Underappreciated flicks

What ever happened to that kid?

 

heard he's filming the client II with the baby jesus.

 

Wow, I'm way late to this thread.

Couple of mine have already been mentioned: "Without Limits" (I could watch Donald Sutherland in just about anything), "Secondhand Lions" (ditto for Caine), "Catch Me If You Can" (it's definitely underrated, despite the star power; and what a fascinating story).

Couple that haven't:

- "The Great Train Robbery". Keeping with Sutherland, he's fantastic in this and Sean Connery is better. I've always loved the Crichton novel, and I'm fascinated that he also wrote and directed the screenplay. Quite an accomplishment.

- "The Great White Hope". He built a cult following because of his voice after he got older ("This ... is CNN," his "Field of Dreams" monologue and as Darth Vader), but James Earl Jones had it when he was younger, too. The original Jack Johnson deserves more appreciation -- glad he finally got it from Ken Burns recently. But TGWH paid tribute to him first.

- "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings". Another JEJ flick that doesn't get enough love. It didn't treat the Negro Leagues as well as Ken Burns later did, but it's still the only real film that's tried. Richard Pryor is great; so is Billy Dee Williams.

- And my all-time No. 1 underrated flick: "12 Monkeys". Brad Pitt gets so much celeb exposure that it's easy to denounce his acting chops. But he can do so many things in front of a camera, and he does most of them well. He's quirky as hell in this one, playing a paranoid insane asylum patient with a plan to unleash a plague upon the world -- if only a time-traveling Bruce Willis can't stop him. I'm not usually a sci-fi fan, and it took me a time or three to understand this film. But I can watch it anytime now.

 

I was honestly thinking "Bingo Long" while reading through this whole thread, and you got to it in the very last post. Well done.
Also, "The Pursuit of Happyness" will one day join this category. Terrific movie that nobody seemed to notice.

 

One of the few movies I will stop and watch no matter what else I am watching.

Great movie.

"You haff my money?"

 

Matt Damon sends Famke Janssen away?
Not believable.

 

Tremors

 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

The Grifters

My Bloody Valentine -- good horror flick out of Canada.

Going Berserk -- a cheesy comedy with a lot of the SCTV gang--Candy, Flaherty, Levy.

 

Is this the horse racing movie with Richard Dreyfus? My brother, a veteran of the track, says this is the greatest movie ever made.

 

wow. tribes. nice pull. haven't even thought of that in years. kudos.

i hesitate to throw this one out there since even i was on the fence about it, but... 'formula 51' ( released in the uk as 'the 51st state' - or vice versa, can't remember which). sam jackson and robert carlisle in a guy- ritchie- kinda film. fun for anglophiles.

 

And if you don't like Barfly, here's another great '80s flick: The King of Comedy w/DeNiro and Jerry Lewis...