Missed Gems, Great films (and games) that have been largely passed over

[Zekko5]

Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

 

[Eyclonus]

Teeth: About a teenage girl who learns that breasts weren't the only thing that grow in puberty.

A Scanner Darkly: Keanue Reeves is a Narc cop who's been order to spy on himself. A mind-fuck and a half.

El Topo: If you made a hybrid plant-creature of Salvador Dali and cannabis, mixed it with pure LSD and made a film on it, you would not even come close to this... If you see it, watch it because you will never see anything like it.

Eraserhead: Closest to El Topo, but like an ant compared to an elephant there is a large difference

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Oh yeah, anyone else seen Switchblade Romance? A modern French slasher film with tons of gore, hints of lesbianism and a soundtrack by Muse. Pure awesome.

 

[dungeonmaster]

The movie that I recently watched that really impressed me was The Mist.
It is an old Steven King short story, and its directed by the same guy that did Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and The Shield on TV. And it has the guy from Thank You For Smoking, which is another underrated movie that you should all see.
I would have never picked it up if I didnt read the back and see there was weird alien things in it lol.
But Im a big Sci-Fi nerd.
It was so good that it changed my opinion that ALL movies are overrated pieces of crap.
There are exceptions of course but I think everyone loves fight club and matrix and starwars and stuff.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

The two do compliment eachother well. Rather pretentiously, the book is written in such a way that it adapting it to a filmscript wouldnt require great changes to the story. That cheeky devil Steinbeck

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

One movie I've found underappreciated is American Psycho. It is an entertaining, gorey detailed vision of a psychopaths mind and probably one of Christian Bale's best acting jobs.

Great movie, hated the ending. Totally ruined the whole movie for me.

 

[ModReap]

Golden Sun and Baten Kaitos Origins

Best Games Ever

 

[Sylocat]

Zero Effect, a mystery/drama/romance/thriller/dark-comedy, made in 1999. Written and directed by Jake Kasdan (the son of Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back), and loosely inspired by an original Sherlock Holmes story. Bill Pullman is fantastic as the lead, and this is one of the few movies with Ben Stiller in it during which I DIDN'T want to strangle him, but the supporting cast is nothing short of fantastic.
It's primarily a drama, but it's got some great dark comedy moments, stylized editing, and fascinating plot twists.
See it.

 

[Zekko5]

Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

The two do compliment eachother well. Rather pretentiously, the book is written in such a way that it adapting it to a filmscript wouldnt require great changes to the story. That cheeky devil Steinbeck

Agreed. The whole film script style of writing only made the book extremely boring for me to read, though. The story and interesting characters were the only things that kept me interested enough to plow through the boring writing. Who the hell still writes more than 4 pages describing the room they're in, and in the end it turns out it didn't really make any difference whether they were in the barn or in their room, because the dialogue could pretty much be done anywhere? A 'lil scene setting is nice, but seriously, four friggin' pages saying that the picture of the tractor isn't on the wall opposite the door, not next to the door, but on the wall left of the door? (I'm making that up, but you get the idea)

 

[RockThineWorld]

Pretty much anything in the Tartan Asia Extreme range is worth a good look at - Battle Royale, Dead Or Alive, Bangkok Dangerous, Audition... they're all superb film experiences, especially looking at them from a film-makers point of view.

 

[RufusMcLaser]

The Man Who Would Be King- Hardly anyone remember it, but this was a great movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine back in 1975. Great story, great acting, great everything. Connery and Caine play off each other so well in this gem, it's a treat to watch. What's it about? Oh, men decide to become the kings of Afghanistan. They don't make 'em like that any more...

Hickey & Boggs- another 70s movie, this one about two down-and-out detectives in Los Angeles. It's a total period piece, and the only DVD version has atrocious quality problems (better to catch it on Sky IMO) but it has some great acting by Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, both playing it totally straight. If you're an American whose image of Cosby is a genial father figure from 80s prime-time TV, it's quite a shock.

Princess Mononoke- anime fans are probably familiar with it, but the rest of you should give it a try. Every movie should be this wonderful. Even the English dialog is good.

Dark City- the Matrix done right. Plus, breasts!

I agree- Brotherhood of the Wolf is great. If you can stand subtitles, use the French dialog. Equilibrium is hated by people who take it too seriously but has high marks from me. Gattaca is one of the best science fiction movies ever.

 

[Cousin_IT]

The Man Who Would Be King- Hardly anyone remember it, but this was a great movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine back in 1975. Great story, great acting, great everything. Connery and Caine play off each other so well in this gem, it's a treat to watch. What's it about? Oh, men decide to become the kings of Afghanistan. They don't make 'em like that any more...

Great film.

i didnt realise Equilibrium counted as a past over film but its pretty darn good (& now I think about it I cant name many people who have said theyve seen it). Brotherhood of the wolf im not so keen on though. Like most movies of its ilk its good till you discover whats doing everything (as was the case with jeepers Creepers. Great till you learn its a harvest deamon doing it then it just decends into a pointless slasher action flick. JP that is not BotW)

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Tremors: on paper it looks like a stereotypical monster movie, but it's got such charm and wit. The sequels weren't as good, but they didn't suck either.

The Taking of Pelham 123: the original one, I mean. It was a blockbuster when it was released but has pretty much slid out of sight since... save for that remake that, frankly, sucks enough to dredge the Hudson River bottom. In my opinion the original still works as a period piece, an ironic view of New York when it was America's problem city.

No Man's Land: excellent but depressing drama set in the Yugoslavian civil war. Oscar winning [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283509/] but you don't hear anything about it anymore... I recommend watching it with a friend, and on a day you can step out afterwards into the sunlight with birds singing unless you really do want to end it all.

Incident at Loch Ness [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374639/]: to describe is to spoil, except to say that it's written by and stars Werner Herzog and it's about Loch Ness. And it's very, very weird.

I suppose I should stop now, before I ramble on too long.

-- Steve

 

[ThaBenMan]

*brushes all the dust off of the ancient thread*

Well, I have a tv show I'd like to add - it's a cartoon called Invader Zim. It was on Nickelodeon. It's about an alien named Zim who has been sent by his superiors to "conquer" Earth (when really they just wanted to get rid of him). He disguises himself as a young schoolboy, but one of his classmates knows the truth. He keeps trying to expose Zim for what he is but no one ever believes him. It's very funny, and rather twisted for a kid's cartoon (it would've been more at home on Adult Swim). The entire series can now be found on DVD. The creator also draws comics - his most famous are Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Squee. They are very twisted as well and much more adult-oriented.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

The Man Who Would Be King- Hardly anyone remember it, but this was a great movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine back in 1975. Great story, great acting, great everything. Connery and Caine play off each other so well in this gem, it's a treat to watch. What's it about? Oh, men decide to become the kings of Afghanistan. They don't make 'em like that any more...

One of my favorites! Michael Caine calls it his personal favorite role, because no matter what else he makes, people watch that and go "Nobody makes movies like this anymore".

Also...

The City of Lost Children: Dir. by Jean-Pierre Jeaunette, it even recieved mention from Yahtzee, though I had already seen it at that point. Also Delicatessan and A Very Long Engagement from the same director.

Unbreakable: The most realistic super hero movie ever made, and the best movie ever made by M. Night Shamalayan.

Six String Samurai: It has its issues but it is wickedly wierd post apocalptic fun.

The Three/Four Musketeers: Directed by Richard Lester and made in the 70's. An accurate, hilarious and action packed version of the story, a must watch if you like swordsmanship, slapstick action or the Three Musketeers, and if you can find it.

 

[Pebble_Raven]

Okay, I have to agree with the following:
Equilibrium (Picture "1984" if it had been written 50 years from now instead of 50 years ago)
Boondock Saints (Nothing particularly great or unique about this movie, but irresistable nevertheless)
Big Fish (I cannot find words to describe this. Just watch it)
Invader Zim (Hilarious, fascinating, peculiar. Another fabulous brainchild of Jhonen Vasquez)
Unbreakable (Bruce Willis is exploited by a comic book addict in a dark and realistic rendition of modern comic books)

...And suggest these:
-Bugsy Malone (The film that time forgot. It's an antiquity, it's a kids movie, it's a musical, but it's also the most unique cinematic experience I have ever seen in my life. Basically a kid-friendy musical version of the 1920s american mob wars and alcohol prohibition (I s**t you not.) Another interesting feature: All the actors are 18 years old or younger)
-Big Trouble (Hilarious adaptation of Dave Barry's novel about Miami and everything wrong with it. Flamed to death because it's about bombs and useless airport security, and the release date was set for just after 9/11, 2001. Terrible luck, great film)
-Les Triplettes de Belleville (Quirky, dark, entertaining, one of a kind animated film. French, but the almost complete lack of dialogue means it doesn't really matter)

And as far as games are concerned:
-Actraiser (2D SNES game, so if you're too modern to be able to appriceate dated technology, you're missing out on a golden game. A blend between simple God games, sim city, and some of the best sidescrolling action the SNES has to offer)
-Shadow of the Collosus (This game is an unforgettable masterpiece which reminds me just how good a game can be when it deviates from the premade formulas. This game is too unique to put into any genres, so I'll try to explain it. You play as some sort of warrior in some sort of Hyrule-esque world, guided by ancient spritits to save the soul of some girl. Screw plot, the point is, this game has you face off with a collection of titans, massive armored deities who defy reality in some insanely creative and mind boggling battles)

 

[josh797]

The Fountain, by Darren Aranofsky. Beautifully shot, very trippy in places, some gorgeous visuals. And it's got Rachel Weisz in it.

is that based on ayn rands book?

EDIT: never mind, thats "the fountainhead" ignore my momentary idiocy

 

[M0rp43vs]

I got some,
-Okami, Such an under appreciated gem and much better than most of the "lets-be-like-halo" games today. cleverly written, beautifully stunning, very empathetic characters, innovative gameplay, nice unique story, even some well defined minor bit characters.

-Psychonauts, Another beautiful unique game from the mind of tim shafer. A sequel would be well warranted.

-Invader Zim, wish the show would continue, anarchic sense of humour.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

In Bruges-- released fairly recently, but pretty much passed under the radar. Thought it was a brilliant film.