Really good movies no one seems to know | The Boneyard

Really good movies no one seems to know

8893

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There are a few movies I love and recommend often that no one seems to have heard of. I was reminded of this recently when my assistant, who is a voracious reader and avid moviegoer (and 10+ years older than me), was getting sick and said she planned to stay in and watch movies all weekend. She asked me for recommendations and had never of the four movies I recommended, which has been consistent with my experience when I have recommended them to others. I love getting recommendations for these types of movies, so let me hear 'em if you have 'em:

Sliding Doors, which surprises me the most, as it stars Gwyneth Paltrow. Granted it's almost 20 years old now, but I thought it was a great concept and interesting plot. Two story lines, one where she makes her train and catches her husband cheating; one where she misses it and does not catch him. The movie explores how her life is different in each scenario.

The Daytrippers, which is one of my favorites. An indie movie that's also around 20 years old; dynamite cast with Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, Anne Meara, Stanley Tucci and Parker Posey. Davis is happily married to Tucci but finds a mysterious love note one day and enlists her mother (Meara), father (Pat McNamara) sister (Posey) and sister's boyfriend (Schreiber--my favorite in the movie) to take a trip into the city for the day to investigate. Comedy and oddity ensue.

Power, a 30-year old movie that stars Gene Hackman and Richard Gere as dueling political consultants who compete against each other in a handful of national and local elections that are ultimately being driven by a common issue. Hackman trained Gere and now Gere is working against him. I enjoyed the campaign dirty tricks and also the way they deal with the mysterious and powerful force behind the elections.

After Hours, a bizarre little trip of a movie that simply explores a very freaky late night in Soho experienced by Griffin Dunn, who plays a lonely computer processor who decides to make his boring life more interesting one night by pursuing a date with a quirky woman (Rosanna Arquette) he meets in a coffee shop--a night that takes a lot of interesting turns.
 

nwhoopfan

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Good topic 8893. I'll have to check out the movies on your list. I know about Sliding Doors but never saw it. Daytrippers...great cast, somehow I was unaware of it. Parker Posey is a vastly underrated actress I think.
 
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I really, really like Begin Again. Seems way under the radar.

I have it on my Netflix list, one of these days I'll get around to it. The same director did Sing Street, a very solid movie.
 

nwhoopfan

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I have it on my Netflix list, one of these days I'll get around to it. The same director did Sing Street, a very solid movie.

I like that one too. His first movie, Once, seems to be his most popular, although it's not nearly as good as the other two IMO. Music is central to all of his films.
 
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I like that one too. His first movie, Once, seems to be his most popular, although it's not nearly as good as the other two IMO. Music is central to all of his films.

I believe they turned Once into a Broadway musical. Based on that, it should not be on this list. Enough people know about this movie that they are making money on it in another format.
 

8893

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I believe they turned Once into a Broadway musical. Based on that, it should not be on this list. Enough people know about this movie that they are making money on it in another format.
He didn't suggest that Once should be on the list.
 
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He didn't suggest that Once should be on the list.

That is true. I also didn't say that he did suggest that. I just said it shouldn't be on the list.
 

8893

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That is true. I also didn't say that he did suggest that. I just said it shouldn't be on the list.
Ok.

Good movie though!
 
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I watched The Green Room last night on Amazon Prime. Holy . Absolutely brutal. Far better than I expected. I had watched Blue Ruin and liked it, the previous film from director Jeremy Saulnier, but TGR was even better. Highly recommend and a director to keep an eye on.
 
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I watched The Green Room last night on Amazon Prime. Holy . Absolutely brutal. Far better than I expected. I had watched Blue Ruin and liked it, the previous film from director Jeremy Saulnier, but TGR was even better. Highly recommend and a director to keep an eye on.
Blue Ruin was great. Liked it better than Green Room, but still thought GR was quality. Saulnier will be working on S3 of True Detective, and I can't be more excited about it!
 

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After Hours,

Loved it when it first came out, but tried to watch it again last year, didn't hold up for me once Linda Fiorentino was out of the picture.

I've always liked Big Fish, but I don't know anyone else who's seen it. I suppose same could be said of Remains of the Day. At least in my social circle. Everyone's heard of it, but nobody's watched it.

Probably my favorite in this category though is Wings of Desire. The Peter Falk/Columbo subplot was genius and that's what the remake with Nic Cage and Meg Ryan was missing.
 
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Loved it when it first came out, but tried to watch it again last year, didn't hold up for me once Linda Fiorentino was out of the picture.

I've always liked Big Fish, but I don't know anyone else who's seen it. I suppose same could be said of Remains of the Day. At least in my social circle. Everyone's heard of it, but nobody's watched it.

Probably my favorite in this category though is Wings of Desire. The Peter Falk/Columbo subplot was genius and that's what the remake with Nic Cage and Meg Ryan was missing.


Wings of Desire is a wonderful mood piece of a movie. The American remake was something completely different, no way was it going to capture the mood of the original.

I have Big Fish on DVD, a Christmas gift from my brother a number of years ago. Very entertaining tall tale of a movie.
 
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Blue Ruin was great. Liked it better than Green Room, but still thought GR was quality. Saulnier will be working on S3 of True Detective, and I can't be more excited about it!

So, you posted a similar comment in this thread here, I gave it a like just out of excitement because I was unaware of TD S3 and completely forgot about it. Now you have broken this news to me twice and this time it is even more exciting having some kind of context for the type of director Saulnier is. What a perfect fit.
 
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So, you posted a similar comment in this thread here, I gave it a like just out of excitement because I was unaware of TD S3 and completely forgot about it. Now you have broken this news to me twice and this time it is even more exciting having some kind of context for the type of director Saulnier is. What a perfect fit.
Oh hey, did you know Saulnier is gonna direct season 3 of True Detective? lol
 
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Oh hey, did you know Saulnier is gonna direct season 3 of True Detective? lol

Try again in 3 months and I'll like again and be surprised again.
 

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I've recently gotten into those caper movies by Jean-Pierre Melville, Le deuxième souffle, Le Samourai and Le cercle rouge. Besides the fun of watching the caper unfold, I like the way they don't insult your intelligence by explaining every little thing that's happening. They trust that you have half-a-brain and can figure it out for yourself.
 
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Fandango - might be hard for some to get past a young and super cocky Kevin Costner, but worth the movie is worthwhile for the airplane pilot - I recommend partaking in some mind altering substance to fully appreciate this hysterical sequence.

At Close Range is still my favorite Sean Penn performance ever and might be the best Christopher Walken role this side of Deer Hunter.

Nobody's Fool & Hudsucker Proxy are a little more mainstream in their day, but have faded too far off the radar screen.
 

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