Underrated Films (according to me)
Submitted by 1922 on Sun, 06/12/2005 - 02:05
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- In the Heat of the Night
- Some people do not like this film, because it won the Academy Award for 'Best Picture' in 1968 over Mike Nichols' 'The Graduate' and Arthur Penn's 'Bonnie & Clyde'. While I think that these two mentioned movies are indeed better, I must also admit that I enjoyed this one a lot. I mean, what to complain about? The acting (Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier) is excellent, the direction superb, the general mood intense and unique.
- Don't Look Now
- An astonishing film and a wonderful experience from the first till the very last moment. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie act brilliantly together. The cinematography is amazing (especially the sex scene which may be one of the best ever filmed) and the ending even underlines this underrated masterpiece's greatness.
- Once Upon a Time in America
- No real appreciation from parts of the Academy, and still today many people haven't understood why this epic movie is so genuine. Just everything is flawless here: the acting, the directing, the writing, the art direction, etc. Leone even managed to top Coppola's 'The Godfather', and that is, frankly, very much to say.
- Kids
- "Is this still filmmaking?", was the reply of some film critics to Larry Clark's impressive portrait of the Generation Y. Hell, yes! Why shouldn't filmmakers be allowed to show sth. like this in cinema? Is it *too* realistic?
- 12 Angry Men
- IMO one of the ten greatest directorial achievements in film history. With the only exception of one single scene, this movie is better than 99% of all the films I have seen. The collaboration of Fonda and Lumet is wonderful.
- La Battaglia di Algeri/ The Battle of Algiers
- A film to be witnessed by everyone. Point.
- East of Eden
- While talking about James Dean, one movie immediately comes to one's mind: 'Rebel without a Cause'. And that is just unfair. Nicholas Ray did a good job, but Kazan has done sth. for the eternity. I also recommend Steinbeck's excellent novel.
- After Hours
- Scorsese's three best films I have seen to date are 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull' and this one, not 'GoodFellas'.
- The Birth of a Nation
- Now, what's the trouble with this? Is it really racist? Partly, yes. But I don't think that this was Griffith's intention. I even read that critics' comments about racist elements hurt him quite a lot. Nonetheless it is an very important and artistically brilliant film.
- The Game
- Fincher's worst film (does such a thing even exist?)? No, by far not. An intelligent direction and screenplay, good actors and an intense atmosphere are enough to make a good film, eh?
- Scent of a Woman
- Pathetic, sentimental, etc. Maybe, but all in all I enjoyed it. Pacino is great. Though I'm interested in seeing the original film one day.
- Murder by Death
- An intelligent and very comical parody on detective novels and films. Already the excellent cast is reason enough to watch it: Alec Guinness, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Truman Capote, James Cromwell, Peter Falk, etc.
- The Godfather, Part III
- I watched this, not very long ago, and I expected the worst. What I got were 165 minutes of finest Hollywood-entertainment with some historical mistakes (e.g. the pope JP1 died in 1978, not in 1979). Maybe Coppola didn't reach the (enormously) high level of the two prequels, but this is nonetheless one of the best sequels you can get. The acting is good, too (especially Pacino and Garcia, and Sofia Coppola isn't that bad after all).
Author Comments:
More to come...
Cloned From:
I agree with you on every film here, with the two exceptions of Kids (just too nihilistic and showy for me) and After Hours (which I haven't seen, so I may end up agreeing with you on it). But I especially do agree with you on In the Heat of the Night, which features two great performances as you point out, and Don't Look Back, one of the most atmospheric thrillers I've ever seen--and you're right on the money about how beautifully shot and edited the love scene is. Great list.
Johnny Waco
Well, Kids is certainly not a film to experience over and over again, but it is a very interesting insight.
12 Angry Men is one of my favorites too, and After Hours is not, IMHO, better than Goodfellas, but certainly underrated. But I really don't know what you two see in Don't Look Now. Sure the cinematography is good and the sex scene is great, but the second half of the movie is really sloppy and makes no sense at all. I'll pose to you the question I wrote in my original review (which I probably should've spoilerized originally): If your wife was in a different country, and for one fleeting second, you saw her pass on a boat along with two other women whom your wife knew, what would you do? (a) Assume you were mistaken, since, y'know, YOUR WIFE LEFT THE COUNTRY; (b) Contact your wife and see if she is where you thought she was; or (c) Have the two women arrested.
In fact, I think that the mentioned scene and Baxter's reaction afterwards shows very well how confused he is and how anxious about different happenings. The old lady's prediction has more effected his mind than Baxter recognizes or wants to recognize.
2,3,5,8,12... couldn't agree more, I'm not sure GFpart3 is underrated, i've never seen it, but I've heard it mentioned many times as one of the best films made along with 1 and 2. 12 angry men, although I agree it's a great movie again i'm not sure it's underrated, many believe it to be a great film... but then I guess not many would put it in the 99% range.
After Hours is great, but it's funny because my 3 favorite scorsese films are Taxi driver, raging bull, and the color of money and not goodfellas... and the color of money is even lower rated than after hours, and imo horribly underrated... then again so is the hustler so being a huge fan of the series might be rare.
Maybe I overrate 12 Angry Men, but I absolutely loved it. Henry Fonda and Sidney Lumet were never better.
i beg to differ, on both accounts, but definitely an easily debatable issue, they were both so great so many times.