Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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Swithin
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

Post by Swithin »

Belle wrote: May 29th, 2023, 6:40 pm
Swithin wrote: May 29th, 2023, 3:12 pm
Belle wrote: May 29th, 2023, 2:15 pm

Jose Ferrer is always like this in his films; cold and hard. I even had trouble sympathizing when he played Toulouse-Lautrec.
He had an incredible career on Broadway:

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staf ... errer-6934
Last edited by Swithin on May 29th, 2023, 8:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Swithin
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

Post by Swithin »

Since Lawrence is not here to chide me, I think Gummo (1997) is worthy of rediscovery.

“When I saw a piece of fried bacon fixed to the bathroom wall in Gummo, it knocked me off my chair.” –Werner Herzog

Herzog also called Gummo "The entertainment of the future." So, the future is now, and this film needs to be rediscovered.

Image

Here's the first paragraph of The New York Times review. Now doesn't this sound like a film worth rediscovering?

"October is early, but not too early to acknowledge Harmony Korine's ''Gummo'' as the worst film of the year. No conceivable competition will match the sourness, cynicism and pretension of Mr. Korine's debut feature. Turned loose with a camera and the Emperor's new clothes, the writer of the vastly better ''Kids'' creates an aimless vision of Midwestern teen-age anomie, complete with drugs, garbage, dead cats and neat tricks like turning off Granny's respirator. When it comes to boy wonders exploring the cutting edge of independent cinema, the buck stops cold right here."

(Btw, Chloe Sevigny's first film was Kids, written by the director of Gummo, which was Sevigny's fourth film.)

Here are a couple of trailers.



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Intrepid37
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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Swithin wrote: May 29th, 2023, 8:40 pm Btw, Chloe Sevigny's first film was Kids, written by the director of Gummo, which was Sevigny's fourth film.
Is there an actress who chooses more unconventional parts to play than Chloe?

She's quite the singularly atypical professional.
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Swithin
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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Intrepid37 wrote: May 30th, 2023, 2:27 pm
Swithin wrote: May 29th, 2023, 8:40 pm Btw, Chloe Sevigny's first film was Kids, written by the director of Gummo, which was Sevigny's fourth film.
Is there an actress who chooses more unconventional parts to play than Chloe?

She's quite the singularly atypical professional.
The following year, she appeared in Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. There's a particularly touching scene in which she has to pick up a prescription for antibiotics at the drug store, because some guy -- the first guy she ever slept with -- gave her gonorrhea. When she confronts the guy (played by Robert Sean Leonard), he denies it at first, then admits that he also gave her herpes.
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Intrepid37
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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I think The Night of the Generals (1967) may be worthy of rediscovery.

It made me a fan of Peter O'Toole. Also features the splendid Tom Courtenay.
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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CinemaInternational wrote: May 25th, 2023, 12:52 am I love the idea of this thread. The only issue is that there are plenty more than five films I could mention, so I fully intend to keep coming back to be part of this thread many times in the future. I will start with 10 films, one for each decade from the 1920s to the 2010s. (Forgive me if I sound kind of vague on some of these. I remember loving them but its been a little while since I saw them)

Hangover Square (1945) This proto-noir, set at the turn of the century, was stained by tragedy before it opened when its antihero Laird Cregar suddenly died. He gives the performance of his life here, and the same can be said for Linda Darnell in the saga of a schizophrenic composer who is ultimately pushed too far, with horrible consequences. The film is visually and aurally astonishing, with crisp photography and a memorable Bernard Herrmann score. It might not be one of the best known Fox noirs, but it is one of the very best.
Hangover Square is a great movie! I was particularly surprised by the ending. It is so sad about Cregar's passing. I believe the story is that he was tired of playing the villain and wanted to get parts as the romantic leading man. Spurred by the use of amphetamines, Cregar crash-dieted to try and be seen as more romantic, versus a villain. He died of a heart attack after the filming completed.
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LiamCasey
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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skimpole wrote: June 9th, 2023, 2:46 am 3. Mountains of the Moon--this adventure movie boasts a fine director (Bob Rafelson) and an engagingly told true story (the Burton/Speke expedition to find the source of the Nile). It's major problem from a business viewpoint is that its stars, Patrick Bergin and Iain Glen weren't that well known at the time. But that needn't concern viewers three decades later.
I'd like to second this selection.
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CinemaInternational
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

Post by CinemaInternational »

Back again to try to promote some more overlooked films.

Romance in Manhattan (1935/RKO Radio) might not be a Capra film, but it certainly feels like one. It is an achingly lovely tale involving a recent immigrant (Francis Lederer) who, having slipped away from customs authorities, meets and falls for a chorus girl played by Ginger Rogers. The film is an intimate romantic gem, filled with great empathy and warmth. Just a wonderful little gem.

Deep Valley (1947/Warner Bros.) contains one of Ida Lupino's best performances. She plays a farm girl, overpowered by her parents, living in the middle of nowhere, whose staid existance is upended when an escaped convict (Dane Clark) appears at the farm... and she falls for him. It could be called a crime film, but it feels more like a sensitive, tragic doomed romance/coming-of-age film, with a fine atmospheric quality and a high-toned script.

Good Morning Miss Dove (1955/20th Century Fox) is the life story of a school teacher (Jennifer Jones), told in retrospect, from her start as a slightly naive young woman through to her imperious seniority, and how she affected almost everyone in a small town. A simple tale, but told with charm and occasional wit.

The Matchmaker (1958/Paramount) has all but been overshadowed by the later musical version of the same story, Hello, Dolly, but this ebullient comedy has plenty of its own charms with Shirley Booth being absolutely delightful in the role of matchmaker Dolly Levi who helps to create a romance between Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine, while she herself lands wealthy Paul Ford. Its all done with a light, witty touch, and has extra charm in the way that the characters occasionally address the audience. Great fun.

The Counterfeit Traitor (1962/Paramount) is a different type of WWII film, and is frequently riveting because of it. It is the very literate and erudite tale of an undercover agent, played by William Holden, who pretends to be on the side of the Germans in order to infiltrate and obtain some of their secrets. There are few battle scenes here; this is a cerebral affair and Holden's narration frequently holds great insights into the mind of what such an agent must feel like, alienating everyone in service of the greater good. Lilli Palmer also gives a fine performance as a doomed resistance member.

The Art of Love (1965/Universal) is an odd combination of dark comedy and light, slapstick comedy .... but it works. Dick Van Dyke stars as a struggling artist living in Paris who seemingly cannot sell a painting. He ultimately decides to feign his death and hope that it causes a painting to sell, but then he sees a young woman (Elke Sommer) throw herself into the river, and he saves her. But something went amiss. Somehow, Van Dyke is mistakenly thought of really having perished in the river, and that does indeed send the value of his paintings through the roof, a fact capitalized on by his friend James Garner. The rest of the film maneuvers how Van Dyke proves he is indeed alive, while also making time for two romances (Van Dyke and Sommer & Garner and Angie Dickinson) and a subplot involving a madam/boarding house owner (Ethel Merman). Its all done with a firm tounge in cheek and its amusing.

Fedora (1978/United Artists) came to mind again while watching Sunset Boulevard again last night. It was Billy Wilder's penultimate film (though not for lack of trying; Wilder continued to write scripts for most of his life, but found no studio willing to work with him after 1981's disastrous Buddy Buddy, an unfortunate end to his otherwise illustrious career.) and serves as an ideal capstone to his career and as a fascinating companion piece to his 1950 masterpiece. Indeed, Fedora echoes Sunset from the very start with a sudden inexplicable death (the suicide of a reclusive movie star, played by Marthe Keller) and who should be the narrator but William Holden. But Wilder's mood has changed in the 28 years between the two. Whereas Sunset is told from the view of a contemporary looking cynically at the past; Fedora is filled with empathy for the old guard in the wake of being discarded by the new Hollywood. The change in mood is part of what makes the film fascinating, but the script itself is one of Wilder's best, and Holden gets his last great leading role. It's a knockout. [Rated PG: language, brief nudity]

Duet for One (1986/Cannon) was for many years next to impossible to find. It was barely released at the time, perhaps due to the story being extremely downbeat, and it never received any home video release after 1987. But a Blu-Ray (albeit strangely no DVD) of it is due out in two weeks, so there is no better time to state that this somber drama of a cellist's life shattering completely after being diagnosed with MS is one of the finest on-screen hours for Julie Andrews, who gets to show a whole different side of her histrionic capabilities. The scene in the film where she breaks up with her husband (Alan Bates) is arguably the best dramatic scene of her career. While she dominates everything, there is good work all around from Bates, Max Von Sydow as a chilly psychiatrist, Rupert Everett as a disloyal protege, and Liam Neeson as a temporary lover. It's strange with a cast like that that it has been absent for years, but hopefully this new release will result in a reassessment. [Rated R: language, brief nudity]

Sunset (1988/TriStar) has never been popular. It was critically roasted and failed at the box office, perhaps due to a very misguided publicity campaign that misrepresented the film as a comedy., Despite being directed by Blake Edwards, this is actually a dramatic Hollywood noir set in 1929. The story is historical fiction imagining Wyatt Earp (James Garner) and Tom Mix (Bruce Willis) teaming up to solve the murder of a madam that has ties to a Hollywood power player (Malcolm McDowell). Willis might have top billing even though he's not in sizable chunks of it, but this is really James Garner's film; its one of his best parts in his big screen career. It also happens to be beautifully made, with sumptuous sets and costumes, and it is very, very underrated. Well worth a second look. [Rated R: brief language, some violence, brief nudity]

Paradise (1991/Touchstone) was maybe a little too quiet to get much recognition at the time but that dos not mean that it isn't worthwhile. At the film's start, a young fatherless boy (Elijah Wood) is temporarily sent to live in rural North Carolina after his mother takes ill. He ends up being watched over by his mother's friends, an estranged couple (then-married Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson) who have been having deep troubles in their marrage after their only child passed away in an accident due to choking. The boy ends up making friends with a young neighbor girl (Thora Birch), and does, over time, help, by his presence, to rebuild the troubled marriage of his temporary guardians. The four central performances are very well modulated, and the film benefits from sensitive treatment and handsome photography. [Rated PG-13: brief language, brief nudity]
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HoldenIsHere
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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Swithin wrote: May 29th, 2023, 8:40 pm Since Lawrence is not here to chide me, I think Gummo (1997) is worthy of rediscovery.

“When I saw a piece of fried bacon fixed to the bathroom wall in Gummo, it knocked me off my chair.” –Werner Herzog

Herzog also called Gummo "The entertainment of the future." So, the future is now, and this film needs to be rediscovered.

Image

Here's the first paragraph of The New York Times review. Now doesn't this sound like a film worth rediscovering?

"October is early, but not too early to acknowledge Harmony Korine's ''Gummo'' as the worst film of the year. No conceivable competition will match the sourness, cynicism and pretension of Mr. Korine's debut feature. Turned loose with a camera and the Emperor's new clothes, the writer of the vastly better ''Kids'' creates an aimless vision of Midwestern teen-age anomie, complete with drugs, garbage, dead cats and neat tricks like turning off Granny's respirator. When it comes to boy wonders exploring the cutting edge of independent cinema, the buck stops cold right here."

(Btw, Chloe Sevigny's first film was Kids, written by the director of Gummo, which was Sevigny's fourth film.)

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CinemaInternational
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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skimpole wrote: June 2nd, 2023, 2:02 am 1. Fig Leaves--before Twentieth Century, before Scarface, before The Dawn Patrol Howard Hawks made this amusing silent film, his first surviving film as it happens, about a contemporary couple contrasted with the story of Adam and Eve. Has never been on TCM.

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2. Peter Ibbetson--I don't know why this movie has never appeared on TCM, but this is one of the most unique of Hollywood fantasies. A romance involving a couple who have known each other since childhood. The man is unjustly imprisoned, but they are able to be together in their dreams.

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3. Hellzapoppin'--by contrast I do know why this hasn't appeared on TCM (complicated rights issues), but the movie version of the Broadway revue is one of funniest movies of the forties.

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4. The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T--Ordinarily "having anything to do with Stanley Kramer" is a big turn-off, but this production based on Dr. Seuss about a boy haunted in nightmares by his insufferable music teacher is one of the fifties' most interesting fantasies.

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5. Nothing but a Man--in one of its frequent examples of impotent liberal gestures, the Academy Awards decided in 1964 it was time to give an African-American actor an oscar (as opposed to having more African-American men as leads). But this movie, which came out the year afterwards is better and more thoughtful than Lillies of the Field.

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You chose four wonderful films here, which makes ne want to check out the one I have not seen (Nothing but a Man)
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

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1. The Criminal Code (1930) -A great prison film directed by Howard Hawks. I don't see it shown often or anyone discussing it. Walter Huston is the tough talking former D.A. who is now warden of the prison. Phillip Holmes is a first time prisoner hoping for parole. Boris Karloff has one of his first important parts as a mean vengeful inmate. It probably had some influence on later prison films.

2. Woman's World (1954) - A glossy color comedy/drama of the 1950s. This is one I saw years ago but seems to hard to be find on TV or video. Clifton Webb is at his waspish best as the head of a automobile company. He invites three VPs from across the country to New York to hire one as his new general manager. He also wants to meet their wives. Van Heflin is married to gold-digger Arlene Dahl, Fred MacMurray's wife is Lauren Bacall, who wants a divorce. Cornel Wilde is married to klutz June Allyson. I think this is a great time capsule of the 1950s corporate culture and marriages at the time.

3. The New Centurions (1972) The 1970s had many gritty cop films but this one seems to have been overlooked. George C. Scott (just 2 years after Patton) plays a veteran street cop about to retire. He is showing the ropes to young rookie Stacy Keach. It shows a more realistic and human side of police work, since it was the 1970s there is no political correctness or happy endings.

4. The Fourth Protocol (1987) Michael Caine was making so many bad movies in the 1980s,this good one got overlooked. He plays a British agent after a Russian assassin (Pierce Bronsan). This was before he was cast as James Bond and Brosnan is excellent playing the cold blooded killer. Once I saw this I knew he could be a good 007.

5. Kissed (1996) Probably the most obscure and weird film on my list. I saw it once first released, haven't seen it since but never forgot it. It has no stars but it's casts a spell on you when you watch it. It is about a young woman obsessed with dead bodies and gets a job as an embalmer. She meets a man who tries to understand her. It has a shocking but somehow poetic ending. The end credits played the haunting song Fumbling Toward Ecstasy by Sarah MacLachlan.
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Intrepid37
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Re: Name Five Films Worthy of Rediscovery

Post by Intrepid37 »

Detective Jim McLeod wrote: June 22nd, 2023, 10:37 am Kissed (1996). Probably the most obscure and weird film on my list. I saw it once first released, haven't seen it since but never forgot it. It has no stars but it's casts a spell on you when you watch it. It is about a young woman obsessed with dead bodies and gets a job as an embalmer. She meets a man who tries to understand her. It has a shocking but somehow poetic ending. The end credits played the haunting song Fumbling Toward Ecstasy by Sarah MacLachlan.
Molly Parker does quite a lot of unusual roles. She's made some very interesting choices.

Another of hers is an intense and disturbing movie called Suspicious River (2000).
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