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Post by Chuck on Jan 16, 2009 21:17:21 GMT -5
I have another obscure film for your consideration:
Harold Pinter's The Homecoming -- the original Royal Shakespeare Cast:
Cyril Cusack, Vivien Merchant (Mrs. Harold Pinter, thank you very much), Ian Holm, Terence Rigby, Michael Jayston and Paul Rogers, Directed by Peter Hall.
Trust me. You will never forget it.
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Post by ilmatto on Jan 16, 2009 22:44:07 GMT -5
The Gypsy Moths - 1969
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Gene Hackman
A group of skydivers travel through Kansas. Deborah Kerr has her one and only nude scene of her career - she was 48, 49 yo?! Holy cow.
Atmospheric. Entertaining. - Oh yeah, great character actor William Windom - you remember him - commodore, flew shuttlecraft into the doomsday machine.
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Post by The Mad Plumber on Jan 17, 2009 18:14:19 GMT -5
I don't regard the Sci-Fi Channel as being an optimal venue for good films. So, when I saw Iceman on the channel, I was surprised by the film's quality. In Iceman, a group of scientists in the Arctic find a prehistoric man perfectly preserved in the frozen ice. They succeed in thawing him out and reanimating him. To study him, they place him in a confined environment meant to simulate his original time, complete with even killable prey. However, the iceman soon uncovers the facade of his environment, forcing one of the anthropologists to confront the iceman to help bring him at ease. I can't say much besides that it's a good and unappreciated film. I think it's a very sincere and smart film, and John Lone who plays Charlie the Iceman does a very good job. Look for James Tolkan in the small cast; he played Michael J. Fox's principal in Back to the Future. |
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Post by solgroupie on Jan 19, 2009 0:59:50 GMT -5
wristcutters: a love story
a good pal of mine suggested i watch this movie, which i did, last sunday. i loved it. i had never heard of it, which it seems you never really do hear of the good flicks like this, except through word of mouth. with movies like mall cop being the top grossing film of the weekend, i understand why.
wristcutters is one of those underrated films that grabs you pretty much from the beginning, with so little to go on. it follows the life, or death, rather, of zia, played brilliantly by patrick fugit, a guy who kills himself after he and his girlfriend break up. he ends up in a drab world, not unlike the one we already live in - except all of its inhabitants are also people who have committed suicide. he has a mundane job. he has a weird roommate. he makes friends with eugene, a bizarre russian guy who lives with his whole family - his whole family killed themselves over different reasons. when zia finds out his ex-girlfriend killed herself a few months after his death, he sets off to find her, along with eugene and his car with the mysterious-but-important-black-hole beneath the passenger front seat. along the way, they pick up hitchhiker mikal, a chick who is determined to find "the people in charge," to get her back to the real world since she claims she was there by mistake.
it has an alice in wonderland kind of feel to it - the people they meet along the way of their road trip - you get glimpses into these lives and how they killed themselves. the black humor of the deaths of some of these characters will make you laugh - others give you pause for thought, but they are all done quickly, without giving you a chance to get involved. it sounds depressing and grim, but it really isn't. it is absolutely hilarious in spots - very well written - not overwritten. it's a simple story, really, and it has a great ending that i didn't see coming. and i think i know everything.
it came from a short story written by etgar keret, of israel. known for his short stories, this one came from the book, the bus driver who wanted to be god & other stories. i am planning on buying the book to find out how closely they stuck to his original story and see if his other stories are as good.
definitely worth viewing.
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Post by callipygias on Jan 21, 2009 10:59:30 GMT -5
wristcutters: a love story Awesome and amazingly unique movie, and it's currently offered under the 'free movies' category with On Demand. Can't beat that. |
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Post by mrcleveland on Jan 28, 2009 15:40:37 GMT -5
Anyone see "Ricky 1"?
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Post by Sheik Yerbouti on Feb 11, 2009 10:09:45 GMT -5
The Girl Rosemarie (the original from 1958). Describing the plot doesn't do the film justice, since the best things about it are the social satirical commentary. Based on a true story about a high-paid socialite prostitute in Frankfurt who blackmails the high-powered executives she's slept with, it's simultaneously funny and tragic -- and the end is downright uncanny and frightening. I've probably watched that movie twenty times.
Also has Mario Adorf as a strapping young lad.
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Post by mrmeadows on Feb 13, 2009 20:51:46 GMT -5
"Titicut Follies" by Frederick Wiseman. It's a cinema-verite documentary made in 1967 shot at Massachusetts' Bridgeport Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It's a powerful look behind the scenes look at the inmates and the guards, which manages to stay detached from the action and never feels exploitative. However, the State of Massachusetts was able to get the film pulled from general distribution in 1968 saying that it was a violation of the inmates' privacy (in reality, the film depicted the staff of the hospital mistreating the inmates, which was the state's real issue.)
Wiseman was only allowed to show the film to doctors and other health-care professionals until 1991, after families of several patients who had wrongfully died while inmates at Bridgeport sued. They claimed the film could have possibly shed public light on the wrongdoings in the institution had it been released 23 years earlier, and perhaps conditions could have been changed and their relatives would not have died.
Still, "Titicut Follies" remains difficult to find at your local video store (Netflix doesn't even have it!) But it's worth a look.
Wiseman also directed another documentary called "High School", which is basically a look behind another mental institution of sorts: a random American high school in the mid-1960's. Not nearly as disturbing as "Titicut Follies", but in it's own way no less intriguing.
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Post by Chuck on Feb 13, 2009 21:55:02 GMT -5
"Titicut Follies" by Frederick Wiseman. It's a cinema-verite documentary made in 1967 shot at Massachusetts' Bridgeport Hospital for the Criminally Insane. It's a powerful look behind the scenes look at the inmates and the guards, which manages to stay detached from the action and never feels exploitative. However, the State of Massachusetts was able to get the film pulled from general distribution in 1968 saying that it was a violation of the inmates' privacy (in reality, the film depicted the staff of the hospital mistreating the inmates, which was the state's real issue.) Wiseman was only allowed to show the film to doctors and other health-care professionals until 1991, after families of several patients who had wrongfully died while inmates at Bridgeport sued. They claimed the film could have possibly shed public light on the wrongdoings in the institution had it been released 23 years earlier, and perhaps conditions could have been changed and their relatives would not have died. Still, "Titicut Follies" remains difficult to find at your local video store (Netflix doesn't even have it!) But it's worth a look. Wiseman also directed another documentary called "High School", which is basically a look behind another mental institution of sorts: a random American high school in the mid-1960's. Not nearly as disturbing as "Titicut Follies", but in it's own way no less intriguing. This is one of those that haunts you forever. I liked this film very, very much. |
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Post by mrmeadows on Feb 15, 2009 17:42:42 GMT -5
Was just reminded of another film that has unfortunately been mostly forgotten over the years, but hopefully not for long as it is finally being released on DVD this week: Paul Newman's directorial debut, "Rachel, Rachel". www.amazon.com/Rachel-Joanne-Woodward/dp/B001KP2J6W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1234737180&sr=1-1This is small, but profoundly moving film from 1968. One that was way ahead of its time. I have this recorded on VHS from years ago (in pan-and-scan...yuk!). I'm definitely picking up this DVD on Tuesday. |
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Post by Mod City on Feb 16, 2009 20:20:15 GMT -5
When I was a kid, there were two movies my cousin and I couldn't get enough of that I've found most people don't know: Disorganized Crime (Lou Diamond Phillip) and The Dream Team (Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, and Peter Boyle). Silly movies, but I still watch them every now and again. I just had to give you props on Disorganized Crime. Great caper movie with a wild cast. It just works, and it always has for me. The Dream Team is no slouch, either. Good choices, both. |
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Post by doctorz on Feb 25, 2009 9:55:33 GMT -5
The Star's Caravan
Every once in a while I'll get one of the movies that Kevin Murphy recommends in his book, "A Year at the Movies." This week it was the Czech film The Star's Caravan For those of you who don't know it's about a man in the former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan who shows movies to nomads in the interior. Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, the government dispatched cinema units to expose citizens to propaganda films. Appointed projectionists would travel through the land either by foot or on horseback to hold special screenings. When Kyrgyzstan was granted independence, its cinema program lost their funding and the people lost their beloved movies. The Stars' Caravan is the story of a lone projectionist, who has continued to deliver the wonder of cinema to his people. This film is not for everybody. For one thing it is not dubbed in English and is subtitled. Also this film wanders all over the place. The movie doesn't really have a plot as we Americans think of one. You have to pay attention and let this film take you where it's going. The countryside is stark and has a beauty all its own. You also get a feeling of a country in transition and its proud people who honor a local hero Mataus who I guess fought the Tartars or raiding tribes back in the day. They never explain it. Loved the hats.
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Post by abomb on Mar 14, 2009 12:33:28 GMT -5
Nagisa Oshima's Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence （戦場のメリークリスマス）.
Personally, I think this the best film I have ever seen on the topic of Japanese and Westerners trying to make sense of each other. It is one of the rare cross-cultural movies that really does justice to both.
In keeping with the topic, it is a film of juxtapositions: love and hatred, beauty and horror, cruelty and mercy.
That last is a key theme. The characters are driven to their various fates based on their decisions to show, or indeed impose, mercy.
Sadly though, the film only seems to be available on a bizarre Region 2 DVD without subtitles. At least one English language reviewer felt that that made the movie interesting in that, as a viewer, you felt as lost as the monolingual characters. It may work that way, but you need to be following both to really get the film. It really is a movie in which almost nothing is "throwaway."
My favourite element in it is the bizarre friendship between Tom Conti's Col. Lawrence and Beat Takeshi's Sgt. Hara. Conti plays the most bilingual character, the one who should be in the best position to bring balance and understanding. As he says to the senior British officer, "Sir, I know these people; I wish you would be guided by my knowledge." Yet he misinterprets the situation so consistently that Bowie's character remarks, "How is it, John, you're always wrong?" At the end, Lawrence is the only character who fails the mercy test by being incapable of granting it, rather than unwilling.
Interestingly, the two key scenes of their arc are both on Youtube, and I'll post them below. I've posted two other scenes, well chosen and in HQ. Unfortunately, on these latter two the audio and video are badly unsynchronized, at least when I view them. Oh, the final scene is a major spoiler, by the way. If the movie weren't so hard to find I wouldn't even include it.
So, Sgt. Hara, you're human after all. (Background: Lawrence and Celliers would have been executed had Hara not released them):
There are times when victory is very hard to take:
For someone who has waited long . . . :
When you meet the Buddha on the road, slay him . . . if you can:
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Post by Frameous on Mar 14, 2009 13:51:49 GMT -5
I've got a million of em, but here are a couple for now:
Dead Mans Shoes
A soldier returning home discovers that some local drug dealers had a little fun with his mentally challenged brother that got way out of hand. Seething with anger, he begins to pick them off one by one, but not before having some fun of his own. I love revenge flicks, and this one delivers. It has echos of one of my all time favorites, Taxi Driver. Paddy Considine is excellent in the lead role, and Tony Kebble is impressive as his brother. I tell everyone I meet to see this movie, the ending will haunt you.
Loose Cannons
I hadn't thought of this movie in years, but I just re watched some of it last night through Netflix Watch It Now. I don't know if this is an "obscure" movie, but I never hear anyone talk about it. Gene Hackman is a detective who becomes involved in a homicide case about a historic porno film featuring the one and only Adolph Hitler. He is partnered with Dan Ackroyd, who is a brilliant detective that just happens to suffer from multiple personality disorder, which was the result of some hideous torture years ago. He does everyone: the cowardly lion, Kirk, Bones, Scotty, Woody Woodpecker, etc. This is a funny movie with lots of charm. I've always like Ackroyd and Hackman, and here they work well together.
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Post by abomb on Mar 16, 2009 17:54:40 GMT -5
Now this is exciting. The bed sitting room--Richard Lester's adaptation of Spike Milligan's play set three (or is it four?) years after the nuclear mis-understanding which left 27 known survivors in Great Britain--is available on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX3ltFkrngY&feature=PlayList&p=DD7471C7CCBC03A2&index=0As far as I know it has never been released on DVD or even VHS. It is a darkly absurdist comedy that I highly recommend. The cast includes the likes of Roy Kinnear, Michael Hordern, Pete & Dud (when the latter was funny), Harry Secombe ("I'm a local seat of government! I'll soon have you seated and governed!"), Marty Feldman, Ralph Richardson and assorted other amusing Britishers. I highly, highly urge you to check it out. God save Mrs. Ethel Shroke
Long live Mrs. Ethel Shroke . . . |
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