Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
FreeWifiDuringSermon ·
July 25, 2012 at 9:30pm
There's been a fair amount of movie talk on the site lately, but here's my question:
What is your favorite movie that, when you mention it in conversation, the average person hasn't heard of? What are those diamonds in the rough that time has forgotten?
On my conservative/culture commentary podcast, Three Drink Minimum, we covered, at my co-host's suggestion, Wait Until Dark, starring Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of a movie this well done. And it's not some inaccessible art house flick, either. It's a mainstream picture with one of the biggest stars of the era and I'd never heard of it.
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Sep '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Bronco Billy starring Clint Eastwood. Not a "great" film but fun and well-done. The story is sweet and charming and it has a fundamentally conservative message. Also it's a great allegory for becoming whatever you want to be. One of Clint's favorite films of his.
Apr '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
See!!! I've never heard of that one either!
Jan '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Wait Until Dark was one of my favorites also. Alan Arkin was a great villain. It was also the first movie (that I saw, anyway) that used the Halloween trick, where just when you think the woman is safe, suddenly the villain you thought was dead comes back.
I'll second Bronco Billy also.
For me, the sleeper movie is The Flim Flam Man, with George C. Scott. I haven't seen it in years - it's not much in rotation now, but it used to be a Saturday midnight kind of movie.
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 6:04pmDec '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Goin' South
Other than Jack Nicholson, nobody had heard of the rest of the cast, but we came to know them later.
Mary Steenburgen
Christopher Lloyd
John Belushi,
Nov '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
I don't know if this counts as "movies we've never heard of", but I'm astounded at how little buzz I've seen on conservative sites about the movie Shooter that came out a few years ago. First, it's an excellent, gripping story about government control run amok and the power of the individual with character who refuses to what's wrong and risks his life, spends his gifts and resources simply because he knows he's the only one who can set things right. So I regard it as deeply conservative. In any case it draws you in to identify with the protagonist like few movies do. It also does a rare thing for the male viewer -- you fall in love with the female lead not on the basis that she's a babe (she is) but because of the moral character portrayed.
A little "Truther" sub-meme bobs its head up at a couple of points. I can see why it's there, particularly if the makers had a lefty streak, and given the timing of its release. But it's a minor blemish on what is otherwise a masterpiece.
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 7:14pmJun '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Ok. I think I may have a topper. In 1970, Charles Bronson starred in a French mystery (yes, in French, with subtitles) entitled Rider on the Rain (Le Passager de la pluie).
I have no idea how I came to see it (I was in college), and it was weird hearing Bronson speaking French. But it turned out to be a superb mystery thriller.
Also, Wait Until Dark is a family favorite. There's a scene in it that will elicit a scream from someone every time. If you've seen the movie, you'll know the one I mean.
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 7:30pmMay '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
From 1950, "People Will Talk", Cary Grant, Walter Slezak, Hume Cronyn.
Diane Ellis should be watching this one.
Jun '12
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
The Russian film "Ostrov," and the Australian film "Breaker Morant."
Jun '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
One I saw on cable, that I'd never heard of before, was China Moon (1994.) It was a good thriller with clever plot twists, as I recall.
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 8:06pmMay '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
I Confess by Alfred Hitchcock, for the story but also for the culture shock. It couldn't be made today.
On a light note, Cast a Deadly Spell, a comedic spoof of HP Lovecraft and apparently the only film never transferred from VHS to DVD format.
Also, I recently watched Top o' the Morning with Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald on Netflix. A fun, silly movie, and worth it for this song alone. I wish America had drinking songs.
Mar '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
I'm a film noir buff, but remained surprised how many people don't know Out of the Past, starring Robert Mitchum and a very young Kirk Douglas. A wonderfully moody, tragic thriller and love story and a great example of how movies can take pulp novels (it's from the book Hang My Gallows High) and turn them into something transcendant. Also on the pulp genre list: John Carpenter's original Assault on Precinct 13. Low budget, gripping, stunning character acting about how people come together to fight urban crime. Great soundtrack, too.
Jun '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Another gem I discovered on cable: "Miracle of Morgan's Creek"--a comedy from the WWII era, with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, believe it or not.
Apr '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
It's more contemporary than most of the other films so far but one of my favorites is Brick by Rian Johnson starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It's a really stylish indie noir/thriller set in a high school. It might take some getting used to because they speak in a very stylized slang but the mystery itself is satisfying and intricate.
Sep '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
The Duelists, 1977, with Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine. A fascinating historical drama that also wins my personal all-time award for best cinematography. No particular political message.
Jun '12
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Yes!!! GREAT film!!!
Jun '10
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Tender Mercies with Robert Duvall and Tess Harper is one of my very favorites.
Mar '12
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
How about Big Trouble in Little China with Kurt Russell? Great tongue in cheek humor among the principles and a good story.
Aug '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
"Big Trouble" was scheduled to come out on 9/14/2001. I remember this precisely because that is my birthday and I'm a huge Dave Barry (who wrote the novel upon which the movie is based) fan. 9-11 delayed the opening, and with it's references to Airport security and bombs on planes, it barely made the multiplexes in early 2002. The movie, though, is hilarious, well made and the cast is incredible. Ten years after 9-11, we can now watch it without flinching. Add it to your library. It is a comic masterpiece. It will add numerous quotes and references to your movie lexicon.
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 9:04pmApr '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Out of the Past! I love that one. Mitchum at his best.
Apr '11
Re: Favorite Movies We've Never Heard Of
Agreed, I've only seen it once but a great film. It feels like a parody, but doesn't really send up a specific genre. Just a weird, funny, tongue in cheek film.