G
groovyk1
Guest
pixiedude - I agree with you about Spirit of 76. I like that movie lots but it was never given any recognition. It kinda just disapeered to the bottom shelf of the video store.
U
UnsilentMajorty
Guest
First, some films that were completely overlooked:
Shattered Glass - The true story of Stephen Glass, the 25 year old reporter who faked his reports during the '90s while working at the New Republic.
Hayden Christiansen gives an outstanding performace as does his co-stars like Chole Sevengy... But unfortunately, his mainstream role as Anakin Skywalker in the (sh*tty) Star Wars films always overshadows his TRUE talents.
Grand Canyon - Kevin Kline and Danny Glover play a lawyer and truck driver (respectively) who meet one night thanks to fate when Glover saves Kline from a band of car jackers. The initial meeting sparks a friendship that effects everyone around them and changes both of their lives forever.
This is a great "class warfare" type movie in that asks the questions "if it weren't for money... How different are we from our neighbors whom we don't even k now?" It also touches on the concept of fate and who simple acts of kindness can change lives in ways that are significant, but that we might not ever know unless we can see the results.
Great Expectations (Gwenyth Paltrow; Ethan Hawk) - While this isn't a faithful retelling of the Dicken's classic... It was still over-looked for the simple fact it was marketed wrong -- to teens -- When it should have been marketed to everyone because the story of wanting to be accepted (and the quest one goes to achieve that) is still very powerful and the way it was done wasn't just an up-dated retelling, but a stylish, exaggerated-reality telling that has a lot of depth underneath all the flash-and-style.
My First Mister - Albert Brooks and Lee Lee Sobeski give outstanding and genuine performances as two people who completely opposite -- in every sense of the word -- Who come together because of their self-imposed isolation from the world around them and the ones who love them.
Christine Baranski ("ER") directed the film and it is a must see even if you aren't a fan of either of the two leads as the story is very powerful and is meant as message of hope for those who feel they have none.
Life... Or Something Like It - Even though it had A-List stars like Agelina Jolie and Ed Burns... This "don't-know-what-you-got/want-until-it's-gone" story is one of the better mainstream Hollywood versions in that it examines how our society places the wrong emphasis on what isn't really important (money, wealth, success) and we don't know it until we are faced with the ultimate choice of losing it all: Death.
Those are some of my personal picks. I highly recommend you pick up some used DVDs of these films if you can so you can see them in their proper aspect ratios and get the full impact that was intended.
----------------
As for a lot of independent films being overlooked... That's exactly why they are independents
People often think "independent" means that a studio didn't want to make it, but somehow "gave" the film makers money to do it.
WRONG.
Independent means exactly that: Independent of mainstream Hollywood studio financing.
That doesn't mean big A-List stars can't or won't be in independents (a lot of stars do them BECAUSE they want stories with more depth and/or they know that without their involvement, the story itself will never get made).
This is why a lot of the movies we're mentioning DON'T get any recognizition because Hollywood is a self-perpetuating and self-grandizing business that only promotes "the next big thing right now" if that makes any sense.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up because a lot of times, young people use "indie" to be some kind of "badge of honor" to go against mainstream Hollywood... When they don't have to because that is exactly what the defention means AND it should help you (them) distinguish the actual reason WHY a movie is indepdent and not a mainstream movie (could be subject matter; idea only applies to a small audience and no a mass/wide audience; etc).
Shattered Glass - The true story of Stephen Glass, the 25 year old reporter who faked his reports during the '90s while working at the New Republic.
Hayden Christiansen gives an outstanding performace as does his co-stars like Chole Sevengy... But unfortunately, his mainstream role as Anakin Skywalker in the (sh*tty) Star Wars films always overshadows his TRUE talents.
Grand Canyon - Kevin Kline and Danny Glover play a lawyer and truck driver (respectively) who meet one night thanks to fate when Glover saves Kline from a band of car jackers. The initial meeting sparks a friendship that effects everyone around them and changes both of their lives forever.
This is a great "class warfare" type movie in that asks the questions "if it weren't for money... How different are we from our neighbors whom we don't even k now?" It also touches on the concept of fate and who simple acts of kindness can change lives in ways that are significant, but that we might not ever know unless we can see the results.
Great Expectations (Gwenyth Paltrow; Ethan Hawk) - While this isn't a faithful retelling of the Dicken's classic... It was still over-looked for the simple fact it was marketed wrong -- to teens -- When it should have been marketed to everyone because the story of wanting to be accepted (and the quest one goes to achieve that) is still very powerful and the way it was done wasn't just an up-dated retelling, but a stylish, exaggerated-reality telling that has a lot of depth underneath all the flash-and-style.
My First Mister - Albert Brooks and Lee Lee Sobeski give outstanding and genuine performances as two people who completely opposite -- in every sense of the word -- Who come together because of their self-imposed isolation from the world around them and the ones who love them.
Christine Baranski ("ER") directed the film and it is a must see even if you aren't a fan of either of the two leads as the story is very powerful and is meant as message of hope for those who feel they have none.
Life... Or Something Like It - Even though it had A-List stars like Agelina Jolie and Ed Burns... This "don't-know-what-you-got/want-until-it's-gone" story is one of the better mainstream Hollywood versions in that it examines how our society places the wrong emphasis on what isn't really important (money, wealth, success) and we don't know it until we are faced with the ultimate choice of losing it all: Death.
Those are some of my personal picks. I highly recommend you pick up some used DVDs of these films if you can so you can see them in their proper aspect ratios and get the full impact that was intended.
----------------
As for a lot of independent films being overlooked... That's exactly why they are independents
People often think "independent" means that a studio didn't want to make it, but somehow "gave" the film makers money to do it.
WRONG.
Independent means exactly that: Independent of mainstream Hollywood studio financing.
That doesn't mean big A-List stars can't or won't be in independents (a lot of stars do them BECAUSE they want stories with more depth and/or they know that without their involvement, the story itself will never get made).
This is why a lot of the movies we're mentioning DON'T get any recognizition because Hollywood is a self-perpetuating and self-grandizing business that only promotes "the next big thing right now" if that makes any sense.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up because a lot of times, young people use "indie" to be some kind of "badge of honor" to go against mainstream Hollywood... When they don't have to because that is exactly what the defention means AND it should help you (them) distinguish the actual reason WHY a movie is indepdent and not a mainstream movie (could be subject matter; idea only applies to a small audience and no a mass/wide audience; etc).
D
~*Dancer in the Dark*~
Guest
I really think that John Hughes was an over-looked film director. His teen movies were definative movies of the 80's and i think he deserved some kind of recognition. He created classic movie characters like Ferris Bueller, Bender (breakfast club) and Kevin (Home alone) and came up with some of the funniest lines that are still being quoted today.
I also think indie films like Donnie darko are really overlooked. considering that donnie darko was on a limited budget it was amazing how good the movie actually turned out. and i think the actors in donnie darko were really overrated. Jake Gyllenhaal deserved an award for his role.
empire records was another overlooked movie.... that movie had some of the best quotes and a great cast but didn't even make it to the cinemas.
I also think indie films like Donnie darko are really overlooked. considering that donnie darko was on a limited budget it was amazing how good the movie actually turned out. and i think the actors in donnie darko were really overrated. Jake Gyllenhaal deserved an award for his role.
empire records was another overlooked movie.... that movie had some of the best quotes and a great cast but didn't even make it to the cinemas.
C
CreekFreak
Guest
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-- One of my favorite movies. I recommend it to anyone!
C
calivviefan
Guest
My First Mister - Albert Brooks and Lee Lee Sobeski give outstanding and genuine performances as two people who completely opposite -- in every sense of the word -- Who come together because of their self-imposed isolation from the world around them and the ones who love them.
I love this movie, and you are the first person that I have ever known that has heard of it! It was a great movie! Well scripted, well cast. I really enjoyed it.
I love this movie, and you are the first person that I have ever known that has heard of it! It was a great movie! Well scripted, well cast. I really enjoyed it.
E
earthangel72
Guest
YES!! I LOVE that movie!!! Haydens amazing, and it was such an awsome plot. It left me in tears as well, lots of them haha.
P
pixiedude
Guest
Here are four comedies that you should rent and enjoy with some beer:
1) "Spirit of '76", starring David Cassidy (yes, Partridge Family DC). Shaun Cassidy has a major supporting role, and there are a bunch of other people you will recognize from '80's tv shows. It was in theaters for about one week in the late 80's. I saw it during a matinee, with about 2 other viewers in the multiplex, and LMAO.
About a hundred years from now, something vital is missing from US society, and the leaders of the day decide they must send someone back in time to 1776, to ask the founding fathers what to do. So they turn to the greatest physicist of their era, played by David Cassidy. However, he makes a mistake, and instead of taking his time machine back to 1776, they go back to 1976. It sounds lame, but it's really funny. "That '70's Show" fans will especially enjoy it.
2) "Zoolander" with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, playing sworn rivals in the cutthroat competitive world of male modeling. The dance scenes are hilarious. Definitely funnier than "Starsky and Hutch".
3) "The Twelve Chairs" by Mel Brooks. This dark comedy set in the Soviet Union in the '20's has several fortune hunters competing to find a hidden stash of diamonds. Dom Deluise is especially absurd as a corrupt Orthodox priest.
3) "Earth Girls Are Easy". I was physically in pain from laughing so hard by the time I left the theater. This is the first movie I've ever heard of that starred Geena Davis or Jeff Goldblum. The plot has to do with aliens from outer space landing in LA, but it's really a satire about Southern California in the '80's.
4) "Hairspray", one of John Water's "mainstream" films (ie, no coprahaghia), and the vehicle that launched Rikki Lake to stardom. It has to do with integrating the cast of a 60's tv dance show reminiscent of "American Bandstand", and fat acceptance, among other worthy causes, but it's never preachy. Another one that made me laugh until my stomach ached.
One caveat: best watched on a big screen. I once talked a friend into renting it on video, after having seen it in the theater, and had to explain a number of the sight gags, because they relied on small visual details that we couldn't see clearly on the tv.
A few more that aren't quite as funny, but definitely have their moments:
1) "Shadow of the Vampire" stars John Malkovich as Franz Murnau, director of "Nosferatu", the first vampire movie. It's a fictional recreation of the filming of the movie, starring Willem Dafoe as the actor who plays "Nosferatu", who either thinks he really is a vampire, or actually is one. I think this is the look that inspired Dafoe's head-shape as the Green Goblin in "Spiderman".
2) "Critical Care": James Spader stars as a doctor in a dark satire about the medical ethics surrounding the decision on whether to 'pull the plug' on a terminally ill patient.
3) "One, Two, Three" by Billy Wilder, is a Cold War satire starring James Cagney as Coca Cola's chief executive in West Berlin (the movie was made in 1961), whose boss demands that he break up a romance between the boss's daughter and her communist East German boyfriend.
1) "Spirit of '76", starring David Cassidy (yes, Partridge Family DC). Shaun Cassidy has a major supporting role, and there are a bunch of other people you will recognize from '80's tv shows. It was in theaters for about one week in the late 80's. I saw it during a matinee, with about 2 other viewers in the multiplex, and LMAO.
About a hundred years from now, something vital is missing from US society, and the leaders of the day decide they must send someone back in time to 1776, to ask the founding fathers what to do. So they turn to the greatest physicist of their era, played by David Cassidy. However, he makes a mistake, and instead of taking his time machine back to 1776, they go back to 1976. It sounds lame, but it's really funny. "That '70's Show" fans will especially enjoy it.
2) "Zoolander" with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, playing sworn rivals in the cutthroat competitive world of male modeling. The dance scenes are hilarious. Definitely funnier than "Starsky and Hutch".
3) "The Twelve Chairs" by Mel Brooks. This dark comedy set in the Soviet Union in the '20's has several fortune hunters competing to find a hidden stash of diamonds. Dom Deluise is especially absurd as a corrupt Orthodox priest.
3) "Earth Girls Are Easy". I was physically in pain from laughing so hard by the time I left the theater. This is the first movie I've ever heard of that starred Geena Davis or Jeff Goldblum. The plot has to do with aliens from outer space landing in LA, but it's really a satire about Southern California in the '80's.
4) "Hairspray", one of John Water's "mainstream" films (ie, no coprahaghia), and the vehicle that launched Rikki Lake to stardom. It has to do with integrating the cast of a 60's tv dance show reminiscent of "American Bandstand", and fat acceptance, among other worthy causes, but it's never preachy. Another one that made me laugh until my stomach ached.
One caveat: best watched on a big screen. I once talked a friend into renting it on video, after having seen it in the theater, and had to explain a number of the sight gags, because they relied on small visual details that we couldn't see clearly on the tv.
A few more that aren't quite as funny, but definitely have their moments:
1) "Shadow of the Vampire" stars John Malkovich as Franz Murnau, director of "Nosferatu", the first vampire movie. It's a fictional recreation of the filming of the movie, starring Willem Dafoe as the actor who plays "Nosferatu", who either thinks he really is a vampire, or actually is one. I think this is the look that inspired Dafoe's head-shape as the Green Goblin in "Spiderman".
2) "Critical Care": James Spader stars as a doctor in a dark satire about the medical ethics surrounding the decision on whether to 'pull the plug' on a terminally ill patient.
3) "One, Two, Three" by Billy Wilder, is a Cold War satire starring James Cagney as Coca Cola's chief executive in West Berlin (the movie was made in 1961), whose boss demands that he break up a romance between the boss's daughter and her communist East German boyfriend.
I
iamsomisty
Guest
it's one of his first films, the crossing, and that's his wife, danielle. yeah, he looks very nice.
when you look at his face in that pic, and then at romper stomper, you find it hard to believe that there were only 2 years difference.
thatreminds me of another movie i think got the shaft, rough magic, with russell crowe and bridget fonda.
when you look at his face in that pic, and then at romper stomper, you find it hard to believe that there were only 2 years difference.
thatreminds me of another movie i think got the shaft, rough magic, with russell crowe and bridget fonda.
T
Telli
Guest
I agree on the Fight club most people were not willingly to give it a try because of its name at that is a shame.
Dirty Dancing: Havanna Nights was also overlooked .Despite what most people thought it was not a remake.It was wonderfully refreshing and I loved it.
Dirty Dancing: Havanna Nights was also overlooked .Despite what most people thought it was not a remake.It was wonderfully refreshing and I loved it.
T
T O B Y
Guest
Not by people like us, but commercially and critically I think Big Fish had a fair share of overlooking, esp. by the Academy. A pretty excellent movie that I think was decently well-recieved, but wasn't given its due credit .
E
earthangel72
Guest
The United States Of Leland Ryan Gosling is an amazing actor, and the entire cast acted incredibly well. It was such a beautiful story about the human condition, and i liked how at the end you were left to come to your own conclusion to the question of, why?
L
Lovesbitch
Guest
Liked to add that I agree Life as a House was overlooked. It was a great movie that left me in tears yet no one seems to have actually seen it 
G
Goonieforever
Guest
A lot of these movies I totally agree with like Donnie Darko, Dancer TX and American History X. Another one of my favorites that a lot of people have never heard of is "Say Anything".
A
AuburnGrad
Guest
I really liked this movie, and it was definitely overlooked imo. In fact, I probably would have never seen it if I had not somehow stumbled across it on the Netflix site.
I completely agree about Dancer, Texas and A Life Less Ordinary. Welcome to the Dollhouse, like The Crow has a cult following, so I'm not sure if it is necessarily overlooked. Still, both are great movies. Also, another cult classic that not too many people I know have seen is Waiting for Guffman.
I must be really old if people consider The Breakfast Club or Say Anything as overlooked.
One movie that received criticial acclaim, but was overlooked by mainstream audiences (or at least in my part of the U.S.) was The Straight Story. It's a fantastic film with Richard Farnsworth and Sissy Spacek, directed by David Lynch. Like Dancer, Texas it's a sweet, gentle movie.
Buffalo 66, I loved... Vincent Gallo freaks me out, but I really liked this movie.
Dream for an Insomniac is one of my favorites, though I haven't seen it in awhile. I love Ione Skye.
The Last Days of Disco, I don't know another soul who has seen it and liked it. But I did.
I completely agree about Dancer, Texas and A Life Less Ordinary. Welcome to the Dollhouse, like The Crow has a cult following, so I'm not sure if it is necessarily overlooked. Still, both are great movies. Also, another cult classic that not too many people I know have seen is Waiting for Guffman.
I must be really old if people consider The Breakfast Club or Say Anything as overlooked.
One movie that received criticial acclaim, but was overlooked by mainstream audiences (or at least in my part of the U.S.) was The Straight Story. It's a fantastic film with Richard Farnsworth and Sissy Spacek, directed by David Lynch. Like Dancer, Texas it's a sweet, gentle movie.
Buffalo 66, I loved... Vincent Gallo freaks me out, but I really liked this movie.
Dream for an Insomniac is one of my favorites, though I haven't seen it in awhile. I love Ione Skye.
The Last Days of Disco, I don't know another soul who has seen it and liked it. But I did.
I
iamsomisty
Guest
YouTube - Romper Stomper Trailer
it's called romper stomper, an aussie film from '92.
the next shot is from a different movie, but he sure is purty.
it's called romper stomper, an aussie film from '92.
the next shot is from a different movie, but he sure is purty.
B
BehrItAll
Guest
I totally agree. That movie is an 80's classic. I could see how the kids of today never heard of it, but for me as a child of the 80's, I know it as a classic.
The same thing goes for Say Anything. The scene with John Cusack holding up the radio playing "In Your Eyes" is what I think of when I think of that movie.
Movies that I think are overlooked are:
Big Fish
Miracle
The Joy Luck Club
13 Going on 30
Fools Rush In
The same thing goes for Say Anything. The scene with John Cusack holding up the radio playing "In Your Eyes" is what I think of when I think of that movie.
Movies that I think are overlooked are:
Big Fish
Miracle
The Joy Luck Club
13 Going on 30
Fools Rush In
I agree with most of them - have to agree about fight club i watched this for the first time last week as my boyfriend said wathc it you'll like it.. si i gave it ago. fromt he trailers i had seen the movie wasnt what i expected i thought it was really clever and brad pitt and ed norton where great together.
Denzel was amazing in the hurricane - i think this was totally overlooked.
Another movie which i think was overlooked was Life Less Ordinary - again anotyher really clever amusin story which wasnt given enough credit i thought Ewan and Cameron where great together .
Denzel was amazing in the hurricane - i think this was totally overlooked.
Another movie which i think was overlooked was Life Less Ordinary - again anotyher really clever amusin story which wasnt given enough credit i thought Ewan and Cameron where great together .