February 07, 2005

• Hudson Hawk. Most people hated it with a passion, mostly because they went in expecting Die Hard, and what they got instead was a surreal adventure with some comedy, dark and otherwise, thrown in. There's a couple plot holes, including one major one, but if you watch it with the right frame of mind, it's really quite good.
• I loved Black Robe. It's one of the few films I still enjoyed having read the book first.
• I have seen Night of The Comet like 300 times and will watch it every time it is on TV. Not actaully sure why this movie appeals to me so much, but it is definitely a "guilty pleasure".
• Pootie-Tang.... Never really got its share of media exposure, but it's really (IMO) fucking funny. Also, I really liked Waterworld *ducks*
• Princess Bride, and I'll second Hudson Hawk. Both strange films in a charming way.
• Oh, and Big Trouble in Little China.
• And Chocolat.
• I agree with ya Sandspider. I will also watch Hudson Hawk almost any time it's own. "Would you like to swing on a star....."
• Almost all fans of Kevin Smith movies detest Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Except me. I loved it. Hilarious.
• And Police Academy VIII... OK, maybe not, then.
• I actually was going to mention Princess Bride... but I thought everyone has seen it... (it turns out me and my friends are geeks)... and Big Trouble in Little China... strangely enough we were just talking about that movie in the cafeteria today... Skrik? Have you been digging in my DVD collection? Huh? HAVE YOU?! (If so, can I get my Kinky Canucks Vol. 7 back?)
• *gives Police Academy VIII back; keeps porn flick*
• Student Bodies is a classic.
• Proof is one of my all-time favorite films.
• Hudson Hawk and The Princess Bride were required watching in my college days, especially as I had them on Laserdisc. I only didn't list Princess Bride because I didn't realize it was underrated.
• They don't show it on TV every week, so yes, it's underrated.
• Legends of the Fall.
• Putney Swope. fantastic, sarcastic 1968 movie skewering the advertising business, social conciousness and race relations all at the same time.
• I really really love cheesy disaster movies. I have already watched "the day after tomorrow" several times and consider movies like "titanic" only worthwhile for their scenes of catastrophe...
• Jesus, Medusa! And to think I thought you were hot!
• I have a soft-spot for George Romero's Knightriders. I suspect that everybody has a movie like this- one that they saw at just the right time in their life that it sticks with them forever.
• Joe Dirt.
• There is Wes Anderson's first flick, Bottle Rocket which was under the radar until Rushmore came out. Another, if you are into the whole Horror/SciFi genre is Pitch Black. Made a bunch more in DVD sales than theatre tickets after word slowly spread. It gave the folks who loved Aliens something to believe in again (written and directed by Twohy). And I would be remiss not to mention two movies that were resoundly panned but I've found many a folk that I base my instant friendship on if they've enjoyed either.
• Speaking of which... How does one outrun "cold," Medusa? (related to my aforementioned lunch conversation, which was: "What's the stupidest "running away from x" scene in a movie?") Volcano won (toppling building, man outrunning it cartoon style, instead of simply running a few feet to the side) The Day After Tomorrow (obvious reasons) Predator (Outrunning nuclear explosion)
• Fight Club, The Postman, Mad Max 1 (and 2)
• Loki: Night of the Comet is among my very favorite films. Excellent, loved it, seen it a million times. In fact, when I saw 28 Days Later and all my friends loved it I was just frustrated that it owed so much to Night of the Comet and yet was nowhere near as good. Favorite under-rated movie of recent years: Wet Hot American Summer.
• Dangerous Beauty. Harrison Bergeron (good luck finding this one, it's OOP and has been for years). Moll Flanders, the version with Robin Wright and Morgan Freeman.
• *gah* just realized I sounded "troll-ee" in the last post (not to be confused with trolly which can be confusi... nevermind) But I loved Deep Impact, Independence Day, (yes I too enjoyed The Day After Tomorrow), and Pearl Harbor (but I only watched the attack on Pearl Harbor) solely for their "disaster" effects... I often have apocolyptic dreams, so I think the visuals seen crisp on the screen just rule...
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Labyrinth. Maybe the latter just for David Bowie in really tight pants.
• Where The Buffalo Roam starring Bill Murray as Hunter S. Thompson is pantswettingly funny and well done to boot. I'm not a John Ritter fan by any means, but also hilarious is Skin Deep by Blake Edwards. Another hidden gem is Year Of The Gun starring Andrew McCarthy of brat pack fame and a very youthful (and, in at least one notable scene, rather vigourously naked) Sharon Stone. Down Twisted is a great low budget and low intellect caper flick starring Charles Rocket and Carey Lowell of Law And Order "fame" (she was one of the revolving door of chick DA's for a couple seasons way back when). But by far the most underrated film I know of is To Live And Die In LA, starring William Petersen (Grissom on CSI) and a pre-Platoon Willem Dafoe as the pretty weird and possibly bisexual artist/counterfeiter. Also starring Frasier's Jane Leeves as the lesbian lover that Dafoe arranges for his girlfriend (yep, that's right, read that again), Ira from Mad About You as Petersen's not-so-hot-to-break-the-rules partner, John Turturro as the mule, and Dean Stockwell in the role he's pretty much played ever since, the coldly disapassionate, traitorous lawyer-type. AND the soundtrack by Wang Chung is, imo, one of the best movie soundtracks EVER made.
• Krull, Weird Science.
• Add another vote for Bottle rocket! Also Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai! And Blind Fury! which most of my friends hated but i kinda liked. what about La Femme Nikita? Also Vanya on 42nd street!!! Let's not forget the film noir classic: Out of the Past.
• Chocolat underrated?? I found it very much overrated. On the theme of cooking, Like Water for Chocolate and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover are my underappreciated favorites. My underrated favorite is Once Upon a Time in the West, which is arguably Leone's best film. I'm sure I'll think of more ...
• Oh! Here's one that is peculiar, under-rated AND apocalyptic: Miracle Mile. It's one of those movies where you will love it in spite of it's shortcomings (which are, unfortunately, legion) or you won't even be able to watch it.
• not sure what is considered under-rated, but Kentucky Fried Movie, and Amazon Women on the Moon are GR-R-R-R-R-EAT!!!!
• maybe this link will work
• or maybe not.
• pssst.... take off the last slash on those links.. you got two on the end....
• I've always had an irrational love for Midnight Madness. I swear if I even go to the Bonaventure Hotel I will insist on staying in room 2704. Also, oddly, this terrible 80's movie.
• Someone mentioned Fight Club...like Chocolat for Koko, I would have considered that overrated. Chocolat for Koko, that's kinda funny.
• Yes, Chocolat completely overrated (and I love the quirky kind of romantic French films on which it seemed to be modelled). Have to have Big Trouble in Little China in the DVD collection. It's still good. But if we're talking underrated, I have to put my $.02 in for Point Break. It does what it does very, very well. And yes, Jay and Silent Bob must die. Preferably killed by someone with a time machine.
• "I'm your Huckleberry..."
• as a fan of cheezy TV cop shows, I humbly present two of my favorite mid-80's cop movies, "To Live and Die in LA" and "F/X" -- better than average examples of the genre.
• ugh, i should read more carefully--- what Fes said about TLaDiLA... btw, rumor has it Fes got a new email address recently....
• I'm not bothering with the links, b/c I assume everyone here has access to IMDB.com. So do your own damn dirty work. I've got a million of 'em, but here are a choice few: What: Weird Al Yankovic's UHF. Why: SUPPLIES! What: Pumpkinhead Why: Believe it or not, the subtext. I love the dark Grimm fairy tale vibe to it, and plus it's got Lance Henrikson selling his soul for vengeance and a great Stan Winston creature. Avoid the sequel at all costs, though. What: Dracula's Daughter(1936) Why: Nobody's ever seen it, and it pre-Rices Ann Rice by several decades with what's probably one of the earliest lesbian vampire rape scenes ever. (Very subtly done, of course.) Just a good movie. What: Creature Walks Among Us Why: Least loved of the Black Lagoon trilogy, this is a blast. Creature carnage, landwalking creature, Creature as Id Freudian subtext. Great stuff. Now thankfully widely available in the Legacy DVD set. What: Pinnochio's Revenge Why: Because it's a lot better than the title, and I love sending people in search of it. One of the best Child's Play clones out there. What: My Life as a Dog Why: Because I felt I needed to add an "arty" flick in here, and it's one of my favorite movies ever. Maybe not underrated, but definitely under-known. I could go on forever but I'll stop with: What: Killer Klowns from Outer Space Why: Because the artistic design is fantastic. Because the actors (bless 'em) play it absolutely straight. Because there are actually a couple of genuinely disturbing scenes in amongst the silliness. Because the Chiodo Brothers (directors) also did the "Large Marge" effects for Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Because the $10 DVD is loaded and well worth it. Just because.
• I'm not bothering with the links, b/c I assume everyone here has access to IMDB.com. So do your own damn dirty work. I've got a million of 'em, but here are a choice few: What: Weird Al Yankovic's UHF. Why: SUPPLIES! What: Pumpkinhead Why: Believe it or not, the subtext. I love the dark Grimm fairy tale vibe to it, and plus it's got Lance Henrikson selling his soul for vengeance and a great Stan Winston creature. Avoid the sequel at all costs, though. What: Dracula's Daughter(1936) Why: Nobody's ever seen it, and it pre-Rices Ann Rice by several decades with what's probably one of the earliest lesbian vampire rape scenes ever. (Very subtly done, of course.) Just a good movie. What: Creature Walks Among Us Why: Least loved of the Black Lagoon trilogy, this is a blast. Creature carnage, landwalking creature, Creature as Id Freudian subtext. Great stuff. Now thankfully widely available in the Legacy DVD set. What: Pinnochio's Revenge Why: Because it's a lot better than the title, and I love sending people in search of it. One of the best Child's Play clones out there. What: My Life as a Dog Why: Because I felt I needed to add an "arty" flick in here, and it's one of my favorite movies ever. Maybe not underrated, but definitely under-known. I could go on forever but I'll stop with: What: Killer Klowns from Outer Space Why: Because the artistic design is fantastic. Because the actors (bless 'em) play it absolutely straight. Because there are actually a couple of genuinely disturbing scenes in amongst the silliness. Because the Chiodo Brothers (directors) also did the "Large Marge" effects for Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Because the $10 DVD is loaded and well worth it. Just because.
• I owe a great debt to Mr. Elwy Yost, and TVO's Saturday Night at the Movies. I was exposed to a lot of great films that I otherwise wouldn't have seen -- Bunny Lake is Missing, Three Days of the Condor, Five Easy Pieces, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Sunset Boulevard (there's a great paper that needs to be written comparing the two), etc., etc. As a result, guilty pleasures will include anything with a 60s Julie Christie or a 70s Robert Redford. "Now it's time to turn the lights down low..." God, I miss Elwy. My social life has improved, but do I ever miss that man.
• I swear to God, you guys are taking me back. Add me to Hudson Hawk and Night of the Comet, which I just rented last week. See also My Best Friend is a Vampire, IMO much better than Teen Wolf. Stalker is a very interesting, beautifully-made brainfuck movie, and I will never in my life forget the first time I ever watched In the Mouth of Madness or Jacob's Ladder or Event Horizon.
• Oh, and all the original Planet of the Apes movies. And Clash of the Titans, which I can't not watch when I stumble across it on TV. And Jason and the Argonauts, the first movie I actually remember seeing in the theaters. Ah, damn it, I knew I couldn't stop...
• The Blood of Heroes - post-apocalyptic bloodsport!
• Also, Tremors. I don't know if that counts as underrated, because I've never met anybody who actually disliked the film, but... it doesn't exactly top many Best Of lists, either. So, yeah. Tremors. I just love it. I can't think of a single thing you could change to make it better.
• Egads. I will also never forget the first time I watched In the Mouth of Madness or Event Horizon. In those days, I was far more stubborn about walking out on movies that I'd paid full price for.
• Delta of Venus with Audie England. Because it makes me feel so dirty, and yet so literary. But mostly b/c of Audie.
• Plan 9 from Outer Space. I say it proudly. I always have a blast watching it. Why? Because a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for? I find it inspiring, I really do. Ed Wood Jr. was a man who had a dream, and didn't let anything stand in his way of achieving it--not even his complete lack of talent. You can berate his works all you want, but the fact is he fucking DID IT. He was out there, LIVING THE DREAM. So take that, all you film school snoots. ;)
• Debaser re your comment about "running away from cold" way up there, one of my all-time-fav bad pseudo-science scenes in a disaster movie is the pierce brosnan volcano movie (um...well I cant think of the name) in which they outrace a pyroclastic flow in an old pickup truck! I LOVE it. its these special moments that make those movies so fun...
• Big...Return of the Living Dead...Joe vs. the Volcano...lord help me...
• Basquiat is cool, in a drug tinged, 60's nostalgic icon, urban prophet kinda way.
• I have nothing to add but I wanted to say this is a great thread idea!
• "lesbian vampire rape scenes" oh... that reminds me... The Hunger. Again, just for David Bowie in really tight pants. And hot sex between Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon.
• Miller's Crossing, cos Gabe Burns is the toughest sumabitch. And if you missed Saved, and you have a penchant for mocking self-important religious institutions, you might like this.
• Medusa... I love the Grandma pulling the boat through a lake of acid scene.
• Delusion
• Sleep Away Camp - several disturbing scenes that catch you off guard. A classic summer camp slasher.
• My list will always start and end with "The Breakfast Club." Yes I know most people "like" it, in a dismissive, "oh its a cute teenager movie" way. In my opinion, it's a classic on the level of anything on all those AFI lists. Pretend you never heard the term "Brat Pack", and take a close look at the story and performances. Has any movie ever said what it set out to say more perfectly, with so much humor and genuine emotion? I have a general pet peeve about movies trying to be self-consicously "artistic" ie "Garden State" and "Lost in Translation." The sad fact is, most of time you win awards by posing, not by genuine artistry, and it sucks. If John hughes had wanted only Oscars, he could very easily have cast older, respectable actors, made it a story about 40 year olds, and cut out some of the more vulgar humor. But he did what a real artist does and told the story he believed in.
• Throw Mama from the Train. "The night was...moist?" "Raise the view-thingy!" Great stuff. I 2nd Sleepaway Camp. Even knowing what's coming, that last scene gets me somehow. Maybe it's the noises, or just the sheer audacity of it. Also helps that the kids at the camp are actually played by KIDS, and the director doesn't shy away from killing them off. :)
• Tapeheads! Mystery Train!
• This summer I found Rotten Tomatoes Most Underrated Films of the 90s, which directed a lot of my film watching for the rest of the summer. Some of those may be better known than others, but of that list I can highly recommend: -Safe (one of the most psychologically complex movies I've seen) -Miller's Crossing (Coen brothers at their best and most underrated) -Croupier (great British flick) -The Straight Story (David Lynch does disney - not kidding) -My Neighbor Totoro (I don't know anyone who doesn't like this film - but if you haven't seen it, go rent it now. Dismissed as a kids movie, but easily in my top 5 favorite films. The happiest movie ever made) -The Limey (the only Soderbergh film I have ever liked) Many, many more I want to go through. And that's just the 90s!
• Schizopolis
• Two underrated flicks from Mr. Jeff Goldblum: Mr. Frost and The Tall Guy. The latter gets bonus points for a nekkid Emma Thompson. um...and St. Elmo's Fire?
• embarassing admission: one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE movies is Dragonslayer. I have seen it dozens of times. I love the scene where the chick gets sacrificed. it turns me on
• Oh, I hear you on Safe, TheRoach. Scared the bejeezus out of me.
• Clicking TheRoach's link reminded me of That Thing You Do! Which is a very elegant little coming-of-age story set in a time when modern America was coming-of-age, all couched in visual fluffernutter, directed (and written too I believe) by Tom Hanks. It is goofily fun while being subtly done. es el Queso! my Live and Die in LA brother!
• did anyone see "Not Another Teen Movie?" I was stunned. The advertising made it look like another churned-out piece of crap. But, wow... it is not quite on the level of the great Zukcer bro's comedies (Airplane, Naked Gun), but it's close. Seriously.
• Gabe Burns is the toughest sumabitch. Miller's Crossing is still the greatest film they ever made, IMO. Tom Reagan is the best wisecracking movie tough since Bogart's Sam Spade.
• Final Destination 1&2 - best slow build death scenes.
• Nothing embarassing about Dragonslayer, Medusa. I think it's still the best dragon movie ever made, and I even like McNichol as the nerdy wizard. And I was gonna dig out Student Bodies, but LokiSpeak beat me to it. MCT mentioned My Best Friend's a Vampire, which made me think of Jim Carrey and Lauren Hutton in Once Bitten, which made me think of George Hamilton in Love at First Bite, which led me to the ultimate guilty pleasure comedy, Zorro, the Gay Blade. Thank you for that trip down guilty pleasure lane.
• Bah, gotta throw me too's in here. Loved "Tombstone" just for Kilmer as Doc Holliday. Almost all of his lines were great. Also another me too for the aforementioned "To Live and Die in LA" (the soundtrack is also still one of my favorite CD's). No idea why, just love that movie.
• From TheRoach's link, Big Night.
• I'm not even going to pretend like I read the comments. Soulkeeper - A Sci-Fi channel original that doesn't suck. Plus you get exposed to Tiny Lister's perfect penis. Croupier - After watching this, you will no doubt be one of the masses screaming for MGM to cast Clive Owen as James Bond. Pootie Tang - Funniest blaxploitation spoof ever. Yes, funnier than I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. It! The Terror From Beyond Space - Sci-Fi B-Movie from the sixties about a doomed mission to Mars. Suprisingly light on the bad science, and heavy on characterization and plot. I was shocked at how much I liked it, despite it being shown at B-Fest. Series 7: The Contenders - A reality show spoof from the time where reality shows existed of Cops and Real World. Brilliantly done. I'm sure I could list a few hundred more, but I've got work to do.
• Split Second, with Rutger Hauer. Fat, bloated Rutger Hauer, sure, but still Rutger Hauer. Source of the Big Fucking Gun. It's cheesy, and I loves it.
• Warning Sign, Night of the Creeps and Wanted: Dead or Alive are guilty pleasures. Devil's Playground is a great documentary about Rumspringa. Thanks for the Student Bodies link, LokiSpeak. I've been trying to remember that title for years. Good taste, all around.
• Oh, I almost forgot the most underrated movie EVER. Babe: Pig in the City - I hated the original, but the sequel was so beautiful, so well made, full of great dialogue and special effects that you forget that you are watching a children's movie with an annoying animal for a lead.
• Damn, rodgerd. Weird timing with the Rutger Hauer movies. Those are wonderfully bad, too. I just chose Wanted: Dead or Alive 'cause it has ... ugghhh ... Gene Simmons.
• Speaking of Rutger Hauer, who I love, Escape from Sobibor is a great WWII film about the concentration camps.
• Kentucky Fried Movie, Top Secret!, Blazing Saddles, Rumble in the Bronx, and Free Enterprise. On preview: TenaciousPettle... are you my long-lost twin?
• You want underrated? Undercover Brother. Kicks ass. This is the movie bloggers should have been blabbering about instead of Zoolander. See this. On the other hand, my reliability may be compromised by how much I laughed at Joe's Apartment. Also, Clash of the Motherfucking Titans, baby. Hell yes.
• underrated... Babe: Pig in the City Damn the internet, shawnj, the accursed internet whose strange, searchable lure both enables and - somehow - forces me to point out that precisely that observation was made by Andrew in episode 9, season 7 of Buffy, 'Never Leave Me'. He's being urged by an ancient evil to slaughter a piglet at the time, you see. Jesus. I need to... do something. Or other.
• jim_t: maybe...I can't believe I didn't note the lack of Top Secret! here. That movie is so damn funny...
• Flashboy: "I'm your Huckleberry..." I second that! Kilmer at his bizarre/charming best.
• I second Mad Max (1 & 2), and also Tremors.
• Speaking of good flicks with Rutger Hauer, there's also The Last Words of Dutch Schultz.
• ferris beuller's day off
• I've said it before, and I'll say it again...Serial Mom is one of the best (and funniest) movies ever made...I saw it again after sitting down and (finally) watching the majority of Alfred Hitchcock's major films, and you know what...better than Hitchcock. Sorry, y'all, but that trial scene just cant be beat. Freeway...if only for Brooke Shields blowing her brains out in the shower with white pums on...or Brittany Murphy as a lesbian gluehead Brazil, Baron Munchausen, the color purple, Akira, ooh, ooh, Until the End of the World...GREAT FILM! ummm, Viva Las Vegas...I'm surprised it's not rated x (those racers in the funny car race are TOTALLY snuffing it on film) and ann-margret in those painted on hot pants dancing like she took half a bottle of thalidomide just for kicks... Galaxy Quest ROCKS! (and i hate, HATE, Tim Allen) Eternal Sunshine was amazing as well, and i feel the same way about Jim Carrey Leaving Las Vegas is wonderful, but if you use it as a drinking game (drinking whenever Nick cage does), you will never finish it.. my sister was in schizopolis....(as diane)
• Straight to Hell- a story of blood, money, guns, coffee, and sexual tension.
• ooh and Blade Runner and the first Star Trek movie...Syd Mead rocks the production design!
• Oh holy shit! THE LAST STARFIGHTER!!!! Okay, that's it, I'm done. That's the one. :D
• Oh yeah ... almost forgot The Brother from Another Planet.
• So, sexyrobot, you once had Dennis Hopper as your brother in law, and now French Stewart? That's... Freakin' whoa, man.
• Naked Beautiful People Betty Blue My my. I'm in a fine mood today.
• Make that Beautiful People
• Bibliochick, Naked is one of my favorite movies. David Thewlis was just incredible in it.
• Also, since sexyrobot mentioned it, Freeway 2 is pretty damn good, too, in a WTF kinda way.
• I've gotta see Freeway. People keep telling me too, and I've not done it yet out of sheer orneriness. (i.e., the quality of being ornery...)
• AAAAUUUUGH! "too" MUST BE "to"! The grammarian in me shrivels...
• The Warriors: CAN YOU DIG IT!?. And Last Night, but a) I'm Canadian b) it's got Sandra Oh in it and c) The Cronenberg character DIES!@#. Yes Sir! .. madame might say a lot about me, or not.
• One more, recently re-discovered, but utterly terrible: Chopping Mall.
• I was going to say Top Secret, I grew up watching that movie over and over. Probably explains a lot. Here's my list, I'm not going to check if they've already been mentioned or not: Sneakers, Spartan, Super Troopers, Kung Pow, 5th Element, Best In Show, Dirty Work, Equilibrium, Evolution, Fletch, Robin Hood - Men In Tights and Spaceballs (and any other Mel Brooks movie), Zoolander
• Oh, almost forgot. Not sure how underrated it was but I'll throw in Snatch.
• Galaxy Quest ROCKS! (and i hate, HATE, Tim Allen) Agree with both parts of that statement. The writer of Galaxy Quest once spoke to a class I was in- he's one of the people who got me interested in taking up screenwriting. Tim Allen really is utterly talentless, that movie proves that with a good script all an actor has to do is not fuck it up. (the other moral of that story is that the shitty actor will be world famous and have a zillion dollars whilst the writer is soeaking to Film 100 classes at Santa Monica College)
• Instead of working this morning, I spent two hours watching Coming To America for the umpteenth time. Heh. "Whaddya know from funny, you bastard!" Also, *coughcough* Red Dawn *coughcough* is quite the guilty pleasure. / AmericanFilter
• Naked is amazing. And The Limey is fun. Seems to me many here don't understand the definition of "underrated." Blade Runner? Eternal Sunshine? Leaving Las Vegas? Mad Max? Blazing Saddles? Ferris Bueller? Miller's Crossing? The Breakfast Club? La Femme Nikita? Chocolat? The Princess Bride? These are underrated??
• Got to throw my weight behind The Big Lebowski as my favorite movie of all time.
• I'm gonna say Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane. And Star Wars. And Jaws and E.T. Seriously, though, The Parallax View is a great film that a lot of people don't know about.
• How much do you weigh, Uncle?
• Ooh, and eXistenZ, which dealt with virtual-world themes at the same time as the first Matrix movie, and which IMO was a much more compelling film.
• After looking at my DVD collection, let me add some more. I don't know if they're underrated or not but... whatever: The Road To Wellville Spies Like Us Suicide Kings Grosse Point Blanke. Plus one of my favorite movies of all time: Arsenic And Old Lace.
• Two if by Sea, with Denis Leary and Sandra Bullock. It's great to have a genuine Boston accent talking with a Hollywood imitation of a Boston accent. 13th Warrior, from the book Eaters of the Dead
• Two if by Sea, with Denis Leary and Sandra Bullock. It's great to have a genuine Boston accent talking with a Hollywood imitation of a Boston accent. 13th Warrior, from the book Eaters of the Dead
• Been there. Done that. (scroll down to "Silent Running") My only Hollywood Pipe Dream was to write a remake of "The President's Analyst".
• I agree with what Hawthorne said about those movies that may not have been huge hits, but they are surely not underrated. I nominate Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories." Woody Allen movies comprise about half of my total viewing pleasure, so I guess that I am really nominating it as the most underrated Woody Allen movie. It concerns a famous director who is disappointing all of the fans of his comedies by turning to dramas. He wrote this movie around the time that his first full-fledged drama hit theatres. "Stardust Memories" is funny, poignent, satirical, and bizarre. I would highly recommend it.
• I owuldn't really call it underrated, but Napoleon Dynamite was a fun film
• While The Commitments was a pretty mainstream hit, the other two films of the quasi-trilogy The Van and The Snapper, are incredibly underrated. (And both probably funnier than The Commitments). You can never have too much Colm Meaney.
• I'll second Spies Like Us. Two that didn't get a fair shake: Zero Effect The Edge
• Let's try some left field here... Thick as Thieves, a quirky little low key crime flick starring a surprising cast. Very enjoyable, and the only straight to video flick I haven't regretted renting. I really learned that lesson the hard way. Probably would have done decently in theatres, but after seeing the flick I think you'll agree that the marketing dept probably threw up their hands about how to play this one.
• I'm with you re: Galaxy Quest, sexyrobot. Seems to me many here don't understand the definition of "underrated." yeah, second that ... OK, I thought of a few more on the bus home from work: Blood Simple a quiet, intense early noir from the Coen Brothers Barry Lyndon because I'm a sucker for a weak, pathetic yet lovable main character American Splendor Ghost World More! We need more films based on graphic novels! Punch Drunk Love in which Adam Sandler proves he's more than just a juvenile comedian (though I love his juvenile comedies too) 28 Days Later scariest low-budget zombie movie ever Duel Spielberg from 1971, before he got all sappy; a truly riveting thriller about a guy (Dennis Weaver) being chased down for no reason by a Mack Truck I'll think of more ...
• I'll think of films and post them later, but has anyone ever seen Nic Roeg's Bad Timing with Art Garfunkel? I like creepy psychological thrillers (am thinking of one with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland but the title escapes me). Just wondering if it's worth the effort to track Bad Timing down.
• Mr. Vampire probably qualifies more as 'cult' than under-rated, but if you haven't seen it, you really should. In the same genre, more obscure but also worth it is Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead: semi-pornographic blood and gore and the most hilarious and inappropriate subtitles of all time.
• Cynnbad: Don't look Now I mean, that's the title you're looking for, I'm not trying to warn you of imminent danger ... unless you're in imminemt danger, and then I am.
• Oh, and Mediterraneo is one of my favourite films: it's the story of a battallion of Italian soldiers shipwrecked on a Greek island for the duration of WWII. Brilliant acting, funny and touching script, amazing cinematography.
• Did I mention that I once worked for the radio talk jockey whose voice was heard over the radio in "Duel"? (In it, he makes a prank call to the Census Bureau confessing that he really isn't the head of his household, and interviews a guy who claims to make music with meat.) Does that make me two degrees from Spielberg? Anyway, I liked "Duel" a lot, even the parts without the radio guy. Anyway, I liked made-for-TV movies better when they squeezed them into 90-minute timeslots.
• Made-for-TV movies in the 70's and '80s kicked ASS.
• Groundhog Day. The producers meant to make a mainstream by-the-numbers Hollywood unfunny comedy but they screwed up and made something brilliant by mistake.
• So, sexyrobot, you once had Dennis Hopper as your brother in law, and now French Stewart? That's... Freakin' whoa, man. I'm just going to pull JoeChip's comment out to highlight it, because, you know, I think it deserves another "freakin' whoa".
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. ...oh, and any Doris Day and Rock Hudson flick.
• Dark City So I Married an Axe Murderer
• I love the Grandma pulling the boat through a lake of acid scene. I don't remember that being in Titanic.
• come on, mfpb its right after the scene where the titanic floats immediately past a flow of lava, yet kate winslets hair is not even singed despite the massively high ambient temperature due to the river of molten rock....A-MAZE-ZING!!!
• Gotta give a vote for Shaun of the Dead... much fun and, of course there is Dawn of the Dead my personal favorite (and my major motion picture debut!)... lots of uneeded gore, nice explosions, and some great humor for a zombie movie...
• I've seen Bad Timing several times. (Went to film school.) It's worth a look if you like Roeg's other stuff. Underrated film? Sembene's Mandabi. (Filmed in Wolof.) -- Why is everything I like from Senegal these days?
• I dunno if Groundhog Day qualifies, timefactor. They study it in film school.
• Miller's Crossing has got to be one of my favorites, but why the hell didn't they credit Dashiell Hammet if they were going to make a movie from The Glass Key? Has no-one ever pointed it out to them?
• More ... The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Happiness Heavy Office Space The King of Comedy
• Split Second with Rutger whatever his name was - I second that. I remember watching him rip the heart out of Satan with his hand - yes, the actual Satan and then it was over. It was like 55 mins, I wanted my money and my time back. Yet I still rent it every now and then to see if there's something that I missed http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105459/
• This reminds me... I worked in a theater in junior college. The other ushers were always trying to trap me into seeing Dawn of the Dead. We had to wear white T-shirts and black pants as a uniform, and my white shirt was always stained, so of course I bleached it constantly. Never will I forget the night that we were slammed and I had to work the hot dog station. I lifted the cover on the little rotisserie, and a bunch of steam issued. This was enough to dissolve the weakened threads on my shirt. It literally dissolved off my body, falling into component parts on the floor. I stood horrified for a moment, then ran into the nearest theater, showing Dawn of the Dead, of course. I had to sit thru the movie in my bra, and the other ushers convulsed with laughter every time I tried to crawl down the aisle. Fuckers. Could have been stimulating, but not at the time.
• Oh, and that movie Election just killed me. I so wanted to be Reese.
• Blood & Dounts
• Another vote for GHOST WORLD!! Steve Buscemi rocks in that one. Ok, i'm also a fan o' Rutger Hauer's and if you are too, then check out BLIND FURY. He plays a blind samurai. what could be more practical? What about Pickup on South Street? A golden oldie noir flick. You just gotta see it, you just gotta see it....wait a sec. Actually no you don't. Because judging from the whole gamut of movie recommendations here, face it, no-one's going to like any of anyone's films. why would you stop watching something like film and waste time watching the piece o' crap that i like. If on the off chance, you do, you'll think it's a piece of crap. That makes me sad. (snif).
• I guess what I'm saying really is it's fucking crowded in here. Anyone see my Aunt Millie?
• Aargh! No one's mentioned Impromptu yet! Judy Davis, Hugh Grant, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands, and the introduction (to American audiences, anyway), of Emma Thompson. It's been nearly fifteen years since it came out and I still quote lines from the damn movie. "It's true, she'd drink the blood of her children from the skull of her lover, and not feel so much as a stomach ache." Now that's a woman!
• Hi guys (and gals), I am so glad that this thread turned out to be so fruitful. This is non-sequitorial, but I am thankful that there is this small community, albeit virtual, that I am able to be a part of. Thanks to you all for being so goddamn cool. As for my favorites: Gunga Din, Death Race 2000, Repo Man, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The List of Adrian Messenger, Papilion, and most everything by Aldomavar.
• How I could I forget Bill and Ted? genius! SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!
• How to Get Ahead in Advertising Dean Koontz's Phantoms
• I will second (or third, or fifth) Sneakers, Wet Hot American Summer, La Femme Nikita, UHF, Croupier, Serial Mom, Suicide Kings, Office Space, and Galaxy Quest (one of those great PG "the whole family can watch" flicks, which are hard to find). My additions: the Christopher Guest movies (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind), The Hudsucker Proxy (another PG movie!), Catch Me If You Can, The Thing Called Love (total guilty pleasure, I *heart* River Phoenix), Boondock Saints, Shaolin Soccer, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down!, Mambo Italiano.
• Oh, and for some guilty pleasure reason, 10 Things I Hate About You. I think that reason is Julia Stiles. No, wait, it's Heath Ledger. Hmmm. I can't decide. *rawr*
• You're a better man than I am, squidranch! /kinda obscure
• Joe Versus The Volcano is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I don't care how many people laugh at me for saying that. Also The Royal Tenenbaums, but that one's underrated only in that you don't legally have to marry it (yet).
• Broken Lizard's "Supertroopers"
• flashboy: that was Andrew's best scene ever, and the scene that made me into a Buffy fan. "That'll do, pig!" as he runs at the pig with a knife? Killer. I was sure I was going to be the first to mention Bill and Ted, but then it popped up, right at the end. Darn. I will say that I loved the sequel too, and am not ashamed of that either. ;) I think Keanu Reeves is my guilty pleasure, actually, because I have to second Point Break. Also, Johnny Mnemonic, if just for Henry Rollins' delivery of "He's the guy...that FUCKS YOUR MOTHER!" Er, yeah. ;) This could go on forever, my favourite movies are wildly diverse and some of them are not considered genre toppers. I think a final vote will have to go for Benny and Joon, which is basically the only romantic comedy I have ever liked.
• Johnny Hazard -- I wouldn't be friends with people in high school if they didn't enjoy the Baron and Joe! Gotta second UHF, Buckaroo Banzai, Supertroopers, Big Trouble in Little China. If you're going to go all the way to guilty pleasure, you gotta go with Starship Troopers and Stone Cold (the Brian Bosworth extravaganza!) and anything with Swayze. Swayze, Swayze, Swayze!
• you're totally right, wingo...i put in a bunch of highly rated stuff...sorry, brainfart i guess...i mean computational error... how about.... wag the dog...very funny and very eerily precient (did i spell any of that right? whuteva) another great drinking yourself to death film...a ticket to berlin rosalie goes shopping was very cute...i had a weird thing about marienne sagebracht for a while... helloooo...Harold and Maude? totally agree on the hudsucker proxy totally disagree on ghost world....the comic was awesome, the movie was total shit...completely forgettable...the original story is about two girls, best friends, whose relationship disintegrates after high school...almost completely unexplored thematic territory, and they turned it to yet another stupid rom com. steve bucemi would have been great as bob skeetes, the character from the book, but it was obvious that they just decided to make him the center of attention because, hello, he's steve bucemi.....gag me. just what hollywood needs, yet another two hour ego trip immortalized on film. and what was all that garbage about enid being all politically active about that art show business...ugh. thumbs down, yo.
• oh, and i know its yet another baby boomer wankfest, but i just loved Pleasantville....
• how weird, sexyrobot: I just logged in to say Harold and Maude. Movie and soundrack, both.
• I really dig Brain Candy. Is Desperately Seeking Susan still considered not so great? 'Cause I really dig that one too.
• Also, High Art. Probably best fits under guilty pleasure.
• Naked Lunch. Pi. Memento. (underrated? I have no idea.) Magnolia. (ditto) hmm. Strange Days on the Rotten Tomatoes overlooked list. it's a personal fave, but... I'm unsure if it "deserved" more attention than it got, or if I just like it, period. Glengary Glen Ross, though. Definitely. Also Lawn Dogs and Dogfight.
• hey mandy....i must admit i liked who's that girl? as well as d.s.susan....but at least i have the gay excuse....
• and, hello, i've been waiting how many years have i been waiting for a titanic sequel? *ship bobs back up to the surface, passengers inhale deeply...*
• Torulath said Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which I thoroughly agree with: "Ruprecht! Do you need the genital cuff?" I propose a second Steve Martin movie: Bowfinger, which might be the last good performance we get out of Eddie Murphy, with a great supporting cast, too.
• I swear, every movie in my DVD collection, except for Star Trek and Pixar movies has been named in this list...
• sexyrobot--I almost listed Who's That Girl? My excuse is that I too was a girl from Michigan who dreamt of the big city. Madonna and I just took slightly different paths is all.
• re: Magnolia- oddly enough was just discussing the rather inappropriate worship some have for this movie on Sat. yes, it's very interesting and well acted. But there is a massive thematic disconnect- you set us up for it to be about "coincidences," then end with a rain of frogs??? That is not a "coincidence" - that is a biblical plague/supernatural event for which there is no rational explanation. I defy anyone to explain how or why that fits in with the film. It's about the coincidental connections between all these people and then... frogs.
• oh, and "Billy Madison!"
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is amazing. And so wonderfully colorful.
• drjimmy11: There is a minor thing to tie the frogs in, though I don't think it was enough to save the film. Several times throughout the movie, signs appear with the Bible verse Exodus 8:2. The verse reads, "If thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs." As far as I was concerned, the only thing the frogs accomplished was to wake my friends and me up before we could get cricks in our necks from being bored to sleep while sitting in a movie theater. Of course, my reaction to Magnolia might be expected from the enormous cheese factor of most of my underrated and/or guilty pleasure movies: Dirty Dancing, Cherry 2000, Six-String Samurai, Top Secret, The History of the World: Part One, Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Baron Munchausen, Labyrinth (I'm with ya on the Bowie-in-tight-pants, kimdog), Buckaroo Banzai, Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Zorro the Gay Blade, and Love and First Bite. If Magnolia is cheese, it's an entirely different flavor, and not one to my liking.
• Fandango. I can't believe no one has mentioned Fandango. Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson, some big fat hairy guy. One last bout with craziness before they go off to adulthood. Always brings a tear to my eye.
• P.T. Anderson explained the meaning of the frogs: "you get to a point in your life, and sh*t is happening, and everything's out of your control, and suddenly, a rain of frogs just makes sense. You're staring at a doctor who is telling you something is wrong, and while we know what it is, we have no way of fixing it. And you just go: "So what you're telling me, basically, is that it's raining frogs from the sky." I'm not someone who's ever had a special fascination with UFO's or supernatural phenomena or anything but I guess I just found myself at a point in my life where I was going through some shitty stuff, and I was ready for some sort of weird religious experience, or as close as I could get to one. So then I began to decipher things about frogs and history things like this notion that as far back as the Romans, people have been able to judge the health of a society by the health of its frogs: the health of a frog, the vibe of a frog, the texture of the frog, its looks, how much wetness is on it, everything. The frogs are a barometer for who we are as a people. We're polluting ourselves, we're killing ourselves, and the frogs are telling us so, because they're all getting sick and deformed. And I didn't even know it was in the bible until Henry Gibson gave me a copy of it, bookmarked to the appropriate frog passage".
• I thought the frogs were brilliant. The dozens of people who left the theater when the frogs fell thought otherwise.
• I just watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure last night for the first time in over 10 years (and the first time not stoned), and I have to say it's actually kind of lame. Just not as funny as it was back then. Gotta say, not underrated. I'm gonna second Waiting for Guffman though. Stool Boom!
• Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.
• I prefer Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey myself, if only for the scene with Death.
• My husband wanted to suggest Who'll Stop the Rain? and also Night Shift, but I didn't like Night Shift very much, so I won't add it. Oh crap, I just did.
• you set us up for it to be about "coincidences," then end with a rain of frogs??? The setup wasn't about coincidences. The events in the prologue were greater than the sum of their parts. A scuba diver, a forest fire, and a small plane. Nothing that should be to interesting. But when they collide, you get an event that begs for an explanation. You know it's technically possible, but when it happens you wonder why, and look for meaning in the event. The same goes for the frogs. Faced with such an event, humans aren't satisfied with "well, it's technically possible." They want to know why. Is there meaning there, or is it self-imposed? It's like the soccer tornado. The people at that event surely spent the next couple days with a big WTF!?! written across their grey matter, until they find a way to resolve it. Sure, it's always been technically possible, but when it happens, and you aware that it's possible, you still aren't satisfied that it makes sense. You might argue that this still means it is about coincidences, but lumping it all under that one word blanket manages to completely obscure the point. You complain of a thematic disconnect, but that is a necessary and integral part of this movie. Look at From Dusk to Dawn. What made that a great vampire movie is that it didn't build up to vampires. There wasn't a castle with a mysterious count or any of the usual contrived BS that's put in a movie. It just hits you with it BAM out of the blue. That how real life would deal you the situation. Same goes for the frogs. It would've been junk if they prepped you for it, maybe with dreams from the frog prince, and maybe the city has a crazy scientist that everyone happens to know but nobody ever listens to. Foreshadowing blows, and it would've destroyed the movie. Of course, I knew about the frogs before I watched the movie (someone had let it slip). So as I watched the whole movie, each line a character had I'd think "he's saying that now but he doesn't know that it's going to rain frogs soon." That's a really fun way to watch a movie.
• /Also loves Who's That Girl, Pootie Tang
• I like your explanation of the rain of frogs, Mr. K. It had a way of bringing all these disconnected people together, of snapping them out of their self-absorption. It had the same connecting effect of them all singing (lip-syncing) the same song. I thought Magnolia was brilliant. Two underrated WWII-themed movies: Tora! Tora! Tora! a far superior film about the attack on Pearl Harbor Hell in the Pacific "My log!!!"
• I just found out that Kurosawa was briefly attached to Tora! Tora! Tora! Don't know how much he contributed, though.
• Drop Dead Fred One Crazy Summer
• snaps for hudson, galaxy quest ("can you form some type of rudimentary lathe?"), fandango ("only if it's neat") and deathrace 2000 (my first DVD purchase). not mentioned but clearly necessary rentals for this group: The Hidden (Michael Nouri and Kyle McLachlan, with early Concrete Blonde tunes) and Highway 61, with the best bingo vignette *ever* and a indoors chicken hunt with guns set to "It's Not Unusual".
• As kimdog said but: Labyrinth. Maybe just for Jennifer Connelly. Oh, and the opening titles. And the special effects. Oh, OK, and the music too.
• I'm there with you on Labyrinth. The film that started my long-standing and continuing crush on Jennifer Connelly. And this was BEFORE she had those amazing boobs, mind you. Seriously, she's hotter than the inside of a chicken pot pie. Um...Romi-O and Julie-8?
• Have you noticed that Jennifer Connelly's breasts seem to have disappeared? My friends and I were debating whether she'd had a reduction or lost enough weight for them to go away or if child rearing had somehow done it. ... we have too much freetime, yes, but it's hard not to speculate. She had great breasts.
• Yes Jennifer Connelly is wicked hot, which reminded me of Career Opportunities
• Spacediver - Affleck was the BOMB in Phantoms, yo!
• Squidranch, my bf's uncle was Gunga Din. /namedropping Also, seconding Bowfinger es el Queso.
• No shit!!?? Wow, I was just watching "The Asphalt Jungle" last night and was thinking how great Sam Jaffee was. That's way cool. Kali!!!!!!
• I just watched "Lost Horizon" and thought the same thing. Let's just say I have access to some pretty cool film memorabilia.
• Peter Weir's Fearless.
• I'm amazed at the breadth of this list -- I'm a pretty serious film buff and I was amazed at some of the films you guys coughed up (Croupier! Tapeheads! The Tall Guy!). Anyway, here's a few more. Several people have chimed in about Miller's Crossing but the underrated Coen Bros. gem is Barton Fink, wich despite winning the Cannes Film Festival, it seems no one has actually seen it. Also, Performance, Bubba Ho-Tep, The Mission and all the LOTR fans should be required to sit through Meet the Feebles.
• yowza! as i was writing down all of the movies, i just now noticed Tremors. one seriously funny movie (but miss the sequels). ("Get the elephant gun!...You broke into the wrong goddamn rec room!") Hee hee hee...
• A little late getting to this party, but I see that "Searching For Bobby Fischer" has not yet been mentioned. Lawrence Fishburne, Ben Kingsley in major supporting roles. Joan Allen, great as always. One of my favorite movies of all time and one that has been found on other reviewer's "overlooked" lists.
• Searching for Bobby Fisher is Hollywood cheese, IMO. Not in a good way -- in a Dead Poets' Society/Driving Miss Daisy way. (Per the axiom that 90 percent of the time, if Morgan Freeman or Robin Williams is in it, it's treacly crap.)
• But to each his own. Not trying to dis you personally, mecurious; just responding to the mention of a movie I really didn't like. (In the same way I didn't like Shawshank Redemption, which is a fake, over-earnest, manipulative piece of trash.)
• One more! Shoot or be Shot - Pretty funny movie about a psychotic escapee who has a script he wants produced (William Shatner), a no-budget film crew that has no script, and a hotel owner with more guns than the army (Tim Thomerson). I lied. Speaking of Tim Thomerson, Near Dark is the best pretentious white-trash vampire movie ever produced. Why pretentious? When you watch it, count how many times the word "vampire" is used.
• heminator, here's another chock-full-o'-Goldblum British comedy that I think I may have actually rented the same night I watched The Tall Guy, and enjoyed only slightly less: The Favour, the Watch, and the Very Big Fish. Worth it to see and hear Bob Hoskins and Natasha Richardson doing voice-over for an Italian porno. It is to laugh. (and apropos of nothing, but Nat's little sister, Joeley Richardson, is also in the pot-pie territory...)
• Has anyone said "Dune" yet? My appreciation for this film (the Lynch version) grows every time I watch it. True, it pretty much lacks an involving climax, but the exposition is brilliant. Also, Svankmajer's Faust is currently my all time favorite, but I'm not certain it counts as underrated since it seems to have simply escaped all notice.
• John Sayles is a fantastic director who doesn't get much of a mention ... Lone Star is a great film, really warm and human, Limbo's a quality psychological thriller. They're slow and they're real ... Sexy Beast is a great film too - Ray Winstone is great but Ben Kingsley's performance as a pyscopath blows you away (yes, from the same man who did Ghandi!)
• OK, Career Opportunities was underrated, but in an entirely different way. Third/Fourth/etc on Labyrinth, for the above-noted reasons. Didn't mean to start a war of the magnolias. Wait: ORGAZMO.
• HawthorneWingo: I'll always love Morgan Freeman because he helped me learn how to read on the Electric Company!
• Morgan Freeman was on the Electric Company? I didn't know that.
• That's different, meredithea. I didn't say he's not worthy of love. Just that the St. Morgan character he plays over and over and over (and over and over) again is pretty stale.
• ooh, and soylent green and cleopatra jones and princess mononoke and tron... and do you realize how fucked up things have to be for it to actually rain frogs? ps. magnolia just plain sucked.
• Impromptu is a hoot. I vote for Phantom of the Paradise, when Brian de Palma got all 70s on everybody's ass. But I like films having to do with young women. Heavenly Creatures , Puberty Blues , Whatever.
• Night of the Hunter, Bagdad Cafe, Romper Stomper, La Haine (released as "Hate" over here), The Fifth Element, My Life As A Dog, Welcome To The Dollhouse, Brother From Another Planet, Kiriku and the Sorceress, and the best stoner movie of all time, Milo and Otis.
• Hmm. I can tell which of you I'd like to see movies with. (Magnolia was bullshit, as was Punch Drunk Love). Here's the list I came up with, and I'm glad to see some of it was echoed here: God Made Me Do It- Creepy religious/space alien/detective story featuring Andy Kaufman as a cop who kills. Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension- Once upon a time, a sequel was promised. Oh, why won't they? Best John Lithgow ever. The Hands- Michael Caine and Oliver Stone. Man's hands kill! The Swordsman 2- Jet Li and a slew of others in a flying fantasy swordfest. Imagine Crouching Tiger made for a tenth of the money by three directors, also with more goofiness. "Essense absorbing stance!" Fort Apache, The Bronx- Despite not really having any resolution, this day-in-the-life with Paul Newman is a fun look at the gritty cop-movie problems of the '70s. Includes the sample: "The bitch is nuts, man. She's been smokin' that angel dust, you dig?" Laputa- For the person that mentioned My Neighbor Totoro, this is another Miyazaki flick that's excellent. Two ophans fight sky pirates and the government while trying to learn the secret of a flying city. Poor White Trash- Fun, goofy movie about would-be criminals in rural America. Six String Samurai- Elvis has died in Las Vegas, so Buddy Holly goes to claim the crown as the king of rock and roll. Oh yeah, post-apocalyptic too... The Parralax View- Warren Beatty at his coolest. Fun conspiracy movie. I Went Down- Remember those UK crime movies like Snatch? This is a perfect antidote to their style-over-substance. Touching and incredibly funny story about two guys forced to do dirty work, despite not being good at it at all. Beer- Hot Lips from M*A*S*H stars as an ad executive who grabs three guys to be macho stand-ins for her beer brand. Hilarious send-up of early '80s beer commercials. Also, easily adapted into a drinking game. Smoke- Harvey Keitel plus others in great character study. Highway 61- Fantastic Canadian movie with a bingo-playing devil. Includes good soundtrack, with people who have never recorded before or since. That's a good start. Sorry I was late to the party.
• Oh yeah, someone mentioned Lone Star- great fucking movie. Also- Cemetary Man, where the gravekeeper has to keep shooting the dead because they won't stay dead. Fun and weird. Very Italian.
• Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension- Once upon a time, a sequel was promised. Oh, why won't they? Best John Lithgow ever. According to imdb trivia:

  "The first few drafts of Big Trouble in Little China were known as "Buckaroo Banzai vs. The World Crime League," the proposed sequel to The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984). For whatever reason, it was later decided to scrap the proposed sequel. The screenplay was heavily rewritten to become Big Trouble in Little China."

  So there you go.
• Damn them! Maybe I'll make an internet sequel...
• Which reminds me: Remo Williams: the Adventure Begins. Would fit perfectly in a triple feature with Big Trouble... and Buckaroo Banzai.
• Two films from the 1960's... Casino Royale (Woody Allen, David Niven) and The Magic Christian (Peter Sellars, Ringo Starr). They both have a galaxy of cameo's from stars of the day. And are a hoot, espcially if you're using Herbal Essence and I don't mean the shampoo...
• Ice Pirates
• zedcaster, I second your choices, especially The Magic Christian. Some of the other 60's spy spoof films like Our Man Flint (James Coburn) and The Silencers (Dean Martin as Matt Helm)were a hoot too.
• HawthorneWingo: I can see getting tired of Freeman's saintly image. It's just that the films where he plays a bad guy (isn't he a bad guy in Hard Rain and the Big Bounce?) are so very bad!
• Oh, and here's the imdb on the Electric Company. I loved that show so as a kid. Hey you guuuuuys!
• Casino Royale is excellent... As is the original Bedazzled, with some of the best music ever...
• Ok, not my favorite, but definitely much better than I exptected. There is something to be said for finding something funny, and then doing it until it's not funny anymore, and then keeping going until it's funny again. Eurotrip
• Don't forget In Like Flint... "dammit Flint, It's the President"
• Lone Star. Longest wait for a main character to grasp the obvious... EVER.
• Civilisées [1999] I had the pleasure of watching this film on the opening night of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in NYC in 2000. Chahal Sabbag was there to speak and take questions following that first screening. Quite memorable... The Beat [1998] I don't know if this movie even made it to theaters. It's one movie, which I loved, that didn't get very good overall marks. An appearance by the early line-up of the Cro-Mags is an added bonus. Vernon, Florida [1982] OK, it's a documentary, but a great watch! Directed by Errol Morris who just realeased Standard Operating Procedure Lunatics: A Love Story [1991] I just discovered that this film features Sam Raimi's younger brother, Ted. Tinfoil hattery to boot! Sorry, I just had to dig up this oldie...
• I've had a crush on Ted since SeaQuest.