Under-seen films

[kw161484]

Are there any obscure, or criminally-underseen films that you love that you wish you could get everyone to watch?

For me - Ref (1994).
Halloween H20 (1998).
The 'Before' trilogy, particularly 'Before Sunrise'.
The excellent sci-fi film 'Moon' (2009).
Bergman's 'Persona' (1966).
The Triplets of Belleville (2003).
Garden of Words (2013).
Prisoners (2013).
American Graffiti (1973) - retrospectively overlooked because of the Star Wars films that people adore and the Prequels people despise.
Nightcrawler (2014).
REC (2007) and REC (2009).
Loads more but they were off the top of my head.

[Bojangles]

Yes, Moon (2009). An underrated, under-seen, under-understood Sci-Fi gem if I've ever seen one.

Nightcrawler! I tried to talk about it with my grandma but she'd never seen it and so I tried to explain the story to her but she couldn't grasp it. The dumb bitch.

I will proffer Terrence Malick's Lanton Mills. It boggles my mind as to why so few people have seen it.

[Bojangles]

For serious though, when I filter my rankings to "obscure" and "very obscure" movies, the only non-documentary feature in my Tier 10 is Wildlike.

[djross]

x

[Mentaculus]

Nightcrawler wasn't my favorite, but man during that Mexican restaurant scene my jaw was on the floor. Truly enlightening depravity right there.

Of the Obscure/Very Obscure/et al. films in my top 3 tiers, these stick out to me for extreme recommendations:

A Man Vanishes (1967)
Winstanley (1975)
Kotoko (2011)
The Law (1959)
9 Souls (2003)
Seopyeonje (1993)
Unmistaken Child (2008)
Rapture (1965)
Crazy Thunder Road (1980)
Schalcken the Painter (1979)
Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1971)
Opium and the Kung Fu Master (1984)
Love & Pop (1998)
Trances (1981)
The Demon (1978)
Rouge (1987)
Basara - The Princess Goh (1992)
Go (2001)

Most are rarer Japanese or Hong Kong films, which makes sense, I suppose. A few are on BFI/Eureka/Criterion so the barrier to entry here is pretty low! As I kept going down my list all the Imamura docs in his filmmography appeared. This is sad. Cinefiles should find their way to Imamura's truly great body of work. I should also mention Unmistaken Child as a real gem. (OP - most on the forum have probably seen Persona. Most of our grandmothers - point taken - probably have not .)

[Mentaculus]

These 75 movies: http://www.criticker.com/?fl&filter=e13369

Nice. Mad Dog Time (1996) has been on my list for a while to see.

[djross]

x

[Stewball]

Looks like more people have seen Nightcrawler than I thought.

Anyway, people ought to be locked up until they watch these films, from beginning to end:

The Counselor
Like Sunday, like Rain
Detachment
Shuffle
Black Snake Moan
Belle
Leaves of Grass
Undisputed ('02)

[MacSwell]

Theatre of Blood - Vincent Price murders the theatre critics who passed him over for an important award - each murder corresponds to a death from one of the Shakespeare plays he's performed in that season. As you'd expect, it's hilariously over-the-top in almost every way - Price's character is even named "Edward Lionheart". How can anyone refuse that?

Happy End - short but sweet (and batshit insane) Czech movie where the entire film goes backwards, with the disjointed voice of the narrator (who's also the main character) interpreting his life as though the moment of death was his birth. Very clever and very funny.

Turbo Kid - if you like 80s nostalgia, hilarious gore and Michael Ironside villains, you'll probably love this.

Kirikou et la sorcière - charming French animation by Michel Ocelot based on West African folk tales. An intelligent newborn boy (who can also run extremely fast) decides to rescue his village from the evil sorceress terrorizing his people.

Charley Varrick - undervalued Don Siegel crime thriller featuring a badass Walter Matthau evading a badass Joe Don Baker after he's stolen a load of mob money in a bank robbery.

Brain Dead - Pullman and Paxton together! Effective psychological thriller that gets pretty surreal and really keeps you guessing until the end.

Stormy Weather - partly worth it for the Cab Calloway and Fats Waller bits, but mostly for the final five minutes, where the Nicholas Brothers perform one of the best tap dance numbers ever. I read somewhere that Fred Astaire apparently told them it was the greatest dance sequence he'd ever seen in a film; it's on Youtube for those interested.

Seven Beauties - amazing Italian film about a small time hood who weasels his way through the criminal justice system, the Second World War and life at a concentration camp. Giancarlo Giannini's absolutely immense.

An Inspector Calls - a great adaptation of Priestley's classic play, directed by Guy Hamilton (who'd go on to direct a few Bond movies) and featuring the always sublime Alistair Sim.

[paulofilmo]

Trying to think of something in the spirit of the OP . .

How many people in your daily life have seen a Buster Keaton or a Chaplin film?

Cult classics. Venus In Furs.

And because we are here now, one from djross' list: A Documentary about a teacher teaching his 4th grade students how to live a happy life. The 'trailer' is the first part: http://www.criticker.com/tv/Children_Full_of_Life/

And maybe something like Yuasa's Happiness Machine from Genius Party for something inspired and completely fucked up.