Anyone seen any underrated movies lately?

[Magic Man]

I've always loved Miller's Crossing, imo THE smartest Gangster film, the dialogue absolutely owns, the cinematorgraphy is gorgeous.

When Albert Finney's character Leo plays artist with the Thompson machinegun to the tune of Danny boy, that shit send shivers up my spine.

And I loved how you never totally knew who was double crossing who until the end, the "plays" might not have been plays, and we see that our relectant anti-hero who comes off as a woosy, is probably the most heartless dude in the whole film but closing time.

Awesome, in every sense of the word, a real grower.

[jfwalls]

Miller's Crossing - Very good movie! I've recommended it to many of my friends.

U-Turn. With Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, and J-Lo. Very smart and cool movie.
Directed by Oliver Stone. Actually, I'm not sure if this one counts, but I don't remember hearing much about it when it came out.

[Scubasteve]

Its been out for a while, but I'll liked Tears of the Sun alot. ITs the one with Bruce Willis, he is leader of a SEAL team and they go in to rescue that doctor (whos extremely hot) and end up taking out the whole village. Some cool war scenes.

[vigostar]

Paranoia 1.0.. just saw it over the weekend.. pretty sleepy movie until the end when you start to know whats really going on... and it has on of those.. "Oh shit" "wait" "ummmm" "does that mean that..." ending... also, Swimming pool was rather good as well... Tears of the sun was ok.... Touching.. yeah.... not as touching as Hotel Rowanda though... that movie great... The Salton Sea was a movie that come out and didnt stir any attention but was great... You think the whole movie is about one thing until the end.... It starred Val Kilmer....

[Sammy]

"deathwatch" turned out to be really nice, check it out.
"Life Aquatic" Was brilliant, but too subtle for some.

"The March of the Penguins" Was fuckin awesome :D --- a bit sappy, but great for kids and an awesome documentary.

"Solaris" was very nice, and the last truely great science-fiction (not fantasy) ... really damn spooky too.

[halflife99]

Batman Begins.

[jfwalls]

Sammy - Wasn't Deathwatch the one where those guys are stuck in the trenches during WWI, and an evil force starts killing them? If so, that was a pretty decent movie. Reminded me of The Keep.

I just watched Cube Zero a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty cool.

[Ssenkrah Semaj]

Equilibrium (you all have probably seen it)

Vanilla Sky one of my all time favorite movies...probably liked it for personal reasons

Ginger Snaps back trilogy (werewolf movies)

[cthomp]

one good movie i like and never heard alot about is Anti-Trust.

[0kelvin]

"Life Aquatic" Was brilliant, but too subtle for some.

"The March of the Penguins" Was fuckin awesome :D --- a bit sappy, but great for kids and an awesome documentary.


Both of those seconded!

"Freaked" just came out on special edition DVD a few weeks ago. It's a comedy from 1993 that was before its time (or maybe in-between its times, it was post-Airplane and pre-South Park) and never saw much exposure at all. I'd definitely recommend it.

And of course Kung Fu Hustle came out today!



0kelvin

[talbot]

"Below" (www.imdb.com/title/tt0276816/) - it's a WWII ghost story that takes place on an American sub.

"City of Lost Children" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112682/) - don't know what it was about, but the visuals were amazing!

"Brain Donors" (www.imdb.com/title/tt0103872/) - if you like quick-witted comedies in the style of The Marx Brothers, rent this. One of John Turturro's best movies.

[cotron]

"Freaked" just came out on special edition DVD a few weeks ago. It's a comedy from 1993 that was before its time (or maybe in-between its times, it was post-Airplane and pre-South Park) and never saw much exposure at all. I'd definitely recommend it.

freaked was great! i don't remember too much about it, but i remember it was fantastic. i dont even remember who played in it, it's been so long.

[M.C.Barrett]

I rented Solaris about a month ago, and I have to concur that it is of a rare breed. It's the sort of science fiction where science and technology serve as a setting to reveal a part of ourselves to which we might not otherwise have had access. Very pretty film. It would go on my shelf next to Gattaca, another one that was too smart for America the Free (of critical thought).

And consider The Life Aquatic thirded. Slick photography, brilliant humor, every joke a facet of genius. I love the DEEP SEARCH tattoo gag...

[lowaim]

Cube and Hypercube are both must see movies in my opinion :)

[Nero's Master]

City of Lost Children- don't know what it was about, but the visuals were amazing!



That was an excellent movie. :teeth: I'll gladly second that. :yayca:

[corky13]

EQUILIBRIUM
CUBE (only the first movie)
STALKER (some older russian member may know this one..i dont think it was ever released to amerika . its from Andrej Tarkowskij. A great director ! He also did the original "Solaris" movie (not the new one with George Clooney))
NAKED LUNCH (Its like a watchable Kafka story :) )
EVENT HORIZON (MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA ! HAHAHAHAHA ! HIAHIAHIA !...ok)
VIDOQ

[Groover McNab]

I've always thought Gattaca was an underrated flick. I don't really remember whether it got a lot of publicity when it came out. I watched it recently and aside from a couple of cheeseball callbacks it still held up.

I saw March of the Penguins recently too. Although I liked it, I thought it was a little short on information to be a good documentary.

[munkcee branes]

Ameros Peros is a mexican movie where three stories that run into eachother. One is about a dog fighter, another is about a bum assasain and the other is about a mexican soapstar.

This is one of the most brutal films I have ever seen, but it's definately the best foriegn film I have ever seen. I usually hate foriegn films, because I don't like reading my movies, but this one is real intuitive. The acting is so good you may not even need subtitles.

[Muircheartach]

Super Troopers. It's like if Police Academy had been directed by Trey Parker.

[normansargent]

City of God

Only came out in small theatres a few months ago. One of the Awesomest depictions of gang life in a foreign country.

James Journey to Jerusalem.

Also only in small theatres a few months ago. Shows how a kid who really has faith in this world has to learn about the harsh realities. He journeys to jeruselum to find god and instead finds corruption and his religious enthusiasm to do good gets rewarded with jail.

Devils Rejects

I don't know if this was well received or not. But I was totally surprised by how good it was. Had that feel of those great 70's B movies and was actually really well done something these new assembly line formula movies have not been able to do. Had a really weird twisted but funny feel to it which is hard to pull off. I was expecting another stupid horror movie like house of wax or texas chainsaw massacre but got a really smart and stylish thriller. a refreshing change to the movies these days which have no soul.
I have a new respect for Rob Zombie I never thought I would. Was expecting More Dee Snyder crap and instead got Melvin Van peebles.

Howls Moving Castle

I got lost in its weird fantasy world which I never wanted to leave.

Seize the Day.

With Robin Williams. Shows how Robin Williams Comic style really makes for interesting and strong stuff when he does Drama. Shows how a comedian who does drama should be executed. Something I think Jim Carrey is capable of if he would just get the right kind of roles.

Fist of the North Star. (The anime one not the stupid live action remake)

One of the greatest examples of the heroes journey Done right. A hero must be totally ripped apart in order to find his true power and this movie does this better than any I have seen. If a live action motion picture could duplicate what it did it would be one of the awesomest action movies ever made.

oops I think something is burning have to pick this up later.


http://cartoony.net/matth/matth.html

[hayeske]

Super Troopers. It's like if Police Academy had been directed by Trey Parker.

I freakin' LOVE that movie.
"You'll have to excuse them. When they get that syrup in 'em, they get all antsy in their pantsies"

[asoir]

I've got The City of God on DVD, it's old though, 2002.


Oh, and Coming to America is greatly underrated. :)

[Denart]

I've got The City of God on DVD, it's old though, 2002.

woa. Hold it. 2002? Yeah, thats some old shit



:P :P :P

[Prehistoric]

Session 9.

great, creepy movie about an asbestos removal crew at an old insane asylum.

i highly recommend it.

[asoir]

Just rented and watched Machinist tonight with Christian Bale, where he basically starved himself down to skin and bone for this role. Not a Spectacular movie, but a Good one. It was interesting and sickening just to look at the lengths the actor went to for this character.

I saw that advertised and thought it looked like a pretty good film, I heard the crew were amazed how thin he got.

Denart - Well 3 years is pretty old :dur: but it's an amazing movie anyway, WATCH IT!

[broken lizard]

yeah....i haven't seen it lately, but i always thought disney's treasure planet was a really great film.

[Pan]

Iron Giant - One of the best 2-D animated movies and massively underrated imo

Dark City - Cool and stylish, with a lot of good actors

City of Lost Children was also great. I've always considered Alien:Ressurection to be it's spiritual cousin since the director's style is so apparent in both.

[0kelvin]

Iron Giant - One of the best 2-D animated movies and massively underrated imo

Dark City - Cool and stylish, with a lot of good actors

City of Lost Children was also great. I've always considered Alien:Ressurection to be it's spiritual cousin since the director's style is so apparent in both.
Definitely seconded, all around.

I didn't realise he did Alien: Resurrection, but now that you mention it I should've noticed. But then I only saw Alien: Resurrection the one time.



0kelvin

[Magic Man]

Equilibrium (you all have probably seen it)

Vanilla Sky one of my all time favorite movies...probably liked it for personal reasons

Ginger Snaps back trilogy (werewolf movies)

I totally agree with Vanilla Sky, but its almost a complete ripoff of the spanish version in which Penelope Cruz plays the same character.

Also anything by Jeneut is pretty damn awesome, especially visually, City of Lost Children, Delicatessen and Amelie are such cool movies.

Also, anything by Hiyao Miyazaki - his anime's transcend genres, his storytelling is magical.

[Magic Man]

I've been wondering about "Millers Crossing"? because I like O brother Where Art Thou and Raising Arizona and Barton Fink.. Although Barton Fink at times can be a tad slow..the symbolism is quite interesting and the movie keeps you "thinking". Your not quite sure whats ..really.. going on.

Is millers crossing in b&w though, for some reason I keep thinking it is.

No Mike, miller's crossing is in clor, but the pallette is very restrained with earth tones, a gorgeously shot movie.

[young paddy1]

MIKECORRIERO: In some of the scenes if I were to guess, he's 5 11, maybe 6ft and 105lbs thats damn thin for a guy.
He's 6' 2"



Dog Soldiers

Deathwatch

Super Troopers

Mystery Men

Pushing Tin

[Ssenkrah Semaj]

I totally agree with Vanilla Sky, but its almost a complete ripoff of the spanish version in which Penelope Cruz plays the same character.

Also anything by Jeneut is pretty damn awesome, especially visually, City of Lost Children, Delicatessen and Amelie are such cool movies.

Also, anything by Hiyao Miyazaki - his anime's transcend genres, his storytelling is magical.

Obre Los Ojos (Open Your Eyes) have both of them, vanilla sky was definently directed better.


Dog Soldiers
Dog soldiers....The story was good, but the direction of werewolves was stupid to me...they made them like aliens...where they would just jump in the house attack 1 person then leave...that was retarded to me. If you like werewolf movies try the Ginger Snaps trilogy the second one is my favorite but all 3 have good stories.

[vigostar]

i just saw CUBE last night from everyones discription I had to watch it.. it was a very cool movie... everything about it was cubed... I even realized at the end of the movie that the room colors coincided with the rubix cube... but, I have to say that im nt feeling these dead endings now a days.. whats up with that??? Is hypercubed the sequel to this movie???

[vigostar]

yeah, those movies are all plot.. no real acting involved.... its just hard to make a movie that fun to watch, creative like that and have good acting as well... Its like watching Altered States... now thats a crazy fucking movie..! I think im going to buy cube probably the whole series and add to my very growing collection of dvds.. I like to have all these crazy movies that dont even need to make sense just fun to watch...

[Bojee]

You guys have already said a bunch I like but here are a few more ;Intacto, A very long Engagement, Near Dark, PI, Heist, Spartan, Heaven, Indian Runner, Bliss, Choke, Sexy Beast, Shower, King of Masks, Red Firecracker Green Firecracker, and Chunking Express to name a few.;) More recently You Me and Everyone we Know and Broken Flowers. :)
EDIT:
Murderball and Hustle&Flow

[CaptainInsano]

Kangaroo Jack

[Magic Man]

Memento, anyone seen that, smart as hell flick from the Batman Begin's director.

Gattaca, imo didn't have very good press release nor box office takings, but that movie really rocked my world, I loved its execution, cinematography and theme - above all the human spirit stuff. Jude Law is such an awesome actor.

Also, Darren Aronofski's films Pi and Requiem for a Dream are sick ass movies.

[CaptainInsano]

luved Gatacca myself.

The Emperor and the Assassin was freakin tight! You must ALL watch this. It's in ancient china, with some tight ass fight scenes, and godfather-talk-drama. Gorgeous cinematagrophy.

Warriors of Heaven & Earth is up there on my list too. It's more action & adventure than the political drama that E & A was. The main villian, Master An, reminds me of me >:D

[VirusArtist]

@Parker D: if you like those, you should check out MUSA- pretty unknown korean movie mit fantastic designs and a gripping story (and gory to boot)... Legend of the Evil Lake would be my second recommendation in that field...

as for other underrated movies:

bound: one of the first by the warchovsky-brothers - keeps you on your seat till the last minute (and the lesbian sex scene between gina gershon and jennifer tilly is a must-watch)

versus: hillariously entertaining splatter fest from japan (two words: YAKUZA ZOMBIES)

six string samurai: genius post apocalyptic martial arts movie with tons of good music

bubba ho tep: bruce campbell as elderly elvis in a retirement home fighting a mummy- nuff said...

the boondock saints: love that one to death

avalon: one and only non-animated feature film from mamoru oshii (GitS 1 and 2)- keeps you thinking..

alexander nevsky: russian movie from the 1930's about the national hero alexander nevsky who drove the swedes and the mongols out of russia and defeated the teutonic invaders on a sea of ice. Impressively done for its time.

and the last one: death machine... just dont expect a genius story and enjoy the visuals (wich are amazing for a b movie) as well as the over the top acting of brad dourif.

Etienne

[S.C. Watson]

Snatch. Saw that last year - absolutely *loved* it. Fucking funny as all hell, and sick to boot. Can't lose.


[edit]...though don't know if it got much pre-release press... I'd never heard about it before a friend recomended it to me. But I suppose it probably got some with Brad Pitt in it. Ohwell, may not count now that I think about it...

[Bojee]

Oregano- Have you seen "Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"? Same director and I actually liked it better. A lot of the same actors too. :)

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Bojee, no I haven't. I'll check it out. Thanks :)

[vigostar]

ive tried to watch snatch many times but, could never get passed their accents.. could never understand what pitt was saying 90% of the time... i should have tried to watch it with subtitles, i wonder if that would have helped.. anyways... I saw sex and lucia over the weekend... it was an interesting movie.... nice ending...

[Ssenkrah Semaj]

and the last one: death machine... just dont expect a genius story and enjoy the visuals (wich are amazing for a b movie) as well as the over the top acting of brad dourif.

Etienne

I loved that over the top movie....one of the greatest b-sci fi movies. Stephen Norrignton used to show so much promise...Blade-awesome then came League of Gentleman..blah

[S.C. Watson]

ive tried to watch snatch many times but, could never get passed their accents.. could never understand what pitt was saying 90% of the time... i should have tried to watch it with subtitles, i wonder if that would have helped.. anyways...
My wife's family from Ireland, and apparently that's a pretty accurate portrayal of what the Tinkers sound like from what she says.

[CaptainInsano]

yep, I've seen Musa too! just forgot to mention it!

I too liked Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrells more than Snatch. :wink: Jason Stratham is da man! Snatch was more confusing than Lock Stock, and not as funny, but it did have a cooler villian (Bricktop).

[theincredibleandy]

word up for lock stock and City of God. For some reason I liked lock stock more. And damn, it was Guy Richie's first film. My favorite underrateds:

Amelie (all-time favorite, makes me love being alive)
Glen Garry Glen Ross (Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, all in one movie. AMAZING acting)
Titus (Julie Taymor turned a shakespearean play into a new world. Rare when a movie can just DO stuff to me. Please see it.)

[NoUseFrAName]

Amelie - So awesome indeed.
Station Agent - A dwarf, an italian from brooklyn, and a crazy recluse lady....and it's like...so unbelievably charming. The dwarf guy(Fin) inherits this train station place, and he's befriended against his will by Joe, the crazy new yorker guy...and then the lady fits in there somehow too....it sounds stupid, but it's totally fantastic.
Dirty Pretty Things - I freaking love Audrey Taotou....and this movie is so powerfully emotive....a must see.
House of Sand and Fog - Shohreh Aghdashloo(who you may know from the last season of 24) and Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connely....great acting, and great filming.....the only guy who isn't spectacular is the guy that plays the love interest...and even he churns out a reasonable performance.
What the Bleep do we know? - Emily G would get mad if I called this a documentary probably....so I'll just say that it's a fascinating look at life and whatnot...plenty of stuff that you can take or leave...but visually it's great, and some of the speakers are a delight to listen to.

-Rob

[Bojee]

Murderball, out right now and super cool. :} :}

[vigostar]

nouserframe- you have some really good picks there.. Especially HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG... wow that movie blew me away... amazing...

[NoUseFrAName]

yeah, no kidding....I walked past it like a million times at the video store thinking it was probably just one of those fringe type films that kinda sucks that good actors do just to retain some credibility or something.....it wasn't until I'd seen pretty much everything else in the store that I finally took a chance and rented it, and I was quite pleased indeed.
I think Jennifer Connely is my new Jodie Foster....

-Rob

[Carnifex]

the fifth element.
i don't know how underrated it is really,but all i see is people bitching about it. i don't get that. for me,the designs,story and actors were fucking awesome. and the music...hmmm. :confident

[0kelvin]

the fifth element.
i don't know how underrated it is really,but all i see is people bitching about it. i don't get that. for me,the designs,story and actors were fucking awesome. and the music...hmmm. :confident
Hell yes!



0kelvin

[MoP]

Props to people who mentioned Amelie, Delicatessen, O Brother Where Art Thou, Snatch, Memento and The Boondock Saints.

That said, I don't think any of those are really underrated - just some of them aren't so well known... but they're all rated highly :)

I don't think anyone's mentioned The Man Who Wasn't There yet, though... I love that movie, and hardly anyone's seen it! Coen brothers do another great job. I loved Fargo too.

[WildSpruceMoose]

http://movies.nnov.ru/Covers/Hard%20To%20Kill.jpg

Yeah...this along with segal's 2005 release "submerged" The best part about submerged is how they are on a sub for about 5 minutes.

[oracrest]

"Ghost in the Shell 2 Innocence"

This movie rocked, although all we got in the states was a super limited release, and a shitty DVD. Although I recently read that an english dub is on it's way, via england.

"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is also a really good series from what I have seen. It's refreshing to see a consistent and well written show for once. Im only on about episode 7, but im lovin it!

[vigostar]

HA.... finally saw battle royal yesterday!!! dope movie... gonna buy that one....! Gonna check out another flick called beautiful boxer.. i heard it was good as well..

[vigostar]

house of sand and fog has to be one of the biggest sleepers ever... Just like when The Shawsank Redemption came out... No one paid attention to it but, it was an awesome movie. then everyone saw it becuase of the major channels picking up the movie... anyways... If no one has seen House of sand and fog.. see it... worth every single minute..

[Odiferous Welp]

Star Wars: wait a sec....yep, wrong thread.

Begotten: This movie's style was as if it was ripped right from a nightmare I could possibly have had. There's not much of a story really; God kills himself, mother earth brings him to one last ejaculation and impregnates herself, and she and man are brutally tortured through the rest of the film. Of course, there's no dialogue whatsoever, so the imagery tells the story. And it's not just pointless gore. The film is so visually incoherant that the gore and discomfort cromes straight from the viewer's mind's eye. Grotesquely beautiful, I'd say.

Tale of Two Sisters: Under rated, but mostly because, I imagine, it's a recently released Japanese psychological thriller/ghost story. I sill can't stop thinking about the dead girl under the sink.

The Emporers New Groove: I didn't know the cartoon exhisted up until a couple of years ago. I laugh every time I see it.

Animatrix: DAMN. I love this movie. I still tear up when I see the rioting between man and machine. Weird, I know.

SuperTroopers: You guys a right about this one. I spent a lot of time In New England and I've seen state troopers show up at many a party. They were yeilding laughter and anicdotes rather than handcuffs and firearms.

Dog Soldiers: I'd say it was the dialogue that kept me close.

[Carnifex]

ohhh animatrix...i need to get that one on dvd. have only seen it on internet so far,and it was really creepy. the war between man and machine makes me cringe everytime i see it. but i can't stop watching it. so great!

[Rascar Capac]

A Very long Engagement
this movie was so gorgeous, my saliva melted the 10 pounds of fake butter on my popcorn