Favorite movie that you feel is underappreciated?

6793
 
Auggie said:
How about the plural of the above film>
large_ikwR74siRBhSdtAUMxNzUJvT59A.jpg
Click to expand...
The gangs being decked out in ridiculous costumes ruined it for me. It’s supposed to be this gritty, hardcore fight to survive and some of the main antagonist look like cartoon characters. A more realistic reboot would be awesome.
 
Usual Suspects........had to watch it again immediately after it ended (I think I rented it on VHS from a local video rental - remember those?)
 
Omar said:
The gangs being decked out in ridiculous costumes ruined it for me. It’s supposed to be this gritty, hardcore fight to survive and some of the main antagonist look like cartoon characters. A more realistic reboot would be awesome.
Click to expand...

Contemporary reviews agree on this take but over the course of time it has gained better reviews to the point it is now a 89% fresh on RT. The unbelievable over the top comic book like outfits and racially mixed gangs are part of the wink to the audience that it is not a realistic view of gang life but a highly stylized take on gritty life of 1970s NYC. The Baseball Furies have gained cult like status in cinema.
 
Every great film in black and white. I have never understood the aversion that some modern viewers have to watching a film in black and white, or silent for that matter. It is willful culture ignorance to not watch some of the great films of the first half of the last century because they are not in color.
 
Last edited:
Some color films that never got their due:

WW and the Dixie Dance Kings (1975) - In my opinion the best Burt Reynolds film excepting Deliverance (1972).

The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) - Not quite as good as The Sting (1973) but still a great Robert Redford film.

Little Big Man (1970) - Funny and still a great western. One of Dustin Hoffman's best performances.

A Bridge Too Far (1977) - One of the last great, large ensemble cast war movies until Saving Private Ryan (1998). Great story that gets a little jumbled due to the multiple locations and a lot of subplots.

Lords of Flatbush (1974) - An all star cast before they were stars.

Near Dark (1987) - One of my favorite vampire films. A vampire western with a great story that was beautifully shot.

The Crossing (2000) - I guess it is underrated because it was a made for TV, but it is a great telling of the Christmas night raid on Trenton which saved the Continental Army and likely saved our young nation. It was one of Jeff Daniel's best performances. I try to watch this and Battle of the Bulge (1965) every Christmas season.
 
Last edited:
One of the best topics I have seen recently on Yappi. Many great films already listed. It was difficult paring my
list down to just 25 !

1 Streets of Fire
2 From Paris With Love
3 Blue Velvet
4 Diner
5 Best In Show
6 The Commitments
7 Miller's Crossing
8 The Pope Of Greenwich Village
9 True Romance
10 The Bird Cage
11 Eddie And The Cruisers
12 Man Hunter
13 To Live And Die In L.A.
14 Radio Days
15 Glengarry,Glen Ross
16 Last Of The Mohicans
17 My Favorite Year
18 Wild At Heart
19 Kalifornia
20 Mean Streets
21 Natural Born Killers
22 Boondock Saints
23 Fear Of A Black Hat
24 The Accountant
25 Fargo

Easily had another 25 I came up with, but this already is probably overkill. The 25 I have listed are not ranked in
any particular order, just as I thought of them.

JB
 
Johnstown Benny said:
One of the best topics I have seen recently on Yappi. Many great films already listed. It was difficult paring my
list down to just 25 !

1 Streets of Fire
2 From Paris With Love
3 Blue Velvet
4 Diner
5 Best In Show
6 The Commitments
7 Miller's Crossing
8 The Pope Of Greenwich Village
9 True Romance
10 The Bird Cage
11 Eddie And The Cruisers
12 Man Hunter
13 To Live And Die In L.A.
14 Radio Days
15 Glengarry,Glen Ross
16 Last Of The Mohicans
17 My Favorite Year
18 Wild At Heart
19 Kalifornia
20 Mean Streets
21 Natural Born Killers
22 Boondock Saints
23 Fear Of A Black Hat
24 The Accountant
25 Fargo

Easily had another 25 I came up with, but this already is probably overkill. The 25 I have listed are not ranked in
any particular order, just as I thought of them.

JB
Click to expand...
Many of these were nominated for awards. I agree with The Commitments (1991) - Even though it did get some award nominations, I do not believe that it got the attention it should have gotten from the American public. Great and very entertaining film. "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once and say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud." great line.
 
Johnstown Benny said:
One of the best topics I have seen recently on Yappi. Many great films already listed. It was difficult paring my
list down to just 25 !

1 Streets of Fire
2 From Paris With Love
3 Blue Velvet
4 Diner
5 Best In Show
6 The Commitments
7 Miller's Crossing
8 The Pope Of Greenwich Village
9 True Romance
10 The Bird Cage
11 Eddie And The Cruisers
12 Man Hunter
13 To Live And Die In L.A.
14 Radio Days
15 Glengarry,Glen Ross
16 Last Of The Mohicans
17 My Favorite Year
18 Wild At Heart
19 Kalifornia
20 Mean Streets
21 Natural Born Killers
22 Boondock Saints
23 Fear Of A Black Hat
24 The Accountant
25 Fargo

Easily had another 25 I came up with, but this already is probably overkill. The 25 I have listed are not ranked in
any particular order, just as I thought of them.

JB
Click to expand...


Lotta good movies on this list!

Diner – The football quiz always cracks me up.

Kalifornia – Adele (Lewis) carrying her cactus, Lucy, around in her purse was awesome, lol. And, Pitt played a great Early Grayce.

The Accountant – ‘Bout 3 years ago, bought this DVD for everyone at Christmas cuz it was so good.
 
Here are a couple hot takes:

The Wrestler is a sports movie. Since 95% of sports movies are trash, The Wrestler is without question the greatest sports film ever made.

So my point is that The Wrestler is underappreciated as a sports movie.
 
Purplemojo said:
Many of these were nominated for awards. I agree with The Commitments (1991) - Even though it did get some award nominations, I do not believe that it got the attention it should have gotten from the American public. Great and very entertaining film. "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once and say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud." great line.
Click to expand...

Purplemojo,
Appreciate your comments on my list. I purposely tried to avoid any box office giants on the list and focused
on what I thought were under-appreciated films that I really enjoyed and that I was fairly certain had not been nominated for a Best Picture. With the exception of "Fargo" the last film on the list, all of the other films on the list, for the most part, received barely any recognition at the Academy Awards. In retrospect I should have left "Fargo" off the list since it did win the Best Actress award for Frances McDormand and Best Director for Joel Coen. I don't believe there were too "many other nominations" for major awards on the list as you may think.

Now regarding the other 24 on the list, there were no other major Oscar winners for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director. or Best Picture. Only Peter O'Toole was nominated ,but lost for Best Actor in 1982 for "My Favorite Year" and David Lynch was nominated, and lost in 1986 for Best Director "Blue Velvet".

I do agree with your comments about "The Commitments" not getting the recognition it deserved from the American audience. At the Academy Awards it picked up a nomination for the coveted Best Film Editing, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy. The British Academy of Film did honor it with wins for both Best Film and Best Director. I have both Volume I and II soundtracks from The Commitments and they are excellent and highly recommended.

JB
 
Good sci-fi seems to frequently go underappreciated:

A Scanner Darkly - Odd one with Keanu Reaves, Woody Harrelson, and Robert Downey Jr. If you like Richard Linklater films, you should like this one.
Blade Runner 2049 - People seem either hot or cold on it, but I think it's fantastic from start to finish.
Interstellar - Same as Blade Runner. People like to rag on it for the "love" aspect of it but I don't have a problem with it.
Sunshine - Sort of a cult hit in the sci-fi world, I guess. Only issue with it is the last act.
Moon - Might not have made the list 10 years ago but no one really mentions it anymore. Made Sam Rockwell one of my favorite actors.
 
Last edited:
I'll throw in some more that I feel did not get the love they should have...

Sicario
The Lost Boys
Bad Words
Beerfest
The Town
Land of the Lost
Million Ways to Die in the West
Most of the Farrelly Bros. movies such as Me Myself and Irene, Stuck on You, and Kingpin
Oblivion
The Village
 
Last edited:
Sig Hansen said:
Here are a couple hot takes:

The Wrestler is a sports movie. Since 95% of sports movies are trash, The Wrestler is without question the greatest sports film ever made.

So my point is that The Wrestler is underappreciated as a sports movie.
Click to expand...
It was a great movie. I had the opportunity to work at a side gig recently at a low level pro wrestling event. Seeing that really first hand really put that movie in perspective.
 
Couple that I haven't seen in a long time were great when I was younger. Wonder how they stood the test if time.

The Wanderers
History of the World Part 1 (ok, maybe this one isn't under appreciated)
 
Johnstown Benny said:
Purplemojo,
Appreciate your comments on my list. I purposely tried to avoid any box office giants on the list and focused
on what I thought were under-appreciated films that I really enjoyed and that I was fairly certain had not been nominated for a Best Picture. With the exception of "Fargo"

JB
Click to expand...

That whole "96" years was screwball in my opinion. That's the year for my pick, Mars Attacks!. Lots of underappreciated greats that have met the test of time, not even nominated but it was (miramax) English Patient won all the awards.

Now fess up. Who here watched English Patient more than once and there was no female involved in making it happen? There is no amount of sex, warmth or even true love that would make me finish that movie, let alone watch it twice. Sometimes, you gotta put the foot down.
 
eastisbest said:
That whole "96" years was screwball in my opinion. That's the year for my pick, Mars Attacks!. Lots of underappreciated greats that have met the test of time, not even nominated but it was (miramax) English Patient won all the awards.

Now fess up. Who here watched English Patient more than once and there was no female involved in making it happen? There is no amount of sex, warmth or even true love that would make me finish that movie, let alone watch it twice. Sometimes, you gotta put the foot down.
Click to expand...
6800
 
MoeDude said:
Thanks,well i'll be damned! Always thought it was Civil War. Now I'll have to watch it again to see if they actually mention which war in the film. Thanks again for the little piece of trivia.
Click to expand...
Historically, mountain men were "exploring" the West before the Oregon Trail and before the California Gold Rush. Which are both in th 1840's. In the movie Johnson gets to mountains after other trappers are well established. The Mexican war was April '46 - February '48.

Spoiler alert: Pay attention to the scene when the soldiers ask for Johnson's help to rescue the wagons trapped by winter.
 
Yes, those wagons trapped by winter was the obvious reference to the Donner party who had a few friends for dinner
during this same timeframe of 1846-1847 leading to the old punch line , " Donner, Donner party of 8, your table is ready "
That buffet line at Donner Pass always had a long wait.

btw, Jeremiah Johnson is an excellent movie, especially Will Geer was a great addition breaking the solitude for Robert Redford. always talking about the " grizz".

JB
 
Sig Hansen said:
Here are a couple hot takes:

The Wrestler is a sports movie. Since 95% of sports movies are trash, The Wrestler is without question the greatest sports film ever made.

So my point is that The Wrestler is underappreciated as a sports movie.
Click to expand...

Speaking of wrestling movies, a few come to mind. Vision Quest and Win Win were good.

Pro Wrestlers Vs. Zombies, however, combines sports and the living dead....can't get any better than that. Several well know pro wrestlers featured in this flick including Kurt Angle, Roddy Piper, Jim Duggan, plus many others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top