EW the 50 best MOVIES youve NEVER seen...made after 1991

Lloyd: You know what I'm going to get you next Christmas, Mom? A big wooden cross, so that every time you feel unappreciated for your sacrifices, you can climb on up and nail yourself to it.

In hindsight, that's a pretty easy joke but I still love the delivery of it. One big problem i had with American Beauty is that I thought Kevin Spacey had already done that downtrodden cuckold meltdown thing so much better in The Ref (and Judy Davis >> Annette Bening).

The Ref > American Beauty, yes.

GHOST DOG. easily. which reminds me, still need to get that Japanese version of the soundtrack

Have seen...
24 hour party people (2002): Verrrry good.
backbeat (1994): Meh at the time and can't imagine it's aged well.
bubba ho-tep (2002): I liked it, in spite of English Major Syndrome striking while watching.
cold comfort farm (1995): Liked it a lot, but it was only marginally hipper than the average "Masterpiece Theatre" production.
the daytrippers (1996): I saw it, and that's about all I remember.
fish tank (2010): A solid production; hope the director does more.
ive loved you so long (2008): The film that asks the question "What's French for soap opera/women's picture?"
last night (2010): A pretty piece of plutography, and that's the ONLY thing I can say in its favor.
layer cake (2005): On the one hand, a preview of Craig's Bond. OTOH, getting killed over Sienna Miller? Weak.
moon (2009): Uhhhh....
next stop wonderland (1998): Uhhhh....

GHOST DOG. easily. which reminds me, still need to get that Japanese version of the soundtrack

― Crackle Box, Monday, July 2, 2012 11:22 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^ THIS

Also, the film soundtrack uses a Jimmy Lyons/Jeanne Lee/Andrew Cyrille track brilliantly. By a wide margin, the most surprising choice I've ever heard on a movie soundtrack.

Enjoyed all of these:

24 hour party people (2002)
backbeat (1994)
the century of self (2005)
chuck & buck (2000)
DIG! (2004)
fish tank (2010)
ghost dog: the way of the samurai (1999)
idiocracy (2006)
the iron giant (1999)
moon (2009)
together (2000)
walking and talking (1996)
wristcutters: a love story (2006)

24 Hour vs DIG! vs Fish Tank vs Together

Have seen:

chuck & buck (2000)
Haven't seen it since it was new. Posted above that I remember it being interesting but so visually ugly as to be distracting. Somehow, I wholly believe whoever it was who posted above that it hasn't aged well.

devil's playground (2002)
This is the Amish kids documentary, right. If so, eh.

fish tank (2010)
Liked this, but wouldn't consider it one of the most essential obscure films made in the last 20 years.

happy accidents (2000)
Another one I haven't seen since it was new, but I remember liking it a lot. Sorta like Donnie Darko with adults.

idiocracy (2006)
Discussed above. Gets in some good satirical digs in its first 2/3 but then succumbs to convention. Ends up defending what it purports to hate.

the iron giant (1999)
My fave movie on the list that I've seen. Still not sure how obscure it is, though.

marwencol (2010)
Would've been my #2 choice. Fascinating, sympathetic and odd. The ending feels strangely triumphant.

moon (2009)
Liked, not loved, but still. The problem with doing a riff on 2001 is that its not, in the end, 2001. Spacey as HAL is genius casting, though.

next stop wonderland (1998)
Saw it when it was first out and remember it being...cute.

prime (2005)
I said it before and I'll say it again...WTF?

primer (2004)
Talked about it above. Way overrated. Thinks its too good to be entertaining; my least favourite kind of genre film.

the ref (1994)
Haven't seen it in years, but funny. Remembering that this was pitched as Denis Leary's big screen vehicle, its kind of amazing the cast they snagged for this film.

rescue dawn (2007)
A storm knocked out the power halfway through the screening of this that I attended and we all had to get our money refunded. Movie was gone less than a week later and I didn't even get to see Christian Bale eat bugs (remember Herzog talking about this on NPR; he reasoned Bale into it by telling him bugs were full of protean and, you know, you Hollywood guys are all into that healthy stuff. Do I even need to tell you how much I love this man?). Was liking but not loving it up to that point, but haven't yet gone back to watch the rest. Have seen Little Dieter Needs To Fly, though, so any suspense is already kind of ruined, if that is the point.

the rules of attraction (2002)
Surprisingly good for a movie primarily hyped, at the time, as Dawson does drugs and has promiscuous bi-sex. Nasty and funny and has a great soundtrack.

together (2000)
Saw it when new, liked it, but it apparently made too little of an impression at the time for me to remember much about it now. Would watch again if I ever came across it.

walking and talking (1996)
I like Holofcener, but--if you leave Friends With Money out of her filmography--I think she kept getting better as she went on. This is good, but Lovely & Amazing and Please Give are stronger.

fish tank (2010) -> Should I see this? I am very tempted cause I quite like Fassbender. (I have a bit of a crush on him. lol)

My feelings on the film itself were mixed but he is really good in it

kind of amazed so few people have seen Bamboozled

Wendy and Lucy (2008), Fly Away Home (1996), and Memories of Murder (2005) are all great. DIG! (2004) is very good.

The Daytrippers (1996) and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) are indie-entertainment bedrock, though I barely remember a moment. Same with 24 Hour Party People (2002).

I'm fond of what little I remember from Idiocracy (2006). The Ref (1994) I avoided for so long, but it turned out to be okay.

Moon (2009) and Primer (2004) are eminently rentable low-budget sci-fi, a small but honorable category.

Backbeat (1994) is worth a look for Beatles fans. Layer Cake (2005) is a passable but routine Daniel Craig gangster picture.

I either hated or couldn't make it through Happy Accidents (2000), Broken English (2007), Walking and Talking (1996), Next Stop Wonderland (1998), and Last Night (2010).

Of the couple dozen I haven't seen, I'd bet on the docs and avoid the relationship comedies, but I have nothing against good romcom on principle--is Prime bad or what?

I liked Lilya 4-Ever but the end kind of ruined it for me, to be honest

Me too. This is one of those movies that I liked but I never ever want to watch again.

24 hour party people (2002)
- entertaining, not great

backbeat (1994)
- okay i guess, not sure why this made the cut

bamboozled (2000)
- kind of a trainwreck, kind of brilliant.

bubba ho-tep (2002)

the century of self (2005)
chuck & buck (2000)
cold comfort farm (1995)
the daytrippers (1996)
devil's playground (2002)
DIG! (2004)
enter the void (2009)
eve's bayou (1997)
fish tank (2010)
fly away home (1996)
george washington (2000)
ghost dog: the way of the samurai (1999)
hachi: a dog's tale (2010)
happy accidents (2000)
idiocracy (2006)
the iron giant (1999)
ive loved you so long (2008)
last night (2010)
layer cake (2005)
lilya-4-ever (2003)
love & basketball (2000)
murderball (2005)
the magdalene sisters (2003)
marwencol (2010)
memories of murder (2005)
moon (2009)
my summer of love (2004)
next stop wonderland (1998)
the orphanage (2007)
perfect blue (1997)
prime (2005)
primer (2004)
rare exports (2010)
the ref (1994)
rescue dawn (2007)
the rules of attraction (2002)
safe men (1998)
smiley face (2007)
surfwise (2007)
together (2000)
two family house (2000)
walking and talking (1996)
wendy and lucy (2008)
wristcutters: a love story (2006)

:(

dang, hit submit by mistake

'century of the self' is awesome -- prob my favorite documentary ever.

'backbeat' is OK, but i prefer 'the hours and times.'

my wife and I quote "Eve's Bayou" all the time

bubba ho-tep (2002)
- enjoyed it a hell of a lot the first time through, bored the second, don't think i'll see it again

cold comfort farm (1995)
- funny enough

DIG! (2004)
- interesting documentary, seems like a niche thing

enter the void (2009)
- for fuck's sake

george washington (2000)
- i remember when "directed by david gordon green" was a promising credit

ghost dog: the way of the samurai (1999)
- last jarmusch movie i really cared for

idiocracy (2006)
- it's got laughs, but it's still racist crap

the iron giant (1999)
- like it, but not like so many others seem to

memories of murder (2005)
- better than zodiac

moon (2009)
- slight but good

the orphanage (2007)
- quite dull

perfect blue (1997)
- good anime-thriller, found the "who am i?" stuff a little trite

primer (2004)
- good, though dry and confusing as hell (refuse to read anyone else's analysis of the looping)

rescue dawn (2007)
- a disappointment after little dieter

wristcutters: a love story (2006)
- got bored and shut it off

Bubba Ho-Tep was a sad little object lesson in 'you can't create camp on purpose' imo

i always get wristcutters mixed up with *goes to vince vaugn's imdb page* thumbsucker

also The Chumscrubber

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Backbeat; a movie i've *never* seen?? yer joking!

Together ftw

together is the best movie ever, so that

No Strange Days, no credibility.

the iron giant was like 90% disney references. the deer!

not bad though - mean, i quite enjoyed it, but the incredibles was incredibler.

I'll never understand the love that people have for The Incredibles. It's a fine, fun movie but it doesn't even come close to The Iron Giant. Nothing Brad Bird's done since has

well, certainly not MI4 anyway. i dunno, they all have their merits, but i though iron giant was... a little too obvious? the humor wasn't as sophisticated? just a little slower, not as polished as, say, ratatouille?

iron giant is probably "deeper" than the pixar flicks, i'll give you that. also, a+ for bambi reference

anyway, also.... um, look, this is probably gonna just devolve into namecalling and snark, but... why is idiocracy racist? the black dude is president, he's smarter than every other character in a world full of straight up stupid characters (including the only middlingly dumb lead), he saves the day... i mean, ok, there's some pimpology going on and stuff, but given that basically the whole movie is making fun of a) white trash idjuts and b) the dorky white upper middle class dorks they outbreed off the face of the earth.... i just don't see it.

but, i'm open to hearing why i might be wrong, so: please explain the racism in idiocracy.

surnames like Pendejo, Camacho and Chavez pop up a lot in this future world that is supposedly the product of dumb people reproducing too much

also think "white trash idjuts" might be a racially loaded term but hey

Voted "DIG!" Saw this once because it happened to be free on Hulu -- it's a documentary about bands I don't know anything about or even really care about but it was riveting.

i think there is a big ilx thread on the racism or not of idiocracy

voted bamboozled

why is idiocracy racist? the black dude is president, he's smarter than every other character in a world full of straight up stupid characters (including the only middlingly dumb lead), he saves the day... i mean, ok, there's some pimpology going on and stuff, but given that basically the whole movie is making fun of a) white trash idjuts and b) the dorky white upper middle class dorks they outbreed off the face of the earth.... i just don't see it.

some dude otm. the only real social difference between this "stupid" future and our own present day is the heavy presence of hispanic names and faces at every level of society. i just don't understand why judge thought this was necessary or funny.

ok, i see this has been discussed to death by two camps on another thread. i'll call it a tie - i get what the racist camp saying, but i don't really see mike judge as some sort of kkk sympathizer or anything. comedy, sometimes it pushes buttons i guess. i still think it was funny as hell - all the awesome quotes on the other thread made me want to watch it again

i mean i can give him the benefit of the doubt that being from Texas he just thought of the ubiquity of hispanic names as the norm and factored in that it's a growing population in general, but not putting two and two together how that would come across in a movie about society getting dumber would be pretty naive/wreckless

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

24 hour party people both sucks and blows

who was the other two family house voter??

lol i think it's ok but i maintain u have 2 be a britisher of the rt age or a hardcore anglophile 2 rly get off on it

i have a hard time believing ghost dog is good but maybe i shd watch it

I still have never seen 24 hour party people.

that's kind of shocking, nicole!

i mean i can give him the benefit of the doubt that being from Texas he just thought of the ubiquity of hispanic names as the norm and factored in that it's a growing population in general, but not putting two and two together how that would come across in a movie about society getting dumber would be pretty naive/wreckless

this and the lack of any acknowledgement of class (who designs these machines for idiots?), plus having a lead be a squirming luke wilson who just frowns at everything undercut the occasional good bit (like dr. justin long). that he followed this film with The Goode Family and a movie about the misery of owning a factory full of lazy workers hasn't made me want to be any kinder to it.

everyone deserves to see george washington

Extract is a terrible terrible movie. xp

xp george washington is as good as anything by malick and also as bad, but somehow more affecting, first because they're little kids and second because they're non-actors

i would say it is actually better than any of the others english-language movies above it except maybe bamboozled

and uh i haven't seen the foreign language ones

of the rest on the list

chuck & buck (2000) - recommended to anyone who wants to watch a movie in which the best and most memorable line is "chuck and buck ... suck and fuck"

ha i saw it in college and that is basically the only thing i remember

nice results. of the top 10, i like 7 of the 8 i've seen. voted for bamboozled.

i blathered plenty about my problems with bamboozled in the bamboozled thread, but i'll admit the good bits have stuck in my head more than the bad

felt vague motion sickness after enter the void iirc its p wack other than the rad title card/credits

i will go to bat for my summer of love, perfect blue, enter the void, backbeat

i'm w/ contenderizer about rescue dawn

ghost dog is not going to impress anyone who has not already been impressed with kill bill or adult swim

the orphanage starts out as good as ringu or juon or whatever but then degenerates into sub-pan's labyrinth schlock