Films More People Need To See (<5000 IMDb ratings)

The Strawman Argument

Okay, let's see how this goes. Basically I want to find some lesser known gems so I'm throwing it out to people to suggest ones. As a way to give this a quantifiable gauge, I'm putting a pretty restrictive limitation where you can only list films that have less than 5000 ratings on imdb ...and realistically would need to be a lot lower than that for documentaries, lets say 3000

Trying to stick to films that I think would appeal to a fair number of people here too.

Fat City (1975) - 4244 ratings
Stacy Keach in the role he was born to play as a boxer nearing the end of his career, co-starring Jeff Bridges as a young up-and-comer. John Huston directed and with some marvellous nice down-in-the-gutters cinematography from Conrad L Hall (Butch Cassidy, American Beauty), fits in perfectly with 70s Hollywood. With the names and topic involved, you'd expect it to be a bit more well known.

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937) - 3924 ratings
Cited as a major influence on Tokyo Story and loved by Orson Welles, I'm genuinely surprised this film has so few ratings! Wonderfully warmhearted but depressing film about an old couple with probably my favourite final third of any film ever.
Ebert Great Movies Link

Bigger Than Life (1956) - 3954 ratings
Very unusual film for its time. Melodrama with an especially strong James Mason as the father of a typical 50s American family, except things go wrong. Very well shot and really benefits from the use of colour.

One Way Passage (1932) - 2155 ratings
About as melodramatic of a plotline as you could manage but somehow manages to execute it in a manner that doesn't feel cheap. At 67 minutes, the film absolutely flies with two very appealing leads in William Powell and Kay Francis that you route for throughout. Not too hard to see how Kay Francis stumbled into being a huge star with how perfect she was for the roles in this and Trouble in Paradise the same year.

Gimme the Loot (2012) - 1568 ratings
One of my favourite indies of the last few years. An incredibly fun film with great chemistry between the two leads, not a whole lot to it but it was just so bloody charming!

Salesman (1968) - 2901 ratings
Follows a bunch of desperate travelling bible salesmen on their attempts to get working class families to spend an absolute fortune on overly adorned bibles. I mean, who isn't interested in seeing that?!

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1988) - 758 ratings
Following a Japanese veteran from WW2 who has made it his life's duty to track down and question (often quite brutally) his superiors on the decisions which they (or their superiors) made in the dying days of the war. Covers a whole aspect of the second world war that I hardly ever see addressed at all in a shockingly direct way.
Errol Morris has called it his favourite documentary too.

It's Such A Beautiful Day (2012) - 1265 ratings
Well it's the best feature length movie of stickmen animations that I've ever seen! First part legally available on youtube

titan18

Fat Kid Rules the World

Very funny, excellent acting by the lead and a film I do think a lot of people would enjoy. It's been on Netflix before, not sure if it's still on it.

Also, it's just over 5000 ratings, but Merantau. Directed by Gareth Evans, has Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian in it (same people as The Raid and The Raid 2).

It's not as good as The Raid films but it's definitely worth watching, especially if you've liked The Raid

The Strawman Argument

The guys on Battleship Pretension (or was it Filmspotting?) raved about Fat Kid Rules the World when it came out iirc, gonna add it to my watchlist! Directed by Shaggy from the Scooby Doo movies.
Didn't even know Gareth Evans done any feature length stuff before the raid



...the 5000 ratings thing may've been a bit too restrictive

Bipolar Joe

It's an OK movie, got way too sappy for me right at the end. The lead guy is in a comedy troupe called Bath Boys that are pretty funny. Their feature film, Roughing It, is well worth a watch, and only has 42 ratings ! While I'm at it, Terri is good too, kind of like Angus if any one remembers that, but it's over 5000 so imagine I didn't post this bit.

Mickeroo

The History of Future Folk - A pair of aliens are sent to wipe out the human race so their own race can colonise the earth but when they here music for the first time they abandon their mission and form a blue grass band instead.

It's a bit daft and extremely low budget but I found it very enjoyable plus the music is great (Future Folk are a real band). It only has 1,560 votes. Think it's still on the American or Canadian Netflix.

Footoo

Cold Weather

A brilliantly understated Mystery/Noir/Thriller from Mumblecore director Aaron Katz.

It also happens to have one of the best and most unique car chase scenes in recent history.

bnt

Far North (2,239 votes): Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Krusiec as members of a nomadic Chukchi tribe in the Siberian Arctic. A handsome wounded Russian soldier (Sean Bean) seeks their help, which ... well, it doesn't go well. The next film by director Asif Kapadia would be the acclaimed documentary Senna.

(5,000 ratings is quite a lot as these things go. For example, Alexander Payne may have two Oscars (for Sideways and The Descendants, but his earlier film Citizen Ruth barely hits 5,000 ratings. )

The Strawman Argument

bnt wrote: »

Far North: Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Krusiec as members of a nomadic Chukchi tribe in the Siberian Arctic. A handsome wounded Russian soldier (Sean Bean) seeks their help, which ... well, it doesn't go well. The next film by director Asif Kapadia would be the acclaimed documentary Senna. (2,239 votes)

(5,000 ratings is quite a lot as these things go. For example, Alexander Payne may have two Oscars (for Sideways and The Descendants, but his earlier film Citizen Ruth barely hits 5,000 ratings. )

Senna's actually got 39,000 ratings. 5,000 seemed like a good balance between being underseen and a list of wilfully obscure films. Like, if you think Citizen Ruth is as good as Payne at his best, then it deserves a mention, I've John Huston up there in my one. Is it worth checking out, by the way? I've been meaning to watch it for years but I always forget about it.

S.M.B.

Citizen Ruth with its 5,129 votes is definitely worth checking out. It's nowhere near as good as Paynes other work but it's a very interesting watch as an indicator of what Payne would go onto do and as a piece of satire itself. Dern is great in it as always.

I could add a long list of under viewed Thai films to the thread. Will do so at some stage.

Mike Litoris

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120945/reference

Tony (2009)

Copied from RT

Boldly crafted into a creepy yet darkly funny, this urban nightmare will lurk in your memory as will Tony. A loner, and his main source of company is classic '80s action movies he owns on VHS but that doesn't stop him trying to make real friends -- with, for instance, the drug dealers who hang out near his home in Dalston, and the ladies who advertise their services in Soho call boxes. But, when a local child goes missing, his odd lifestyle begins to attract attention. Will his secrets be exposed?

Love this movie. Tony is a serial killer....or is he just a socially inadequate Equalizer.

e_e

Museum Hours is incredible. Part documentary of Vienna and the museum it holds, part Lost in Translation style fiction film of 2 people connecting abroad. It's a really beautiful film full of wonderful visuals.

That_Guy

A paltry 240 rated this following movie.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's Ireland's own, FATAL DEVIATION which stars Boyzone's very own, Mikey Graham as... eh, Mikey?

Seriously, with a tag line like this, should you not be rushing onto YouTube to give this a watch right now?!?

A classic good versus evil action flick, mixed with kicks, guns, motorcycles and a hot babe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX4td1XCkP0

SherlockWatson

bnt wrote: »

Far North (2,239 votes): Michelle Yeoh and Michelle Krusiec as members of a nomadic Chukchi tribe in the Siberian Arctic. A handsome wounded Russian soldier (Sean Bean) seeks their help, which ... well, it doesn't go well. The next film by director Asif Kapadia would be the acclaimed documentary Senna.

(5,000 ratings is quite a lot as these things go. For example, Alexander Payne may have two Oscars (for Sideways and The Descendants, but his earlier film Citizen Ruth barely hits 5,000 ratings. )

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen tbh.

marklazarcovic

Mike Litoris wrote: »

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1120945/reference

Tony (2009)

Copied from RT



Love this movie. Tony is a serial killer....or is he just a socially inadequate Equalizer.

where can i get this ?

Mike Litoris

marklazarcovic wrote: »

where can i get this ?

I bought it on Amazon

mikom

Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982)

Dr Daniel Jekyll researching into drugs that would help mankind avoid surgery discovers a white powder that unleashes the animal in every man, and in his case turning him from a shy and timid doctor into a wild sex crazed party animal. To the delight and dismay of both his rich fiancée and stripper girlfriend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZpjsuuOMNw

kryogen

SherlockWatson wrote: »

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen tbh.

Ah feck it, from his post and the review I saw on imdb and my overall man love for Sean Bean I have that downloading as we speak........hope I like it more then you!

SherlockWatson

kryogen wrote: »

Ah feck it, from his post and the review I saw on imdb and my overall man love for Sean Bean I have that downloading as we speak........hope I like it more then you!

I love Sean Bean as well and that's why I watched it, I'd be interested to see what you think tbh :pac:

bnt

Well, the thread is titled "Films More People Need To See", not "Underrated Films Everyone Is Guaranteed To Like". I have seen Far North and I think it fits the bill. :P

SherlockWatson

bnt wrote: »

Well, the thread is titled "Films More People Need To See", not "Underrated Films Everyone Is Guaranteed To Like". I have seen Far North and I think it fits the bill. :P

Oh I've made friends watch it as well... It certainly spawns a few interesting questions :pac:

We often debate whether Sean Bean survived after running off at the end... I don't think he lasted too long