Underappreciated flicks

Sirs, Madames,

Say Anything.

The Ice Storm.

City of God.

YD&OHS, etc

 

Exactly. Which is what made Mr. Holland's self-deprecating joke before starting the piece that much funnier - or at least genuine.

 

I haven't read through seven pages of this thread, but I'll nominate these two:

1. Home Alone. When it first came out, it was just going to be this cute little kids movie. It grew by word-of-mouth into the huge blockbuster and annual Christmas tradition.

2. In honor of Billy Crystal's 60th birthday, I choose "Mr. Saturday Night." It was hyped up as this great comedy, but didn't do too well in the theatres because in reality, it was a very sad movie.

 

I'm watching it right now on HBOFamily: Defending Your Life.

Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep and Rip Torn, all great and at their best.

 

So...definitely coming in a little late here, but here goes...

Yes...yes you can. I was a *huge* Weird Al fan in like 5th and 6th grade (this was '96, after 'Amish Paradise' came out) so I ended up renting UHF and absolutely loving it. My best friend's family bought it for me for Christmas once...then ended up selling it at a yard sale (yes...my movie) because I had left it at their place for like a week or two after watching it.

One I haven't seen on here is The Stoned Age. Came out around the same time as Dazed and Confused, but with lower budget. Basically a couple guys looking for a party in a hideously painted car with a handle of peppermint schnapps and a bag of mary jane that has seen better days. Got my roommate's $2 worth out of it when he bought it on VHS when we were in college.

 

FUCK YEAH! Great, great film. Highly rewatchable.

 

Cable Guy

Weird Science

Book of Love

American Psycho

... to name a few

 

The Fisher King

The Machinist

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

 

Skimmed and didn't see it mentioned yet: "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang"

Dumb plot. Great dialogue.

 

Speaking of Gene Hackman films, The Package was pretty damn good.


And how's this? Heaven's Gate isn't that bad of a movie. I've certainly seen a lot worse get a lot more praise. Sure the first 30 minutes should have been whacked, and the last five for that matter. But if you've got Netflix and three hours and 40 minutes to spare, I highly recommend it. If for nothing else, a new appreciation for the axiom "less is more" and editors who tell you a story doesn't need a certain passage, whether its your favorite part or not.

 

The one thing I like about Heaven's Gate, besides the David Mansfield score, which was O, Brother almost 25 years earlier, is that you can see where every dime of the gobs and gobs of money they spent on it went. It's a masterpiece of directorial hubris, right up there with the two film-making docs: Heart Of Darkness and the one about Herzog's filiming "Aguirre" in the jungle. Cimino went completely off the rails.
Oh, and "The Johnson County War," which is a smaller movie about the same episode, is not bad.

 

Many great calls above, particularly on Long Gone, Bachelor Party, Used Cars and House of Sand and Fog.

A few more:

--Smile. Beauty-pageant sendup with a slyly hilarious Bruce Dern.

--Heaven Help Us. Very funny Catholic-school hijinks, with Kevin Dillon and Andrew McCarthy.

--One on One. Because Robby Benson is the star, a lot of folks dismissed it. G.D. Spradlin is killer as the smarmy coach.

--3:10 to Yuma (the recent remake). Bale and Crowe are aces, as are several of the supporting cast. Just saw this via NetFlix and was amazed that it got so little attention at the box office and almost no consideration at Oscar time.