I’ve been preparing for my obligatory best of the decade column, which will drop in December after we’ve assessed 2009’s offerings. I’m covering bases on films that inevitably slipped through the cracks, but I’m looking to be as thorough as I can. If there’s a film you can think of that blew you away between 2000 and now but know in your heart of hearts hasn’t hit my radar yet, chime in.
Comments
98 responses to “QUERY: Name an obscure film from the past decade I should see.”
films like Amores Perros, Entre les Murs, Der Untergang, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Gegen Die Wand, Chop Shop, L’Humanité, The Return are pretty widely seen films… none of them are obscure films or hidden gems…
“The Deep End,” “Hallum Foe,” “L.I.E.,” Exiles,” and especially “Urbania.”
meant to say I own the Korean DVD of #38 (Secret Sunshine). As far as I know there’s no American DVD release or theatrical release forthcoming.
argh… and by #21 I really mean #27. why no edit button?
Memories of Murder isn’t a Korean version of Zodiac. It’s the other way around.
He Was a Quiet Man, Lars and the Real Girl, Lord of War, The Wackness, Waltz with Bashir.
MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING
UNDER THE SAND
Our Song
Lovely and Amazing
L’Enfant/The Child
Chuck and Buck
Heading South
The Magdalene Sisters
With a Friend Like Harry
Moolade
The Business of Strangers
Morvern Callar
Two Lovers
We Don’t Live Here Anymore
Atanajurat: The Fast Runner — just astonishing.
Alas, my two top recommendations have already been mentioned, but I will repeat them:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Me and You and Everyone We Know
I think that, in general, John Cameron Mitchell has proven to be one of the most exciting, under-the-radar new filmmakers of the decade. It’s a shame that his films aren’t more widely appreciated, though I completely understand why they aren’t (in North America, especially). With that said, I also highly recommend his second film, Shortbus. I think it’s a masterpiece.
Of course, you’ve probably already seen all three.
Sweet Land, released in ’06. Starring Elisabeth Reaser and adapted/directed by Ali Selim.
Definitely watch “This is England” and “Somers Town” – they are great.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen it or if it’s even considered obscure, but if you haven’t seen it, I think you need to see ‘Baadasssss!’ One of my all-time favorites.
The Dark Knight.
Two unforgettable Brazilian documentaries:
EDIFICIO MASTER and ONIBUS 174.
Also, SILENT LIGHT.
La Cienaga
Spring Summer Fall Winter…and Spring
Roger Dodger (2002)
I’ll try to stick to the actually obscure… filmes by the Dardennes or Haneke I’m guessing you’ve seen for the most part. I might throw a few borderline ones in…
The Widow of St Pierre (2000)
Water Drops on Burning Rocks (2000)
A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)
Last Resort (2000)
Late Marriage (2001)
Read My Lips (2001)
Russian Ark (2002)
Irreversible (2002)
Love Me If You Dare (2003)
Saraband (2003)
Control Room (2004)
Nobody Knows (2004)
Yes (2004)
Kings and Queen (2004… be shocked if you haven’t seen this… but just in case)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
La Moustache (2004)
Time to Leave (2005)
Murderball (2005)
The Unknown Woman (2006)
Deliver Us From Evil (2006)
The Dead Girl (2006)
XXY (2007)
You, the Living (2007)
Three Monkeys (2008)
Food Inc (2008)
Also: “Chuck and Buck.”
I forgot Read My Lips when I posted my comment above and Bing147 just beat me to it.
I know I am not Kris, but I just added about 75 films to my queue so I just wanted to thank everyone for listing out under the radar films that are worth seeing b/c now I have a lot of homework to do- in a good way! :-)
Did you see Reprise? If not, that’s an excellent one.
And it’s not obscure, but if you were put off by the 6 hour running time of The Best of Youth, go ahead and watch it.
I’ve seen many of those mentioned, and I know for a fact I won’t get to all of the ones listed here that I haven’t seen. But thanks for the giant selection, guys.
The Pledge (Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright Penn & Aaron Eckhart)
I’ll be the second to recommend “Broken English.” The first hour of the movie is definitely stronger than the second, but Parker Posey really is astounding throughout the entire thing. Anything else that I can think to suggest, I’m sure you’ve already seen.
Primer
Definitely try and catch Up in the Air if you get a chance. Just kidding! I would recommend “I’ve Loved You So Long” if you haven’t seen that.
From this decade – Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
From the 90’s – Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
The Lord of the Rings
Kill Bill
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Pans Labyrinth
The Departed
Moulin Rouge
Million Dollar Baby
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wallace and Grommit
The Ring
There Will be Blood
Knocked Up
O fantasma (Phantom)
La ville est tranquille (Town is quiet)
Piedras (Stones)
I love Lavoura Arcaica.
Last Life in the Universe
Red Road
It’s not obscure, but everyone has forgotten about Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain.” I thought it was easily the best movie I saw in 2006, but a whole lot of people seemed to hate it something fierce.
A second vote for “Last Life in the Universe.” Really extraordinary.
Yeah yeah yeah, Lavoura Arcaica! Masterpiece! It’s named “To Left Of The Father” in America. Kino Video released the DVD.
Have to back Chad up on Lantana, an extraordinary piece of work
Songs from the Second Floor.
I’m going to go ahead and be the third to mention Tarsem’s “The Fall.” Beautiful film.
You should watch Narc
the nines (2007)
the band’s visit (2007)
heights (2005)
the world (2004)
goodbye dragon inn (2003)
How about Verhoeven’s Blackbook?
I would say its pretty widely seen, seeing as it is the highest-grossing (locally and overseas) Dutch film of all time. Great flick, though. Tubs of fun…
I’d recommend Vier Minuten/Four Minutes just on the strength of the performances (esp. Herzsprung) and several amazing musical sequences – esp. the climax. The film itself is clumsily made.
1. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005, Miranda July)
2. Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005, Hank Rogerson)
Tony Kay’s abortion documentary “Lake of Fire”, visually stunning, quite graphic, but ultimately amazingly in-depth film.
“Billy the Kid” – documentary about a loveable boy with Asperger’s (sp?)
The Robinsons of Mansinsaari – a documentary with almost no speech, about two men living on an island off of Russia who refuse to speak to one another. Amazing film… really moving and peaceful.
The King and the Clown – dubbed the South Korean Brokeback Mountain, if only for the homosexual relationship at the film’s centre. Really moving and funny. Visually stunning.
The original “Brothers” by Susan Bier – shocked me. I went into the theatre knowing nothing and was blown away. I’m curious about the remake.
A film I saw at TIFF:
“Shirley Adams” – stylistically along the same lines as a Dardenne brothers film. About the financial and emotional results of a woman’s son being paralyzed by a gang shooting. I can’t tell you how much emotion was packed into a simple scene of the main character boiling an egg and eating it. It has stuck with me since.
Arliss Howard’s BIG BAD LOVE.
How about these ones…
BEST OF 2000s…
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Mungiu, 2007)
Amores Perros (Iñárritu, 2001)
Blindsight (Walker, 2007)
A Christmas Tale (Desplechin, 2008)
Facing the Music (Connelly, 2001)
Head-On (Akin, 2005)
Heaven’s Heart (Staho, 2008)
Hunger (McQueen, 2008)
In My Father’s Den (McGann, 2005)
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (Harris, 2000)
Lantana (Lawrence, 2001)
Last Ride (Ivin, 2009)
Little Fish (Woods, 2005)
Lust, Caution (Lee, 2007)
No End in Sight (Ferguson, 2007)
Noise (Saville, 2007)
Osama (Barmak, 2004)
Out of the Blue (Sarkies, 2007)
Promises (Bolado et al, 2002)
Revanche (Spielmann, 2008)
Somersault (Shortland, 2004)
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (Winterbottom, 2006)
The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Loach, 2006)
Young@Heart (Walker, 2008)
There is a French-Canadian movie called “Aurore” that came out in ’05 and is probably the most heart-wrenching movie I have ever seen in my entire life.
Please, please, please see it.
Dan Zukovic’s “THE LAST BIG THING”, called the “best unknown American film of the 1990’s” in the film book “Great Moments in Movies” (Editor: Chris Fujiwara), was finally released on DVD on June 29 through Vanguard Cinema. (www.vanguardcinema.com/thelastbigthing/thelastbigthing) Featuring an important early role by Mark Ruffalo (“Shutter Island”, “Zodiac”, “Collateral”), “THE LAST BIG THING” had a US theatrical release in 1998, and gained a cult following over several years of screenings on the Showtime Networks.
“A distinctly brilliant and original work.” Kevin Thomas – Los Angeles Times
“A satire whose best moments echo the tone of a Nathanial West novel…Nasty Fun!”
Stephen Holden – New York Times
“One of the cleverest recent satires on contemporary Los Angeles…a very funny sleeper!” Michael Wilmington – Chicago Tribune
“One of the few truly original low budget comedies of recent years.” John Hartl – Seattle Times
“‘The Last Big Thing’ is freakin’ hilarious! The most important and overlooked
indie film of the 1990’s. ” Chris Gore – Film Threat