- Mar 14, 2012
- 7,334
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C’MON, REALLY?
Of all the movies I’ve talked about, these are the ones I feel I’m going out on a limb with. I’d have to earn the trust of whoever I was recommending stuff to before I pointed them towards these. At the start, I said this was all about movies that get overlooked. Well these get overlooked by people like me. Of the five I’m about to list, 3 I’ve never even bothered to replace my Laser Discs of with DVD or Blu-Ray.
Brazil – 1985
Not really a controversial pick, unless I was defending the theatrical version. So no, I’m not talking about the 90 minute atrocity that Universal put out, but the 2 hour 15 minute version available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Film geeks love this movie, but it is so not for everyone.
For starters it is very British, directed by Terry Gilliam who is a former Monty Python member, who happens to be American. His films are incredible visions of art design, often containing information you actually need for the plot. You don’t just lazily watch one of his movies. He dips into fantasy quite often, even while the movie itself is a dystopian futuristic fantasy. That looks like something out of the past. It’s almost New Wave Steam Punk.
There are large swatches of people that will be turned off 10 minutes in, as it is all so weird. For those that stick with it, they will find a world every bit as imaginative as Blade Runner. Actually, Universal borrowed footage from Blade Runner for the ending of their cut of the movie! You would also see commonalities in City of Lost Children and Dark City with Brazil, which is why I think this is a safe recommendation.
Or, who knows. You might be bored terribly by it.
Fearless – 1993
This is a Peter Weir film that stars Jeff Bridges as a survivor of a horrible plane accident. He rescued a lot of people from the wreckage, seemingly coming away unscathed himself. Mentally though, things aren’t fitting in place like they should for him. This causes problems with his home life and work.
It’s an incredibly powerful drama, one that legitimately brings a tear to my eye at the end every time. This isn’t Bridges being The Dude, this is him being a guy that saved everyone else but can’t save himself
.
Ready for the reason I’m sticking my neck out with this one? Rosie Perez also stars. And yes, her voice is in full effect. She doesn’t bother me, but I know to others hearing her is like nails on a chalkboard. Even if you can get past her, I know some find the movie to be very sappy. It talks about death and tragedy, a lot. So I don’t know why I respond to it the way I do, but I think it’s worth watching.
Lost Highway – 1997
Oh David Lynch, you never make an easily watchable film, do you? I’ll be honest, I haven’t even watched this one in a long while. I loved it though. It’s the kind of movie where you simply cannot explain it and have it make any sense, yet intuitively your mind is okay with that.
Midway through the movie, a character goes into jail, and the next morning is a completely different person. The cops can’t explain it, so they let him go. You as an audience member are supposed to essentially do the same. To do so is to enjoy more Lynchian moments, which are often slices of bizarre. To fight it and try to figure out what just happened is an effort of pure frustration.
Lynch loves to pack his movies with imagery that means something, but then he expects you to figure it out on your own. I have spent countless hours going over things and looking for interpretations, as if it were some kind of conspiracy theory to be cracked. And that is what is so fun for me about Lost Highway. I get giddy over other people’s frustrations, all the while not having the answers for myself. Lynch described it as being like a dream, and the moment you start to analyze it, it crumbles apart. Yet while you were in the dream, it made perfect sense.
Besides that, the soundtrack is killer.
Strictly Ballroom – 1992
An Australian movie about ballroom dancing? Are you kidding me? Nope. Simply Brilliant. This is Baz Luhrmann full of hope, instead of Baz where everything has to be a tragedy. Not to be offensive, but I know, it all seems so gay. Freakin’ dancing and sequins, but Dancing With The Stars this is not. Look again at the rest of my list. There’s gotta be something goin’ on with this movie to not be such an oddball choice, right?
Right. What sets this movie up for sheer enjoyment is that it playfully mocks the very subject it is portraying. The diva drama these dancers have is so ripe for laughing at, and one of their own suddenly has his eyes opened to this. He is performing forbidden steps, steps that aren’t recognized by the dance federation. He loses his girlfriend and dance partner because of this.
Oh yeah, I should mention that all the male dancers are horn dogs. They are in it for the chicks, and the ratio of men to women makes it easy pickin’s. Suddenly ballroom dancing doesn’t look so gay after all.
By the end of the movie, I was so won over by it I was shocked. Baz has such an eye for visuals that are packed with energy. Moulin Rouge is almost too energetic, which is why I prefer this film. I know it comes straight out of left field, but I defy you to not enjoy it.
Sucker Punch – 2011
Last but not least. This thing made so many ‘worst of’ lists, I thought surely it must be a train wreck of epic proportions. I rented it on a whim, expectations at ground zero. When I finished, I remember sitting on the couch trying to figure out if what I just saw was the same thing everybody hated, because I loved it.
This movie shares a lot in common with many other films on this list, both visually and thematically. I think that is why I connected with it. It is one of those movies that watching a 2nd time is to see it from a whole new perspective. The problem for me was that it felt like it was missing something. Quick search on the internet proved I was right, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a Director’s Cut available. I purchased it the next day.
The longer cut lasts 19 minutes more. The changes are subtle, but vital. The title says it all, but the theatrical version was pulling the punch so it could get a PG-13 rating. Two major sequences get added back in, one being an action piece, the other a musical number. Like I said, I like the movie just fine before seeing these, but having them back in just sealed the deal for me.
Sucker Punch will never make anyone’s top whatever list. That is kinda why I’m putting it on mine. Many people like to make themselves seem smarter by parroting what everyone else says. Do I like The Godfather? Sure. Do I think it deserves to be listed consistently in the top 5 films of all time? I wouldn’t put it in mine. For that matter, of the hundreds of movies I own, that isn’t one of them. Oh, the horror. (Wait, isn’t that Apocalypse Now?) I know I didn’t purposely buy Sucker Punch because I thought it was one of the worst movies of the year. Far from it. Once you get past the hype and rhetoric, movies live and die simply by whether you enjoyed them or not. Based on the rest of these movies, my enjoyment of Sucker Punch should actually be no surprise at all.
PARTING THOUGHTS
As I said at the beginning, this list of movies came almost entirely from what is in my own collection. I’m sure there are a ton of others that I could think of that would work equally well. Some have even come to mind while writing this, which makes me wonder why I don’t own them!
The entire purpose here was to shine a light on films that are just as good as the more popular choices out there. The popular choices are the ones I’d mock you for not having seen. These are the ones I’d high five you for having watched. If I have even half of these in common with someone else, I know I can trust their taste in entertainment.
I didn’t set out to be this wordy either, and the scary part is I purposely held back! My poor son. He has no idea what is in store for him once he’s of an age that I can show him the majority of these. Watch, he’ll be indifferent to it all.
Have you missed a previous post? Here they are!
Pt.1 - Comedies
Pt.2 - Heists and Cons
Pt.3 - Foreign
Pt.4 - Sci Fi
Pt.5 - Manly Flicks
Pt.6 - No Spoilers
Of all the movies I’ve talked about, these are the ones I feel I’m going out on a limb with. I’d have to earn the trust of whoever I was recommending stuff to before I pointed them towards these. At the start, I said this was all about movies that get overlooked. Well these get overlooked by people like me. Of the five I’m about to list, 3 I’ve never even bothered to replace my Laser Discs of with DVD or Blu-Ray.
Brazil – 1985
Not really a controversial pick, unless I was defending the theatrical version. So no, I’m not talking about the 90 minute atrocity that Universal put out, but the 2 hour 15 minute version available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Film geeks love this movie, but it is so not for everyone.
For starters it is very British, directed by Terry Gilliam who is a former Monty Python member, who happens to be American. His films are incredible visions of art design, often containing information you actually need for the plot. You don’t just lazily watch one of his movies. He dips into fantasy quite often, even while the movie itself is a dystopian futuristic fantasy. That looks like something out of the past. It’s almost New Wave Steam Punk.
There are large swatches of people that will be turned off 10 minutes in, as it is all so weird. For those that stick with it, they will find a world every bit as imaginative as Blade Runner. Actually, Universal borrowed footage from Blade Runner for the ending of their cut of the movie! You would also see commonalities in City of Lost Children and Dark City with Brazil, which is why I think this is a safe recommendation.
Or, who knows. You might be bored terribly by it.
Fearless – 1993
This is a Peter Weir film that stars Jeff Bridges as a survivor of a horrible plane accident. He rescued a lot of people from the wreckage, seemingly coming away unscathed himself. Mentally though, things aren’t fitting in place like they should for him. This causes problems with his home life and work.
It’s an incredibly powerful drama, one that legitimately brings a tear to my eye at the end every time. This isn’t Bridges being The Dude, this is him being a guy that saved everyone else but can’t save himself
.
Ready for the reason I’m sticking my neck out with this one? Rosie Perez also stars. And yes, her voice is in full effect. She doesn’t bother me, but I know to others hearing her is like nails on a chalkboard. Even if you can get past her, I know some find the movie to be very sappy. It talks about death and tragedy, a lot. So I don’t know why I respond to it the way I do, but I think it’s worth watching.
Lost Highway – 1997
Oh David Lynch, you never make an easily watchable film, do you? I’ll be honest, I haven’t even watched this one in a long while. I loved it though. It’s the kind of movie where you simply cannot explain it and have it make any sense, yet intuitively your mind is okay with that.
Midway through the movie, a character goes into jail, and the next morning is a completely different person. The cops can’t explain it, so they let him go. You as an audience member are supposed to essentially do the same. To do so is to enjoy more Lynchian moments, which are often slices of bizarre. To fight it and try to figure out what just happened is an effort of pure frustration.
Lynch loves to pack his movies with imagery that means something, but then he expects you to figure it out on your own. I have spent countless hours going over things and looking for interpretations, as if it were some kind of conspiracy theory to be cracked. And that is what is so fun for me about Lost Highway. I get giddy over other people’s frustrations, all the while not having the answers for myself. Lynch described it as being like a dream, and the moment you start to analyze it, it crumbles apart. Yet while you were in the dream, it made perfect sense.
Besides that, the soundtrack is killer.
Strictly Ballroom – 1992
An Australian movie about ballroom dancing? Are you kidding me? Nope. Simply Brilliant. This is Baz Luhrmann full of hope, instead of Baz where everything has to be a tragedy. Not to be offensive, but I know, it all seems so gay. Freakin’ dancing and sequins, but Dancing With The Stars this is not. Look again at the rest of my list. There’s gotta be something goin’ on with this movie to not be such an oddball choice, right?
Right. What sets this movie up for sheer enjoyment is that it playfully mocks the very subject it is portraying. The diva drama these dancers have is so ripe for laughing at, and one of their own suddenly has his eyes opened to this. He is performing forbidden steps, steps that aren’t recognized by the dance federation. He loses his girlfriend and dance partner because of this.
Oh yeah, I should mention that all the male dancers are horn dogs. They are in it for the chicks, and the ratio of men to women makes it easy pickin’s. Suddenly ballroom dancing doesn’t look so gay after all.
By the end of the movie, I was so won over by it I was shocked. Baz has such an eye for visuals that are packed with energy. Moulin Rouge is almost too energetic, which is why I prefer this film. I know it comes straight out of left field, but I defy you to not enjoy it.
Sucker Punch – 2011
Last but not least. This thing made so many ‘worst of’ lists, I thought surely it must be a train wreck of epic proportions. I rented it on a whim, expectations at ground zero. When I finished, I remember sitting on the couch trying to figure out if what I just saw was the same thing everybody hated, because I loved it.
This movie shares a lot in common with many other films on this list, both visually and thematically. I think that is why I connected with it. It is one of those movies that watching a 2nd time is to see it from a whole new perspective. The problem for me was that it felt like it was missing something. Quick search on the internet proved I was right, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a Director’s Cut available. I purchased it the next day.
The longer cut lasts 19 minutes more. The changes are subtle, but vital. The title says it all, but the theatrical version was pulling the punch so it could get a PG-13 rating. Two major sequences get added back in, one being an action piece, the other a musical number. Like I said, I like the movie just fine before seeing these, but having them back in just sealed the deal for me.
Sucker Punch will never make anyone’s top whatever list. That is kinda why I’m putting it on mine. Many people like to make themselves seem smarter by parroting what everyone else says. Do I like The Godfather? Sure. Do I think it deserves to be listed consistently in the top 5 films of all time? I wouldn’t put it in mine. For that matter, of the hundreds of movies I own, that isn’t one of them. Oh, the horror. (Wait, isn’t that Apocalypse Now?) I know I didn’t purposely buy Sucker Punch because I thought it was one of the worst movies of the year. Far from it. Once you get past the hype and rhetoric, movies live and die simply by whether you enjoyed them or not. Based on the rest of these movies, my enjoyment of Sucker Punch should actually be no surprise at all.
PARTING THOUGHTS
As I said at the beginning, this list of movies came almost entirely from what is in my own collection. I’m sure there are a ton of others that I could think of that would work equally well. Some have even come to mind while writing this, which makes me wonder why I don’t own them!
The entire purpose here was to shine a light on films that are just as good as the more popular choices out there. The popular choices are the ones I’d mock you for not having seen. These are the ones I’d high five you for having watched. If I have even half of these in common with someone else, I know I can trust their taste in entertainment.
I didn’t set out to be this wordy either, and the scary part is I purposely held back! My poor son. He has no idea what is in store for him once he’s of an age that I can show him the majority of these. Watch, he’ll be indifferent to it all.
Have you missed a previous post? Here they are!
Pt.1 - Comedies
Pt.2 - Heists and Cons
Pt.3 - Foreign
Pt.4 - Sci Fi
Pt.5 - Manly Flicks
Pt.6 - No Spoilers
