Not a lot of preamble needed here. Rattle off some movies that you love but fell short of "blockbuster" status. I'll go first...
"Underwater" (2020) starring Kristen Stewart and Vincent Cassel. Science fiction action/horror film that follows a group of workers on a deep-sea drilling facility who encounter hostile creatures after an earthquake destroys the facility. Smash together "The Abyss" and "Alien" and that's "Underwater". Good acting combined with great visual effects and lots of action. Critics have complained that it's derivative, but I don't care.
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last commentThis is an old one - and I’m not sure if it was popular when it was released - Where Eagles Dare is an amazing film - with a young Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton.
I loved the movie Requiem for a Dream too - but it was not a feel good movie.
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"Requiem for a Dream" is the best movie I've ever watched exactly one time and probably won't watch again.
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The Guard (2011) Irish sort-of “buddy” cop comedy/thriller with Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle (?!). Good low-key Irish storytelling with Gleeson doing his typical thing and Cheadle somehow perpetually looking cool and out of place at the same time
Also, I want to see Infernal Affairs, a Hong Kong movie from 2002. The Departed, one of my favorites, is supposedly a remake and movie snobs say the “original” is better. Question is whether to watch it with subtitles or English dubbing. Prime has both
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Master and Commander - the Far Side of the World.
Great “guys” movie.
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I really like Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 Electric Bugaloo. Super underrated.
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Cedar Rapids w/ Ed Helms, John C Reilly, and Anne Hesch. Granted it helps you enjoy this comedy if you know the culture of small town Midwest folk, but anyone who has been involved in sales or the insurance industry can relate and find it incredibly funny with these actors playing spot on towards the stereotypical salesmen attitudes.
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^^
I really enjoyed it. I’d never heard of it but someone on the board (maybe you?) mentioned it when Heche died last year. So I watched it. Good UTR choice
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Seven Samurai
A 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa.
The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history.
It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven rōnin (masterless samurai) to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops.
The movie inspired the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven.
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I just finished "Macao". This was not a box office success at the time but has Robert Mitchum and Gloria Grahame, both of whom I like, in it. Both, I think, are somewhat underrated. The head of the studio at the time, Howard Hughes, was focusing his efforts on promoting the career of Jane Russell while ignoring the more talented and sultrier Grahame and this hurt her career.
Mitchum didn't get along with the director, Von Sternberg, while making this movie and thought he was too dictatorial. Von Sternberg said no food on the set, so Mitchum brought in big bags of food and then left half eaten pickles on Von Sternberg's copy of the script. He followed that by spreading Limburger cheese all over the engine case of Von Sternberg's car.
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Kristen Stewart is underrated. Twilight did her no favors.
But Spy Game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt is probably one of my favorites.
The Earthling, with William Holden and Ricky Schroeder is another one.
And I know what everyone says about Black Adam, but I enjoyed it.
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Things to do in Denver when you're Dead
True Romance
Used Cars
River's Edge
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Short Circuit, the "Number 5 is alive!" movie is cool too, along with Roxanne with Steve Martin.
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We part company on "Black Adam". But "True Romance" is one of my favorite movies.
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^
Ish, if you haven't seen the other 3 I mentioned, you should check them out.
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I saw Don Cheadle mentioned above. He was in 2 little known movies I really enjoyed, 'Traitor' and Brooklyn's Finest'
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Yes Motorhead that was me that recommended it when Heche died. I’ve had tons of experience with those type of people that the movie portrayed. Most people wouldn’t think of it as a go to movie, but it won an independent film award the year it came out, which is why Cedar Rapids never was advertised and went under the radar. Glad you enjoyed it!
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I have all five Death Wish movies on DVD and watch them in a row about once a year. (Just the Bronson ones, I don't even acknowledge that remake with Bruce Willis.) Anyway, the original had mixed but mostly decent reviews, but 2 through 5 were completely destroyed by critics. #5 "The Face of Death" actually has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I love them all, the campier the better. #1 has a young Jeff Goldblum as one of the thugs, and #2 has Lawrence Fishburne in one of his earliest roles.
One of my all-time favorite movie lines is in #2 - The creep is wearing a crucifix and Bronson asks, "Do you believe in Jesus?" Creep says, "Yes I do" hoping for mercy. Then Bronson says, "Well, you're gonna meet him" before shooting him in the chest and then a second shot for good measure. Fucking great man.
youtu.be
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Ahhhhhhhhhhh, a great little known Jeff Goldblum movie, Into The Night'
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Elvis is excellent. You know it’s a good movie when the worst thing about is Tom Hanks.
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i didn't know that was lawrence fishburne in deathwish 2. i typed on youtube deathwish 2 boombox and found and found the below two clips. interesting songs.
youtube.com
youtube.com
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I also liked Into the Night. A great, quirky little movie. I’d forgotten Jeff Goldblum was in it. I do remember Michelle Pfieffer was in it.
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Nebraska with Bruce Dern and Will Forte. Directed by Alexander Payne. A movie about real Americans in real America. Not a comedy but it has some hilarious moments.
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Cash is right about "where eagles dare", great movie in every way. I agree with OSU on "used cars" as well. The scene with "Marshall Lucky" is a top 5 all time comedic skit. Seen it a thousand times and still laugh. My top three: The Mechanic with Charles Bronson, which might just hve the best ending of any movie I have ever seen; The Bad Seed, the original not the remake, I love movies where the audience erupts with cheers when the evil person dies, especially when the evil character is a 9 year old girl and finally Idiocracy, which was funnier bedfore I looked around and saw it was coming true....
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Didn't know about Into the Night. Just watched the trailer. Damn, Michelle Pfieffer looks fuckin great. Loved her in Scarface, but I think she lost weight to look more like a junkie. Here she's "just right". I'll rent this soon.
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stone cold with brian bosworth
bonodock saints. fell asleep while the tv was still on. woke up at around 3am and i find this wacko on the tv screen:
m.imdb.com
fuck, now i have to stay up and watch the rest of the movie.
river's edge with keanu reaves and dennis hopper
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Ice Station Zebra, a super-cool cold war thriller, written by Alistair McLean (who also wrote Where Eagles Dare). This one has it all: top secret spy satellites, secret agents/double agents, nuclear submarines, and a stand-off between U.S. Marines and Soviet paratroopers at the North Pole.
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Two Days in the Valley
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Oooh, the mention of Bruce Dern reminded me of another, Silent Running. That one is great, in my opinion.
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Drive. 2011 - starring Ryan Gossling and a several other good actors. Good car chase scenes, I think Ryan Gossling has 3 lines the entire movie although he’s in just about every scene. I loved it my wife hated it.
en.m.wikipedia.org
We Own The Night. 2007 - cop movie with Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall.
en.m.wikipedia.org
I’m surprised nobody has recommend “Pluto Nash” yet!?! Lol
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I really enjoyed Drive.
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Clerks II was funnier then the first.
Pandorum is a good scifi flick.
Slither is early James Gunn horror.
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^ good call on Pandorum. Freaky sci-fi.
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Good call JackSlash with Nebraska. Great movie, kinda of dark and disturbing end of life thoughts. Drive is good, too. Thanks Shailyn for reminding me I saw that with my wife. She likes it better than me, probably because of Ryan Gossling. I found his role too psycho for my tastes, but definitely under the radar worthy. Now if someone were to mention under the radar cooking/traveling shows I can offer several shows worthy of watching.
Bacon!!
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I don’t know if this qualifies as as an “under the radar movie” movie since it was nominated for several academy awards but it was a very low budget movie introduced at Sundance.
“Little Miss Sunshine” is not your typical TUSCL guys movie but it’s great
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"Layer Cake", the Guy Ritchie movie that got Daniel Craig the Bond gig.
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Okay, hear me out guys...
"Moonfall" (2022) starring Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, and John Bradley. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the premise of this sci-fi thriller is lacquered in crazy sauce, even more than most Emmerich films (which is saying a lot...). That is, a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling on a collision course toward earth.
I mean, it's a mindlessly fun movie, but it is fun and it's got a few funny moments in addition to some good action and special effects. I enjoyed it.
imdb.com
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I realize Unforgiven didn’t exactly slip under the radar. But I think it’s still an underrated film.
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