Surprisingly good movies you've never seen

[blackbird]

Just watched an AMAZING Japanese movie titled Tampopo. It's unlike anything else- kind of a Western about making the perfect noodle soup.

Other favorites I haven't seen mentioned:

Do The Right Thing - gets better with every viewing. I actually didn't like it the first time I saw it... now it's on my A-list. The dialogue is outstanding.

The Seventh Seal - Pretty much every Ingmar Bergman movie is a masterpiece, but I've always liked this one best.

City of Lost Children - Visually stunning French movie with a wonderfully bizarre post-apocalypse story.

...and one I did see listed above:

Once Were Warriors - This movie DESTROYED me.

[bucknersrevenge]

It's widely recognized(or at least it should be) that The Natural is one of the best if not THE best baseball movie ever made. I just finished watching a move I never heard of called The Final Season, about a high school baseball team from Iowa. Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, Michael Angarano. Terrific movie. If you love baseball like I do you need to watch this.

Of course Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper also gets all-time votes. Unbelievable film. Shame on any baseball fan that has never seen it.

[BigDanz2000]

Old Boy-- crazy, but great.  Japanese movie, subtitles.
The Descent -- Man this movie is freakishly scary and if you dont like tight spaces than this movie might freak you out.
Lock Stock and two smoking barrels -- This movie is hilarious and full of british humor and violence.
Green Street Hooligans -- very good movie with elijah wood and english football and their fans.
Layer Cake -- Great movie.
Taking Sides - Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skaarsgard, WW2 movie about a jewish pianist captured by the nazi's.  Very good movie
One Hour Photo-- I think this could possibly be one of Robin Williams best movies, it is freaky.

[MattG12]

It's widely recognized(or at least it should be) that The Natural is one of the best if not THE best baseball movie ever made. I just finished watching a move I never heard of called The Final Season, about a high school baseball team from Iowa. Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, Michael Angarano. Terrific movie. If you love baseball like I do you need to watch this.

Of course Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper also gets all-time votes. Unbelievable film. Shame on any baseball fan that has never seen it.

I would add eight men out to the all time best baseball movie discussion as well as field of dreams.

[MattG12]

Since this thread is about movies you've probably never seen, the more famous films should be excluded.  Onto the more obscure films I love...

Kikujiro - Japanese film with Beat Takeshi.  Kind of a touching comedy, captivating.

Dark City - Sci-fi film noir.  Cult classic.

Big Trouble in Little China - the very definition of a cult classic.  Not exactly cerebral, but very entertaining.

The Thing - the John Carpenter remake.  The special effects, which are fairly low budget, are incredible.

Brazil - Sci-fi comedy with a painful ending.  Very strange film.

Battle Royale - Japanese ... Action(?) film.  Very, very original.

Delicatessen - French horror comedy... very strange but captivating.

The Proposition - Australian "western".  I loved it.  Very gritty.

The Professional - fairly mainstream, but if you haven't seen it, go rent it.  Now.  I'll wait.

I would also add my endorsement to OldBoy.  I loved that movie.

I love more obscure films... I could go on for hours these are just what popped into my head while killing time at work.

tommy point for mentioning battle royale, probably one of the most disturbing movies ive ever seen, right up there with clockwork orange.

[DingDongDel]

Just watched the Machinist, awesome movie.

[indeedproceed]

It's widely recognized(or at least it should be) that The Natural is one of the best if not THE best baseball movie ever made. I just finished watching a move I never heard of called The Final Season, about a high school baseball team from Iowa. Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, Michael Angarano. Terrific movie. If you love baseball like I do you need to watch this.

Of course Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper also gets all-time votes. Unbelievable film. Shame on any baseball fan that has never seen it.

I would add eight men out to the all time best baseball movie discussion as well as field of dreams.

Am I alone in saying that Bull Durham is the best baseball movie of all time?

[Roy Hobbs]

It's widely recognized(or at least it should be) that The Natural is one of the best if not THE best baseball movie ever made. I just finished watching a move I never heard of called The Final Season, about a high school baseball team from Iowa. Sean Astin, Powers Boothe, Michael Angarano. Terrific movie. If you love baseball like I do you need to watch this.

Of course Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper also gets all-time votes. Unbelievable film. Shame on any baseball fan that has never seen it.

I would add eight men out to the all time best baseball movie discussion as well as field of dreams.

Am I alone in saying that Bull Durham is the best baseball movie of all time?

Yep.

[hwangjini_1]

ok, i skimmed through the thread, but too many movies to keep total track of...

here are some other good ones that many folks may not know of...

eraser head - really, really, disturbing. one of the very few movies i have yet to figure out. it will probably set a new standard for you interms of bizarre. set in very depressing urban squalor, a young guy and his "girlfriend" negotiate life.... or something. both are crazy, and the families aint far behind.

metropolis - one of my all time favorites. fritz lang was great. all about clashing modernity, humanity, and of course true love. very early sci-fi flick.

battleship potempkin - a classic propaganda film, pretty hokey at times, but the story line on the russian revolution is great watching.

naked lunch - not a "story" as we normally think of one. beats tarentino's style of "story-telling" by years. you can start watching it anywhere, it wont make a difference. definately surreal and cerebral.

jacob's ladder - surreal movie that constantly keeps you unsure of what is "reality" and what dream/hallucination. very intense and cerebral. a bit scary in parts, but  a profound look at what can happen when we cant separate real from dream.

sopyonche - korean flick set in colonial period of 1920s. story of a very pretty young woman as she has to decide how serious she will be about becoming a truely great player of a traditional korean musical instrument. (kayakum/ 가야금)

antonia's line - brilliant movie (set in sweden i think) about life and women's ability to control it. fantastic and human story woven around one powerful woman who defeats evil dicks and helps others. story is better than i am writing here. definately a chick-flick sort of movie, which will help all the guys on this site actually find a movie to please their female friends, or wives, or both. 

eat, drink, man, woman - GREAT taiwanese movie about a famous chef with 3 daughters, all of whom are thinking about love. it has some of the best cooking scences around. very entertaining, yet one more way to make that girl friend/spouse/both happy campers.

BY THE WAY.....if you watch and like any of these, or if you girl friend/spouse like them, you owe me a TP. 

get some popcorn, good trappist monk beer, and enjoy.

[Roy Hobbs]

metropolis - one of my all time favorites. fritz lang was great. all about clashing modernity, humanity, and of course true love. very early sci-fi flick.

They recently found the original uncut version, and rumor has it that it may be released on dvd next year.  I'm psyched.

[hwangjini_1]

criminey!!! how could i forget these two japanese flicks...

shall we dance - light years better than the american remake. japanese salary man who has achieved career success, but is dissatisfied with life and his marriage. to find love (and more) he takes up ballroom dancing. yeah, yeah, i know already folks are are thinking "ball room dancing?!?! no thanks." but it is a wonderful movie, lots of fun. DEFINITELY watch with spouse/girl friend somebody.

seven samurai - you mean no one has listed this one yet? maybe because everyone has seen it. one of my favorites.

[Hondo to Rondo]

Bang the Drum Slowly is not bad, a 70's DeNiro baseball film.  The director or editor of Field of Dreams should have at least bothered to have Shoeless Joe bat left-handed.

[blazingarrow]

Why do I always find these threads when they're already 7 pages deep. Someone mentioned Jacobs Ladder, which was a really solid sleeper flick. Here's a few more.

Kagemusha- My favorite Akira Kurosawa movie. Visually stunning, awesome story, epic. If you liked Seven Samurai, check this out.

True Romance- No one ever talks about this one. Don't let the title fool you. It was written by Tarrantino, and it's his warped take on a love story. The dude meets a prostitute, falls in love with her, kills her pimp, steals his cocaine. I don't wanna say anymore, but Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walker have an awesome scene.

City of God- Kinda like if Goodfellas took place in a third world country.

Oldboy- Twisted Korean thriller/revenge story. This movie is almost flawless in every way.

Flash Point- One of the best martial arts movies I've ever seen. Donnie Yen incorporates a lot of MMA style chokeholds and armbars, and combines them with the Hong Kong 90's style kung fu. The best part features a running german suplex...amazing.

Fist of Legend- Best martial arts movie ever. This is a remake of the Bruce Lee Fist of Fury, and Jet Li takes it to the next level.

Bamboozled- Of course we've all seen He Got Game (my favorite Spike Lee joint), but this one is really slept on. A dark satire about African Americans in the entertainment industry.

Barton Fink- Sure we've all seen The Big Lebowski and Fargo and No Country for Old Men, but this is a very slept on Coen Brothers movie. John Goodman plays a lovable psycho, as usual. Great stuff.

Get Carter- This was remade in 2000, starring Sly Stallone. Watch the original. It's a twisted gangster movie that came out in 1971 and stars Michael Caine.

That's just a few off the top of my head. I'll probably spend the next 30 minutes or so going through the thread and adding peoples picks to my Netflix.

[celticmaestro]

A few more to add:

Chopper
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
The Rainmaker
Ong Bak
Snatch

[blazingarrow]

Old Boy !! Thats a must see...

Someone beat me to it. TP.