Note: The date of this post doesn't change, but the contents do.
People ask me all the time for movie recommendations. Rather than suggest big movies most people know, I usually mention something on this list. They're movies I've enjoyed that you may not be familiar with, but might want to take a look at.
Note: I have only included movies available on DVD (otherwise, "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway" and "Carny" would be on the list, among others). Newest entries are added to the top, followed by the alphabetical list.
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Taking of Pelham One Two Three
THE FULL LIST:
About A Boy
About Schmidt
Absence of Malice
Ace In The Hole
After Hours
American Splendor
The Andromeda Strain
Arsenic and Old Lace
The Astronaut Farmer
Bandits
Beautiful Girls
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
Bend It Like Beckham
Best In Show
Big Night
Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings
Blow
Bob Roberts
Breach
Breaking Away
A Bronx Tale
Brubaker
Cadillac Records
Can Mr. Smith Get To Washington Anymore?
The Castle
Chasing Amy
Cinderella Man
Class Action
Comedian
The Commitments
Concert For George
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confidence
The Cooler
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Criminal
Derailed
Dick
Diggstown
The Dish
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
Don Juan de Marco
Double Indemnity
Duel
Ed Wood
Election
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
A Face In The Crowd
A Family Thing
The Flamingo Kid
Fly Away Home
Frankie and Johnny Are Married
Frequency
The Freshman
The Front
F/X
Galaxy Quest
Gallipoli
Gangs of New York
Get On The Bus
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Going In Style
Gone Baby Gone
Grace Of My Heart
The Great Train Robbery
Gregory's Girl
Gross Pointe Blank
Guilty by Suspicion
Hard Eight
Harold and Maude
Heart of the Game
High Fidelity
Hooper
Hoop Dreams
Hopscotch
The Hot Rock
Hot Shots
Hotel Rwanda
House of Games
The Idolmaker
In America
In The Shadow Of The Moon
Indian In The Cupboard
The Insider
Interview
Into the West
Into The Night
Iraq For Sale
The Iron Giant
Irreconcilable Differences
The Kid Stays In The Picture
Kissing Jessica Stein
The Last Seduction
Leap of Faith
Let It Ride
Little Man Tate
Little Voice
Living In Oblivion
Local Hero
Lone Star
The Lookout
Lost In America
Love and Sex
The Man From Snowy River
Man On Wire
The Man With Two Brains
The Matador
Matchstick Men
Melvin & Howard
Mean Girls
Memento
Miami Rhapsody
Midnight Run
A Mighty Wind
Missing
Mistress
Modern Romance
Moon Over Parador
Moscow On The Hudson
Mr. Saturday Night
Murder By Death
My Bodyguard
My Date With Drew
My Favorite Year
My Kid Could Paint That
Mystery, Alaska
Mystic Pizza
Night Shift
Nothing In Common
October Sky
Once
The Onion Field
Owning Mahony
The Paper
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
Phenomenon
Postcards From The Edge
Primary Colors
The Prime Gig
Proof
Quick Change
Quiz Show
The Rainmaker
Raising Arizona
Red Rock West
Rescue Dawn
Return To Me
Return to Paradise
Running On Empty
Saw
Searching For Bobby Fischer
Secondhand Lions
Shattered Glass
Shopgirl
Silverado
A Simple Plan
Singles
Sky High
Smile
Smoke Signals
The Snapper
Sneakers
The Spanish Prisoner
Stand and Deliver
Standing In The Shadows of Motown
Starman
State and Main
Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party
The Straight Story
Stranger Than Fiction
Street Smart
The Stuntman
Sullivan's Travels
The Sure Thing
Talent For The Game
Talk To Me
The Tao of Steve
Tender Mercies
That Thing You Do
Things Change
Thirteen Days
Three Kings
Tin Men
To Die For
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music
The Truman Show
The TV Set
Twelve Chairs
Two Days In The Valley
The Upside of Anger
The Usual Suspects
Used Cars
Wait Until Dark
Waiting For Guffman
Waking Ned Devine
The War Room
When We Were Kings
Why We Fight
The World's Fastest Indian
24 comments:
Another wonderful movie is The Star Chamber
older great love story is "somewhere in Time "
I'm amazed my favorite movie isn't on here...
Gallipoli
(Don't let the fact that a young Mel Gibson is in it sway you!)
"The Earth, The Flesh and the Devil" is another movie that should be on the list. It only has three actors in the entire movie, I believe they are Harry Belafonte, Inga Stevens and William Holden. It is a S.F about the end of the world and how one man copes with it.
My first movie ever was Jack the Giant Killer, 1962
The terrible and trecherous Pendragon plans to gain the throne of Cornwall by getting the king to abdicate and to marry his lovely daughter. To help him he has his dreadful witches in his castle and his almost unstoppable sorcery. A giant under his control abducts the princess, but on the way home with her the giant meets farming lad Jack who slays him. This is only the beginning. Be assured Pendragon and his evil magic are far from done.
I would suggest "Billy Elliot" and "A History of Violence". Both are superior films and are as good as any on this list.
Check out Fandango. Early Kevin Cosner...
Bliss
Not the '90s Hollywood romance fluff; the '80s Australian movie of the year. Usually on the Comedy shelf, occasionally Drama or Foreign. Along with Eraserhead and Citizen Kane, one of the three bestest ever. Mindblowing. And hilarious.
My 20th Century
Foreign shelf, occasionally Comedy or Drama. Much social satire.
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Drama or Comedy. After seeing this movie, I now have a hero. And it has the the world's most beautiful painting. Honest.
My Life as a Dog
Foreign shelf, sometimes Drama. (NOT "A Boy and His Dog"!) I've seen subtitled and dubbed versions. Funny, heartwarming, and women like it.
You've got some great movies here. Wanna get really creeped out by an old movie? Leave Her to Heaven, with Gene Tierney. And No. 2 recommendation is the old Shadow of a Doubt, with Theresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. They don't make them like that anymore.
Did you ever see "Diary of a Mad Housewife"? You can just love to hate Richard Benjamin in this off-beat movie.
I see that you just added The War Room.For another good old political film, check out Advise and Consent from 1962. It's essentially a dramatization of a nomination fight, basically between wings of the Democratic Party. (Gore Vidal's "The Best Man", also with Henry Fonda, is also a good one in this genre.)
But I see that you've already got the terrific old Andy Griffith film A Face in the Crowd. For another really great and unexpected performance, run, don't walk to Netflix, and see William Shatner (!) in The Intruder. It's an old Roger Corman picture starring Shatner as a racist agitator fighting school integration. (Essentially Elmer Gantry as a Klansman.) It's seriously a great acting performance by Shatner - the best work, by far, that I've ever seen him do.
I was moved to put this in my Netflix queue after seeing Henry Rollins interview Shatner on Rollins's IFC show. This was the only Roger Corman film that lost money at the box office. The film was shot on location in various little towns in southeast Missouri (in and around Sikeston, mostly). Evidently, they used locals in a lot of the scenes. You know they're not great actors, so it's interesting to hear how easily a certain epithet floats out of their mouths...
It's actually a very interesting little film. Seriously, you should ask Shatner about it if you ever get to interview him on KMOX, Paul.
Watch The Intruder and you'll be stunned, I promise you.
Have you ever seen,"When You Coming Home Red Rider?"
or
"The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea"
Kris Kristofferson
Four to consider: Keeping Mum (2005), Wag the Dog (1997), Donovan's Reef (1963), &
Zwartboek (aka Black Book, 2006).
The last is a good WWII picture, but definitely not for kids.
I would suggest Kelly's Heroes. It has everything a great film should have: stars, action, plot, humor, scenery, great tag lines.
Defending Your Life with Albert Brooks
"My Dog Skip" is a great movie with Frankie Muniz, Diane Lane, Kevin Bacon - about a boy and his dog growing up in WW II era Mississipi. A great story for the whole family with Moose (Eddie from Frasier) as Skip. Highly recommended
Hadn't heard of "The Lookout" until I read about it on this list. Rented it from Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. What a wonderful film and not a minute too long.
Jersey Girl is a winner for an adult trying to raise a child alone.
Children of a Lesser God...awesome if you want real life and love.
Idiocracy - A humorous glimpse of a possible future.
I wonder if you're familiar with Deep Blues, the Robert Mugge documentary featuring Stewart and Robert Palmer (the critic) touring Mississippi Delta country and hanging out with some of the real-deal blues artists like R.L. Burnside (see link below) and Junior Kimbrough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcqiiWO0Rkc
Great list...you have some of my favorite movies on here! A few that I would add are:
Murder in the First
Digging to China
Telling Lies in America (as a DJ this is a must see)
~ Diane
Watched (again) The Fischer King with Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, and Academy Award winning for her role, Mercedes Ruehl. Williams was also nominated for his role, but lost to Hannibal Lechter. I'm sure you've probably seen it (since it involves radio talk show/DJ)
Regardless, film often overlooked but awesome - and should be on your list.
A few off the top of my head:
- Broadcast News
- The Daytrippers
- Hear My Song
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