Your favourite obscure films?

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Obscure isn't really the right word but I couldn't think of anything better. I guess I mean little known gems. Anything that isn't overly mainstream, or Oscars material, or well known classics. Even movies that may have been big a few decades ago, but have since drifted into obscurity, such Romero's 'Martin'.

Mine would mostly consist of foreign movies like these:
- Sin Nombre
- Vengo
- Gadjo Dilo
- REC
- Night Watch
- Infernal Affairs
- Inside Man (this could be too mainstream but I just ****ing love this movie, and not enough people know about it)

Probs think of more later.

Tell us yours [Derp]

29/01/2012

Mordor

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Milky

Some of those are massively popular. Infernal Affairs was remade as the Departed and had a bunch of sequels. Night Watch was huge internationally, Russia's highest grossing franchise (even when considering Western franchises). REC is huge and has a 4,500 sequels. Inside Man definitely is mainstream, it made almost $200 million at the box office.

I actually don't know what you mean by obscure. To a film fan there isn't really such a thing, all of us live on news sites, movies forums, we all know everything that is coming out. We've seen the trailers, we've heard the buzz, we've followed it from festival to festival. To us there is no real obscure film.

However to the mainstream film public than all of those films would be obscure (except Inside Man). Although nearly all those films are foreign, to our mainstreamers they would be obscure but to those from the country of origin it wouldn't.

I guess what I'm getting at is what is obscure? Film isn't like the music industry, you don't have really tiny films that go unnoticed by the industry, it is usually the smaller films which we love the most and get the most recognition from cinema lovers and critics.

Just look at this years Oscar frontrunners... the Artist would be considered an obscure film to most mainstream film-goers, it'll struggle to make its budget back in the US. But to us it is a big important film, one nearly all the people on here will see. Should that really then be considered obscure?

(lol sorry for the novel)

29/01/2012

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GangStarr

Two Hands.

Australian film with Heath Ledger, one of the best Australian films i've ever seen. Not sure how obscure it is, but I know that everyone I talk to about it has never even heard of it. Shame really, such a brilliant movie.

29/01/2012

Shaolin Land

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Marge

Shawshank Redemption
Your favourite obscure films?

/hipster

29/01/2012

Your Mother's Closet

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Makra

@Milky okay, to total movie buffs what I'm talking about wouldn't be obscure. But to 98% of the population they are. Maybe another way of putting it would be movies you might put in your top 10, 20, 30 (40.. 50...) list that you wouldn't find in anyone else's list.

And unless you're like 50, you will have missed tons and tons of great movies when they first came out, and therefore missed out on the hype. Surely there are tons of movies that have faded into obscurity (obscure to the majority of movie fans) a few years after they were released.

Ask anyone who rents the Departed if they know its a remake. To us its obvious as poo that Infernal Affairs is the original, but the fact is that we're a pretty small percentage. Hell, I get loads of people coming in to my work, and they ask for Tron. I ask, the first or second one? They look at me with a puzzled face [Facepalm] (they're always after Tron Legacy)

I'm just over the perpetual focus on everything that's new and shiny. It's as if movies are only worth watching if they're new, or otherwise well-known older movies.

And Night Watch, yeah it was pretty big, at the time. But I believe it has become really obscure over the last few years.

Also, out of curiosity do you know of Vengo and Gadjo Dilo?

Marge said: Shawshank Redemption
/hipster

Gtfo [Shifty]

29/01/2012

Mordor

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Kerosanak

I refuse to watch Night Watch because I read all the books.

/megahipster.

=D

29/01/2012

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Milky

@Makra you said pretty much what I said :P to us there is no obscure, to the general movie going public there is... so asking us what is obscure won't really work lol.

Makra said: Also, out of curiosity do you know of Vengo and Gadjo Dilo?

I have, I've only seen Gadjo Dilo though.

Kerosanak said: I refuse to watch Night Watch because I read all the books.
/megahipster.

Oh you should totally see them, especially if you've read the books.

29/01/2012

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Makra

OK, I ask you what your favourite movies are that 98% of the population don't know about :P

29/01/2012

Mordor

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Milky

Makra said: OK, I ask you what your favourite movies are that 98% of the population don't know about

lol alright, I'll take you logic and would include some of yours...

Night Watch/Day Watch
Zodiac
Frontiers
Novo
Dead Snow
Hard Candy
Brick
Alpha Dog

However, hope all of you know these movies and have seen them :P

29/01/2012

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Makra

I know 6/9 :P

29/01/2012

Mordor

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Milky

Makra said: I know 6/9

Which ones don't you know?

29/01/2012

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Makra

Frontiers, Novo and Dead Snow. All foreign are they?

29/01/2012

Mordor

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Milky

Makra said: Frontiers, Novo and Dead Snow. All foreign are they?

Indeedy. Frontiers is a French horror film, very full-on, like a French Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Novo is quite old, wasn't well received but I found it very sweet. Dead Snow is epic, we have a thread for it - movies.mmgn.com/...

29/01/2012

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NinjaBoy

The Room. That is all.

29/01/2012

The wonderful world of sarcasm...

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GangStarr

Dead Snow is such an awesome flick!! Nazi Zombies in the form of cinema! Brilliant!!

29/01/2012

Shaolin Land

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shiversul

I hate Two Hands, someof the worst performances I've ever seen.

And yay for Brick being mentioned.
Zodiac though? How isn't that popular? Has RDJ and Gyllenhall. :P

29/01/2012

Geelong, Victoria

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Makra

I would add The Magician, an indie aussie film, but the last 15 mins of the DVD was damaged so I didn't quite see all of it.

29/01/2012

Mordor

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GangStarr

shiversul said: I hate Two Hands, someof the worst performances I've ever seen.
And yay for Brick being mentioned.
Zodiac though? How isn't that popular? Has RDJ and Gyllenhall.

You hate two hands?!? How are the performances bad? Probably the only good Bryan Brown film I've seen. And Heath Ledger plays his character so well!

29/01/2012

Shaolin Land

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Alpharoth

Infernal Affairs 1 and 2.

Such a classic, brilliant and original story until The Departed comes along and took all the credit.

29/01/2012

Melbourne

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Makra

Alpharoth said: Infernal Affairs 1 and 2.
Such a classic, brilliant and original story until The Departed comes along and took all the credit.

How bout number 3? I've got the whole trilogy, just haven't gotten around to watching them all yet.

Blood In Blood Out is a great LA prison movie, nearly forgot about that.

29/01/2012

Mordor

Kudos: 42,034

Milky

shiversul said: Zodiac though? How isn't that popular? Has RDJ and Gyllenhall.

I'm just going off Makra's logic :P

Although it wasn't a massive hit and of all the films in Fincher's catalogue, it is the one people haven't seen. I have 3 friends who call themselves film fans that only saw it once Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came out because I told them how similar the two films were.

A lot of people haven't seen it. A lot of film fans haven't seen it.

But yes, I wouldn't call it obscure, but for the sake of "films that 98% of the public don't know of", then I would call it obscure.

Also, just because it has Gyllenhaal and RDJ doesn't mean it is popular. Gyllenhaal constantly struggles to draw a crowd... Brothers, Rendition, Proof, Love & Other Drugs, the Good Girl and Zodiac. He probably has plenty more I'm forgetting as well. And RDJ wasn't invisible when Zodiac was released, this was pre-Iron Man, pre-Sherlock Holmes. In fact after Zodiac he made Charlie Bartlett and the Soloist, flops, and just before Zodiac he made Fur, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, A Scanner Darkly, all flops.

29/01/2012

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shiversul

They need to give more movies theatrical rereleases!
Same with TV shows. Freaks and Geeks would have the biggest audience now! :P

29/01/2012

Geelong, Victoria

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Milky

shiversul said: They need to give more movies theatrical rereleases!
Same with TV shows. Freaks and Geeks would have the biggest audience now!

Well, if Freaks and Geeks ran today and got the same ratings it would be considered the biggest hit on tv and go for 8 seasons. No joke.

It average 7 million viewers a week. By comparison, One Tree Hill, now in its 9th season, gets 1.5 million a week. Supernatural, now in its 7th season, gets 1.5 a week. Fringe, one of the most expensive shows on tv and in its 4th season, gets 3.5 million a week.

And people say downloading hasn't ruined tv, no such thing as quality free-to-air anymore [Facepalm]

29/01/2012

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CybaCowboy

"Shut Up & Sing" by the Dixie Chicks!
youtu.be/...

29/01/2012

Puckapunyal Military Area, VIC.

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Makra

You guys don't need to list stuff which is semi-mainstream like Night Watch just cos I did. I just haven't seen that many great foreign/indie/small films yet. I imagine you guys have seen way more movies than me so probably have less known stuff to list.

Shiv, anything you would add?

29/01/2012

Mordor

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