The Man from Earth

It's a small budget indie movie, and if you don't like people talking and prefer action, then maybe this isn't for you. Buut, for me, it was a great movie. It only uses one set, a room or two, for the entire movie. And it's still great.

Huh, I need ti actually rewatch I've been suggesting it so much lol

Edit "Timecrimes" was a good one imo as well iirc https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0480669/

I think no one has mentioned "the man from earth", it is a great movie that got a lot of success thanks to piracy, enough that it allowed it to even get a sequel (I haven't watched it it seems to be far less recommended).

I recommend to just watch it without looking too much at the theme or plot. I'll just say that it's a movie with a lot of conversations and basically no action at all. You could compare it in that sense to the classic "12 angry men", not in plot or theme, but style, mostly something that happens between a small cast of actors through dialogue.

Edit: and just a few minutes before me someone did actually share it...

Stay 2005

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

https://youtu.be/ytA4_dI2mjc?si=9ds_I5_w39-Yphoz

I enjoyed it, it's an artsy Japanese film directed by Paul Schrader who wrote Taxi Driver. Unique and engaging film that touches on gender roles and fighting for "valiant causes."

I liked the cinematography and how they wove the chapters together.

Flight of the Navigator

My favorite: Stranger than Fiction

Also, Fandango, Passengers, Life or Something Like it, Birdy, Home Office

Some can be hard to find.

Rustlers Rhapsody. A comedy western that mixes eras and has a genre savvy protagonist.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cIE1fT395HM

Iceman is a 2017 German-Italian-Austrian adventure drama film written and directed by Felix Randau. It is a fictional story about the life of Ötzi, a natural mummy of a man discovered on 19 September 1991 in the Ötzal Alps.

The film, which was filmed in the Tyrolean and Bavarian Alps features almost no dialogue, with a minimal amount in untranslated language based on reconstructed Rhaetian, created for the film by a linguist.

Thunderpants.

Late to the party but didn't see it listed yet.

Chumscrubber

"But, it's for school..."
Shows how wrapped up people become in their own stories they become totally disconnected from what's happening around them. Sheriff doesn't realize his son is kidnapped Bunch of teens run around with a kid they've kidnapped, even tell one of their moms, who gets too wrapped up in who his mom knows to take it seriously.

Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Justin Chatwin, William Fichtner, Allison Janney, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Carrie-Anne Moss, Rita Wilson, Rory Culkin

We saw it back when it was "new to dvd" desperate to see something new at the time, and have gone through a couple copies now because it doesn't come back when we lend it out. Happy to spread it though!

I give you lesser known movies that also have popular actors! (And I think they're very good)

"With Honors"

"Renaissance Man"

"Regarding Henry"

@original_reader I feel like no one talks about Deerskin, which was an excellent low-key comedy/horror/satire/weird-ass film from a few years back.

Jacob’s Ladder.

A largely forgotten psychological horror film from 1990 with Tim Robbins and Macaulay Culkin.

Saw it on TV once by chance and loved it ever since.

I’d say it’s must-watch for being influential despite its moderate success and being incredibly gripping as you try to get your head around what’s actually going on.

Rubber.

Perfume: Story of a Murderer

The Nice Guys

Rampage, it's such a good popcorn flick. It's so over the top that I wouldn't blame you for writing it off without watching it, but give it a chance, it's ultimate action silliness.

Cabin in the woods, its a top 2 horror satire, but you may have heard of that one

Tucker and Dale vs evil, maybe watch this one before cabin in the woods, it's the best horror satire.

Galaxy quest, easily the best star trek movie ever made, one of the top 5 movies ever made.

I'm not sure how many of these are hidden gems, it depends on your viewing habits (not many people would consider horror to contain much good cinema)

Repo: A Genetic Opera

Upgrade (Cyberpunk movie from Australia)

Cashback I feel is pretty unknown. Maybe not but still very good. Also Gentleman Broncos is fantastic if you’re into the napoleon dynamite style of comedy, same creators.

In no particular order (and yes some are more well known in film circles, maybe I should've ommited them, but you never know what the reader hasn't seen):

Jojo Rabbit, 2019 - a comedic coming of age in Nazi Germany. Jojo and his imaginary friend, Hitler, face a complicated and rapidly changing world.

The Mitchells versus the Machines, 2021 - animated family adventure for fun with the whole family.

Rise of Leslie Vernon, 2006 - mocumentary following slasher killer Leslie Vernon.

Bunny and the Bull, 2009 - an, in my opinion, gorgeously set film about two friends on a road trip in Spain.

Parallel Mothers (Madras Paralelas), 2021 - not a hidden gem if you know anything about Spanish cinema, but maybe you don't. Penolpe Cruz is a new mother whose life becomes intertwined with another women's when they give birth in the same hospital.

Hero (英雄), 2002 - again, if you know Wuxia film then this isn't a hidden gem. A pinnacle of the genre, a Chinese Rashomon with wire fights.

Blow Up, 1966 - British New Wave classic. A photographer used to a free and casual 60s life becomes certain he has accidentally photographed evidence of a murder.

Berberian Sound Studio, 2012 - exploration of sound and feeling. A mild mannered amateurish British sound technician gets a big job working on the sound effects for a giallo film in Italy.

Martyrs, 2008 - the pinnacle of French New Extreme movement. It made a big name for itself at the time for being the sort of torture porn film that really gave it a point beyond vouyerism. Not for the faint of heart.

Rye Lane, 2023 - a romcom love letter to London.

The Day Shall Come, 2019 - an eccentric black preacher gets caught up in a web of madness that runs deep.

Known to horror aficionados, but not to general movie watchers: Lake Mungo (2008)

I highly recommend you don't read up on it. Besides the fact that the film just works so much better when you come to it fresh, most reviews - both in print and YouTube videos - spoil pivotal scenes, including in the artwork they choose to use as a thumbnail/heading. Just watch it. Even if the horror doesn't work for you (many people report being bored by the film), it's still a great film with surprising depth and heart. It's worth checking off your list for sure.

The basics: It's a mockumentary set in Australia, made by a director/writer who hasn't done anything before or since, featuring actors who probably aren't known to you, even if you're an Aussie. Much of the dialogue is improvised, so it feels very real and natural.

Try to watch it alone, in the dark, with no distractions (turn off your phone). This will help maximise your chances of being one of the lucky people the film has managed to scare in a profound way. I'm one of those lucky people, I'm happy to say!

The three tensest films I've seen -

Flight of the Phoenix (original B&W one)

Duel (Spielberg's first film)

And one with David Wotsisname that plays Poirot but he's a terrorist on a plane