OT - Underrated Movies
To follow up the Bad Movies topic, what are some folks most underrated movies...One of my more underrated moves is
True Romance - classic cast..though some have definately gone downhill.. some classic scenes (Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken)...
Tony Soprano before his time....
Others?
Well, considering they are my two favorite films of all time, I don't think Michael Mann's Heat and Luc Besson's Leon can be highly rated enough.
To answer your question more directly, I would say one of two John Carpenter films: The Thing (1982), which is critically acclaimed but never mentioned in the discussion of Best Horror Film Ever (as I think it should be), and Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), which is just awesome and underrated by any definition.
the one with Quaker Oats - and now diabetes supplies - pitchman Wilford Brimley? "I'm alright...I wanna come back inside. I won't HARM anyone. You hear mwe?"
I thought he was selling diabeetus supplies. He gets his diabeetus supplies delivered directly to his door!
First of all, yes, that's the one, and second of all, it's awesome that you remembered his mispronunciation of "me" after they locked him in the cabin.
I would have put Heat in the other thread. Have you seen it recently?
I would have to say the Mystery Science Theater 3000 series is top notch, all 198 episodes.
Joel or Mike?
Mike Nelson for sure. While he was painfully corny ALL THE TIME, Joel never looked like he was having fun.
you should read mike nelson's movie megacheese. it's hilarious.
The Room
No lie, I saw this movie this past weekend in it's entirety. I have a hard time describing how oddly horrific it is.
That is some bad acting right there.
grandmas boy
Hell yeah, that movie is awesome.
+1 to you
My favorite movie that no one has ever heard of is, 29th Street starring Anthony LaPaglia as the "Lucky" Frank Pesce, first winner of the New York lottery in the late 1970's.
Danny Aiello plays Frank's father - the real Frank Pesce has a supporting role and funded the making of the movie.
It is easily in my top five - not just for underrated (or in this case - non-rated) films, but overall.
Got to love those irish bastards. I think I am a sucker for brother movies. A river runs through it. Backdraft. All great movies.
I've always thought that Boondock Saints was pretty highly praised by most everyone. So is is underrated? I may have just been talking to/reading people that particularly liked it while not everyone else is as high on it as they were so I could have a skewed view of this. Or you might just be like Big Boutros above and think that they can never be rated high enough.
I haven't seen "A River Runs Through It" so I can't comment there. I do think that "Backdraft" is better than it's given credit but I don't think that it's amazingly awesome. That still qualifies as underrated though.
It has always been well recieved in our demographic, but under-rated overall
i agree with true romance. sam jackson's 5 seconds of screen time alone make the movie worth seeing.
also-
out of sight
jackie brown
dark city
dirty work
Dirty Work is both terrible and great at the same time. But I'm a sucker for anything with Norm and/or Artie Lange.
Dark City? You must have caught something I didn't. We still comment after any crappy movie we see with "At least it wasn't Dark City".
Red Dawn.
BOOM! MALLETED!
+1 to you sir
Also, The Beastmaster
good call. Ferrets and James Earl Jones as a snake. What more can you need in a movie?
Real Genius. I loved Val Kilmer before he got all sexy.
When I was a kid, I would watch Real Genius, and start it over and re-watch it. I would do this like 5 times everyday...I love that movie!
to choose from, but one I've always thought under appreciated was Jim Jarmusch' "Dead Man".
The first movie that got me to realize Johnny Depp was more than just a '21 Jump Street' pretty boy, but actually a decent actor.
This is a unique film I'd recommend to almost anyone.
Made in 1995, Neil Young created the soundtrack by playing electric guitar while watching the movie and no, he doesn't sing, for those of you who can't stand his voice.
This is the first movie I ever recall seeing Billy Bob Thornton in - he had a bit part along with Ann Arborite Iggy Pop.
And of course Nobody was one of the best character ideas ever.
Other than that, I'd say pretty much every Coen brothers film before "Fargo" when they suddenly became visible in the mainstream is under appreciated. Or at least that's how I remember it. "Miller's Crossing" and "Barton Fink" for example.
No joke, you just became my best friend. Dead Man is one of the best films ever made, ever, in the history of the world, ever. Lance Henriksen is the greatest cinematic cannibal of all time. Stupid fucking white man!
Some of the ones previously mentioned...True Romance, Boondock Saints, The Professional and Jackie Brown all definitely deserve some respect. A couple others among my underrated favorites are Ravenous (Mexican-American War cannibals) and Payback.
Guy Pierce and Robert Carlyle are awesome together in Ravenous plus the scenery is pretty cool along w/ the creepy music.
Payback is probably Mel Gibson's forgotten movie but the guy is a complete badass in it. Probably my favorite movie period.
Fully agree with Ravenous. Most people I talk to have never heard of this movie.
One False Move...
Paxon and Billy Bob...
Anyone who says Boondock Saints is underrated must not be my age or within about three years of it. Boondock Saints had "everyone's seen it, everyone quotes it" status in college, much the same way I imagine Pulp Fiction did for those who were in college at that time.
I nominate Titus. It's Shakespeare with Anthony Hopkins, with the Shakespearean dialogue but highly stylized and set in an anachronistic fantasy Rome instead of togas-and-sandals Rome. Which makes it way, way better IMO. I think it's brilliant.
I thought the same thing about Boondock Saints -- I think it's properly rated. Saying it's underrated is like a sports announcer saying an athlete in an all-star game is underrated.
For those of you familiar with Rotten Tomatoes, you'll find that The Boondock Saints is not particularly popular outside the Brah community, although, admittedly, 18 total reviews is a pretty small sample size for that site.
Also, Titus rules. 300 stole some of its soundtrack.
On the other hand, I just polled my MSU alum friends on the subject of Boondock Saints and it received a 100% favorable, 99% badass!, 99.5% bro!, badass, brah. (margin of error was 100%). Just saying.
Also, were Leon and True Romance poorly received? It seems like they're pretty universally admired, but then I hang out with snobs mostly. (MSU brahs aside)
How about The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? It gets short shrift compared to other Gilliams but I think it's badass.
"The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer
Nic Cage gets shitted on a lot, and rightfully so, but "Weatherman" was straight
I love The Weatherman. I have showed it to several people, none of whom seem to see the humor in it.
1: Killer Clowns from Outer Space
2: Top Secret!
3: Any Godzilla movie ever
4: Except the one w/ Matt Broderick... and if there was a sequel to that one, IDK
5: Red Dawn
5a: HTTV, The Motion Picture
5b: Any movie w/ Gene Wilder in it
8: Except Blazing Saddles b/c that movie rocks, no underrate.
Gene Wilder is in Bonnie and Clyde for like ten minutes, and it makes an already fantastic movie even that much better
The Frisco Kid.
"I don't ride on Saturday." I say that (in the voice) just about anytime my wife asks me to go somewhere on a Saturday. She has no idea what I'm talking about but I giggle my ass off every time.
Silver Streak. It's been on "On Demand" for months now and I've been falling asleep to it every night. Gene and Richard Pryor are an awesome duo.
I'd probably say Boondocks Saints is slightly overrated actually. It's an excellent movie and I personally like it a lot, but some people revere it as the be all end all of cinema.
I agree True Romance is definitely underrated. I love the scene where Brad Pitt is smoking out of the little honey bear container...classic.
One movie that I think is very underrated is Equilibrium staring Christian Bale pre Batman/Terminator. It is along the lines of V for Vendetta and is very good.
Kind of nerdy but I'll admit to reading the books and seeing the movies; the last Harry Potter movie was pretty good and I have heard the newest one is good as well. Anyone who liked Lord of the Rings will like the last few movies.
OT: I recently saw Taken and it was awesome! I definitely recommend it to anyone! I watched it a second time with gf who usually doesn't like action movies and even she liked it. A must see!
Yellowbeard. monty python plus cheech and chong, simply amazing.
and david bowie is a shark.
also i will add Pi and Requiem for a Dream
Street Fighter: The Movie (with JEAN CLAUDE)
I'm going to go up DE RIVAH, and kick Bison SO HARD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-2DHeWPjN4&feature=related
For those who don't know the epic speech Dex is quoting.
I freakin' love that the hero of the movie essentially stages a coup of UN command and organizes an unsanctioned invasion of a sovereign nation.