Your Favorite *OBSCURE* Movie (1 Viewer)

[Carabimero]

What is your favorite obscure movie that I must see because it is so good, I am missing out?

I realize "obscure" is a relative term. If it had big box office, I probably wouldn't consider it obscure. Of course, if it is an old movie, that alone might qualify.

The obscure movie I would recommend to you is THE STATION AGENT. You will readily recognize the little person in the lead role. I loved it. But few people I recommend it to have heard of it, and very few knew who the lead actor was at the time.

I would love for you to post about ONE obscure movie that is an absolute gem.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Wonder Boys.

The movie's pedigree is amazing. Almost everyone involved has gone on to work on one billion dollar franchise or another. (To be amusingly reductive, the movie stars a former Ant-Man and Spider-Man, Batman's exgirlfriend, a Transformers scientist, Iron Man and was written by Harry Potter.) With Michael Douglas giving one of his best performances, the incredible cast includes Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr, Katie Holmes, Frances McDormand, and was adapted by Steve Kloves from a Michael Chabon novel, and directed by the criminally underrated Curtis Hanson. Bob Dylan won an Oscar for writing the theme song, Things Have Changed.

The movie should have had universal appeal but Paramount screwed up the ad campaign. They went so far as to re-release the movie six months later with a totally different (yet equally terrible) ad campaign, and it flopped again. Everyone I've ever shown it to has loved it. For anyone that's ever worked as a writer or wanted to be a writer, or has felt stuck in neutral in their lives, the movie will have added poignancy, but it works just fine even if none of those things apply to you.

Wonder Boys is my idea of a perfect movie. I've rewatched it countless times. It is my second-favorite movie of all time.

It is unfortunately not available on Blu-ray, but the DVD can usually be found for under $10, and there's a digital HD version available for streaming rentals/purchases.

 

[Bernard McNair]

I strongly recommend a French film named "Les Ripoux"; a film in the buddy cop genre that is highly enjoyable. Several sequels followed but did not approach the original.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, I love Wonder Boys and like Josh hope that gets a blu-ray at some point. Not sure I would consider that or The Station Agent as obscure...but I think the answers people give here will sort of be defined by what they think of as obscure.

I will name a couple films I think people likely may have missed because they did not have huge theatrical releases and I certainly never saw them when they came out so they were "discoveries" for me once they made it to a form of home video.

Winter Kills (1979) - With a cast like this film has you would think it would be incredibly well known.

Cast

• Jeff Bridges as Nick Kegan
• John Huston as Pa Kegan
• Anthony Perkins as John Cerruti
• Sterling Hayden as Dawson
• Toshiro Mifune as Keith
• Dorothy Malone as Emma
• Eli Wallach as Joe Diamond
• Tomas Milian as Frank Mayo
• Richard Boone as Keifitz
• Ralph Meeker as Gameboy
• Belinda Bauer as Yvette
• David Spielberg as Miles Garner
• Brad Dexter as Cpt. Heller One
• Joe Spinell as Arthur Fletcher
• Tisa Farrow as Nurse
• Elizabeth Taylor as Lola Comante (uncredited)
• Kim O'Brien as First Blonde Girl

Well, it's not. It's a really fun and somewhat crazed political thriller that is sort of like Oliver Stone's JFK well before Oliver made JFK. I love this film but I think most people have probably never seen it. Now the story of making this film is also crazy involving murder, drugs, bankruptcy, and having to take the cast to Germany in the middle of making this picture to make another movie just to make the money to finish this film. It's a great looking film too that went way over budget but it is all up there on the screen.

Another that I would call obscure at this stage...

End of the Road (1970) - A favorite of Steven Soderbergh who attempted to raise this film from obscurity and a pretty weird trip featuring some wild and intense performances from James Earl Jones and Stacy Keach this won't be a film you soon forget after watching it. Certainly it is obscure for a reason...it is bizarre and landed an X rating at the time of release. So, probably not for everyone.

 

[Al.Anderson]

Going through my collection I'll go with 'Site Sings the Blues'. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the fable and her life, and of course I thought the movie itself was entertaining. And finally, the fact that she "self-published" it adds to its obscure factor in my book.

Station Agent was very good; but I think it's more under-appreciated than obscure. After Ebert gave it a great review I think a lot of people checked it out. But I'm nitpicking.

 

[TravisR]

By virtue of it being a Universal monster movie, it's tough to call it obscure but I'll say Dracula's Daughter. Since that movie is only about 70 minutes, I'm cheating and naming a second one- the Val Lewton-produced movie The 7th Victim (or pretty much any Lewton horror production).

 

[Flashgear]

The Victors (Columbia 1963) D: Carl Foreman...all star WW2 anti war film with a remarkable cast...Eli Wallach, George Peppard, Albert Finney, Jeanne Moreau, Melina Mercouri, Romy Schneider, Elke Sommer, Vince Edwards, George Hamilton, Peter Fonda, Senta Berger...spectacular but overlong and cut mercilessly by the studio prior to release...never on home video...

Fool's Parade (Columbia 1971) D: Andrew V. McLaglen...James Stewart, George Kennedy, Anne Baxter, Strother Martin, Kurt Russell, William Windom...the Great Jimmy Stewart is a newly freed convict after serving a 40 year sentence...intends to use his prison wages to set up a general store in 1935 West Virginia, along with fellow cons Strother Martin and young Kurt Russell...George Kennedy the evil warden out to steal them blind along with the town banker...Jimmy Stewart wears a "Glass Eye" contact lense, so uncomfortable for him that he had to take it out every 20 minutes...filmed in West Virginia...never on home video(?)...

Red Sky at Morning (Universal 1971) D: James Goldstone...Richard Thomas, Catherine Burns, Desi Arnaz, Richard Crenna, Claire Bloom, John Colicos, Harry Guardino, Strother Martin, Nehemiah Persoff...beautiful coming of age story set in WW2 New Mexico, and filmed in Santa Fe...strong ensemble cast, touching, genuine performances and lingers in my mind...I thought it was as good as Summer of '42...never on home video...

Last Summer (Allied Artists 1969) D: Frank Perry...Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Catherine Burns, Bruce Davison...another tragic summer coming of age movie set on Fire Island...strong, memorable and affecting performances all around...it's frequently asked about on Warner Archive's FB page...with the ongoing refrain of problematic elements...and that the previous rights holder did not safe guard their holdings...looks like WA would like to remaster it for blu-ray if they could...I sure hope that's forthcoming at some point...

Well, this is a thread that could go on forever...sorry, Allan, to not keep it to one film...let alone any films that are easily accessible on any format...

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Two movies that have been released only on vhs tape is Rudolf Noelte's The Castle (1968) with Maximilian Schell and John Binder's UFOria (1985) with Cindy Williams & Fred Ward. Both great films and rarely shown on tv but glad I still have the vhs tapes and the reason I have a vhs player.

 

[Nick*Z]

Yes, Wonder Boys - definitely.

Also, Six Weeks: Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler Moore - she's a cosmetics CEO, he's an aspiring politico. Her prepubescent daughter befriends him. She's dying of cancer and has one wish - to dance the Nutcracker ballet. Shameless tear jerker. Long overdue for rediscovery. Bring Kleenex.

Ordinary People: Robert Redford's directorial debut, again with Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton. A family fractured and almost destroyed by the death of a beloved elder sibling. Great performances. And an Oscar-winning Best Picture to boot - still MIA on Blu-ray. For shame!

The Enchanted Cottage: Robert Young and Dorothy McGuire discover the unlikeliest romance in an out of the way cottage. He's a former RAF flyer, scarred in the war. She's a wallflower whose family fears she'll wind up an old maid. In each other they see a rare and exquisite beauty none of the outsiders can, and when they commune at the cottage they revert to the outward epitome of the elegant and gorgeous people they truly are on the inside. No gimmicky cinematography. Just good solid performances and a great supporting turn from the, today, sadly underrated Herbert Marshall. The current DVD transfer from WAC is a travesty. We need a restored Blu of this one!

 

[sleroi]

Rubin and Ed. 1991. Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman on a surreal journey across the Utah desert to bury a cat. I rented it from an obscure video store way back when and as far as I know its never been released on dvd or blu.

 

[Noach Kowalski]

Wonder Boys is hardly an obsure movie, IMO.

My choice, off the top of my head, would be The Incident (1967).

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

ob·scure

adjective

1. 
   not discovered or known about; uncertain.
   "his origins and parentage are obscure"
   synonyms: unclear, uncertain, unknown, in doubt, doubtful, dubious, mysterious, hazy, vague, indeterminate, concealed, hidden

 

[TravisR]

The way I look at it is that there's two ways to think of an obscure movie- there's a movie that's obscure to the general public (which is what I named) and then there's obscure to people on here (which might as well be non-existent to the general public).

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Yes, I posted the dictionary definition because I am not sure how people are defining it.

 

[Radioman970]

Alice. 1988. Czech. my second favorite Alice after the 1972 British musical. It has a wonderful blu ray (get the import, not the region 1), the 1972 version does not have bluray. Both are award winning.

 

[Jimbo64]

When I read the title of this thread my first thought was "The Station Agent" and was very surprised to see it mentioned in the first comment. I thought a bit more and my next thought was "Last Summer" and then scrolled down to post and saw it in another comment (you both have excellent taste btw). So after another 10 minutes or so I came up with a few other choices:

1) Like Sunday, Like Rain
2) The Railway Man
3) Before I Disappear

I'm not quite sure if these are really considered "obscure" or not but I've mentioned them all to friends while discussing films and no one seemed to have heard of them before. Give them a look and let me know what you think and I am looking at all other's choices and adding theirs to my watch list... Enjoy!

 

[Mr. Handley]

One of my personal favorites and it's even on Blu-ray!

 

[StephenDH]

What is your favorite obscure movie that I must see because it is so good, I am missing out?

I realize "obscure" is a relative term. If it had big box office, I probably wouldn't consider it obscure. Of course, if it is an old movie, that alone might qualify.

The obscure movie I would recommend to you is THE STATION AGENT. You will readily recognize the little person in the lead role. I loved it. But few people I recommend it to have heard of it, and very few knew who the lead actor was at the time.

I would love for you to post about ONE obscure movie that is an absolute gem.

What is your favorite obscure movie that I must see because it is so good, I am missing out?

I realize "obscure" is a relative term. If it had big box office, I probably wouldn't consider it obscure. Of course, if it is an old movie, that alone might qualify.

The obscure movie I would recommend to you is THE STATION AGENT. You will readily recognize the little person in the lead role. I loved it. But few people I recommend it to have heard of it, and very few knew who the lead actor was at the time.

I would love for you to post about ONE obscure movie that is an absolute gem.

"Unearthly Stranger" (1963).
Proof that good SF movies don't need monsters, gore, elaborate FX or a massive budget; just a good story, a literate script and as many British characters you can round up who aren't busy (which is probably most of them).
Loosely based on (to the point of not crediting him) William Sloane's novel "To Walk the Night", this claustrophobic tale of sinister goings-on at a top secret research establishment is a welcome addition to the small but select genre of laboratory-based SF movies such as "The Power", "Gog", "The Andromeda Strain" etc.
A group of scientists is attempting to explore outer space by means of thought projection but as their numbers dwindle from weird accidents, one of them realises the interplanetary traffic may not be just one way . . .

 

[Carabimero]

I tried to provide a working definition of "obscure" in my first post, and I appreciate that everyone is following it (most of the movies named I have not seen, so for me, you guys are nailing it). If we went with the dictionary definition that someone posted, it would be far too limiting, and I doubt this thread could survive.

Thanks for all the responses. I am happy for people to cite as many choices as they like. I asked for your one gem for a simple reason: because if you just listed that one movie, your gem, and I haven't seen it, I am putting it on a short list and making it my mission in life to see it. If you listed several movies, that's fine, but I can't include them on my "one gem" list because there's too many.

 

[Carabimero]

Wonder Boys.

Managed to find a copy in 720p. Just finished it. Loved it. I think even if I weren't a writer by profession I'd still love it.

Today, IMHO, the word "amazing" is overused. But the cast of that movie is amazing.

Thanks for the recommendation. Glad I didn't miss it.