[Malankazooie]

Hardware
Jacob's Ladder
Enter the Void

If you haven't heard of, or are not familiar with, and your curiosity is piqued, you should definitely investigate.

[Knowing]

Malankazooie, on 13 August 2019 - 07:11 PM, said:

The 13th Warrior.

I really enjoyed it, but I don't think it is very well known.

One of my favorites. I watched that when I was around 8yrs old and was mesmerized. It wasn't until I could rent from Blockbuster on my own when reading the credits I found out it was based on "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton

[Gorefest]

Ah dang, forgot about Jacob's ladder.

I should also mention Cube, Primer, and Dark City.

[Tapper]

Curse of the golden flower (although Oscar nominated for best costume, I doubt it stuck with many) is a feast for the eyes and features Chow Yun Fat in a pretty great role.
I would recommend Takeshi Kitano's Zatoichi (2003) as a cool movie that is made infinitely more awesome by its ending scene. 13 Assassins is a straight forward, fucked up samurai orgy of death brought to the screen in an arthouse way, if that's your thing. Obligatory reference to Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Throne of Blood must be made, but they're hardly hidden gems.

Beasts of the southern wild is a great watch, and I would recommend The broken circle breakdown, for its soundtrack alone. Goodbye Lenin, although I saw it so long ago I can't really remember much except I liked it.
Personally, I love almost anything I've seen of Richard Linklater and as such would recommend before sunset and before midnight (haven't seen Before Sunrise), and Boyhood blew me away.

Oldies: The Sting, with a young Robert Redford, is quite alright.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 14 August 2019 - 10:28 AM

[Tattersail_]

Gorefest, on 13 August 2019 - 08:46 AM, said:

Always tricky these, because one person's 'obscure' may be another person's 'blatantly obvious'. But I'll have a stab at what might be considered less mainstream by some of you (I'll try not to wither under your scoffs), due to them being non-English language films:
C'est arrive pres de chez vous / Man bites dog (or most early career films starring Benoit Poelvoorde, for that matter, the guy is a walking cult classic)
In China they eat dogs (plus the sequel: Old men in new cars)
Delicatessen
Hero
Lola Rennt
Cidade de deus (city of god)

I was going to say Run Lola Run! yet you went all swarve.

Amorres Perros is probably the best film you've never seen. I wouldn't want to give anything away.

Dark City is a cult classic, but many of my friends have not watched t.

There are a plethora of films that you may have watched though, like Kickboxer, Blood Sport, Double Impact, Universal Soldier with Van Damme.

Demolition Man, Blade, White Men Can't Jump with Snipes.

No Escape is a fantastic film 2015. Owen Wilson in a different role to your used to.

A bit of comedy? Hmm, Couple Retreat, Hall Pass, Waiting, Road Trip, Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2, both funny as a parent watching them. Deuce Bigalow, Happy Gilmore but you know not to take them serious, and just enjoy the ride.

These are just a few that popped into my head, but watching them I don't think I had a bad experience and have not watched back to see if they stand the test of time. Talking about time..

About time is a good film.

[Tattersail_]

One I watched that has always stuck with me was Cube, definitely worth a watch! Some strangers wake up in separate rooms and have to find their way out of this maze, but some of the rooms are deadly. Very good!

[QuickTidal]

Knowing, on 13 August 2019 - 11:50 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 13 August 2019 - 07:11 PM, said:

The 13th Warrior.

I really enjoyed it, but I don't think it is very well known.

One of my favorites. I watched that when I was around 8yrs old and was mesmerized. It wasn't until I could rent from Blockbuster on my own when reading the credits I found out it was based on "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton

Not only that, but the film was originally called that, and they even made a teaser trailer that ran in theatres with the EATERS title. It was changed late in the game, and McTiernan was largely taken off it and replaced by Crichton himself who did a load of reshoots to make the movie more palatable to test audiences. I'm curious what McTiernan's original cut looked like.

[HoosierDaddy]

I'll second Primer.

[Knowing]

A great supernatural flick is

"Bubba Ho-Tep"

Bruce Campbell plays Elvis who gives up the life and ends up in a retirement home. Silly Premise but the acting and directing is great.

[worry]

Speaking of Takeshi Kitano, my favorite is Kikujiro. It's not one of his more hardcore gangster films -- it's basically him taking some kid cross country to reunite with his mom, and kind of a dramedy -- but it is still absolutely 100% Beat Takeshi at heart, in style and substance. Really, really wonderful.

Also, if anyone hereafter watches Dark City, watch the version without the opening narration.

[Malankazooie]

Would you guys consider the movie Being John Malkovich in this category? - an obscure gem of a movie that not a lot of people know about.

I mean, I think it's more well known then some of the other movies listed here, but when I've attempted to discuss the movie with a lot of my friends or during water cooler talk at the office, many of them have said they haven't seen it.

Man, though, it's a weird movie. Especially when John Malkovich enters the portal into his own mind. Damn, that's about as 'meta' as meta can get. Bizarre doesn't even approach describing it.

[polishgenius]

Tapper, on 14 August 2019 - 10:28 AM, said:

Beasts of the southern wild is a great watch,

One of my favourite movies ever, this.

Malankazooie, on 15 August 2019 - 05:34 PM, said:

Man, though, it's a weird movie. Especially when John Malkovich enters the portal into his own mind. Damn, that's about as 'meta' as meta can get. Bizarre doesn't even approach describing it.

If you think Being John Malkovic is weird you should watch French movie Holy Motors.




Anyway, a couple more to add to the list:


Belleville Rendez-vous, a French silent animated black comedy about tour-de-France cyclists being kidnapped and one of their grandmothers' quest to get him back. It is amazing.


A Town Called Panic! - also French, a stop motion comedy. It's plot is essentially meaningless, but I hurt myself I laughed so hard, and I'm not even a big laugher at films normally.


All is Lost - Robert Redford being stranded on a broken yacht in the pacific. Despite not being in space it's everything I wanted Gravity to be as an isolation movie. Very quiet, measured pace, and insanely tense.


Monsters: I'm not sure this still counts as obscure given Gareth Edwards has since gone on to direct Star Wars films, but I figure it must. Basically, take Avatar. Then imagine a sci-fi/alien movie that is the opposite of Avatar in every single way. You might be in the ballpark. It's kind of like if Terence Malick decided to do a space invaders movie.





I wasn't gonna mention Oldboy since it doesn't feel obscure to me, but as it's no less obscure than The Raid or True Romance, I will: if you've not seen the original Korean Oldboy, fix that immediately.

[Primateus]

I'll add a couple;

Moon 44, at least a B- movie from '91. I like it and maintain that it still measures up. Good, solid eighties/early nineties SciFi!

Impostor, first time I saw this movie it blew my mind! Granted, I was younger then, but I still enjoy it. Added bonus with recycled Starship Troopers clips to really hammer home that B movie feel!

[Macros]

13th warrior has already been mentioned.

i'll throw in an absolutely classic, its not what I'd consider unknown (to me anyway) but given its age it might be now.

Some Like It Hot.

still one of the greatest comedies made (imo)

[worry]

Hell yah it is.

[Primateus]

Abyss, on 13 August 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

TRUE ROMANCE.... now i know many here will know and possibly love this flic because we are who we are, but it is perpetually overlooked as possibly Quentin Tarantino's bestest film. It's got a solid cast, fun cameos, more respect for the audience than most Tarantino work, and it a hell of a lot of fun. The snappy dialogue is there but it isn't as 'Tarantinoesque' as elsefilm. Also, violent. Also also, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper in one of the single greatest scenes in modern cinema. And i would argue that at a point when Tarantino is taking a lot of flack for his treatment of women in his work, mostly deserved, this film manages to make its female lead both vulnerable and amazingly strong, with one viscerally discomforting impressive scene in mind where Patricia Arquette just annihilates a performance most actresses could not pull off.

Wasn't True Romance made by Tony Scott?

[QuickTidal]

Primateus, on 16 August 2019 - 09:33 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 August 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

TRUE ROMANCE.... now i know many here will know and possibly love this flic because we are who we are, but it is perpetually overlooked as possibly Quentin Tarantino's bestest film. It's got a solid cast, fun cameos, more respect for the audience than most Tarantino work, and it a hell of a lot of fun. The snappy dialogue is there but it isn't as 'Tarantinoesque' as elsefilm. Also, violent. Also also, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper in one of the single greatest scenes in modern cinema. And i would argue that at a point when Tarantino is taking a lot of flack for his treatment of women in his work, mostly deserved, this film manages to make its female lead both vulnerable and amazingly strong, with one viscerally discomforting impressive scene in mind where Patricia Arquette just annihilates a performance most actresses could not pull off.

Wasn't True Romance made by Tony Scott?

It was directed by him, but the screenplay was written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery. As such, storywise, it's all Tarantino.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 16 August 2019 - 12:42 PM, said:

Primateus, on 16 August 2019 - 09:33 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 August 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

TRUE ROMANCE.... now i know many here will know and possibly love this flic because we are who we are, but it is perpetually overlooked as possibly Quentin Tarantino's bestest film. It's got a solid cast, fun cameos, more respect for the audience than most Tarantino work, and it a hell of a lot of fun. The snappy dialogue is there but it isn't as 'Tarantinoesque' as elsefilm. Also, violent. Also also, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper in one of the single greatest scenes in modern cinema. And i would argue that at a point when Tarantino is taking a lot of flack for his treatment of women in his work, mostly deserved, this film manages to make its female lead both vulnerable and amazingly strong, with one viscerally discomforting impressive scene in mind where Patricia Arquette just annihilates a performance most actresses could not pull off.

Wasn't True Romance made by Tony Scott?

It was directed by him, but the screenplay was written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery. As such, storywise, it's all Tarantino.

Yep. Arguably Scott's work is why it's one of Tarantino's best because he dilutes some of the usual stuff.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 16 August 2019 - 02:35 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 16 August 2019 - 12:42 PM, said:

Primateus, on 16 August 2019 - 09:33 AM, said:

Abyss, on 13 August 2019 - 02:13 PM, said:

TRUE ROMANCE.... now i know many here will know and possibly love this flic because we are who we are, but it is perpetually overlooked as possibly Quentin Tarantino's bestest film. It's got a solid cast, fun cameos, more respect for the audience than most Tarantino work, and it a hell of a lot of fun. The snappy dialogue is there but it isn't as 'Tarantinoesque' as elsefilm. Also, violent. Also also, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper in one of the single greatest scenes in modern cinema. And i would argue that at a point when Tarantino is taking a lot of flack for his treatment of women in his work, mostly deserved, this film manages to make its female lead both vulnerable and amazingly strong, with one viscerally discomforting impressive scene in mind where Patricia Arquette just annihilates a performance most actresses could not pull off.

Wasn't True Romance made by Tony Scott?

It was directed by him, but the screenplay was written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avery. As such, storywise, it's all Tarantino.

Yep. Arguably Scott's work is why it's one of Tarantino's best because he dilutes some of the usual stuff.

Bingo. Without QT's MANY prevalent 'Director' tics, the film is superior to anything else he made himself. You will notice, for example, a non-abundance of "dirty women's feet" in TRUE ROMANCE.

Same thing is true of his writer-but-not director contribution to FROM DUSK TIL DAWN.

[worry]

I don't think it was QT (who I refer to as the other QT, of course)'s best, but it definitely distilled many of his best qualities. And Tony Scott (whose movies sucked ass 99% of the time) really benefited from having a great screenplay, and it was his best movie for sure. Real synergy moment. You can kinda see what happens when the opposite occurs in Natural Born Killers (which I don't hate, but it definitely didn't curb QT or Oliver Stone's most exploitative or abrasive habits).