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Post by Jack Burton on Jan 12, 2009 7:43:25 GMT -5
Deadfall: A neo-noir flick from the mid 90's (remember when they were all the rage after The Last Seduction?) with Michael Biehn, Charlie Sheen, Angus Schrimm, Talia Shire, Mickey Dolenz, Clarence Williams III, James Coburn, and Peter Fonda. With a cast like that you'd think it be great, but what makes it truly memorable is Nicolas Cage's out there performance as a con man with a bad temper. Did you think he was out there in Vampire's Kiss? Nope, that was just a warm-up. Dressed like Tony Clifton's coked-up brother, acting like a deranged ADD four year old, and clearly improvising most of the time, Cage's lunatic performance MUST be seen to be believed. So many great moments to choose from, but my favorite bit is Cage randomly delivering a passerby a karate chop and screaming "Hi-F@cking-Yah!" at the top of his lungs. Don't miss this one....
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Post by Trumpy's Magic Snout on Jan 12, 2009 14:25:58 GMT -5
I heartily recommend those other two. Bad Taste is about aliens who abduct an entire New Zealand town so they can sell the meat in their fast food restaurant so the government call in their crack squad which are basically some guys they found down the pub. The acting's bad, the effects brilliant in their cheap simplicity and it involves an exploding sheep and a hero called Derek. Aliens and bad acting?! I'm totally in! I'll definitely be checking that out. Thanks for the tip Speaking of sheep - I forgot to mention another favorite from Dimension Extreme films: Black Sheep. Killer sheep, you ask? And I answer, yes. What's not to love here? Black Sheep had early Jackson's influence all over it! Obviously something in the water down New Zealand way!
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Post by angilasman on Jan 12, 2009 14:39:39 GMT -5
And of course, choice Japanese cinema that I am completly alone on in my flesh and blood life on my end of the computer: Frankenstein Conquers the World, War of the Gargantuas, Latitude Zero, Battle Royale, and so on. I love the kaiju. It's pretty cool that over the last decade so many of the films have been released here in the US. The last one I got was the Rodan/War of the Gargantuas release a few months ago and we should get a Mothra/H-Man/Battle in Outer Space set this year.
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Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Jan 12, 2009 21:40:45 GMT -5
Miracle Mile. A brillant and terrifying early '90s movie starring Anthony Edwards from ER (when he still had hair) and Mare Winningham. He plays regular guy who meets the girl of his dreams (Mare Winningham) and arranges a date with her on the same day nuclear war is declared. He oversleeps because a pigeon drops a lit cigarette on the cord to his clock radio (really) and races to the diner where he was to meet her six hours earlier. Her coworkers are furious with him but finally give him her home number so he can call and apologize. When he heads out to the pay phone to call, it rings. He picks it up and hears a young man's voice babbling "they did it, they did it, omigod dad, they really did it, take mom and get down cellar..." after a few seconds of wrangling, it turns out the guy on the phone is a soldier at NORAD trying to call his parents after the keys were turned but misdialed.
Anthony heads back into the restaurant and tells the few people there what he just heard, and one of them (Denise Crosby!) a suit wearing type, pulls out her hilariously large cell phone (this is back when they cost thousands and only a few people had them) and makes some calls. She reports that from what she can learn, it is indeed true and they have an hour and a half to gather their loved ones and get hell and gone from LA.
The rest of the film is about Anthony trying desperately to hunt down Mare, than get out of the LA valley, all the while fighting through increasing anarchy and chaos as the word spreads. It's shot and edited in to-the-second real time, and you will have torn your armrests to shreds by the final minutes. I saw it when the threat of nuclear war breaking out any minute was only about six or so years in the past, and I could feel every beat of my heart.
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Post by Chuck on Jan 12, 2009 22:06:43 GMT -5
The Reflecting SkinViggio Mortensen in a weird little film that will seriously creep you out. www.imdb.com/title/tt0100469/(True story: I saw this back in the 80s on cable. First time, starting recording it. And one point about half way through the film, I just jumped up and stopped recording it. I was too creeped out. It took me 3 tries to get it. The film is amazing. I told a friend of mine about this film, and his reaction was the same. It just really creeped him out. He couldn't record it either. I have a copy of this on VHS, the only way it's ever been released. I pray for a DVD release.)
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Post by ilmatto on Jan 12, 2009 22:19:22 GMT -5
Holy cow what a good choice. What a great movie that you never hear about. I first saw it on Cinemax or something like that and bought the VHS some years later.
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jan 13, 2009 1:52:19 GMT -5
Another childhood favorite was Project X starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt. I'm not quite sure if this one ever saw the light of DVD release. Broderick plays an Air Force cadet who is assigned to a special project where chimpanzees are trained in flight simulators. However, he later learns the ultimate fate that lies in store for all of the test subjects, and it does not sit with him well. He becomes especially conflicted about one of the chimps that can communicate via sign language. One thing I want to say is that I greatly appreciate the score by James Horner. You'll note that Horner has credits in films like Aliens, but since so many sound the same, I'm forced to assume that he's been recycling the same soundtrack for many films. Also, whoever trained the chimps did an amazing job choreographing them. I really believed that Virgil spoke sign! Also, look out for William Sadler playing Broderick's antagonist and Peter Gabriel's "Shock The Monkey" in the opening titles. By the way, you'll note that in this IMDb record, they gave the apes first billing! What the hell is that about!? Sorry, Ferris ...
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Post by ilmatto on Jan 14, 2009 21:00:42 GMT -5
Mission Stardust 1967 Italian sci fi Swedish actress Essy Persson is an alien spacecraft commander, discovered on the Moon by Perry Rhodan and other astronauts.
I watched this film in the theater back when I was 8 yo or so; it had a US theatrical run in 1970 or thereabouts. I loved the beautiful female alien and the 7 ft tall robots. There is one scene in the film where two enemy women (italian film, so they are beautiful naturally) are attacking a group of robots with machine guns - I am not making this up - and a robot disintegrates one of the women and she is screaming as she is disintegrating... I'm 8 yo and I thought it was chilling and exciting at the same time. I found the film on VHS some years later and watched it over and over, reliving that original experience.
Anyway, watch this one just to see Essy Persson cavorting! The film is not like other washed out, low production value italian sci fi. This film is colorful, cheerful, 1960s sci fi romp, a la First Spaceship on Venus - except that the woman crew member is not a frigid Jap physician, but a petulant Swedish sex goddess.
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Post by Don Quixote on Jan 14, 2009 21:55:28 GMT -5
I'm not sure how obscure it is, however I've always counted Comic Book: The Movie[/i] a great, seldom-seen movie. I'm pretty sure it never had a theater release, but it's a great little jaunt for us comic book honks. Including, of course, one of the more famous honks of them all, Mark Hamill. A mockumentary about the making of a fake comic book movie, Don Swan (Hamill) and his buddy (played by Tom Kenny, a.k.a. Spongebob Squarepants, etc.) travel to Los Angeles to be technical consultants to the Commander Courage movie. Voice actors shine in this movie, and people you usually see as cartoons are big as life here. There are also fake interviews with Hugh Hefner, Kevin Smith, and Johnathan Winters (possibly my favorite part of the movie). Those in the know probably will enjoy it, as it allows us to point to someone who's more of a dork than we are, but it's all in good fun, and it's great to see these oft-hidden actors showing that they're not just a funny voice. If you're into comics, check this out. The copy I have is a two-disker, and the second disk has a ton of extra stuff. Worth a peek for you honks out there.
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Jan 15, 2009 15:38:36 GMT -5
I'm not sure how obscure it is, however I've always counted Comic Book: The Movie[/i] a great, seldom-seen movie. I'm pretty sure it never had a theater release, but it's a great little jaunt for us comic book honks. Including, of course, one of the more famous honks of them all, Mark Hamill. A mockumentary about the making of a fake comic book movie, Don Swan (Hamill) and his buddy (played by Tom Kenny, a.k.a. Spongebob Squarepants, etc.) travel to Los Angeles to be technical consultants to the Commander Courage movie. Voice actors shine in this movie, and people you usually see as cartoons are big as life here. There are also fake interviews with Hugh Hefner, Kevin Smith, and Johnathan Winters (possibly my favorite part of the movie). Those in the know probably will enjoy it, as it allows us to point to someone who's more of a dork than we are, but it's all in good fun, and it's great to see these oft-hidden actors showing that they're not just a funny voice. If you're into comics, check this out. The copy I have is a two-disker, and the second disk has a ton of extra stuff. Worth a peek for you honks out there.[/quote] I remember hearing about this movie when it was about to come out, because Bruce Campbell is (does?) one of the cameos. Plus I love what Mark Hamill's made of himself. However I'm no comic geek or honk or wonk or whatever, and I hate SpongeBob SquarePants with a passion. Not the talented Tom Kenny, but the cartoon itself. So I never followed up on it. Would you recommend it to one such as myself?
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Post by MonsterX on Jan 15, 2009 16:57:58 GMT -5
Day Of The Beast a brilliant comic horror from Spain. A priest works out that the son of the Antichrist will be born in Madrid at the Millennium and so has to somehow befriend the Devil in order to discover where this will happen. He enlists the help of a heavy metal record store clerk and a TV psychic and starts doing naughty things. So far the only British release is on VHS but there were DVD versions released in Spain and South America. Worth tracking down if you haven't seen it. www.imdb.com/title/tt0112922/Yes! I finally tracked this one down at a local video store that specialized in hard to find films and it was fantastic. For me it’s old, obscure Eurohorror. Especially Paul Naschy movies. Those and poverty row horror film from the 40’s. My collection of the latter is almost complete; I just need to track down a copy of Cat Man of Paris!
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Post by siamesesin on Jan 15, 2009 17:15:29 GMT -5
Good idea! I can think of lots. To begin with-
"The Forbidden Zone"-written by Richard Elfman (Danny's brother), with a starring role by Herve Villechaize and some insane music by The Mystical Knights of Oingo Boingo. A headless chicken boy, bizarre nudity, twisted animation, and more. Danny Elfman as Satan singing his own version of "Minnie the Moocher" is a treat.
"Revenger's Tragedy"-glorious modernization of Middleton's play, with Christopher Eccleston (sorry Mr. Tennant, he was the hottest Doc), Eddie Izzard, and Derek Jacobi, amongst others. It is better by far than Luhrman's "Romeo + Juilet".
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Post by Don Quixote on Jan 15, 2009 21:44:22 GMT -5
I'm not sure how obscure it is, however I've always counted Comic Book: The Movie[/i] a great, seldom-seen movie. I'm pretty sure it never had a theater release, but it's a great little jaunt for us comic book honks. Including, of course, one of the more famous honks of them all, Mark Hamill. A mockumentary about the making of a fake comic book movie, Don Swan (Hamill) and his buddy (played by Tom Kenny, a.k.a. Spongebob Squarepants, etc.) travel to Los Angeles to be technical consultants to the Commander Courage movie. Voice actors shine in this movie, and people you usually see as cartoons are big as life here. There are also fake interviews with Hugh Hefner, Kevin Smith, and Johnathan Winters (possibly my favorite part of the movie). Those in the know probably will enjoy it, as it allows us to point to someone who's more of a dork than we are, but it's all in good fun, and it's great to see these oft-hidden actors showing that they're not just a funny voice. If you're into comics, check this out. The copy I have is a two-disker, and the second disk has a ton of extra stuff. Worth a peek for you honks out there.[/quote] I remember hearing about this movie when it was about to come out, because Bruce Campbell is (does?) one of the cameos. Plus I love what Mark Hamill's made of himself. However I'm no comic geek or honk or wonk or whatever, and I hate SpongeBob SquarePants with a passion. Not the talented Tom Kenny, but the cartoon itself. So I never followed up on it. Would you recommend it to one such as myself?[/quote] Mister Campbell does indeed have a cameo in this film. Rest assured, Tom does not use his annoying-ass Spongebob voice (I used Spongebob because it's Tom's best-known character). If you enjoy comics, animation, or both, you'll get a big kick out of this movie. You'll be finally seeing people you've been hearing these many years.
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Post by Hot*Merging*Action on Jan 15, 2009 22:08:13 GMT -5
The Reflecting SkinViggio Mortensen in a weird little film that will seriously creep you out. www.imdb.com/title/tt0100469/(True story: I saw this back in the 80s on cable. First time, starting recording it. And one point about half way through the film, I just jumped up and stopped recording it. I was too creeped out. It took me 3 tries to get it. The film is amazing. I told a friend of mine about this film, and his reaction was the same. It just really creeped him out. He couldn't record it either. I have a copy of this on VHS, the only way it's ever been released. I pray for a DVD release.) Chuck, you have the best taste on the board. This film deserves a nice dvd edition loaded with extras. Have you seen any of Ridley's other films? The Passion of Darkly Noon or The Krays?
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Post by Satchmo on Jan 16, 2009 20:19:00 GMT -5
A few more (these aren't as obscure as some of the other stuff and are pretty recent, but are also criminally underseen):
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Despite having bankable starpower attached to the project (Brad Pitt), this recent independent film still remains criminally unseen, and was snubbed at last year's Oscars (as aesthetically brilliant as There Will Be Blood was, this deserved the award for best cinematography). The plot is in it's title, so I don't really need to talk about that. The embodiment of a true anti-western (even more so than Unforgiven), TAOJJBTCRF is a haunting, fantastically acted, near-perfect film that should be in every DVD collection, but sadly is not, and probably never will be.
Once
I am not a fan of pop music. I do not like that sappy, schmaltzy music where some person who isn't really that talented sits with an acoustic guitar that they can't play very well and whispers little snippets of stuff comparing themselves to colors, fruit, other sad-sack "musicians", et cetera. However, i do think that this movie is truly special, and that, strange as it seems, the music is nothing short of amazing.
Mongol
You know that guy who sits in movie theaters and points out every historical error in the movie you are trying to watch? I'm that guy, and no I am not sorry. I hate historically inaccuracy. It ruined 300, all three POTC movies, and of course, everything Mel Gibson has ever directed. But, despite some glaring errors, I can sit and enjoy Mongol, the first part of a planned trilogy on the life of Ghengis Khan, because of one simple, undeniable fact: It kicks ass. That, and its soundtrack has throat singing in it. That was awesome.
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