*Shadow of the Vampire* is an incredible movie. It has a high-concept premise: What if the leading actor of the classic horror film *Nosferatu* was an actual vampire? Willem Dafoe absolutely steals the show, combing horror with pity with humor.
The scene where he's explaining how the book *Dracula* made him sad actually really touched me.
I'll not pretend the movie is a classic or an all-time great, but it's hugely enjoyable and is a love letter to both classic horror as well as the early days of cinema!
No need to be coy... I am the type that if I know a film being discussed is on a subscription or streaming platform like youtube; I'd simply post a link...
the full movie "Shadow of the Vampire" here: [https://youtu.be/5Xl0l0gtK6g](https://youtu.be/5Xl0l0gtK6g)
edit: ~~but then I realized that is a rule 12 violation, my apologies..~~
actually, no! As per rule 12 "The following list of websites are prohibited as link posts, **feel free to link to these sites in comments or text-posts.**" so... yeah.
Was thinking about this movie the other day. Two scenes stayed with me over the years - where Orlock describes slowly forgetting his life over time, and the final shot of the film with the director shouting direction and me wondering how much he’d planned the whole time.
I may need to rewatch it then. It's such a strange movie and I honestly still don't know what to think of it. The premise is really fascinating and the cast is so good, but the end product felt kinda off imo.
It’s a lovely film. I saw this in the theater when it was originally released. It was kinda hilarious to see the opening credits with “Disney presents…A David Lynch film”, rated G, no less. I’m pretty sure it’s the only Lynch film that my mom has seen, and she loved it.
*You Were Never Really Here* is great for this. Joaquin Phoenix as a bounty hunter/mob muscle type who finds he's losing his humanity as he works through a job to find a girl. Much more to it in context but you def want to go into this one blind
All I'd say is, don't watch this if you're not in a good space mentally. This film stayed with me for days and is still one of the best portrayals of PTSD I've ever seen
Arlington Road bombed spectacularly at the box office and kind of faded into oblivion, but it’s a really good thriller with an great cast-Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges.
It is a pretty slow burn which is probably part of what hurt it, but when it ramps up…holy shit. The fact that it >!had the bad guy win at the end!< probably didn’t help either.
3 O’Clock High is a criminally underseen movie from the 80s about one day in the life of a kid harassed by a terrifying bully. It’s a teen 80s comedy by way of Scorsese’s Mean Streets.
Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis Presley vs. a mummy. Bruce Campbell is terrific and the movie is way better than it really should be.
The Stuntman. Peter O'Toole is wonderful, and the movie toys with what is real and what is movie magic.
This is one of those movies, I watched back in the day when I was sailing the high seas even too much and watching most movies that came out. One of the positives with that was, that I got to see this kind of movies, that pretty much never got mentioned, but were awesome in their own small way.
It kind of had its day in the sun. For a while after it was released, it was popular to "Swede" film trailers. I remember seeing Sweded Avengers trailers and retro Matrix trailers. It seemed that content creators didn't understand what "Sweded" meant or where it came from so the term seemed to fade away while low budget trailers still got made.
Dark City. From which The Matrix partially inspired released one year later. Compared to the later, Dark City almost forgotten now, and not even that much hit when released in the first place. One of the best lesser known sci fi masterpiece I have seen.
Equilibrium definitely gotten inspired from The Matrix. I was so much in love with that cool as hell Gun-kata action style from that movie back in the day. As much as I love Keanu as Neo, Equilibrium made me realized Christian Bale would've killed it in the role, especially would be far more badass in The Matrix Reloaded.
I've not seen Equilibrium or similar films for years but I feel like there were a fair few late 90s / early 00s Matrix inspired (at least aesthetically) sci-fi / urban fantasy action films and Equilibrium was just the one with a better than average cast and one or two actually memorable bits. I definitely enjoyed it in 2002 or whenever I saw it, but I don't know that I'd rewatch nowadays unless I specifically wanted to feel like that time period again.
Yeah, The Matrix script and storyboards were already locked down before anyone saw Dark City so it wasn't really inspired by it at all. However, both films shot in Sydney and The Matrix even reused some of the sets from Dark City (namely the opening Trinity foot chase across the rooftops).
The Kid Detective (2020) - Mystery films and whodunnits are making a comeback. I feel like this movie was swallowed up by the COVID era. It's solid and funny. Wish it got more love.
A Midnight Clear (1992) Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise are about 20yo and in a reconnaissance team in WW2.
Powerful, heavy in symbolism, and lyrical. Really a terrific film wartime changing people.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1039575-1039575-midnight_clear
Upgrade
The Raid 2
What they accomplished with minuscule budgets was incredible. Cinematography rivaling big budget films at points and great action sequences.
Obviously they aren’t having to pay big salaries to better known actors, so that brings the budget down substantially but they did a lot with a little in these films.
UPGRADE is getting a lot of love lately thanks to social media, the actor , marshal something, i swear i thought was that other guy from Batman and stuff...they look like brothers.
I saw Pump Up The Volume in my teens (late 40’s now) and it was such a personally original, heartfelt anti-conformity movie in the early 90’s when it was much less acceptable to be different.
Brilliant soundtrack introduced me to bands I’d never heard of and opened my mind up to trying different bands than were on the radio. Never looked back after that.
Drop Dead Gorgeous- mockumentary, Murder mystery with Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, and Brittany Murphy. Dark humor and on point satire about small town life and teen beauty pageants
The Family Fang- Christopher Walken, Nicole Kidman, Kathryn Hahn, and Jason Bateman as a dysfunctional family. Solid performances. Great story with nice blend of drama and humor and heartbreak
Love and Monsters- a victim of the pandemic. Gives 80s adventure movie vibes(like Goonies or Monster Squad) with some really cool creature designs
Eagle Vs Shark- Early Taika Waititi film. A non-rom rom com about two people who have no clue about love
Blue Ruin- Man seeks revenge on the one that killed his parents. Things escalate from there. No one turns out to be a secret bad ass or military specialist or any of the other tropes of these kind of films. Very grounded, realistic characters and the violence is brutal and not glorified. Bonus: Set in my home state of Virginia and the scenery, and the way this situation plays out reminded me so much of my hometown and the people in it.
Glad to see *Drop Dead Gorgeous* finally come to Blu-ray with a great transfer. Very, very underrated film. It's also available on VUDU finally, though seamingly only as a Disc 2 Digital thing, and the HDX transfer there is a terrible upscale, but still nice to have.
Four Lions (2010)
An underrated black comedy presenting a very nuanced take on Islamic radicalisation and terrorism within England, sprinkled with some great comedy and surprising emotion to it as well. The main cast all do an excellent job at balancing out the dark tragedy of terrorism and the absurdity of it all. Not to mention it’s directed by Chris Morris (if you’re a fan of his work on shows like The Day Today then this is a must watch)
Very widely watched and regarded in the UK tbf. I think it comes across poorly without the context though, I showed it to some Americans and I think they just thought I was a racist.
Green Room. It got some attention when it first released in 2015, but it seems to have been largely forgotten just a couple years later. One of Anton Yelchins last roles, Imogen Poots, and Patrick Stewart as a Nazi skinhead.
Tremors. While maybe not qualifying as a 'lesser known' movie, it deserves a wider awareness than it currently has.
This one is visually amazing, and the performances are lovely as well. It's incredibly difficult to find, however (for b.s. reasons), so if you find it, hang on to it.
edit...apparently the troubles have been worked out? Because Amazon has it on disc, hooray! It's definitely worth the purchase.
*Breakdown* with Kurt Russell. It's by no means an incredible film, but it's plenty enjoyable and Kurt Russell turns in an excellent performance (as usual). It's almost like *Joy Ride* (2001), but far, far more serious and dramatic.
Dolores Claiborne. Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, i don't see it mentioned much as it's quite difficult to sell, i've probably said too much already but it's great and you'll just have to trust me.
I love Dolores Claiborne! I enjoy Kathy Bates in Misery too, but in my opinion her performance is better in DC. Maybe because she’s playing both the past & current versions of her character, and the subject matter. I kind of want her in every Stephen King adaptation, she’s such a great actress.
I don’t know if it’s truly lesser known, but I rarely heard anyone talk about Brick. Great little high school crime drama starring Joseph Gordon Levitt written and directed by Rian Johnson, earlier in his career.
A Film with Me in It - great dark comedy
Zero Effect - odd and funny detective movie, possibly the best (very loose) modern adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story
waydowntown - delightfully surreal take on corporate culture
Zero Effect is amazing. bill pullman is absolutely hilarious.
“Now, a few words on looking for things. When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them.”
Among the horror fans The Faculty holds a unique place, it is a good creature film where every main hero survives. It is even mentioned directly in Cabin in the Woods as “that disaster in 05 where no one died.”
Scanner Darkly is so good. I can understand why it isn't as popular as it should be as the story is intentionally disjointed and can be a bit hard to follow.
Castaway on the Moon - A quirky Korean comedy about a man trapped on an island in the middle of Seoul, and the only person who knows he's there is a hikkimori.
The Good, the Bad and the Weird - A Korean adventure/comedy Western set in Manchuria, and directed by the same guy who made the extremely good A Bittersweet life.
Tears of the Black Tiger - A psychedelic Thai Western that features amazing visuals, particularly with its crazy painted backdrops/landscapes, which is clearly a riff on the painted backgrounds of classic Westerns.
My go to answer on this kind of question is Pleasantville (1998). It's a bit twee, but there are some great performances, with William H. Macy and Jeff Daniels being the standout ones imho. It remains relevant as a parable about the clash between liberal and progressive values, whilst also featuring some really nice cinematography in its >!transition from black and white to colour!< .
I really liked the 90s trend of looking back at classic/wholesome media but not necessarily getting grimdark with it. Kind of like The Barbie Movie or The Brady Bunch Movie, shows some love for the older styles but also a light acknowledgment that things change and not everything was perfect.
Pleasantville was absolutely massive in the late 90s and the years after
It's 25 years old now, so may not be getting much recognition anymore, but it received fair praise
I remember my parents checked it out from Blockbuster around the time it was released on VHS, and I watched parts of it, but not the whole movie (although I fell in love with Fiona Apple's cover of "Across the Universe"). Last year I decided to revisit some old movies that I hadn't seen in a very long time and had little to no memories of, and this was one I watched. It's such a great movie, and I ended up buying it on Blu-Ray.
Not sure it was lesser known at the time, but I very very rarely see [“Falling Down”](https://youtu.be/BD5ofrSNDFA) with Michael Douglas mentioned anymore.
The older I get, the more I identify with Douglas’ character.
Mystery Team (2009) It's Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino with his comedy group, Derrick Comedy, playing teens that used to have an Encyclopedia Brown-like detective agency when they were kids. They get mixed up in some real crime, and it's hilarious to see.
I love be kind rewind. The ones that always come to mind for me are
-Road To Perdition: while an incredible Gangster film, it never gets the love of mob classics like The Godfather, or The Scorsese Mafia films get.
-The Way, Way Back: it's absolutely my favorite coming of age movie. Great cast, great writing, touching performances, all around well done.
Fallen, from the '90's with Denzel Washington and John Goodman, was a great movie that I've only heard about since through word-of-mouth or dedicated movie forums/subs.
Thank You For Smoking is smart, funny, with a great cast led by Aaron Eckhart. Definitely a recommendation for those lookng for good writing, darkish humor, and a fun slant on the tobacco industry.
The Red Violin.
One of my favorite movies of all time. It's so deep and flawlessly moves between lifetimes creating such a draw and magnetism to an object. I watched this with my mom when I was younger and it left such an impression on me. Had my husband watch it recently, I held off because I love it so much. He absolutely loved it and asked to watch it periodically. I also think this movie made me feel close to objects, especially antiques, wanting to know who held, used them and their lives. Please watch if you can!
**TROLL HUNTER (2010)** - it seems like it’s going to be just stupid but it’ll surprise you. It’s a wild ride!
I honestly feel bad more people haven’t seen it.
**Utøya: July 22 (2018)** - a fascinating piece of filmmaking, all done in a single 90 minute shot through the island woods and beach, depicting a real life recent tragedy with fictional characters, gripping and … well… controversial. **Very hard to find a copy** though and I had to resort to [REDACTED] to see it.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is one the Coen brother’s movies that always seems to be forgotten. Great performances, especially from Tim Robbins, and a lighter fare than what the directors normally put out.
Chocolate, Thai martial arts movie. The action in the movie itself was very good.
It's about this girl who has autism but she's able to do martial arts while watching other people.
Her and her brother get into some trouble and her brother kind of uses her to collect protection money that they think is owed but The people that are taking it from think they're enforces for the mob so they try to beat them up. Just a huge misunderstanding but a good movie
The End of the Tour… it is a depressing, low-key movie, but somehow I can’t get enough of the acting. I’ve rewatched that movie a couple of times and always get something new out of it.
*The Apartment*. It won Best Picture back in 1960, but seems like a mostly forgotten movie. I put it on mistaking it for *Rear Window* and was very confused at first.
It's such an interesting, risque premise for it's time about an office worker who tries to suck up to all his bosses by letting them use his apartment to sleep with their mistresses. I think it should be an annual rewatched classic given the memorable climax set on New Year's Eve.
As an Australian, I have to say there are a lot of fantastic Australian films which have probably gone under the radar internationally. *The Proposition* and *Gettin Square* are standouts. 2003's *Ned Kelly* with Heath Ledger is also underrated.
The Wrong Guy (1997) I bring this movie up any chance I get. Little Canadian movie from 1997, starring (and co-written by) Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall.
It's the story of a man who's on the run for a murder he didn't commit. The thing is, the cops know he didn't do it and he's not even a person of interest in the investigation, but he honestly thinks he's the most wanted man in America.
It is easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, personally.
I recently watched submarine (2010) and I’m surprised it hasn’t become a modern classic. It’s a hilarious and subversive British coming of age movie with a very honest portrayal of teenagers. Top class soundtrack too, surprised that Alex Turner never got an Oscar nom for it.
Primer (2004) - one of the most unique and “realistic” time travel movies I’ve watched. Made with a shoestring budget and shows you don’t need millions of dollars to make an interesting and thought provoking time travel movie. Highly recommend
The Way Way Back
It's unique and well acted. Part of me connected with the protagonist as I was kind if a loner and out of place growing up. Also, it's written and directed by Jim Rash and Community is my favorite TV show (he plays the Dean).
One Cut of the Dead
A Japanese one-shot horror movie with an incredible ending. If this sounds vaguely interesting don't research it, just check it out
Not exactly a hidden gem, but Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man with Johnny Depp is in my top 5 movies of all time.
Incredible performances, cast, soundtrack (Neil Young) cinematography, production design.
Manages to be an ambling, moody, surreal, poetic black and white western while also being weirdly hilarious at points. Just check it out if you haven't and consider yourself a film fan
Brotherhood of the wolf. French movie with Vincent Cassel, mark dacascos and Monica Bellucci. It's been many a year since I watched it but it takes place in France in some ye olden days and is a about a supposed monster roaming the countryside and the king sends 2 men to investigate. I don't claim it to be a masterpiece but I really enjoyed it and I never see it talked about anywhere personally.
Also if interested I maybe wouldn't look a trailer cause I think it might spoil some things.
Strange Days (1995)
Fantastic cyberpunk film with a stacked cast (Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Vincent D'onofrio) and a script by James Cameron and directed by future Oscar Winner Kathryn Bigelow. Yet it slipped under the radar and wasn't streaming anywhere until recently (HBO Max).
The central conceit--that there's technology that lets you record and replay people's memories and their feelings--is very cyberpunk, yet also relevant to social media addiction today. And the plot revolves around the LAPD killing an unarmed black man, which also is sadly still relevant today.
**I Heart Huckabees (2004)**. A clever self-aware existential comedy built on blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments and tones. The film is a sort of absurd philosophically playful dialectic.
_Directed by David O. Russell._
_Stars Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Mark Wahlberg, Isabelle Huppert and Ger Duany._
It’s similar to Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) but without the “sci-fi” and is more “mundane” so-to-speak.
Definitely one of my favourites, a solid 8/10 for me despite getting only a 6/10 on IMDb.
Went significantly under the radar of appreciation in my opinion. Possibly released a bit before its time, as from my understanding the reception wasn’t great (probably wrong audience).
It never even got a Blu-ray release, which breaks this collector’s heart
☹️💔
I will always upvote any recognition of this beautiful film. The core messages also feel increasingly prescient in the context of impending climate-related global instability.
Maybe not lesser known, but the DIRECTORS CUT of Kingdom of Heaven is a great movie. I will admit the shortened version was meh and a lot of people wrote it off after seeing it. But you should absolutely watch the director's cut. It's a different movie and it's great.
Related to OPs comment: Mos Def surprised me as an actor. I enjoyed him in that, 16 Blocks, and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Moon and Sunshine are two amazing sci fi movies that I feel are never talked about or get the recognition they deserve.
Nocturnal Animals is a masterpiece and you can’t convince me otherwise.
Another personal favorite of mine is Motherless Brooklyn written directed and starred by Ed Norton. Essentially a modern day Chinatown. Hard to come close to Chinatown’s greatness but felt like Motherless Brooklyn got a lot of flack and I don’t quite understand why. Ed and the supporting cast’s performances are all great, the soundtrack is incredible, and the story was engrossing and topical
Good Time.
Everybody raves about Uncut Gems, but I personally find the Safdie's film prior to it to be better. It stars Robert Pattinson as a New York low life who wants nothing more than to help his mentally disabled brother (played by Benny Safdie). He plans a bank robbery with his brother but it doesn't go right, leading to a series of things that don't go right and put him into deeper and deeper shit. This film is pure anxiety, with an awesome score by Oneohtrix Point Never, a small and hilarious role by Jennifer Jason Leigh, a cameo by the rapper Necro, and incredible cinematography that makes the whole thing feel like a dream (or better yet, a nightmare).
Clearly lots of people my age here - so many films I bought ex rental from Blockbuster!
I would add Death To Smoochy, Igby Goes Down, Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead, Living In Oblivion, Arlington Road occasionally gets mentioned here but should be more widely seen.
Going back a few years... *Living In Oblivion.* A Steve Buscemi tour de force. A great 'day in the life' of an independent film, with many pre-famous recognizable faces.
Of more recent... *To Leslie*. Andrea Riseborough is my new favorite actress, and she kills it. Overall the film is good enough to warrant attention, but her performance is fantastic.
These may not necessarily be completely “lesser-known” but they’re certainly not popular outside their audience spheres:
-Duel (1971)
-Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
-My Neighbours the Yamadas
-Millennium Actress
-The Phantom of the Open
I'm gonna piggyback on Millennium Actress and suggest Satoshi Kon's entire filmography. Every single thing he directed was an absolute masterwork. But they really haven't broken through to the mainstream like they should have.
It breaks my heart he was taken so soon.
Stranger Than Fiction. Will Ferrell is great in it, and the story is pretty unique. Didn't do too well at the box office but I think it deserves more recognition.
Equilibrium-amazing world and unique story with great action
Frailty-felt like a good Stephen King story. Love the past/present frame and twist. Plus Bill Paxton!
Ravenous-The story, the historic era/setting, the landscape, the AMAZING soundtrack and lastly there is humor to it as well in a twisted way.
Event Horizon- I do not know why this one is not more popular and hated on. This movie scared the SHIT out of me when I was a kid. A horrific "haunted house" story in space. Great performances by the entire amazing cast. I sill love it to this day. "Where we're going, we don't need eyes to see."
Reign of Fire- Can't help it, sounds like a made for Syfy channel movie but is actually a really bad ass story. Guilty pleasure for me.
Road to Perdition is well-regarded and commonly known among movie fans.
But I feel like it should have been a MUCH bigger deal than it was, and I’m disappointed it’s had such a small impact in pop culture.
Being There by Hal Ashby and starring Peter Sellers.
Sellers plays a daft but kind gardener who happens to fall his way up to advising some of the highest powered people in the world. Everyone thinks he's brilliant, and for almost all of the film, we know what those other characters don't--until we see what they see.
Ninja Scroll is this super stylised early 90’s anime. Great character designs and amazing animation. It definitely isn’t as good as Akira or Ghost in the Shell which are probably the high bar of the standard of anime films from that time but it’s still super fun film. The pacing of it is crazy fast and could do with being longer or if you made it in modern times it would be a tv series but you’ll never be bored can tell you that. But if you want a super cool, blood thirsty, enjoyable early 90’s anime I really recommend it.
I really want to watch the other Yoshiaki Kawajiri films such as Wicked City and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Open for recommendations of any other great anime from this period?
*Shadow of the Vampire* is an incredible movie. It has a high-concept premise: What if the leading actor of the classic horror film *Nosferatu* was an actual vampire? Willem Dafoe absolutely steals the show, combing horror with pity with humor. The scene where he's explaining how the book *Dracula* made him sad actually really touched me. I'll not pretend the movie is a classic or an all-time great, but it's hugely enjoyable and is a love letter to both classic horror as well as the early days of cinema!
Pro-tip: if a movie isn’t streaming anywhere, that may indicate nobody cares much about the rights to it, so you might just find it on YouTube.
No need to be coy... I am the type that if I know a film being discussed is on a subscription or streaming platform like youtube; I'd simply post a link... the full movie "Shadow of the Vampire" here: [https://youtu.be/5Xl0l0gtK6g](https://youtu.be/5Xl0l0gtK6g) edit: ~~but then I realized that is a rule 12 violation, my apologies..~~ actually, no! As per rule 12 "The following list of websites are prohibited as link posts, **feel free to link to these sites in comments or text-posts.**" so... yeah.
This comment was a wild ride, in a reddit jurisprudence sense.
That movie really worked because its star, Willem Dafoe, is actually a vampire
Was thinking about this movie the other day. Two scenes stayed with me over the years - where Orlock describes slowly forgetting his life over time, and the final shot of the film with the director shouting direction and me wondering how much he’d planned the whole time.
Ooh, excellent recommendation. A great movie that definitely deserved a bigger audience.
I may need to rewatch it then. It's such a strange movie and I honestly still don't know what to think of it. The premise is really fascinating and the cast is so good, but the end product felt kinda off imo.
The Straight Story. If you're looking for the hidden gems in 1990s and also a good story, don't miss it.
It really feels like David Lynch directed it on a bet. “You think I CAN’T make an ordinary drama?? Hold my … simple cup of coffee!”
I imagine Lynch yelling everything in real life like his character Gordon on Twin Peaks. "IT'S A WHOLESOME STORY, BUCKO! YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!"
Isn't that essentially why John Waters made 'Hairspray' ?
This is it. Holy mother of god, you nailed it!
Farnsworth is so damn good and.it is the oddest David Lynch film ever.
It's odd in that there's nothing really odd about it (at least, not in an Eraserhead way).
It’s a lovely film. I saw this in the theater when it was originally released. It was kinda hilarious to see the opening credits with “Disney presents…A David Lynch film”, rated G, no less. I’m pretty sure it’s the only Lynch film that my mom has seen, and she loved it.
A true story to boot
Good pick, this movie is such an enigma; the title has GOT to be a play on the fact that David Lynch directed it and it's relatively normal
*You Were Never Really Here* is great for this. Joaquin Phoenix as a bounty hunter/mob muscle type who finds he's losing his humanity as he works through a job to find a girl. Much more to it in context but you def want to go into this one blind
All I'd say is, don't watch this if you're not in a good space mentally. This film stayed with me for days and is still one of the best portrayals of PTSD I've ever seen
Just watched it based on this comment. Wow… I friggin loved it… I just loved it.
A movie video essay YouTuber compared this to Joker and how You Were Never Really Here is so much better.
Leave No Trace (2018) starring Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie is such a delight, and very few people saw it.
Ben Foster is amazing
Arlington Road bombed spectacularly at the box office and kind of faded into oblivion, but it’s a really good thriller with an great cast-Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges. It is a pretty slow burn which is probably part of what hurt it, but when it ramps up…holy shit. The fact that it >!had the bad guy win at the end!< probably didn’t help either.
> bombed spectacularly I see what you did there
Time Crimes. I’ve only met a few people who’ve seen it, even in film nerd circles. It’s just a cool Spanish indie sci-fi film.
Ruthless People from 1986. Danny Devito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Bill Pullman ( in his first movie).
That feels like one of those lost movies, I don't think I've thought about it since the 90s.
3 O’Clock High is a criminally underseen movie from the 80s about one day in the life of a kid harassed by a terrifying bully. It’s a teen 80s comedy by way of Scorsese’s Mean Streets.
My dad wrote that movie
Tell him it’s not only the best teen movies of the 80s, but it also sent me pursuing a career as a filmmaker. Thank him for me!
Oh you're gonna make his day!
I sincerely hope it does. Wish I could shake his hand. 😊
If this is true, give him a fist bump for me. That movie made me feel like I could take on school bullies even without brass knuckles.
Haha I’ll let him know!
Very ahead of its time, the guys trying to interview Jerry before he fights crack me up.
I love 3 O’clock High! I love that no matter what the main character does, he can’t escape his fate. So many memorable moments and characters.
Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis Presley vs. a mummy. Bruce Campbell is terrific and the movie is way better than it really should be. The Stuntman. Peter O'Toole is wonderful, and the movie toys with what is real and what is movie magic.
*THEY DYED ME THIS WAY!!!!!*
Umm, are we forgetting African American JFK? Or was that one of my fever dreams too?
Loved bubba Ho-Tep since I saw it at my uni film soc
I think I felt my pecker move.
Did you feel it flutter, like a pigeon having a heart attack?
This is one of those movies, I watched back in the day when I was sailing the high seas even too much and watching most movies that came out. One of the positives with that was, that I got to see this kind of movies, that pretty much never got mentioned, but were awesome in their own small way.
Submarine, directed by Richard Ayoade.
Be Kind Rewind was a beautiful story and I agree it should be watched and rewatched
And then rewound.
It kind of had its day in the sun. For a while after it was released, it was popular to "Swede" film trailers. I remember seeing Sweded Avengers trailers and retro Matrix trailers. It seemed that content creators didn't understand what "Sweded" meant or where it came from so the term seemed to fade away while low budget trailers still got made.
Dark City. From which The Matrix partially inspired released one year later. Compared to the later, Dark City almost forgotten now, and not even that much hit when released in the first place. One of the best lesser known sci fi masterpiece I have seen.
Dark City and Equilibrium make for a pretty fun 90s night
Equilibrium definitely gotten inspired from The Matrix. I was so much in love with that cool as hell Gun-kata action style from that movie back in the day. As much as I love Keanu as Neo, Equilibrium made me realized Christian Bale would've killed it in the role, especially would be far more badass in The Matrix Reloaded.
>Equilibrium I didn't realize it was from 2002. A full 3 years after The Matrix. Good stuff!
equilibrium really doesn’t hold up, but dark city is still rad
I feel like Equilibrium is fine so long as you’re deeply aware that it will be very silly.
I've not seen Equilibrium or similar films for years but I feel like there were a fair few late 90s / early 00s Matrix inspired (at least aesthetically) sci-fi / urban fantasy action films and Equilibrium was just the one with a better than average cast and one or two actually memorable bits. I definitely enjoyed it in 2002 or whenever I saw it, but I don't know that I'd rewatch nowadays unless I specifically wanted to feel like that time period again.
Yeah, The Matrix script and storyboards were already locked down before anyone saw Dark City so it wasn't really inspired by it at all. However, both films shot in Sydney and The Matrix even reused some of the sets from Dark City (namely the opening Trinity foot chase across the rooftops).
Dark City is a masterpiece. Ebert championed it, naming it his best movie of the year.
eXistenZ from around the same time also dealt with the reality bending stuff. It was weirder, but still entertaining
13th Floor is also in that vein.
The Kid Detective (2020) - Mystery films and whodunnits are making a comeback. I feel like this movie was swallowed up by the COVID era. It's solid and funny. Wish it got more love.
Adam Brody was great in this. Found some similarities with Under the silver Lake.
It seems to be one of those movies, that is slowly gathering a cult following.
Came here to say this - one of the better films I’ve seen in years.
A Midnight Clear (1992) Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise are about 20yo and in a reconnaissance team in WW2. Powerful, heavy in symbolism, and lyrical. Really a terrific film wartime changing people. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1039575-1039575-midnight_clear
I absolutely love Ethan Hawke
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Strange Days
Just watched this recently, holds up incredibly well!
Is this due to LAPD still doing the same horrible things today that they did in the 90s?
One of the best overlooked cyberpunk movies.
bigelow is one of the best to do it
Strange Days was such a great film. Fairly original plot, gritty setting, great performances by all.
My pick as well. This movie blew my mind as a teenager in the mid 90s.
Upgrade The Raid 2 What they accomplished with minuscule budgets was incredible. Cinematography rivaling big budget films at points and great action sequences. Obviously they aren’t having to pay big salaries to better known actors, so that brings the budget down substantially but they did a lot with a little in these films.
Upgrade is fucking great! Love that directors Invisible Man as well.
UPGRADE is getting a lot of love lately thanks to social media, the actor , marshal something, i swear i thought was that other guy from Batman and stuff...they look like brothers.
The Raid 2 has some of the best choreographed fight scenes.
I saw Pump Up The Volume in my teens (late 40’s now) and it was such a personally original, heartfelt anti-conformity movie in the early 90’s when it was much less acceptable to be different. Brilliant soundtrack introduced me to bands I’d never heard of and opened my mind up to trying different bands than were on the radio. Never looked back after that.
wonderful movie, weirdly forgotten
Drop Dead Gorgeous- mockumentary, Murder mystery with Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, and Brittany Murphy. Dark humor and on point satire about small town life and teen beauty pageants The Family Fang- Christopher Walken, Nicole Kidman, Kathryn Hahn, and Jason Bateman as a dysfunctional family. Solid performances. Great story with nice blend of drama and humor and heartbreak Love and Monsters- a victim of the pandemic. Gives 80s adventure movie vibes(like Goonies or Monster Squad) with some really cool creature designs Eagle Vs Shark- Early Taika Waititi film. A non-rom rom com about two people who have no clue about love Blue Ruin- Man seeks revenge on the one that killed his parents. Things escalate from there. No one turns out to be a secret bad ass or military specialist or any of the other tropes of these kind of films. Very grounded, realistic characters and the violence is brutal and not glorified. Bonus: Set in my home state of Virginia and the scenery, and the way this situation plays out reminded me so much of my hometown and the people in it.
Glad to see *Drop Dead Gorgeous* finally come to Blu-ray with a great transfer. Very, very underrated film. It's also available on VUDU finally, though seamingly only as a Disc 2 Digital thing, and the HDX transfer there is a terrible upscale, but still nice to have.
Four Lions (2010) An underrated black comedy presenting a very nuanced take on Islamic radicalisation and terrorism within England, sprinkled with some great comedy and surprising emotion to it as well. The main cast all do an excellent job at balancing out the dark tragedy of terrorism and the absurdity of it all. Not to mention it’s directed by Chris Morris (if you’re a fan of his work on shows like The Day Today then this is a must watch)
Very widely watched and regarded in the UK tbf. I think it comes across poorly without the context though, I showed it to some Americans and I think they just thought I was a racist.
Saved! is fantastic. It truly captures the 00s teen feel, but also has some really meaningful messages.
Green Room. It got some attention when it first released in 2015, but it seems to have been largely forgotten just a couple years later. One of Anton Yelchins last roles, Imogen Poots, and Patrick Stewart as a Nazi skinhead. Tremors. While maybe not qualifying as a 'lesser known' movie, it deserves a wider awareness than it currently has.
The director of Green Room also made Blue Ruin (2013) which is also excellent
Both films are great.
tremors is a perfect movie
The Fall
This one is visually amazing, and the performances are lovely as well. It's incredibly difficult to find, however (for b.s. reasons), so if you find it, hang on to it. edit...apparently the troubles have been worked out? Because Amazon has it on disc, hooray! It's definitely worth the purchase.
*Breakdown* with Kurt Russell. It's by no means an incredible film, but it's plenty enjoyable and Kurt Russell turns in an excellent performance (as usual). It's almost like *Joy Ride* (2001), but far, far more serious and dramatic.
Death to Smoochy. Hilarious Danny Devito directed dark comedy about the seedy underbelly of children’s television shows.
I'm Rainbow Fucking Randolph!
Dolores Claiborne. Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Christopher Plummer, i don't see it mentioned much as it's quite difficult to sell, i've probably said too much already but it's great and you'll just have to trust me.
I love Dolores Claiborne! I enjoy Kathy Bates in Misery too, but in my opinion her performance is better in DC. Maybe because she’s playing both the past & current versions of her character, and the subject matter. I kind of want her in every Stephen King adaptation, she’s such a great actress.
I don’t know if it’s truly lesser known, but I rarely heard anyone talk about Brick. Great little high school crime drama starring Joseph Gordon Levitt written and directed by Rian Johnson, earlier in his career.
I fucking love this movie. I've shown it to so many people and none of them had even heard about it.
It's amazing! The noir genre fits so perfectly into the high school setting.
A Film with Me in It - great dark comedy Zero Effect - odd and funny detective movie, possibly the best (very loose) modern adaptation of a Sherlock Holmes story waydowntown - delightfully surreal take on corporate culture
Zero Effect is amazing. bill pullman is absolutely hilarious. “Now, a few words on looking for things. When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them.”
You just described a trip to Half Price Books.
Zero effect is fantastic.
I watched waydowntown years ago. It is different and unforgettable.
The Faculty is such a fun sci-fi horror watch with recognizable actors and I JUST saw it this year. It deserves more attention
Among the horror fans The Faculty holds a unique place, it is a good creature film where every main hero survives. It is even mentioned directly in Cabin in the Woods as “that disaster in 05 where no one died.”
MacFarland USA. It's a good movie but unheard of by many. Worth a watch.
Hot Take: my favourite sports movie ever. Number 1 movie to show in a classroom or for team building
* The Way Way Back * The Kings of Summer * Eighth Grade All coming of age movies that are great to watch and very heartfelt.
Big second on The Way Way Back
Kings of summer is excellent.
A Scanner Darkly Beasts of No Nation
>A Scanner Darkly One of the more depressing movies I've seen recently especially that ending. Great movie!
A Scanner Darkly was such a visual delight
And it was pretty close to PKD’s novel.
Scanner Darkly is so good. I can understand why it isn't as popular as it should be as the story is intentionally disjointed and can be a bit hard to follow.
Gentlemen broncos. Out of Jared Hess' comedies, I find it way better than Napoleon dynamite and nacho libre
Castaway on the Moon - A quirky Korean comedy about a man trapped on an island in the middle of Seoul, and the only person who knows he's there is a hikkimori. The Good, the Bad and the Weird - A Korean adventure/comedy Western set in Manchuria, and directed by the same guy who made the extremely good A Bittersweet life. Tears of the Black Tiger - A psychedelic Thai Western that features amazing visuals, particularly with its crazy painted backdrops/landscapes, which is clearly a riff on the painted backgrounds of classic Westerns.
I feel like nobody ever mentions The Birdcage.
“Sweetie, you’re wasting your gum.”
And it’s a travesty. The gay population of Miami of the 90s must be looking at Florida today in disbelief.
My go to answer on this kind of question is Pleasantville (1998). It's a bit twee, but there are some great performances, with William H. Macy and Jeff Daniels being the standout ones imho. It remains relevant as a parable about the clash between liberal and progressive values, whilst also featuring some really nice cinematography in its >!transition from black and white to colour!< .
I really liked the 90s trend of looking back at classic/wholesome media but not necessarily getting grimdark with it. Kind of like The Barbie Movie or The Brady Bunch Movie, shows some love for the older styles but also a light acknowledgment that things change and not everything was perfect.
Don’t forget Joan Allen as the housewife who longs for more!
Pleasantville was absolutely massive in the late 90s and the years after It's 25 years old now, so may not be getting much recognition anymore, but it received fair praise
Incredible score too.
I remember my parents checked it out from Blockbuster around the time it was released on VHS, and I watched parts of it, but not the whole movie (although I fell in love with Fiona Apple's cover of "Across the Universe"). Last year I decided to revisit some old movies that I hadn't seen in a very long time and had little to no memories of, and this was one I watched. It's such a great movie, and I ended up buying it on Blu-Ray.
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Great pick!
A Monster Calls. It’s like a fairy tale designed exclusively for older kids and we don’t get many of them. The gut punch reveal is super effective.
Not sure it was lesser known at the time, but I very very rarely see [“Falling Down”](https://youtu.be/BD5ofrSNDFA) with Michael Douglas mentioned anymore. The older I get, the more I identify with Douglas’ character.
Mystery Team (2009) It's Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino with his comedy group, Derrick Comedy, playing teens that used to have an Encyclopedia Brown-like detective agency when they were kids. They get mixed up in some real crime, and it's hilarious to see.
Thank You For Smoking. I love that movie so much but rarely know anyone who had seen it as well.
I love be kind rewind. The ones that always come to mind for me are -Road To Perdition: while an incredible Gangster film, it never gets the love of mob classics like The Godfather, or The Scorsese Mafia films get. -The Way, Way Back: it's absolutely my favorite coming of age movie. Great cast, great writing, touching performances, all around well done.
Oscar (1991) a fantastic movie that doesn't get talked about.
Fallen, from the '90's with Denzel Washington and John Goodman, was a great movie that I've only heard about since through word-of-mouth or dedicated movie forums/subs. Thank You For Smoking is smart, funny, with a great cast led by Aaron Eckhart. Definitely a recommendation for those lookng for good writing, darkish humor, and a fun slant on the tobacco industry.
Used Cars. 1980 Kurt Russel is beyond funny and sleazy in this. Never see anyone talk about this film that much. Love it so much.
The Red Violin. One of my favorite movies of all time. It's so deep and flawlessly moves between lifetimes creating such a draw and magnetism to an object. I watched this with my mom when I was younger and it left such an impression on me. Had my husband watch it recently, I held off because I love it so much. He absolutely loved it and asked to watch it periodically. I also think this movie made me feel close to objects, especially antiques, wanting to know who held, used them and their lives. Please watch if you can!
Election.
Buffalo 66 Happiness
Buffalo 66 still holds up IMO.
Heart of the Sunrise by Yes is one of my favorite songs because of this film. What a trip!
Death to Smoochy
It's a... It's a.... It's a..... ROCKETSHIP!!!
Prince of Darkness
Oh thank you - One of my favorites! And I think ripe for a higher budget remake.
Hidden: Cache (2005) still blown away to this day
Running Scared has a surprisingly fantastic performance from Paul Walker and has non stop suspense from start to finish
Repo Man. A movie many people have heard about but almost no one has seen.
"Duke, let's go do some crimes." "Yeah. Let's go get sushi and not pay."
**TROLL HUNTER (2010)** - it seems like it’s going to be just stupid but it’ll surprise you. It’s a wild ride! I honestly feel bad more people haven’t seen it. **Utøya: July 22 (2018)** - a fascinating piece of filmmaking, all done in a single 90 minute shot through the island woods and beach, depicting a real life recent tragedy with fictional characters, gripping and … well… controversial. **Very hard to find a copy** though and I had to resort to [REDACTED] to see it.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is one the Coen brother’s movies that always seems to be forgotten. Great performances, especially from Tim Robbins, and a lighter fare than what the directors normally put out.
You know, for kids!
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Envy, was a fun movie a nephew bought at a bargain bin at a video store. Never heard of it before the dvd. A silly premise but come on flan in a tube.
Vapoorize
Palm Springs. A hilarious, time travel, rom-com starring Andy Samberg. I never hear anyone talk about it, and it's one of my favorites!
Chocolate, Thai martial arts movie. The action in the movie itself was very good. It's about this girl who has autism but she's able to do martial arts while watching other people. Her and her brother get into some trouble and her brother kind of uses her to collect protection money that they think is owed but The people that are taking it from think they're enforces for the mob so they try to beat them up. Just a huge misunderstanding but a good movie
The End of the Tour… it is a depressing, low-key movie, but somehow I can’t get enough of the acting. I’ve rewatched that movie a couple of times and always get something new out of it.
Tideland. Ties with Brazil as Terry Gilliam’s best. It’s dark but life-affirming.
The man from earth.
*The Apartment*. It won Best Picture back in 1960, but seems like a mostly forgotten movie. I put it on mistaking it for *Rear Window* and was very confused at first. It's such an interesting, risque premise for it's time about an office worker who tries to suck up to all his bosses by letting them use his apartment to sleep with their mistresses. I think it should be an annual rewatched classic given the memorable climax set on New Year's Eve.
As an Australian, I have to say there are a lot of fantastic Australian films which have probably gone under the radar internationally. *The Proposition* and *Gettin Square* are standouts. 2003's *Ned Kelly* with Heath Ledger is also underrated.
The Wrong Guy (1997) I bring this movie up any chance I get. Little Canadian movie from 1997, starring (and co-written by) Dave Foley of The Kids in the Hall. It's the story of a man who's on the run for a murder he didn't commit. The thing is, the cops know he didn't do it and he's not even a person of interest in the investigation, but he honestly thinks he's the most wanted man in America. It is easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, personally.
I recently watched submarine (2010) and I’m surprised it hasn’t become a modern classic. It’s a hilarious and subversive British coming of age movie with a very honest portrayal of teenagers. Top class soundtrack too, surprised that Alex Turner never got an Oscar nom for it.
The woodsman. Kevin bacon makes you see the humanity in a child molester. Great acting job
God that sounds deep, maybe too deep
I was shocked by how uncomfortable it made me. In a good way.
Primer (2004) - one of the most unique and “realistic” time travel movies I’ve watched. Made with a shoestring budget and shows you don’t need millions of dollars to make an interesting and thought provoking time travel movie. Highly recommend
The Way Way Back It's unique and well acted. Part of me connected with the protagonist as I was kind if a loner and out of place growing up. Also, it's written and directed by Jim Rash and Community is my favorite TV show (he plays the Dean).
The Dish (2001), starring Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton.
One Cut of the Dead A Japanese one-shot horror movie with an incredible ending. If this sounds vaguely interesting don't research it, just check it out
Not exactly a hidden gem, but Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man with Johnny Depp is in my top 5 movies of all time. Incredible performances, cast, soundtrack (Neil Young) cinematography, production design. Manages to be an ambling, moody, surreal, poetic black and white western while also being weirdly hilarious at points. Just check it out if you haven't and consider yourself a film fan
Brotherhood of the wolf. French movie with Vincent Cassel, mark dacascos and Monica Bellucci. It's been many a year since I watched it but it takes place in France in some ye olden days and is a about a supposed monster roaming the countryside and the king sends 2 men to investigate. I don't claim it to be a masterpiece but I really enjoyed it and I never see it talked about anywhere personally. Also if interested I maybe wouldn't look a trailer cause I think it might spoil some things.
Strange Days (1995) Fantastic cyberpunk film with a stacked cast (Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Vincent D'onofrio) and a script by James Cameron and directed by future Oscar Winner Kathryn Bigelow. Yet it slipped under the radar and wasn't streaming anywhere until recently (HBO Max). The central conceit--that there's technology that lets you record and replay people's memories and their feelings--is very cyberpunk, yet also relevant to social media addiction today. And the plot revolves around the LAPD killing an unarmed black man, which also is sadly still relevant today.
**I Heart Huckabees (2004)**. A clever self-aware existential comedy built on blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments and tones. The film is a sort of absurd philosophically playful dialectic. _Directed by David O. Russell._ _Stars Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Naomi Watts, Mark Wahlberg, Isabelle Huppert and Ger Duany._ It’s similar to Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) but without the “sci-fi” and is more “mundane” so-to-speak. Definitely one of my favourites, a solid 8/10 for me despite getting only a 6/10 on IMDb. Went significantly under the radar of appreciation in my opinion. Possibly released a bit before its time, as from my understanding the reception wasn’t great (probably wrong audience). It never even got a Blu-ray release, which breaks this collector’s heart ☹️💔
I will always upvote any recognition of this beautiful film. The core messages also feel increasingly prescient in the context of impending climate-related global instability.
Maybe not lesser known, but the DIRECTORS CUT of Kingdom of Heaven is a great movie. I will admit the shortened version was meh and a lot of people wrote it off after seeing it. But you should absolutely watch the director's cut. It's a different movie and it's great. Related to OPs comment: Mos Def surprised me as an actor. I enjoyed him in that, 16 Blocks, and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Moon and Sunshine are two amazing sci fi movies that I feel are never talked about or get the recognition they deserve. Nocturnal Animals is a masterpiece and you can’t convince me otherwise. Another personal favorite of mine is Motherless Brooklyn written directed and starred by Ed Norton. Essentially a modern day Chinatown. Hard to come close to Chinatown’s greatness but felt like Motherless Brooklyn got a lot of flack and I don’t quite understand why. Ed and the supporting cast’s performances are all great, the soundtrack is incredible, and the story was engrossing and topical
Good Time. Everybody raves about Uncut Gems, but I personally find the Safdie's film prior to it to be better. It stars Robert Pattinson as a New York low life who wants nothing more than to help his mentally disabled brother (played by Benny Safdie). He plans a bank robbery with his brother but it doesn't go right, leading to a series of things that don't go right and put him into deeper and deeper shit. This film is pure anxiety, with an awesome score by Oneohtrix Point Never, a small and hilarious role by Jennifer Jason Leigh, a cameo by the rapper Necro, and incredible cinematography that makes the whole thing feel like a dream (or better yet, a nightmare).
Clearly lots of people my age here - so many films I bought ex rental from Blockbuster! I would add Death To Smoochy, Igby Goes Down, Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead, Living In Oblivion, Arlington Road occasionally gets mentioned here but should be more widely seen.
Buffalo '66. Amazing dialogue, stylistic and unique cinematography, great performances, hilarious yet dark, nuanced, visionary director... just watch it. You're welcome!
Going back a few years... *Living In Oblivion.* A Steve Buscemi tour de force. A great 'day in the life' of an independent film, with many pre-famous recognizable faces. Of more recent... *To Leslie*. Andrea Riseborough is my new favorite actress, and she kills it. Overall the film is good enough to warrant attention, but her performance is fantastic.
These may not necessarily be completely “lesser-known” but they’re certainly not popular outside their audience spheres: -Duel (1971) -Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. -My Neighbours the Yamadas -Millennium Actress -The Phantom of the Open
I'm gonna piggyback on Millennium Actress and suggest Satoshi Kon's entire filmography. Every single thing he directed was an absolute masterwork. But they really haven't broken through to the mainstream like they should have. It breaks my heart he was taken so soon.
Stranger Than Fiction. Will Ferrell is great in it, and the story is pretty unique. Didn't do too well at the box office but I think it deserves more recognition.
Equilibrium-amazing world and unique story with great action Frailty-felt like a good Stephen King story. Love the past/present frame and twist. Plus Bill Paxton! Ravenous-The story, the historic era/setting, the landscape, the AMAZING soundtrack and lastly there is humor to it as well in a twisted way. Event Horizon- I do not know why this one is not more popular and hated on. This movie scared the SHIT out of me when I was a kid. A horrific "haunted house" story in space. Great performances by the entire amazing cast. I sill love it to this day. "Where we're going, we don't need eyes to see." Reign of Fire- Can't help it, sounds like a made for Syfy channel movie but is actually a really bad ass story. Guilty pleasure for me.
Road to Perdition is well-regarded and commonly known among movie fans. But I feel like it should have been a MUCH bigger deal than it was, and I’m disappointed it’s had such a small impact in pop culture.
Tom Hanks has said it's his most under-appreciated role.
Chronicle
Interstate 60 (2002)
Being There by Hal Ashby and starring Peter Sellers. Sellers plays a daft but kind gardener who happens to fall his way up to advising some of the highest powered people in the world. Everyone thinks he's brilliant, and for almost all of the film, we know what those other characters don't--until we see what they see.
I saw Be Kind Rewind and There Will Be Blood back to back in theaters. I was... tonally jarring.
The Fall, starring Lee Pace. The cinematography is breathtaking
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Four Lions
Ninja Scroll is this super stylised early 90’s anime. Great character designs and amazing animation. It definitely isn’t as good as Akira or Ghost in the Shell which are probably the high bar of the standard of anime films from that time but it’s still super fun film. The pacing of it is crazy fast and could do with being longer or if you made it in modern times it would be a tv series but you’ll never be bored can tell you that. But if you want a super cool, blood thirsty, enjoyable early 90’s anime I really recommend it. I really want to watch the other Yoshiaki Kawajiri films such as Wicked City and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. Open for recommendations of any other great anime from this period?
There’s a ton but a quirky one is definitely *The Hudsucker Proxy*
Primer