Underappreciated flicks

Sirs, Madames,

I saw Diner at the theatre -- it was pretty prominently reviewed, Barry Levinson was heralded as the next big thing and received critical love. Even before that I knew a guy who pulled the trick with the popcorn box. Not underappreciated then or now.

I've never met anyone who saw Trip to Bountiful at the movies or on the tube. One of your more obscure major Oscar winners.

A Soldier's Story? Some great performances, but no In the Heat of the Night for Norman Jewison.

I saw After Hours the other day -- liked it much better at the movies than years later.

Mona Lisa. The Limey. In the Name of the Father. Michael Collins (the first hr if not the final reel).

YD&OHS, etc

 

Some already mentioned:

Tombstone: My favorite western.

Life as a House.

The Majestic.

I'll throw in:

Beautiful Girls. Natalie Portman stole the show.

Simon Birch. What a neat story.

My Dog Skip. Modern-day Old Yeller.

Hearts in Atlantis.

 

Yoiu can't toss the end of Michael Collins because then you lose Sinead O'Connor's gorgeous reading of "He Came Through The Fair."

 

Beat me to it ... though it's not his best, c'mon. But definitely underappreciated. Didn't get it the first time I saw it, now I think it's the one of the funniest movies ever. DeNiro and Jerry Lewis as you've never seen them before!

California Split in the Altman dept.

 

Saw UHF in the theatre, one of 15 people nationwide that weekend.. Love it.
Hilarious.
I have the soundtrack somewhere.


Gandhi II!

 

I'm late to the dance (as usual) and several on my list have already been mentioned (Long Gone, Shattered Glass, Dirty Work).

One I didn't see in the thread yet was Gross Pointe Blank with John Cusack and Dan Akroyd as competing professional killers. I pretty much love anything Cusack does, but this might be my favorite of his flicks.

 

Death

To

Smoochy

 

One more that I can't turn off if I see it is The Negotiator. Not sure if it's a guilty pleasure or what, but I love that one.

 

That's the one thing about "Midnight Run" that I've always thought represented life in the life '80s. Everyone is smoking everywhere. Buses, airports, police stations, government offices, restaurants, etc. Twenty years later, you can't even smoke within a football field of those places.

Still, a great, great movie. Hard to think they almost cast Robin Williams (or if Paramount had their way, Cher ... ugh) in the Mardukus role and Bruce Willis as Walsh (MR came out in the same year as "Die Hard." Imagine what we would have been denied).

Damn straight. Some heavy-handed sappy parts, but still a phenomenal movie.

My suggestions:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang:" This will always top my list. I refer to it as the arthouse action flick. I've always loved Shane Black's screenplays ("The Long Kiss Goodnight" could also make an under-appreciated list), and I thought for a directorial debut, this was probably him at his best. Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan made for a great trio.

"Rounders": Could this even be considered under-appreciated? I know it pretty much started the hold Texas hold 'em craze, but I don't know if the movie has any widespread appeal. This was one of the rare times I watched a movie back-to-back.

"House of Sand and Fog:" Depressing as all hell, but this is one of those movies that makes one recognize and appreciate good acting, especially from Ben Kingsley. I never read the book, so I wouldn't know how it measures up.

"A Simple Plan:" Sam Raimi, somewhere between the "Evil Dead"s and "Spider-man." One of the most uncomfortable movies I've ever watched (and I can sit though the most disgusting horror movies without a flinch) because I actually gave it a shit about the characters. If we're talking Raimi, I think "The Gift," "The Quick and the Dead" and, perhaps, "Darkman" are worth a mention.

"Gods and Monsters:" An Oscar winner, yes, but still way under anyone's radar. I saw it in the local arthouse theater and thought Ian McKellen's performance was very memorable. Also, I doubt Brandon Fraser will get a role that good again.

"Catch Me If you Can:" Too big of a hit with too many heavy hitters (Spielberg, Hanks, Walken, DiCaprio) to be under-appreciated? You be the judge.

 

I agree with the mention, a couple pages back, of "Lone Star."
Also, "The Long Riders."
But my inner geek really, really loved "GalaxyQuest"

 

Any love for "Spy Game"? They got the feel right and may have been Redford's last performance with a pulse.