PICK THREE: Underappreciated Movies

[quartz]

I never think about any guy in terms of dating them, so I can simply appreciate Dreyfus solely as an actor.

 

[MsZem]

80s: Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
99s: October Sky

Mr and Mrs. Bridge if from 1990 October Sky is great (though they took some liberties with the real story).

Other picks: Hope and Glory (young boy growing up during the Blitz) - it got a fair bit attention when it was released but seems to have been mostly forgotten. Also Thank You for Smoking, which is really funny.

 

[Simone411]

Oh, yeah!

I also have a very soft spot for Mr. Holland's Opus, The American President, & Hans Christian Andersen. I don't know if they are necessarily underappreciated or not.

I could watch that movie over and over again, and never tire of it. It brought tears to my eyes when Mr. Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) sang Beautiful Boy by John Lennon to his son, Cole. This to me was one of those unforgettable moments.

 

[emason]

Waltzing with Bashir is a masterpiece.

My under-appreciated movie is Conversations with Other Women (the split screen version, NOT the single screen version). Strangers (no names, just Woman and Man, played by Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart) meet and flirt at a wedding; as the night progresses it appears they might not be strangers at all.

 

[Wyliefan]

I could watch that movie over and over again, and never tire of it. It brought tears to my eyes when Mr. Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) sang Beautiful Boy by John Lennon to his son, Cole. This to me was one of those unforgettable moments.

That's the movie that sparked my lifelong love of Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

So I Married an Axe Murderer - I love this movie so much. I can quote most of it.

Once Upon a Crime - Another weirdly quirky movie; also I can quote most of it.

Men At Work - Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez as garbage men. I saw it in the theater with my sister and we were laughing hysterically and the rest of the theater was crickets, so it's probably not for everyone, but I love it.

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

Men At Work - Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez as garbage men. I saw it in the theater with my sister and we were laughing hysterically and the rest of the theater was crickets, so it's probably not for everyone, but I love it.

I still laugh because they thought they could kill someone with the bb gun.

 

[mjb52]

My under-appreciated movie is Conversations with Other Women (the split screen version, NOT the single screen version). Strangers (no names, just Woman and Man, played by Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart) meet and flirt at a wedding; as the night progresses it appears they might not be strangers at all.

Have you seen Certified Copy? That's Kiarostami's first non-Iranian movie (I think), with Juliette Binoche and an opera singer in his first acting role (again, iirc) in a similar sounding scenario - at first they seem to be strangers and then suddenly they are behaving like husband and wife. It took awhile to win me over (I typed "run me over" at first! I'm multi-tasking right now) but I ended up really liking it.

 

[Vash01]

Loved THE BOOK THIEF.

my 6 yo gradson and I love THE MONUMENTS MEN

And THE LADY IN GOLD Outstanding performance and a beautiful use of past and present.

SAVING SARAH CAIN Well told story of a woman whose sister became Amish. Sister dies and Sarah is guardian of 6 Amish kids

And new favorite SIX. FEET OF APART. The woman who plays the lead is fascinating. It is about teens with cystic fibrosis. Two fall in love. If she catches his strain she will die.

Oh and one more...horses of course. ROCK MY HEART. About a teen with a debilitating heart condition and a horse she finds who will not let anyone near him but her. I was 30 some minutes into the movie before I noticed it was dubbed

I loved Lady in Gold. I became fascinated with paintings by Klimt after seeing this movie. I even have a silk scarf with Klimt paintings on it (though not LIG).

 

[KatieC]

Into the Night, starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer, a bunch of directors or producers, and a cameo by David Bowie. Kind of quirky, but I aways liked it.

 

[emason]

Have you seen Certified Copy? That's Kiarostami's first non-Iranian movie (I think), with Juliette Binoche and an opera singer in his first acting role (again, iirc) in a similar sounding scenario - at first they seem to be strangers and then suddenly they are behaving like husband and wife. It took awhile to win me over (I typed "run me over" at first! I'm multi-tasking right now) but I ended up really liking it.

I have seen it; thanks for reminding me about it. I liked it also.

 

[paskatefan]

That's the movie that sparked my lifelong love of Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

I love the movie so much (hey, I'm a retired teacher so I can really relate to it). I bought the soundtrack & the score to it. I've always loved Beethoven's music, and the 7th symphony is also in The King's Speech!

 

[Wyliefan]

I love the movie so much (hey, I'm a retired teacher so I can really relate to it). I bought the soundtrack & the score to it. I've always loved Beethoven's music, and the 7th symphony is also in The King's Speech!

Yes! I love the way they use it there.

 

[taf2002]

I love the movie so much (hey, I'm a retired teacher so I can really relate to it). I bought the soundtrack & the score to it. I've always loved Beethoven's music, and the 7th symphony is also in The King's Speech!

I'm not familiar with the 7th. Is it his opus?

 

[quartz]

Willow. As a fantasy lover, this movie has pretty much everything that makes me happy - evil queen, enchantment, sorcery, dwarves, trolls, brownies, fairies, spells, trickery, deception - all the good stuff! Great special effects, wonderful cast, costuming, set design, original music score - a rollicking and rambunctious adventure tale, and the added bonus of Val Kilmer. Five Stars from me, 2-3 from the critics. Bah - they don’t know how to have fun.

 

[Simone411]

I'm not familiar with the 7th. Is it his opus?

Here is the scene regarding Mr. Holland and Beethoven's 7th Symphony. It wasn't the original score, but they made use of several songs and classical music through the decades that were portrayed in the movie.

Mr. Holland's Opus - Beethoven's 7th scene

 

[clairecloutier]

I have a couple of favorite movies that I personally feel are underappreciated. I'm aware there are some faults with the movies and reasons why other people found the films lacking, but for whatever reason, I still love them anyway.

Contact. I loved this movie for portraying a female scientist who is intellectually devoted to her work--something rarely seen in movies. I also loved the mysterious and hopeful nature of the contact with aliens in this movie. There is a lot of interesting stuff in this film IMO, including the portrayal of the political rise of evangelicalism.

Wuthering Heights, the Binoche/Fiennes version. This movie is often mocked for a variety of reasons, including Juliette Binoche's awful 90s wig, and not unfairly so. It definitely has its flaws, the most important being that it is too short, and sort of races through the storyline in Cliffs Notes fashion, negatively affecting the actors' ability to create characters. Nonetheless, I love the film and have watched it many times. The chemistry between Fiennes and Binoche is great; I love how they play the characters (the capriciousness/feyness of Cathy and the malevolent, wounded obsession of Heathcliff); and most of all, I love that this is not a fairy tale but rather a cautionary tale of the destructive nature of a passion that is misplaced or cannot be, for whatever reason. I also liked the slight supernatural element of the story.

Another one I might mention would be The Age of Innocence. I felt like it was sort of underappreciated at the time it was released. The characters in this film are still very memorable in my mind, as played by Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

I'm sure there are lots of other films too that I'm not remembering now.

 

[snoopy]

I was close to posting Contact. I didn’t really have a sense of what people thought about it though.

 

[mjb52]

You guys have interested me in seeing Contact!

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I rewatched Men At Work last night. It's still funny, but not as funny as I remembered. Meh.

I did start watching Jennifer 8, which I hadn't seen in a long time and DAMN Andy Garcia is gorgeous in that one. Worth watching for that alone.

 

[Simone411]

You guys have interested me in seeing Contact!

I love that movie. I don't know if you've seen Jodi Foster in Flight Plan, but it's filled with suspense. Her little girl goes missing on the plane while flying from Berlin to America. I won't say anymore because I don't wish to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it.

Jodi Foster - Flight Plan trailer

 

[Sylvia]

Local Hero (1983) - for those who love Scotland

A Private Function (1985)

The Tall Guy (1989)

 

[cocotaffy]

The Painted Veil--remarkable performances and cinematography. Tragic romance--the best (fictional) kind.
----

One of the rare if not the only instance where I preferred the movie adaptation to the book. The acting from the whole cast is so accurate to the mood of the piece. Norton and Watts manage to give so much texture and depth to their relationship.

Problem is I don't know if those movies are considered underappreciated or not. But I'll try:

The Hunt, the great Mads Mikkelsen in whole his glory. Subtle performance of someone whose life is about to completely turns around.

Thelma one of the weirdest movie I've seen, hypnotic and layered.

A separation wasn't underappreciated by critics however, movies like those should do so much better at the box office imo. A beautifully subtle and fascinating take an Iranian couple facing a tough decision. The acting is amazing.

Little Children, haunting movie about suburbia starring Kate Winslet and the best role of Patrice Wilson.

Prisoners, again not a fun movie but two great performance and well, haunting. Seem to like that kind of movies

District 9, one of my favorite movie. Just brilliant and original.

Boy A, with an outstanding breakthrough performance from Andrew Garfield.

Fish Tank, tense, strong, keep you on the edge.

Una, thought-provoking story. Not an easy watch by any length but an important one.

Promise, I'll think of comedies for my next post

 

[taf2002]

Here is the scene regarding Mr. Holland and Beethoven's 7th Symphony. It wasn't the original score, but they made use of several songs and classical music through the decades that were portrayed in the movie.

Mr. Holland's Opus - Beethoven's 7th scene

Chills. When Dreyfuss started talking in that scene I thought he was talking about his child at 1st.

The same thing happened to my high school music teacher. He won awards for our band from our little school & wrote music as well but he eventually went totally deaf. Very sad.

 

[emason]

@Sylvia, once again the rock star of FSU: how could A Private Function have slipped my mind. It’s one of the funniest, most under-appreciated movies ever.

Another great one is Hot Millions. Is it a coincidence that Maggie Smith stars in both of these?

 

[Wyliefan]

I haven't seen A Private Function, but if it has Maggie Smith, I'm automatically interested. I have seen Hot Millions and she's terrific in it.

(I promise I'll put my own recommendations up eventually, and not just comment on other people's!)

 

[Japanfan]

Another one I might mention would be The Age of Innocence. I felt like it was sort of underappreciated at the time it was released. The characters in this film are still very memorable in my mind, as played by Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Loved it!

 

[Wyliefan]

Loved it!

Me too!

 

[AxelAnnie]

THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. And I have still not forgiven the Academy for overlooking Debbie Reynolds in favor of Julie Andrews (who is my absolute favorite.) for "her multilayered, emotional, deep performance of Mary Poppins" From Carrie Fisher "Wishful Drinking".

Not that I hold a grudge............but I have NEVER watched the Academy Awards since.

BTW - Carrie's one woman show "Wishful Drinking" really, really great! (Amazon or HBO)

 

[taf2002]

THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. And I have still not forgiven the Academy for not overlooking Debbie Reynolds in favor of Julie Andrews (who is my absolute favorite.) for "her multilayered, emotional, deep performance of Mary Poppins" From Carrie Fisher "Wishful Drinking".

Not that I hold a grudge............but I have NEVER watched the Academy Awards since.

BTW - Carrie's one woman show "Wishful Drinking" really, really great! (Amazon or HBO)

I'm confused. Do you mean you think Debbie Reynolds should have won? You said not overlooking. If so I agree. She should have won best supporting for How the West Was Won too.