Esoteric but excellent movies! Please add yours!

[captainjack]

Tadpole
Igby goes down
Man on the train
Maria full of grace
Roger Dodger
Goodbye lenin!
city of god

some of you may scoff at the word esoteric and say some of these are too mainstream, but just add your list of really good movies that too few people have seen :)

[skypilot]

1. "Happy Accidents"

"Household Saints"
"Dogfight"
"Toto le Hero"

[MADem]

2. Y tu mama tambien

(the movie, I ain't talkin' 'bout your mama!)

[Dogmudgeon]

3. The Loved One

Lord Love A Duck
The President's Analyst
Zardoz
You're A Big Boy Now
Dark Star
Chatterbox
The Day The Earth Caught Fire
Father Goose
Five Million Years To Earth
Crack In The World
Promise Her Anything
The Party
Fearless Vampire Killers

--bkl

[Lautremont]

6. I love The Day the Earth Caught Fire!

The scenes with a sweaty Janet Munro don't hurt. The President's Analyst is a good one too. But Chatterbox? I guess it takes different strokes to move the world, yes it does.

[AverageJoe]

4. Love is a Dog from Hell

Barfly
Tales of Ordinary Madness
Walls in the City
The Last Time I Committed Suicide

[russian33]

5. City of God was excellent, just saw it..

Kids
Ararat
Party Monster

[MsTryska]

13. I second Party Monster

also trainspotting, and Spank the Monkey.

ooh and two with Rupert Graves in them:

Intimate Relations and Maurice.


is City of God that movie about streetkids in Sao Paoloa brazil that came out in the 90s?

While we're talking about homeless kids, I also like Salaam Bombay, and The Garden.

oh and In This World. that was a trip.

[terrya]

7. "The Ruling Class"

[theblasmo]

10. Bubba Ho-Tep

May be the best movie on aging and pop culture ever. Really.
David Murphy

[Artemis Bunyon]

25. Loved it. Great flick.

Great soul.

[EstimatedProphet]

8. My Dinner with Andre

Buckaroo Bonzai
Repo Man

[Chovexani]

11. I love Buckaroo Bonzai

That's a geek classic. :)

[AverageJoe]

12. Repo man's got a code

I LOVE Repo Man!

[KinkyDem]

33. Think this thru with me

glowing thing in trunk ...

Fast forward several years ...

glowing thing in briefcase ...

same thing ...

Pulp Fiction

[AverageJoe]

44. Hadn't thought of that

but I think you might be onto something....

[Chovexani]

9. Taboo

It's a really good Japanese period movie about this impossibly gorgeous young swordsman who joins a militia, and the tension he causes when half the troops fall in love with him. The ending is...bizarre but strangely compelling. It's definitely Japanese, that's for sure.

Sundance Channel plays it a lot during their periodic blocks of Gay and Lesbian themed films, and also during Pride Month.

[bif]

14. Wayne's World

Just kidding. How about "Tout les Matins du Monde"? or whtever it's called. "All the mornings of the world." Or any of the Herzog movies.

[ismnotwasm]

15. Naked lunch

n/t

[MercutioATC]

32. Yes!!! I haven't seen that one in years!

I've gotta rent it (if I can find it).

[On the Road]

16. Memento

Following (both by Christopher Nolan)
Mulholland Drive
The Fast Runner

[gottaB]

28. Fast Runner--Isn't that kind of linear?

Great movie

[Richardo]

34. I second Memento, and would add Insomnia

[On the Road]

36. "Insomnia" Did Not Live Up to My Expectations

but if you can find it, get Following. Very fractured and complex like Memento. Wonderful movie.

[Richardo]

38. Insomnia *was* on the commercial side, but I still liked it

I will follow up on 'Following', however. :thumbsup:

[MatrixEscape]

17. Mine ...

Donnie Darko
Alphaville
THX 1138
Waking Life
Being There
Joe Vs. The Volcano
Dark City
The City of Lost Children
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Fitzcarraldo
Nosferatu
Heart of Glass
Satyricon
Seven Samuri
The Bedsitting Room
Delicatessen
Eraserhead
Brazil
Dreams
A Boy & His Dog
Amelie
Blade Runner
Mullholand Drive
Blue Velvet
Run Lola Run
La Grande Illusion
The Rules of the Game
Abre de Ojos
Children of Paradise
Harold and Maude
Network
Jules and Jim
Wild Strawberries
La Strada
Ran
Cries and Whispers
Happiness
City of Women

Better stop here ...

[Debi]

27. oops, should read responses first!!

eom

[Richardo]

18. Choose Me

Like the Alan Rudolph.

[Bridget Burke]

42. "The Moderns"--another by Alan Rudolph.

Paris in the 20's. Can a film flirt with arty pretension but still be funny? Apparently so.

"If it wasn't for me, the public would think Surreal was a breakfast food!"

[Richardo]

19. Brother From Another Planet

:thumbsup:

[bif]

22. Anything by John Sayles

What a gret filmmaker. How about "Secret of Rohan Innish"?

[Richardo]

35. Shoot me, but I did not realize "BFAP" was a John Sayles flick...

Yeesh!

My only excuse is that I saw it probably close to 15-20 years ago.

[No2W2004]

20. Pink Flamingos (Heh heh heh)

Eating Raoul
My Breakfast with Blassie
The Fifth Element
Amelie
Yojimbo (remade as A Fist Full of Dollars in the US)
The Legend of 1900

[ismnotwasm]

31. Right on!

I haven't thought about that movie in a long time...time for a resee

[Artemis Bunyon]

21. El Topo, Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre

Jodorowsky's surrealist, visionary pseudo-trilogy. The fantastic work of an otherworldly imagination and a truly superlative soul.

[gottaB]

23. Man on a train--I love Leconte

Girl on the Bridge is my favorite.

Cyclo, by Tran Ahn Hung. His most reviled, but excellent film. Also like his Vertical Ray of the Sun.

Irma Vep, by Olivier Assayas What a gas.

In the Mood for Love, by Wong Kar Wai. I have seen all of his movies and enjoy them except for Ashes of Time. True Wong Kar Wai snobs regard In the Mood for Love as his least edgy, most mainstream movie. I think it's his best. Also Happy Together is good.

Loin, by André Téchiné.

Lovers of the Artic Circle, by Julio Medem. Saw that after Sex and Lucia, which is very good, but I think Lovers holds up better. It reminds me of Run Lola Run.

Swimming Pool, by Francoise Ozon. Very enjoyable. I like everything I've seen by Ozon.

Flower of My Secret, by Pedro Almodóvar. I don't dislike any Almodóvar film. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a classic. All About My Mother. Talk to Her. Live Flesh I think I like as study of masculine identity. It works for me. But Flower is underrecognized. It's a gem.

Tadpole? It was adorable and a laughfest when I saw it in the theatre. I bought the dvd (or vhs, can't remember) and it wasn't quite as charming.

Igby Goes Down does hold up.

Oh. Thinking of Tadpole, what about Thanksgiving movies. Myth of Fingerprints. Day Trippers. The Ice Storm. Pieces of April. House of Yes. Hannah and her Sisters.....

[Artemis Bunyon]

24. Killing of a Chinese Bookie.

One of bizarre, threatening character actor Timothy Carey's greatest performances.

[Debi]

26. Run Lola Run

The only estoteric movie I know

[AverageJoe]

29. Henry Fool

[AverageJoe]

30. Corndog Man

[JimmyJazz]

37. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

...you thought I was gonna say "Rude Boy"

How are those numbers?

on edit: ooohhh and "Times Square" - nothing like a lunatic running through a mental hospital with a boom box blaring "I wanna be Sedated." :7

[Kat45]

46. Wow--I was just thinking of "Times Square" the other day,

I think it was because I had "I Wanna Be Sedated" running through my head when I was reading about Johnny Ramone.

[JimmyJazz]

47. I had the soundtrack on vinyl until last week when our

basement flooded. What a funny movie! I should try to get a copy of it.

[redqueen]

52. Yes, Times Square

Love the soundtrack... Patti Smith, Ramones... ROCK!

[Chovexani]

39. Cecil B. Demented

Best John Waters film, IMO. My friends and I are constantly quoting from it and whenever we see a preview for a shitty movie we always ask where the hell Cecil is when you need him. :P

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

40. Ping Pong.

[ArmchairActivist]

41. "American Movie"

...so real, it's painful, sometimes.

[AverageJoe]

48. Great one! n/t

[indigo32]

43. alot of good movies here

I will add only one

Kukushka "The Cuckoo"

[Courtesy Flush]

45. I just signed up for NetFlix

And I have been wanting to ask for recommendations, when I came across this thread.

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

[Kat45]

49. "The Search for One-Eyed Jimmy" for one. More:

Kiss Me Guido
Puberty Blues
City of Hope
Memento
Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills
Happiness
The Return of the Secaucus Seven
Lone Star (might be somewhat known)
Night On Earth
Johnny Stecchino (sp)
Dogfight
Household Saints

[redqueen]

50. Liquid Sky

Possibly one of the best 'worst' movies ever. Low budget, grating synth music, general bizzareness.

I wouldn't say it's something that would be considered really good by many people. But it's very striking, and IMO that's worth a lot when so many movies are so forgettable.

[Duncan Grant]

51. "Lilies" - is an amazing movie. Canadians are probably familiar with it.

"Lilies" received 14 Genie nominations (Canada).

"Dark City" is also a favorite - I'm the only person I know that likes it! :7

[blindpig]

53. Devils, Ken Russell n/t

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

54. The Ninth Configuration

Stacy Keach and an almost uncredited Gene Hackman. It's an antiwar movie among other things.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081237/

[no_hypocrisy]

55. "The Tin Drum" based on Gunther Grass' novel

[redqueen]

56. Songcatcher

Forgot about this one yesterday...

[FunBobbyMucha]

57. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

The best movie of the year, and the first Charlie Kaufman script that was touching and emotionally resonating as well as weird and meta. I can't go on about this perfect film enough.

Ginger Snaps is the most esoteric horror film ever made, David Lynch, Heathers and American Werewolf pureed for your edification. I'm always stunned at the number of people who haven't tried this one out.

Lastly, Fight Club.

[Lautremont]

58. I think the most esoteric horror movie ever made would be

"Incubus," the 1966 William Shatner movie made entirely in Esperanto.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

59. My list

I don't think most of these are on DVD, although I could be wrong.

1. Strangers in Good Company: a Canadian film about a group of elderly women stranded out in the country after their bus breaks down. Based on the real lives of the largely amateur actresses.

2. The Fringe Dwellers: Australian film on the effects of internalized racism, as a feisty teenage Aboriginal girl rebels against both white racism and the self-destructive habits of her family.

3. Clockwise: John Cleese comedy about an uptight school headmaster whose life falls apart in every possible way after he takes a wrong turn in a train station.

4. The Other Side of Sunday: The daughter of a fundamentalist minister in Norway faces a big decision: should she be confirmed and submit herself to the discipline of the church community or try a different path?

5. Peking Opera Blues: A Hong Kong movie, and one of the funniest slapstick comedies ever.

6. Where the Spirit Lives: A Blackfoot brother and sister are taken from their parents and sent to a harsh Canadian boarding school.

7. Peppermint Candy: A South Korean man commits suicide at his 20th high school reunion. Flashbacks in reverse chronological order explain why.

8. Yana's Friends: A Russian woman living in Israel with an odd bunch of neighbors during the Gulf War.

9. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: Visually stunning (at least before the colors faded--no other film that I can think of needs digital restoration more) retelling of a Ukrainian legend.

10. The Cranes Are Flying: From the "thaw" period after the death of Stalin, this visually innovative movie tells the story of two lovers separated by World War II.

11. Z: Thinly disguised account of how a rightwing military junta temporarily took charge in Greece.

12. The Long Day Closes: An English filmmaker (I forget his name) filmed some of his childhood memories exactly as he remembers them in this plotless movie. You'll either love it or hate it.

13. To Live: The story of a Chinese family adjusting to all the changes that China went through between 1949 and the end of the Cultural Revolution.

14. Les Miserables: Not the musical and not the Victor Hugo novel, this is the story of an illiterate trucker who helps a Jewish family survive World War II.

[Merrick]

60. 1. Underground 2.Man Bites Dog 3. Songs from the 2nd Floor...

- Bus 174
- Funny Games
- Dogville
- The Idiots
- I Stand Alone
- Irreversible

well, one is in English anyway...