Add It To Your Queue: Volume 1

Sure, you’ve got your blockbusters like Jaws, Back to the Future and The Matrix. You’ve got your Oscar bait like Gandhi, Howard’s End and The King’s Speech. All good to great films, worthy of seeing. But what about something else, off the beaten path? Something that maybe didn’t make a big splash, didn’t make a lot of money or garner a lot of awards, but is still worthy of being seen? Clear your Netflix queue (or itunes or amazon or epix queue) and make some room for a few of these overlooked gems that may not have come your way before but are well worth your time. More to come. This is just the first eight.  Volume 2.    Volume 3.  Volume 4.   Volume 5Volume 6: Comedies   Volume 7: Alternate Horror

 

 



Gregory’s Girl (1981)

Yes, yes, you’ve seen sweet coming-0f-age stories. But have you ever seen the sweetest, funniest, quirkiest, most endearing of them all? The plot isn’t the point – awkward Gregory has been replaced on his football (read: soccer) team with a girl who steals his position and his heart, of course. It’s the performances (subtle and spot-on) and the writing (ditto) that make this little Scottish flick one worth seeing.

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Dogfight (1991)

Marines headed off to a little country called Vietnam in the early 60s spend their last few days in San Francisco and their last few dollars to rent a place and have a contest to see who can bring the ugliest girl. Little does River Phoenix know that he hasn’t brought the ugly girl he thought he did. He brought a real person- a very cool, understanding, funny, bright and ultimately beautiful Lili Taylor. Ah, the age old question: Do you follow what your friends think about the girl you’re with, or do you go with the girl that sparks with chemistry, regardless? Yet again, evidence of why we should still be mourning the loss of River Phoenix. And the fact that Lili Taylor isn’t in every damn movie we watch.

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Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

Long before he was Sirius Black or Commissioner Gordon, Gary Oldman played in some of the best British indie films. Most notable was Sid & Nancy, but this gem about gay playwright Joe Orton and his turbulent relationship with his jealous and envious lover, Kenneth Halliwell, may have been his most snubbed. This isn’t a film about a homosexual relationship- it’s a film about an obsessive relationship where one person outgrows the other and neither can let go. Alfred Molina plays Kenneth Halliwell, and after seeing this flick you will never hear the phrase “have a wank” again without thinking of him (for better or for worse).

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Wag the Dog (1997)

Directed Barry Levison and written by David Mamet This black comedy cuts a little close to the bone. It was a foreshadowing to the Clinton Lewinsky affair. It’s about how the political parties play a bait and switch with the American people and if the film wasn’t so funny it would be a documentary.  Special notice to Dustin Hoffman playing a film producer part not so loosely based on Robert Evans . The scenes with Willie Nelson and Dennis  “The Fad King” Leary are a panic.  A perfect film for an election year.

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Summer of Sam (1999)

Summer of Sam plays out in a hot summer in New York City when the Son of Sam serial killer was around. There are a ton of characters arcing in and out of each other stories and you will like some better than others. Spike Lee understands New York City and this was a time where New York was ethnic, dirty and wild. It was a paranoid summer and a time when people were outside more than they were inside. It will be shocking to young people to find out that the word was spread on city streets and not the Internet. Not a masterpiece but is a must see.

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Swimming with Sharks (1994)

Kevin Spacey plays Buddy Ackerman a studio executive who may be the worst boss in the world. Frank Whaley plays Guy his assistant who slowly gets seduced into Buddy’s world. It’s about Hollywood but reflects the corporate world that so many of us live in. How many concessions to our own morality do we make before we finally become one of them? This film was released right before Spacey’s star started to shine. If it came out a few years later it would be packed with Oscar nominations.

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Vincent & Theo (1990)

Vincent van Gogh as seen through the eyes of Robert Altman. In true Altman fashion, this is not your traditional biopic of Vincent van Gogh, but instead a relationship film about brothers who will do anything for one another- above and beyond what they would do for anyone else. Vincent’s brother, Theo, owned an art gallery and was continually trying to get his brother’s work sold. As his brother sank deeper and deeper into depression and madness, it took its toll on Theo, who always tried to remind Vincent that he was not alone. A beautiful telling of van Gogh’s story, offset by the seemingly inevitable frustrations of a true artist and those that love him. Tim Roth, pre-Mr. Orange, really shows his range in this one.

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Shallow Grave (1994)

Think Trainspotting-Danny Boyle, not Slumdog-Danny Boyle. The wicked, dark humor. The plot that zigs and zags and twists and turns. The characters that you’re not sure if you like or trust, then decide you do, then you don’t again. Just a fun ride with money, drugs and bone saws. Oh, and Ewan McGregor- before Obi-Wan Kenobi, when that knowing, devilish smile and the twinkle of mischief in his eyes were at their strongest.

 

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