Outsourced- A subtle romantic comedy about a man who moves to India to work at a call center. Very cute, and does not following the typical bubblegum bullshit formula most "RomComs" follow. Also has many rich cultural snippets.

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Lords of Dogtown- A rebellious punk skater movie about the guys who developed skateboarding from being a child's sport into a hardcore X sport. "Based on a true story" and it grabbed me. It also has Heath Ledger preforming as the owner of a skateboard/ surfboard shop, quite good acting. Not for someone who isn't rebellious or doesn't really care about skateboarding, though.

ZackAttack

United States884 Posts

March 04 2012 09:53 GMT

#1563

American Beauty is my shit.

Scarecrow

Korea (South)9172 Posts

March 21 2012 17:29 GMT

#1564

This film immediately made me think of this thread. It's a legit B-movie but is great fun if you like the fight genre (specifically MMA-style tournaments). Great fight scenes and Boyka's a badass.

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Undisputed II is also a fun watch, apparently the first one was a stinker but I'll be checking it out now.

countzer0

United Kingdom1 Post

March 28 2012 20:13 GMT

#1565

Despite having to wade through a ton of Oscar nominees (American Beauty, Shawshank Redemption!) / very well known cult movies (Oldboy, Requiem for a Dream, Memento), I've still got a good 20 recommendations from this thread, so thanks a lot.

For those who are into neglected gems, check out The Lost Picture Show podcast. Each week Julian and John discuss a forgotten classic or unfairly overlooked film in depth with lots of knowledge and wry humour. Unfortunately it seems to have stopped now but there are 175 or so episodes archived to enjoy. I've got loads of great films off the back of this.

Here's a few of my fave little gems (all covered in the podcast):

Skeletons (2010) - heart warming and eccentric UK indie about a couple of northern blokes whose job is to rid people of the skeletons in their closets.

Dean Spanley (2008) - wonderful life-affirming film about a father coming to terms with the death of his son. Full of oddball detail and wry humour, with terrific performances from all involved, especially Sam Neill.

Death in French Garden (1985) - taut, gripping French thriller about a couple having an affair who discover they've been videoed.

Dragonfly (2001) - excellent Norwegian psychological thriller about a couple with bad pasts who have made an idyllic life in the country. Then he runs into an old crime buddy. Kim Bodnia has a paunch and a beard in this one!

Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself With Tea (1977) - excellent Czech comedy that is not only funny, but has an extremely tight screenplay. Probably the most coherent use of the contradictions of time travel in film, even better than Primer. The seventies sets and soundtrack are superb too.

WniO

United States2706 Posts

March 28 2012 20:23 GMT

#1566

i cant remember if i recommended this one yet. a little too long, but this movie ranks up there with black christmas and the first halloween. the ending is ridiculously innovative and its got some quality camerawork.

ClysmiC

United States2192 Posts

March 28 2012 20:57 GMT

#1567

Maybe not a hidden gem, but a surprising number of people have not seen it. It is HILARIOUS.

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Kingkindness

Bulgaria14 Posts

March 29 2012 14:06 GMT

#1568

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106341/

A complete mind-fuck, twisted film.

Makra

Australia50 Posts

April 02 2012 05:48 GMT

#1569

Middle Men http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1251757/

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I think this was a straight to DVD film, came out 2 years ago. I wasn't expecting anything from this but was pleasantly surprised. It has a great story, great acting and cinematography, and good amounts of humour combined with drama and gangster themes. Luke Wilson gives a really strong performance, backed up by great performances from Giovani Ribisi and Gabriel Macht as two goofball geniuses responsible for the inception of the online porn business.

The movie is touted as 'inspired by a true story', but from what I could uncover it's only very very slightly inspired by the story of the guy who produced the movie - Christopher Mallick. It's been compared a lot to Goodfellas (and perhaps Casino), and while it does cover similar ground I think it is different enough and entertaining enough to stand on its own.

Best to just go in expecting nothing special like I did, as this movie does have its fair share of criticism, but I think for a straight to DVD movie with such a great cast (also includes James Caan and Rade Serbedzija (from Snatch fame - the Russian)) and production, it's definitely worth checking out.

Oh, and it has the best movie tag line of all time: "Business is a lot like sex ... getting in is easy, pulling out is hard."

Intr3pid

Switzerland336 Posts

April 06 2012 13:20 GMT

#1570

On February 10 2012 17:29 DBOWNIZZ wrote:

Watched it with the GF, and it was surprisingly funny. Pretty fucked up though what happened to him =/

Wow, this movie is so good! Completely in line with the thread title, modest expectation and then literally mind = blown. I liked the end!

Cellar Door

Denmark9 Posts

April 06 2012 15:27 GMT

#1571

This is a finnish documentary with real footage all along filmed by his friend. Its about Jani who lives a life with drugs and crimes, that ultimately lead to his dead. So underrated.

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Windwaker

Germany1597 Posts

April 06 2012 15:32 GMT

#1572

yeaR

United Kingdom100 Posts

April 06 2012 15:32 GMT

#1573

One of the best movies I have ever seen. Between the plot, the music and the actors, it is definitely in my Top 3.

Scalepad

Sweden366 Posts

April 06 2012 15:33 GMT

#1574

The Man From Nowhere
South Korean action movie, kind of similar to Man On Fire with Denzel Washington, but a lot better in my opinion.

A quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past takes on a drug- and organ trafficking ring in hope of saving the child who is his only friend.

Mallidon

Scotland557 Posts

April 06 2012 18:12 GMT

#1575

+ Show Spoiler +

On June 06 2010 04:45 uiCk wrote:
recent movies that went under the radar:

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The Vicious Kind 2009

The Slammin' Salmon

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The Midnight Meat Train

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Leaves of Grass

I loved Leaves of Grass, recommend it to anyone. Good film!

Now, going along a the theme the OP sets out

On June 05 2010 17:45 FJ wrote:
By hidden gem I mean films that are hidden from the audience that will enjoy them. The film could be hidden because it was relatively low budget, and had little to no advertising.

I'll throw in:

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A Bittersweet Life IMDB

Sun-woo: One late autumn night, the disciple awoke crying. So the master asked the disciple, "Did you have a nightmare?" "No." "Did you have a sad dream?" "No," said the disciple. "I had a sweet dream." "Then why are you crying so sadly?" The disciple wiped his tears away and quietly answered, "Because the dream I had can't come true."

I've just finished watching all (almost) 2 hours of this slick and pretty glorious revenge fuelled Korean film noir gem, and looking at how it did (box office and general release/ reception) its defo not had the audience it fully deserves. A really good film. I really don't usually sit down to watch subtitled Korean films, but this had me gripped from the start.

Edit - I'd post an English subbed trailer from Youtube, but they all appear to have mistranslations or bits of the script from other parts of the movie subbed over the action shown so I'm not going to bother.

The Chief

Australia138 Posts

April 06 2012 22:21 GMT

#1576

On March 04 2012 16:32 CyDe wrote:

Agree to both of these being fairly unknown and very good

McPull

Sweden1 Post

April 10 2012 23:30 GMT

#1577

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1274293/

Watched this last night. It is AMAZING!

Intr3pid

Switzerland336 Posts

April 14 2012 13:57 GMT

#1578

Although not really hidden, since it is considered one of the best movies of all time, I guess that the younger generation has not really seen the gem from 1954 'The seven Samurai':

I just watched it for the first time, and it really is an amazingly well made movie. Don't back away from it just because it is in black and white, the movie is highly recommendable.

summerloud

Austria1201 Posts

April 14 2012 15:08 GMT

#1579

Angel Heart
very good film-noir

The Fountain
my favourite movie of all time

Enter the Void/
most psychedelic movie ever

Triangle
the best newer horror movie i know

Corsica

Ukraine1854 Posts

April 14 2012 15:21 GMT

#1580

watch "7 days" its a french movie, but damn it has a lot to think about......