Comments on: Obscure films

By: John Farrell

John Farrell — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 18:21:29 +0000

Actually, since Sean started in on this, with Brazil, which I loved, I would also like to put a word in for what I think is the masterpiece Gilliam pulled off right after Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. If ever there was a Hollywood film that was killed deliberately by vindictive studio heads even before it opened, this is it. It’s a little long in spots, but I have to say, overall it’s a gem that puts all of the other “imaginative” movies of the 1980s in the shadows.

By: Ijon Tichy

Ijon Tichy — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 21:45:34 +0000

Yes, a film version of the medieval play, “Everyman”, in a modern setting. That is definitely obscure. Kudos to you, Mr Farrell!

By: John Farrell

John Farrell — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:11:12 +0000

And indeed–they are VERY obscure….

By: John Farrell

John Farrell — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 19:03:00 +0000

I appreciate it!

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 23:31:23 +0000

John, so long as your films are obscure. If Spielberg comes around here, we won’t listen to him.

By: tony g

tony g — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 23:10:17 +0000

of course, silly me, i do some looking around and see your films are available. have at it . . .

By: tony g

tony g — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 23:06:46 +0000

hmmmm…

can you nominate your own film?

well, i’d say yes with one proviso. the objective here is not to just name obscure&great films but to build recommendations for others to see. so i’d say if your film is available to the watching public, why not?

By: 223

223 — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:43:34 +0000

Of the films mentioned above, I love Stranger Than Paradise and films by Ozu and Kieslowski. But there are many that I haven’t seen and I should try.

My nominees are…

The Spirit of the Beehive by Victor Erice
This is a great film about a child’s imagination, a family, and Frankenstein’s monster set in Spain after the Spanish Civil War. You can see the best acting by a child of all time in this film.

A Summer at Grandpa’s by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
This is probably the first film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien I saw. It is just a simple story involving a boy and his little sister spending a Summer vacation, but it is wonderful. Hou Hsiao-Hsien also made other great and possibly better known films, but I nominate this one here.

The Double Life of Veronique by Kieslowski
I’m also not sure if Kieslowski is obscure enough, but this is a little more obscure than the Three Colors. This and Red are my favorite Kieslowski films.

Chungking Express by Wong Kar-Wai
A cool film with an original style from Hong Kong.

By: John Farrell

John Farrell — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 14:27:12 +0000

Hey, can you nominate your own film?

By: Titling | Cosmic Variance

Titling | Cosmic Variance — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 18:01:01 +0000

[...] For reasons having nothing to do with the obscure films post, I recently had the opportunity to see Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (for perhaps the fifth or sixth time). It’s a close call between that and Casablanca for my all-time favorite movie — how can you go wrong combining Kafka and Orwell with Monty Python and Tom Stoppard? (Brazil, I mean, not Casablanca.) [...]