I am probably way behind the curve on this, but I recently read an article in an old Entertainment Weekly I brought to Costa Rica the last time I visited my folks’ house. In it there was an article called “The 50 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen.” Its criteria were that the movies had to be made since 1991 and somehow under-viewed or under-appreciated. You can see the article here, but this list on IMDB is much more user-friendly.
I’d only seen 13 movies on their list, but I actually just saw five of them because of the list. So I thought I’d mention it here on the site and see if anyone else has seen some of these, and what their thoughts are. I’ll also give a one-sentence “lightning review” of each one I’ve seen, making sure to not actually tell you anything of value about the movies. I’ll start with the five I saw because of the list.
Five New Movies
1. Devil’s Playground – It was good but I already reviewed it here, so check that out.
2. Idiocracy – It’s almost as funny as Office Space, but much less subtle.
3. Layer Cake – When Daniel Craig was cast as Bond, I originally thought Clive Owen would have been better but after seeing this, I can see why they chose Craig.
4. Moon – It’s easy to dislike Sam Rockwell, but hard to dislike this movie.
5. My Summer of Love – In her first big role, a powerful Emily Blunt shows her talent and hints at more success to come (and by “talent” I mean “naked breasts”).
Eight I’d Already Seen
1. Bubba Ho-Tep – I saw this with Dustin a long time ago, but it was good.
2. Fly Away Home – It’s got birds and stuff, so if you hate birds, don’t watch it.
3. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai - I thought this was popular, since it was really good and a lot of people I know have seen it.
4. Lilya 4-Ever – I saw this Swedish/former-Soviet-Union movie when I was on a Swedish kick.
5. Primer – The most realistic and confusing time travel movie I’ve seen.
6. The Ref – It’s got Dennis Leary and stuff, so if you hate Dennis Leary, don’t watch it.
7. Rescue Dawn – I was enthralled until Christian Bale caught a giant snake then skinned it with his teeth.
8. The Rules of Attraction – I’m hard-pressed to think of a more depressing movie, except maybe Requiem for a Dream (but Requiem was depressing and great).
So what about you guys? Have you seen any of these, or from the rest of the list? I’ll put the list in the comments, so it won’t make the rest of the post huge and crappy-looking.
As mentioned, here’s the complete list:
1. Backbeat
2. Bamboozled
3. Box of Moon Light
4. Broken English
5. Bubba Ho-Tep
6. The Century of the Self
7. Chuck & Buck
8. Cold Comfort Farm
9. The Daytrippers
10. Devil’s Playground
11. Dig!
12. Enter the Void
13. Eve’s Bayou
14. Fish Tank
15. Fly Away Home
16. George Washington
17. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
18. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale
19. Happy Accidents
20. Idiocracy
21. The Iron Giant
22. I’ve Loved You So Long
23. Last Night
24. Layer Cake
25. Lilya 4-Ever
26. Love & Basketball
27. The Magdalene Sisters
28. Marwencol
29. Memories of Murder
30. Moon
31. Murderball
32. My Summer of Love
33. Next Stop Wonderland
34. The Orphanage
35. Perfect Blue
36. Prime
37. Primer
38. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
39. The Ref
40. Rescue Dawn
41. The Rules of Attraction
42. Safe Men
43. Smiley Face
44. Surfwise
45. Together
46. 24 Hour Party People
47. Two Family House
48. Walking and Talking
49. Wendy and Lucy
50. Wristcutters: A Love Story
The ones I’ve seen are: Bubba Ho-Tep, Dig!, Enter the Void, Fly Away Home, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Idiocracy, The Iron Giant, Layer Cake, Memories of Murder, Moon, The Orphanage, Primer, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, The Ref, Rescue Dawn, The Rules of Attraction, 24 Hour Party People and Wristcutters: A Love Story
I really like Rules of Attraction, but I really like the author Bret Easton Ellis. If you get a chance, see Memories of Murder. It’s a fantastic Korean murder mystery/police procedural. 24 Hour Party People is great too. It’s the story of the Manchester music scene in the late 70’s when Joy Division and Happy Mondays formed. It’s cool and funny and Steve Coogan is always great.
Why is Robo Vampire not on this list?
I’ve seen a couple of those, but the most recent one was The Orphanage, which I was really happy with. It was really well shot and directed, and although the story seemed to be spinning its wheels a little bit about 3/4 of the way through, the payoff was pretty great and the ending was pretty heartwarming, especially for a thriller. Good mix of horror, mystery and drama elements.
I loooove Bubba Ho-Tep. Also, I loved Moon and I usually like Sam Rockwell.
I haven’t seen these movies? I haven’t even HEARD of these movies. And by any chance is #36 a sequel to #35? Prime and Primer? Note to self, cancel plans to make movie called Primest. Primerer is probably also out.
There’s no relation between the two, although if there were, I think the next in the series would be “Prime Hard With A Vengeance,” actually.
Yeah, some are obscure, but they’ve proven to be pretty good so far. I’m going to review another in the next few days.