films which don't get mentioned that often...

A great film of recent years which seems to have dipped below the radar and to my mind has never appeared on terrestrial television is Flirting With Disaster. Is that the kind of thing you mean?

I think The Cars That Ate Paris has had more than enough publicity for a archly stylistic pile of toss. Gas, Food, Lodgings is pretty inoffensive but trite - Alison Anders I believe who has been dissed elsewhere.

All films directed by Lukas Moodysson are also completely brilliant and largely unknown, unless you are Swedish.

Strange Days is interesting, but already outdated. Ralph has never really cut it as an action hero - but its a dark little beast no mistake. In the millenial movie genre its one of the best (Last Night being the best - though more of a end of the world movie than a millenial one).

Hmm presence of Kate Beckinsale equals poor movie - discuss.

My own answer is: Alan Rudolph. His entire career is full of great seldom-seen movies (esp. The Moderns... but NOT Breakfast of Champions).

Breakfast Of Champions - dud dud dud.

Talking of Afterglow, who on this beeotch has seen After-Life by Kore- Eda Hirokazu? Now there's a film which should have got the Yi-Yi bigging up treatment.

Inspector Clouseau with Alan Arkin is a rarely talked about film - but that's not because it is any good. It is infact really rather bizarre seeing someone else doing Sellars schtick.

Have always wanted to see something by Jean-Marie Straub.

Orlando

French Kiss

An American Tail

I just saw Requiem For A Dream and thought it was brilliant.

Also, Lindsay Anderson's films featuring "Mick Travis" - "If..." I suppose is fairly well known, but "O Lucky Man", and "Brittania Hospital" aren't. I think they're fxkng great. Supposedly the actor (whose name escapes me @ present, I keep thinking of david warner for some reason) only appeared in that rubbish star trek film where he blew up kaptin kurk to raise $$$ for the fourth film in the sequence, which Anderson never got started on, because he dies. Lindsay Anderson=HERO

Thinking of David Warner, there's "Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment". GRATE, cheers, cheers, etc

Silent movies don't get much press anywhere these days, and last time I tried to get some on video, all I could get was "Steamboat Bill Jr." which is one of the most awesome films I've ever seen.... gimme "Perils of Pauline", "Fantomas" movies, "Sparrows", "Broken Blossoms", "Safety Last", "Easy Street" etc etc. x0x0

Hey, was this a 60s mod style film about a crazed artist who was trying to win back his ex-wife? I saw it once, ages ago, and have never been able to figure out what it was called.

xoxo

There's also very very brief double dildo action which might've been cut down, some vomiting and tiny bits of violence, but I didn't see anything extreme. Astounding movie though.

xoxo

I've only seen it once, but I remember thinking it was very good. It's about a young man who takes a job at an office (late 60's London - scenes of him strolling along a walkway near the Shell Centre stick in my mind), but then slowly goes to pieces.

Gas Food Lodging is nice. A mellow, character-driven film. Chris Mulkey, who is in it, was in another interesting film called Patti Rocks about a VERY foul-mouthed guy going to see his ex-girlfriend (wife?) with a weird, moody friend in tow.

Fucking Amal came out in America under the title Show Me Love, named after the Robyn song. Good film; I liked the use of Foreigner in the soundtrack too. Also weird how it seemed to have virtually no locations, all the outdoor shots being in tight spaces or at night.

Slacker probably suffered as a result of Linklater's next film, Dazed and Confused, being an utter piece of timewasting dung.

My favorite science fiction film is Dark Star since, unlike the other space films where everyone is a hero or some crap, the crew of the Dark Star are just as screwed-up, lazy, and useless as you'd expect. First movie by John Carpenter? I believe so, don't make me go look it up.

I love Koyyanisqatsi, but while it is out of print everybody probably knows it...

Brewster McCloud is a nice extremely-weird 70s trip, probably Robert Altman's best film.

The film about Trekkies, which I believe Denise Crosby had a hand in making, is fun even if you don't like Star Trek.

I loved Rushmore when it came out. I guess I like it a little less now, but it's still one of the only truly creative, individual movies I can think of form the last few years.

The Slums of Beverly Hills is good. Bit slow of a script but great performances: Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Corrigan. Corrigan was also in Buffalo 66, quite an interesting film from (perhaps overly) tough-guy Vince Gallo and nice work from Christina Ricci...who was good in The Ice Storm, probably my favorite film of the 1990s. Good stuff from Tobey McGuire and Adam Hann-Byrd.

So my video checkout recommendations? Fun- Rushmore. Bizarre- Brewster McCloud. Serious- The Ice Storm. Psychologically disturbing- Buffalo 66.

Hah.

I think it's underrated relative to how "The Red Shoes" is slightly overrated.

Are you counting the legendary 'live recording by nonsingers' musical flop At Long Last Love? Always wanted to see that to see if it really is that bad (and I'm sure it is).

Also Brotherhood of the Wolf, but that's just because y'all are hataz.

My vote: The Land Before Time.

Thanks to your post, though, now I can say that someone whose opinions could be taken seriously did like it. Sorry if this sounds a bit like a case of "follow the leader", but I already have enough things that distinguish me from the crowd -- any crowd. I don't need another one. :)

The Big Chill

Colonel Redl

Fierce Creatures

Gods And Monsters

Paperhouse

The Pillow Book

The Servant

Sisters

Long Weekend. Low budget Aussie movie about a couple with marital problems holidaying on a beach where strange things may or may not be happening, all of which are symbolic of their crumbling relationship in some way - moaning, beached animal = their aborted child, for one. Low budget, no name cast, and I couldn't tell you the director or when it was made. Interesting though.

Anyone seen teh film of the Chocolate War? I heard it was supposed to be good.

snapped - gaby hoffman almost all growed up. bad boy steals NYC tough guy money and tries to rescue old g.f. from long island summerjob hell. fails. opens with gaby stopping her bike, laying down in the road next to a dead dog and taking it's picture. i fell in love instantly. she also builds funeral rafts for other assorted roadkill and sets them on fire in the river.

driver 23 / the atlas moth - dan cleveland and his metal band, Dark Horse, struggle to record their debut album. dan also struggles with some mild mental illness. this guy is seriously weird, but i admire his tenacity and attitude.

the daytrippers - woohoo parker posey and hope davis but everyone's really great, especailly anne meara

i'm not rappaport - i rented this because of martha plimpton but her part is tiny. the treat is to see ossie davis and walter matthau work off each other. warning: adapted from play = slow and dialog-heavy

dogfight - this is so cute. i love the part where lili t. is listening to 'don't think twice it's allright' also woohoo river phoenix

drunks - super great amanda plummer character

Also maybe someone can help me out here. When I was a kid, I swear to god I recall seeing an animated Jack and the Beanstalk movie at the cinema. Possibly Disney. But there was a very strange scene in it where this witchy woman made these paper cutout men and populated a church (or somesuch) with them, made them come to life, there was spooky operatic singing involved... I could be mixing up two films but for the life of me I DONT REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS, and no one else does when I mention this. Someone put me out of my misery!

They have bikers, kung fu, & hippies all taking on "The Man".

What else does one need in cinema?

Valmont, directed by M. Forman, I actually like better than Dangerous Liaisons (and no, not because the latter has Keanu, but that is a black mark). DL is much more close to the original text thanks to the mediation of the stage play, to be sure, but Valmont is no less cynical and is laden with some brilliant performances and exquisite sets. I think it got lost a bit in part because Forman was already seen to have 'done' the period via Amadeus, but when I saw it on DVD at that Wherehouse clearance I made sure to grab it.

Wow. Has anyone else seen this film? I've never met anyone who knows what the hell I'm on when I describe it.

Huge inspiration for Tarantino according to a documentary he did sometime ago.

Tampopo
A Taxing Woman
The Funeral