Some good overlooked movies | The Boneyard

Some good overlooked movies

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For some reason, a bunch of movies I would categorize as very good but often overlooked or underrated were on this past week and weekend...

Arlington Road

Bang The Drum Slowly

The Brinks Job with Peter Falk

Flamingo Kid

Zombieland

Midnight Run

Used Cars

Breakdown
 
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Midnight Run is one of the funniest movies ever made in my opinion.
 

nelsonmuntz

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Primal Fear is excellent. I don't like Richard Gere that much, but he got some awesome roles when he was in his prime.
 

Husky25

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Duel was on a couple weeks ago. One of Steven Spielberg's first films and holds the distinction of being a made-for-TV that later gets a theatrical release.
 
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Duel was on a couple weeks ago. One of Steven Spielberg's first films and holds the distinction of being a made-for-TV that later gets a theatrical release.

Dennis Weaver is great in that. There may be a couple but has Spielberg ever done a bad movie? Almost all are great or at least very good.

Empire of the Sun belongs in this list....
 

Fishy

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Dennis Weaver is great in that. There may be a couple but has Spielberg ever done a bad movie? Almost all are great or at least very good.

Empire of the Sun belongs in this list....


As a director, Spielberg is almost bulletproof.

I thought The Terminal was a weird mess, but still oddly watchable. I gather that the last Indiana Jones movie was a bit of a hash, but I didn't see it.
 

Husky25

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Dennis Weaver is great in that. There may be a couple but has Spielberg ever done a bad movie? Almost all are great or at least very good.

Empire of the Sun belongs in this list....

Generally no. His triumphs far outnumber his failures. He is no Kevin Costner, to be sure. I'm still trying to get the 4 hours back consumed by the Postman.
 
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As a director, Spielberg is almost bulletproof.

I thought The Terminal was a weird mess, but still oddly watchable. I gather that the last Indiana Jones movie was a bit of a hash, but I didn't see it.

Agree on The Terminal. Weird story and kind of a mess but somehow kinda liked it and dont know why....Hanks and Spielberg must be reason.
 

Husky25

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Agree on The Terminal. Weird story and kind of a mess but somehow kinda liked it and dont know why....Hanks and Spielberg must be reason.

I think the Ramada on Lexington is right down the block from MSG. If that is the case, I've stayed there for a Big East Tournament (Taliek 33 foot shot vs. PITT.). I was not impressed with the rooms, even considering it was in Downtown Manhattan.
 

Fishy

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Zombieland is a good example.

I highly, highly highly recommend that people see Moon. Relatively low-budget under the rade type of movie - Sam Shepard is great in it.

Get Him to the Greek. If you don't laugh at this movie, you're a drip. Ditto for Saving Sarah Marshall.

The Prestige. Kingdom of Heaven. The Assassination of Jesse James...(Sam Shepard, again.) Fallen. (Denzel Washington). Jacob's Ladder. Everything by Wes Anderson.

Barton Fink has always been one of my favorite movies. Hard to call any Coen brothers' underrated, but they might be so overrated that they come full circle to underrated. The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou? are brilliant.

And, because I am the father of an elementary-school aged girl and she has been my most constant movie date over the past nine years, I might be an expert on animated films.

The Incredibles is supposed to be Pixar's best film. It's not - Finding Nemo is. I don't recall being crazy about it when it came out, but having seen it about 200 times with my daughter since, it's almost perfect. I can't say any other Pixar movies are really underrated - perhaps A Bug's Life. The rest are as good as their reps with the possible exception of Brave....wasn't crazy about it. Cars 2 stunk.

Arthur Christmas and Pirates! Band of Misfits are both very, very good.
 

Husky25

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall: decent date movie (Jason Seigel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand)

Saving Silverman: throwaway TNT filler replay (Jason Biggs, Steve Zaun, Amanda Peat, Jack Black).

Ironically, Sarah Silverman is not in either film...;)




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Fallen is very good. More recent good scary creepy ones are Insidious and Sinister. Insidious is one of scariest ever seen.

First time I saw O Brother Where Art Thou I thought pretty good. Now I say great. Thank you TBS.

October Sky is another good example for this list.

Despicable Me is another good recent "kid" movie I saw.
 

meyers7

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall: decent date movie (Jason Seigel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand)

Saving Silverman: throwaway TNT filler replay (Jason Biggs, Steve Zaun, Amanda Pete, Jack Black).

Ironically, Sarah Silverman is not in either film...;)




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Loved Sarah Marshall. I may have laughed more during this movie than any other I've ever seen. Not as funny the 5th/6th time, but still good. The first time I saw Dracula's song......:D

Seigel did the full song on Letterman



I like Saving Silverman too. More like a cult type movie. I can watch it over and over. Of course Amanda Peet is in it. That doesn't hurt. :cool:
 

Waquoit

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Nobody saw Children of Men. I thought that movie was pretty awesome.
 

Waquoit

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First time I saw O Brother Where Art Thou I thought pretty good. Now I say great. Thank you TBS.

Totally agree, at 1st viewing just OK. Saw it again and I found it to be bona fide.
 
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Loved Sarah Marshall. I may have laughed more during this movie than any other I've ever seen. Not as funny the 5th/6th time, but still good. The first time I saw Dracula's song......:D

Agreed. Everybody raved about The Hangover, Tropic Thunder and Bridesmaids, but Sarah Marshall was funnier than any of them.

GO, good catch on October Sky
 
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Moon and Children of Men are great films. If you liked those I also recommend Let Me In. You won't be disappointed. Also, The Mist based on a Stephen King short story.
 
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The Incredibles is supposed to be Pixar's best film. It's not - Finding Nemo is. I don't recall being crazy about it when it came out, but having seen it about 200 times with my daughter since, it's almost perfect.

I agree with nearly all of your post except this. I'm not sure if you are implying that Nemo is underrated, but I personally think it is overrated and have never understood why its sets the bar for Pixar movies for most people. Its good, but I think there are several better, including The Incredibles. At risk of hijacking this thread with a somewhat divergent topic, if I were to rate Pixar movies, they would be.

1) The Incredibles (The most rewatchable Pixar movie IMHO. Love the family interaction/humor and action which rivals any live action movie. And you have to watch Jack Jack Attacks! short as part of it!)

2) Wall-E (Wasn't originally sure about this one when it first came out and with practically no dialogue through two-thirds of the movie, but amazing the way they made you emotionally connect with a robot trash compactor)

3) Toy Story 3 (Any movie that can make grown men cry over stuffed animal and toys must be brilliant)

4) Ratatouille (Wasn't sure about this one at first either. I could not figure out how it could be any good, I was wrong. Just a solid, well told, and entertaining story.)

5) Toy Story (the original, nuff said)

6) Monsters, Inc. (overall story and movie was OK, but Billy Crystal and John Goodman totally sold it.)

7) Toy Story 2 (yeah, Jesse's song could make grown men cry too, but although a good movie, just not as good or memorable of a story as the other two.)

8) Monsters University (kind of a lame story, but funny. Billy Crystal and John Goodman still did good things with it.)

9) Finding Nemo (Love Dory and Crush, but I found the movie a bit slow and sappy. Not a bad movie by any means, but think other Pixar movies are better).

10) Up (very touching first act of the movie, and Dug is pretty funny - SQUIRREL! - but the story never pulled me in)

11) A Bugs Life (I agree that it is underrated, and still pretty groundbreaking early movie for Pixar, but their subsequent movies just got better and better).

12) Brave (I really wanted to like this movie more than I did. Not a bad movie, but it tried to be emotional, epic, and funny, and never totally sold it on any point)

13) Cars (I enjoyed it when I first saw it, but never cared about rewatching it. Not really bad or anything, but its probably one of the shallowest Pixar movies. Maybe Cars 2 drags it down my list further than it deserves.)

14) Cars 2 (just felt like a cash grab from toddler boys and a tie in for Cars Land at DL. The only Pixar Movie I would say wasn't really a good movie.)
 
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Agreed. Everybody raved about The Hangover, Tropic Thunder and Bridesmaids, but Sarah Marshall was funnier than any of them.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is awesome, but watching it censored FX or TNT is frustrating, have to watch the original or unrated version. Funny, smart, a little out of the box in it humor, and Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis in the same movie is just a gift from the gods.
 

Fishy

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I agree with nearly all of your post except this. I'm not sure if you are implying that Nemo is underrated, but I personally think it is overrated and have never understood why its sets the bar for Pixar movies for most people. Its good, but I think there are several better, including The Incredibles. At risk of hijacking this thread with a somewhat divergent topic, if I were to rate Pixar movies, they would be......



Good list - I agree with most of it.

I only liked Finding Nemo until I ended up loving it.

My quick list - the thing about Pixar is that it looks bad to say that something like Toy Story 2 is the tenth best Pixar movie....but the tenth-best Pixar movie is a very freaking good movie.

1) Finding Nemo
2) Wall-E (Saw it in something of a test screening. My then 4-year old told the tester, "That sure was a terrible movie.")
3) Ratatouille
4) Toy Story 3
5) The Incredibles
6) Toy Story
7) Monsters Inc.
8) Monsters University (Did not expect to like it afters the Cars 2 debacle...I really did, though.)
9) Up (1/2 brilliant, 1/2 a tad too long.)
10) Toy Story 2
11) Cars (I think Cars 2 and general Owen Wilson fatigue hurts it now.)
12) Brave. (It was merely pretty good. It's like a high pop-up that barely missed being a 450' home run.)
13) A Bug's Life
14) Cars 2. (Call a spade a spade - it's a bad movie.)
 

meyers7

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Nobody saw Children of Men. I thought that movie was pretty awesome.
I saw it, thought it was pretty good. Not great but pretty good.
 

meyers7

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall is awesome, but watching it censored FX or TNT is frustrating, have to watch the original or unrated version. Funny, smart, a little out of the box in it humor, and Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis in the same movie is just a gift from the gods.
Mila Kunis, absolutely. Kristen Bell, eh whatever. Agree you have to watch it uncensored.

Speaking of uncensored, a few years ago when my kids were 10-12 range, I had been talking about (and probably quoting) The Breakfast Club. I decided they needed to see it for their "cultural" education. Pulled out the VHS?? probably. Anyway I had been catching it on TNT, TBS, etc. for years by then. Well I had forgotten it was actually rated R. They started dropping F-bombs, my kids kind of looked at me :eek: dad???. Hmmm how am I gonna explain this to their mother???
 
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Mila Kunis, absolutely. Kristen Bell, eh whatever. Agree you have to watch it uncensored.

Speaking of uncensored, a few years ago when my kids were 10-12 range, I had been talking about (and probably quoting) The Breakfast Club. I decided they needed to see it for their "cultural" education. Pulled out the VHS?? probably. Anyway I had been catching it on TNT, TBS, etc. for years by then. Well I had forgotten it was actually rated R. They started dropping F-bombs, my kids kind of looked at me :eek: dad???. Hmmm how am I gonna explain this to their mother???

Had that same exact scenario with National Lampoons Vacation.....

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nelsonmuntz

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Kingdom of Heaven is one of the best of the swords and sandals movies of the early 2000's, but had the bad luck to go last after the public was mostly burned out on the genre. Some puzzling casting didn't help, with Eva Green, who is decidedly mediocre, and Orlando Bloom, who can not carry a movie as a lead, in the two lead roles.

Still, a very well done movie, although it has some major inaccuracies (for the other thread).
 

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