adam_jondo — 11 years ago(November 08, 2014 06:16 AM)

50 UNDER-RATED and/or UNDER-ACKNOWLEDGED MOVIES
A) REMAKES THAT TOP THE ORIGINALS
Solaris
(2002) - Sodenberg brings intimacy and focus to Tarkovsky's glacial original.
Thomas Crown Affair
(1999) - Retro-stylish, smart and sexy caper movie.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(1978) - Re-boots from political to psychological allegory and taps even deeper into our paranoia. An absolute classic.
B) DRAMAS
One Hour Photo

• Robin Williams' best performance.
  Save The Tiger
• Jack Lemmon beats Brando, Pacino, Nicholson & Redford to the oscar.
  King of Comedy
• Scorsese's best IMO. And Jerry Lewis is a revelation.
  Killing Them Softly
• Criminally under rated economic critique as gangster flick. Kudos to Pitt for backing Director Andrew ("
  Jesse James
  ") Dominik.
  The Thin Red Line
• Mallick's pre-self parody masterpiece.
  Barney's Version
• Paul Giamatti not even nominated?
  Barry Lyndon
• Kubrick's last great film IMO.
  Paths of Glory
• Kubrick's least seen great film.
  Night Falls on Manhattan
• Idealistic DA (Andy Garcia) confronts the shadowlands of the system and his conscience. RIP Sidney Lumet - one of the all time great directors.
  House of Mirth
• Terrence Davies charts Gillian Anderson's pitiless slide through the cracks of Victorian society. Heartbreaking.
  Missing
• Lemmon and Spacek make the most poignant of odd couples in Costa-Gavras fact based expose of US sanctioned persecution in 1970's Chile.
  Three Days of the Condor
  Redford and Dunaway go on the run from a Watergate era system beyond all rhyme or reason. Pollack reboots 39 Steps into the counter culture then banishes all sanctuary and proclaims Von Sydows 9 to 5 free-market assassin IS the new world order. Bourne and No Country owe so much to this classic (compare Damon and Redfords respective home invasion death matches).
  And Justice for All
  Even jarring comedic interludes and horribly dated 70s soundtrack cant swamp the glory of a young Al Pacino in full radical courtroom meltdown. Norman ("Heat of the Night") Jewison directs.
  Klute
  Hardened NY Hooker (Jane Fonda's) defences go fight or flight at visiting PI (Donald Sutherlands) fundamental small town decency when she becomes embroiled in his murder investigation. Alan J Pakula hands Fondas performance the reigns and earns her her first oscar.
  Margaret
• Playwright Kenneth Lonergan's New York rumination on guilt and responsibility gifts Anna Paquin her most challenging role.
  Ambitious, affecting, unwieldy and haunting
  " - Rolling Stone Magazine. Delayed 6 years before it's 2011 release. 3 hour Director Cut recommended.
  True Romance
• Tony Scott's best milks unexpected dividends from Tarantino with a break through spot for Gandolfini and THAT Walken/Hopper showdown ("
  Now tell me - am I lying?
  ").
  A Late Quartet
• A veteran string quartet negotiate art, ego, and the shifting sands of group dynamics in the best Woody Allen Movie that Woody Allen never made. Hoffman heads an A list cast and Walken quietly steals the show.
  Down to the Bone
• Vera Farmiga owns every frame of Debra ("Winter's Bone") Granik's riveting 2004 low budget debut about the mundanity of addiction.
  Testament
• Jane Alexander shoulders her family and community into the night in the mundane wake of the apocalypse. A quietly devastating performance.
  Topsy-Turvy (1999)
• Mike Leigh humanizes Gilbert & Sullivan. Jim Broadbent conducts a pitch perfect ensemble cast.
  Deep Cover
• Larry Fishburne slowly realizes "
  I'm not a cop pretending to be a drug dealer. I'm a drug dealer pretending to be a cop
  ". Plus Jeff Goldblum on form and rising star Dr. Dre soundtrack.
  Funny People
• Adam Sandler defies expectations in Apotow's best. More a drama than a comedy. "
  The thing about Funny People is it's a real movie. It's ABOUT SOMETHING.
  " - Roger Ebert.
  C) UPBEAT/COMEDY/ROMANCE
  The Lion in Winter
• O'Toole, Hepburn, Hopkins, & Co carve up James Goldman's Oscar winning script (and each other) for Xmas. Why hasn't everyone seen this film?
  The American President
• "
  Yes I know what Capra-esque means
  ". Should score 7+.
  The Big Easy
• Bent cop (Dennis Quaid) and DA prosecutor (Ellen Barkin) are irresistible in Cajun tempoed New Orleans. Warning: Some (insane) TV edits end on a pointless explosion freeze frame and cut out the closing "waltz" scene on the credits wrap.
  Tin Cup
• Shelton and Costner are the sports movie dream team for non sports fans.
  Sullivan's Travels
• A director of escapist films goes on the road as a hobo to learn about Life. Preston Sturges, Joel McCrea, and Veronica Lake keep the trip smart, funny, and entertaining. "
  The best social comment made upon Hollywood since "A Star Is Born"."
  (New York Times).
  Love and Death
• Woody Allen does "War and Peace" and Wittgenstein by way of Bergman and the Marx Brothers. One of the funniest films ever made.
  On The Town
• Groundbreaking Kelly, Sinatra, Munshin musical shot on location in New York but eternally eclipsed by "Singing in the Rain".
  Robin and Marian
• Hepburn and Connery count the wrink