12 oscars!
4 nominations for Beatty himself - Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor.
Only one other person has ever done that - Orson Welles for Citizen Kane.
But Beatty did it twice! For Reds and for Heaven Can Wait.
Won for Best Director (Beatty), Cinematography (Vittorio Storraro), and Supporting Actress (Maureen Stapleton).

Jordan_S said:
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean probably qualifies as unsung, sung, and reviled. I happen to have found it quite engrossing and odd when I saw it as a teenager. It's another I have to see again.
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I really hope this comes out on DVD soon. I've been wanting to see it for a long time.
 
Jim Brennan said:
ooooh, I love the Keep. Had forgotten about that one.
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I've always wanted to see that one, but never got around to it.

The wikipedia page says Micheal Mann directed it, and Tangerine Dream did the score. How have I not been more aware of this film til now?
 
Add Buscemi's Animal Factory if only for Dafoe's performance.

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Billy Pilgrim said:
Trust. A Hal Hartley film about a pregnant teenager who befriends a 30-something misanthrope who carries around a hand grenade "just in case".
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I'm watching this movie for, I think, the fourth time, and I thought I should re-iterate this unsung little gem. This film really needs a north American DVD release. I could die happy if the Criterion Collection could get a hold of this film.

And to add to the thread:

The Last Detail. A wonderful Hal Ashby film with a great performance from Jack Nicholson, and featuring a really young Randy Quaid, about two Shore Patrolmen giving a young recruit one last hurrah before going to prison for eight years for stealing 40 dollars from a charity box.

Wendy and Lucy. A really oddly-moving Kelly Reichard film about a girl who loses her dog after stopping in a town in Oregon, on her way to make a new life for herself working in Alaska. It's a really great commentary on the current state of our economy.

Nights and Weekends. Joe Swanberg's best film, co-directed by Greta Gerwig, wherein both play a couple dealing with the strain of a long-distance relationship.
 
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Motorama (1991)
Wristcutters (2006)

total gems.

edit:...oh, and S.F.W. (1993...i think).....total 90s movie, but it's kind of awesome, if you don't mind strong language.
Gas Food Lodging (1992)
Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)
 
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Noi (or Noialbino). It's kind of like an Icelandic Cather in the Rye. Very sad and funny film.
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What was 'very sad' about it?
{I think i 'll watch the 'trust', sounds interesting.}
 
what with losing everyone he knows and loves
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I got the impression that he was detached emotionally, therefore wouldnt feel the incident at the end as a tragic event. As for myself(as a viewer) it is odd but it was a relief to see him free, finally.
 
I always got the feeling that, although he might be free from his family and other connections, he was too intelligent and self-destructive for his own good. He'd always be stuck with himself. I never got the sense that he really grew or learned anything by the end. But it has also been a while since I've watched the film. Maybe my interpretation won't be as bleak, years later.

And to stay on topic. I'm surprised I hadn't recommended it before:

Thumbsucker

It's one of my favorite coming-of-age films with a great debut performance by Lou (Taylor) Pucci, and Keanu Reeves, in a role that actually fits his acting style (or non-acting style, depending on who you ask), as a new age hippy orthodontist searching for the answers of the universe. The whole cast is great, in fact: Tilda Swinton, Vincent D'Onofrio, even Vince Vaughn and Benjamin Bratt. It's shot beautifully in cinemascope, with a very unique melancholy tone (both in terms of the story's tone and the color palette). It also has a unique style to it, that's stylized, but not in an over the top showy way. And also, the soundtrack consists of an original score by The Polyphonic Spree and covers of famous songs by the late Elliott Smith (one of my favorite musicians ever).
 
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In Bruges, Dean Spanley, Mid August Lunch, Lars & the real girl, The Station Agent, Me and you & everyone we know, The Fall.......
 
I often find myself re-watching Lisa Choledenko's High Art over again.

A good debut film featuring Alley Sheedy, Patrica Clarkson, & Rahda Mitchell.
 
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