Ok so being new to the forum I thought I'd add a fun topic. I hope its in the right place haha
Being a film student, I find that sooo many films are underrated/don't get the attention they deserve. So I wanted to ask, What films (any genre, live action, animated, etc) deserve more publicity? And why do you think that?
I'm really interested to hear your answers!
Mine would be:
Treasure Planet, by Disney - I mean come on. Its about space pirates & has a really, really good storyline I find. It also has a variety of characters too. I dunno. I feel like the world wasn't ready for that film when it was released (2002)
Another is Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli. Now, I understand that it's Japanese thus it doesn't spread as well as a western film does - but regardless, its GORGEOUS! the animation, the characters, the storyline, the emotion. Damn. Its just a master piece :D - I just thought i'd add to clear things up, I understand its not what people may call Underrated, but here in the UK, not as many people are aware of Miyazaki's work (atleast not in my area). So to me it is underrated !
Spirited Away won an oscar for best animation and is in the IMDB top 50 films ever. Just saying, it's an incredible film and one of my favourites ever but it's not exactly underrated.
On September 24 2014 06:29 Paraietta wrote: Spirited Away won an oscar for best animation and is in the IMDB top 50 films ever. Just saying, it's an incredible film and one of my favourites ever but it's not exactly underrated.
Yes, It did, you're 100% correct. However It seems that many people (from my experience) have not seen or even heard of it - hence why to me, its underrated. When I introduced it to my film class, they all kind of shrugged lol. Its one of my favourites too <3 I just feel like in some parts of the world it hasn't been given the credit it deserves - if that makes sense
I dont know what it´s like in other countries, but here in Germany "Dazed and Confused" is absolutely unknown. I watched it for the first time when i was zapping through channels at night with a friend when i was 17 or so. Back then there was no internet like now and we had to search for half a year until we found out what that movie is called. I absolutely love everything about it. It´s just a nice and smooth story with interesting characters. Perfect film to watch and get high with some friends
On September 24 2014 07:21 Dubzex wrote: Guys I'm not sure if you have heard of this movie but it is called "Shawshank Redemption." I think it is pretty underrated.
Huh, doesn't' seem to ring a bell
& Awesome guys! I've put them down, can't wait to watch some of em
In recent years, The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. Criminally underrated. It should easily have won Oscars for, at least, best supporting role (Casey Affleck - arguably the first role, though), best cinematography (I found it clearly superior to There will be blood, and even to No country for old men which had the same director of photography) and best original score.
it all takes inside a cabin. its about a guy claiming he is thousands of years old and people debating if he telling the truth or not. the meeting takes place when a professor is retiring and this is their get-together. the debate is amongst professors and each use their respective fields to debate.
i thought i was going to fall asleep within 5 minutes of watching it but i fcking loved it.
I'd Second this, really enjoyed it as a kid, definitely need to watch this again. Also Balto, similar in that it came out at the same time as Toy Story.
I'd Second this, really enjoyed it as a kid, definitely need to watch this again. Also Balto, similar in that it came out at the same time as Toy Story.
I fucking loved Balto as a kid. I watched it so many times.
People were seriously dissing this mini-series. Personally, I think it's amazing. Especially the fact that they made it more in form of an actual theatrical performance, rather than a movie (characters talking directly to the audience etc.). Highly recommended. I must say that I enjoyed it way more than Lynch's vision.
The closest you can get to Space Odyssey in this genre. Really good slow-burner thriller. At the time of release it was overshadowed by the overhyped Gravity, hence not much success. Amazing movie overall, and one of the very few where "found footage" format actually works.
Yeah Spirited Away is definitely not underrated. It's an amazing and critically acclaimed movie, and has rightfully deserved the level of respect it's received.
I thought Drive and American Hustle were quite overrated, but for now I can't think of a movie that was severely underrated. I was going to say Crash, because that movie was fucking amazing and emotionally charged, but then I realized it won three academy awards lol.
Has Guardians of the Galaxy received phenomenal reviews? Because I think that was one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. The pop culture references, the well-timed humor, the cast... all amazing imo.
On September 24 2014 08:00 DinoMight wrote: The Emperor's new Groove.
That movie is so damn funny. Patrick Warburton is hilarious as Kronk.
Yes
Shit at first I was like, what's that movie? And then I realized I just didn't know the English title. So, yes, that shit is fucking funny as hell. Probably the funniest Disney.
this is one hell of a movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who missed this.
My recommendation: You guys might know Stephen Chow, this is his best movie and Hong Kong was at its prime golden movie age: A Chinese Odyssey
It's basically the story of the Monkey King, but with a lot more humor, tears and love in it.
The movie is almost rebroadcast every Chinese new year just because how good it is. Even if you aren't familiar with the Monkey King journey to the west Story, you will love it.
It is rated 7.9 on IMDB btw audience voted 87% on rotten tomato
Speaking of great Chinese/HK movies, In The Mood For Love completely changed my concept of what cinema can accomplish.
It's slow paced, sappy, almost completely devoid of soundtrack, but if you want to watch a movie where every frame is painstakingly beautiful it's worth checking out.
I've got some movies I think are underated or at least underseen.
Primer: Time travel movie that has an impossible to follow plot, essentially zero budget, and is AMAZING! The only time travel movie that makes time travel seem plausible. For nerds only, but for those who buy in, they'll love it.
Pain and Gain: Michael Bay's true crime satire. This movie got horrible reviews because critics couldn't see past the Michael Bayness of it all and many failed to even notice it was a satire. It's like a Coen Brothers movie but with less wit and more explosions.
Trance: Danny Boyle's follow up to the Olympics. It's a dark, pulpy, twisty and absurdly stylish thriller that for some reason was mostly ignored in the states. Maybe it got a better reception in the UK, I dunno. Highly recommended.
Stardust: A kind of romantic fantasy adventure, that occupies an absolutely beautiful and unique universe. It was a big flop on release, but its an absolutely delightful film. Plus bonus points for being a romance movie that guys should like. Date night approved.
On September 24 2014 06:51 Paljas wrote: wat, treasure planet is literally just treasure island in space. dunno, dont think that movie is that great.
I'd say that Cinema Paradiso is a great underrated film
Cinema Paradiso is not underrated. lol. From Wikipedia:
Cinema Paradiso was a critical and box-office success and is regarded by many as a classic...Winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1989, the film is often credited with reviving Italy's film industry...
On September 24 2014 21:06 Wombat_NI wrote: Dark City A really visually interesting take on science fiction, I'm also a massive sucker for neo-noir visuals.
On September 24 2014 21:06 Wombat_NI wrote: Dark City A really visually interesting take on science fiction, I'm also a massive sucker for neo-noir visuals.
This is an amazing movie.
It really is. Not so much underrated from my anecdotal experience. Everyone who has seen it loves it, but very few have!
But as for movies that get underrated (in the sense of people who have seen them don't praise them enough), I might say:
attack the block (2011) death to smoochy (2004) [i probably saw it around that time, and from what I remember I liked it. people hate it though] i'm a cyborg, but that's ok (2006) [the few people that see it generally saw "huh, weird but alright", whereas I really like it] los cronocrimenes (timecrimes) (2007) our idiot brother (2011) quick change (1990) [no one remembers this one ever, I think it's a strong Bill Murray film] unbreakable (2000) [people forget this one, I really like it] x2 (2003) [a lot of people on the internet really dislike it. Saw it as a kid in 2003 though so maybe I overrate it, but I feel internet posters really shit on it for no reason).
now most of those are in the range of "people give it <= 6/10 but it should be 7.5 or 8/10, really solid"
Contagion (2011) is one of my favourite movies of all time and people rarely reference it. If there was one movie I think people just don't know about or try to watch it as some big "thriller" movie, it's that one. Really top tier 10/10 and not just dramatic bs.
There are a lot more films that deserve to be seen by more people, i think a quick sampling might be (really skimming through an old post of mine on another forum + a couple of my top rated movies
ghost dog: the way of the samurai (1999) pleasantville (1998) ink (2009) romantics anonymous (les émotifs anonymes) (2010) breach (2007) thank you for smoking (2005)
And tangled (2010) is way better than frozen (2013) :p
My favourite werewolf movie, I often prefer costumes/makeup to CGI when it comes to creatures. Some people seem to think it's utter shit but I enjoyed it.
I suggest trying to look up things made before 1990 and not american, it's a good way to errrr, discover cinema ? I'll suggest a well-known movie among spaghetti western amateurs, much less so among others who think the genre is made up only by Sergio Leone's filmography (not that Leone is not a great director) : The Great Silence. Curious context, great acting, and an ending that left me with my mouth open. Klaus Kinski and Jean-Louis Trintignant should be enough to make some people curious...
The former is one of Kevin Spacey's mastermind movie, which alot of people just haven't seen, or have forgotten completely. It is such a mind breaking movie!
The latter is just one of the all time favorites from when I was younger, this doesn't score high enough IMO
But as for movies that get underrated (in the sense of people who have seen them don't praise them enough), I might say:
attack the block (2011) death to smoochy (2004) [i probably saw it around that time, and from what I remember I liked it. people hate it though] i'm a cyborg, but that's ok (2006) [the few people that see it generally saw "huh, weird but alright", whereas I really like it] los cronocrimenes (timecrimes) (2007) our idiot brother (2011) quick change (1990) [no one remembers this one ever, I think it's a strong Bill Murray film] unbreakable (2000) [people forget this one, I really like it] x2 (2003) [a lot of people on the internet really dislike it. Saw it as a kid in 2003 though so maybe I overrate it, but I feel internet posters really shit on it for no reason).
now most of those are in the range of "people give it <= 6/10 but it should be 7.5 or 8/10, really solid"
Contagion (2011) is one of my favourite movies of all time and people rarely reference it. If there was one movie I think people just don't know about or try to watch it as some big "thriller" movie, it's that one. Really top tier 10/10 and not just dramatic bs.
There are a lot more films that deserve to be seen by more people, i think a quick sampling might be (really skimming through an old post of mine on another forum + a couple of my top rated movies
ghost dog: the way of the samurai (1999) pleasantville (1998) ink (2009) romantics anonymous (les émotifs anonymes) (2010) breach (2007) thank you for smoking (2005)
And tangled (2010) is way better than frozen (2013) :p
Ghost Dog is totally boss. Introduced me to Jim Jarmusch, never regretted it either.
X2 is the best X-Men movie before First Class, free.
Seems like this one polarized a lot of audiences, but Johnny Depp's performance was outstanding as well as the directing style (deliberately and hilariously incoherent). A lot of people complained that the movie was too meandering, but I think that was the point -- it was trying to capture what happened to the hippie generation era once the flower power wore off and all that remained were drugged-up outsiders.
Dredd was a lot better than its takings and reviews suggested. Granted I am something of a 2000AD fanboy, but I felt it was a good mix of faithful to the source and palatable to those unfamiliar with the source
The description sounds pretty lame at first but it is a pretty good movie with an interesting plot. Definitely worth watching once
It's imo Nolan best movie, but calling it underrated is a very far stretch. I'm always dubious about calling an american 40 000 000 $ budget movie underrated, even if I'm among the rare people who defend John Carter :p Also Fear and loathing in Vegas is underrated in a pretty strange universe, I mean, it's very well-known, quite recent, hasvery well-known actors... (and is very average I think, but that's beside the point).
I don't know if I can think of any "underrated" movie.. People/critics usually rate movies according to how they felt about the movie, and I don't think I'm in any position to tell them that they actually felt differently about it, as I am not them. What makes more sense is to talk of underappreciated movies, essentially movies that should be watched by more people because they are awesome, but somehow have slipped under the radar.
As such, I just have to mention the movie I finished 1 hour ago, because it is the first time in forever where I literally found myself thinking "wow, this might just be the best movie I have ever watched." It's not really underrated though, because I've yet to meet anyone who watched it and didn't absolutely love it, but it seems to have slipped quite a lot of people's radar.
I believe all Wong Kar Wai films(except In the Mood for Love(already won Cannes) and The Grandmaster(kind of meh)) are underrated considering how good they are. I feel the true and absolute emotions in his films.
On September 27 2014 05:55 Liquid`Drone wrote: I don't know if I can think of any "underrated" movie.. People/critics usually rate movies according to how they felt about the movie, and I don't think I'm in any position to tell them that they actually felt differently about it, as I am not them. What makes more sense is to talk of underappreciated movies, essentially movies that should be watched by more people because they are awesome, but somehow have slipped under the radar.
As such, I just have to mention the movie I finished 1 hour ago, because it is the first time in forever where I literally found myself thinking "wow, this might just be the best movie I have ever watched." It's not really underrated though, because I've yet to meet anyone who watched it and didn't absolutely love it, but it seems to have slipped quite a lot of people's radar.
Loved that movie, got it on blue ray and the soundtrack. ^_^ I enjoy most of Wes Anderson's work in general, particularly Rushmore and The Life Aquatic, but the Grand Budapest was right up there, if not surpassing his best work imo.
On September 27 2014 05:55 Liquid`Drone wrote: I don't know if I can think of any "underrated" movie.. People/critics usually rate movies according to how they felt about the movie, and I don't think I'm in any position to tell them that they actually felt differently about it, as I am not them. What makes more sense is to talk of underappreciated movies, essentially movies that should be watched by more people because they are awesome, but somehow have slipped under the radar.
As such, I just have to mention the movie I finished 1 hour ago, because it is the first time in forever where I literally found myself thinking "wow, this might just be the best movie I have ever watched." It's not really underrated though, because I've yet to meet anyone who watched it and didn't absolutely love it, but it seems to have slipped quite a lot of people's radar.
I don't know, man. Some movies really are underrated, because group-think is a real thing. Some movies are just never given a chance, get a horrible reception upon release and then either have to find an audience later, or never find an audience. Showgirls is the great classic example of this. A big budget NC-17 rated Showbiz satire from an a-list director and a hot writer that currently sits at 17/36%(critics/users) at rotten tomatoes. Love it or hate it, this movie is not bad from any technical measure, but some people did find it offensive and a lot of people seem to miss that its a satire and that means that this film's rating doesn't really reflect the movie, but rather the audience's taste(this is true I suppose for all films, although usually the films technical quality and the audience's response correlate. Audiences respond better to well made films). Nobody should go into Showgirls with their shot glasses and drinking games thinking they're getting Sharknado. They're not. They're getting an ambitious well made film that's not to everybody's taste. Showgirls is not under-appreciated, it is in the purest sense of the word, underrated. The rating undersells the film's quality.
So this is my long way of telling everybody to go watch Showgirls. It's great. Even people out there who do call it 'bad' are often secretly calling it great, as in, "that was a great bad movie."
On September 27 2014 05:55 Liquid`Drone wrote: I don't know if I can think of any "underrated" movie.. People/critics usually rate movies according to how they felt about the movie, and I don't think I'm in any position to tell them that they actually felt differently about it, as I am not them. What makes more sense is to talk of underappreciated movies, essentially movies that should be watched by more people because they are awesome, but somehow have slipped under the radar.
As such, I just have to mention the movie I finished 1 hour ago, because it is the first time in forever where I literally found myself thinking "wow, this might just be the best movie I have ever watched." It's not really underrated though, because I've yet to meet anyone who watched it and didn't absolutely love it, but it seems to have slipped quite a lot of people's radar.
I don't know, man. Some movies really are underrated, because group-think is a real thing. Some movies are just never given a chance, get a horrible reception upon release and then either have to find an audience later, or never find an audience. Showgirls is the great classic example of this. A big budget NC-17 rated Showbiz satire from an a-list director and a hot writer that currently sits at 17/36%(critics/users) at rotten tomatoes. Love it or hate it, this movie is not bad from any technical measure, but some people did find it offensive and a lot of people seem to miss that its a satire and that means that this film's rating doesn't really reflect the movie, but rather the audience's taste(this is true I suppose for all films, although usually the films technical quality and the audience's response correlate. Audiences respond better to well made films). Nobody should go into Showgirls with their shot glasses and drinking games thinking they're getting Sharknado. They're not. They're getting an ambitious well made film that's not to everybody's taste. Showgirls is not under-appreciated, it is in the purest sense of the word, underrated. The rating undersells the film's quality.
So this is my long way of telling everybody to go watch Showgirls. It's great. Even people out there who do call it 'bad' are often secretly calling it great, as in, "that was a great bad movie."
but you're rating it really highly. and someone finding it offensive is grounds for them rating it poorly. someone not getting that it's sarcasm is grounds for them rating it poorly. you can't say something is underrated without stating that something is objectively good - and you'll have a very hard time convincingly making that argument.
A lot of these picks are really not underrated, (or under appreciated.)
Movies I would pick are the ones that time has almost completely forgot. For instance while a film like The Lost Boys is generally considered a cult classic, I would pick Ginger Snaps as the more underrated movie. It's smarter, funnier and more effecting as a coming of age story based around monsters.
Choosing movies that were panned upon release and you think are unfairly judged recently would work as well, but not recent movies like Let the right one in, or The grand budapest hotel, or The assassination of Jesse James. Those were all critical darlings when they came out.
Every horror fan has seen Carpenter's The Thing, but would any of them recommend Possession (1981?). For every Dawn of the Dead recommendation there should instead be a Dellamorte Dellamore. For every The Omen, an Alice, sweet Alice. Speaking of which, can you believe no horror movie has done what Alice did? Plot contrivances be damned! (Ok that one guy was an idiot, but seriously, its like watching every horror movie cliche fall apart before your very eyes.)
On October 01 2014 04:20 Hexe wrote: A lot of these picks are really not underrated, (or under appreciated.)
Movies I would pick are the ones that time has almost completely forgot. For instance while a film like The Lost Boys is generally considered a cult classic, I would pick Ginger Snaps as the more underrated movie. It's smarter, funnier and more effecting as a coming of age story based around monsters.
Choosing movies that were panned upon release and you think are unfairly judged recently would work as well, but not recent movies like Let the right one in, or The grand budapest hotel, or The assassination of Jesse James. Those were all critical darlings when they came out.
Every horror fan has seen Carpenter's The Thing, but would any of them recommend Possession (1981?). For every Dawn of the Dead recommendation there should instead be a Dellamorte Dellamore. For every The Omen, an Alice, sweet Alice. Speaking of which, can you believe no horror movie has done what Alice did? Plot contrivances be damned! (Ok that one guy was an idiot, but seriously, its like watching every horror movie cliche fall apart before your very eyes.)
Yeah, well underrated is very subjective. All you see here mostly are popular films. A hidden gems topic would be much more interesting. Widen your horizon.
I go for Love Me No More 2008 ‘Deux jours à tuer’ Directed by Jean Becker.
A twisted tale that keeps you guessing. Highly recommend - and almost no one knows about it.
it all takes inside a cabin. its about a guy claiming he is thousands of years old and people debating if he telling the truth or not. the meeting takes place when a professor is retiring and this is their get-together. the debate is amongst professors and each use their respective fields to debate.
i thought i was going to fall asleep within 5 minutes of watching it but i fcking loved it.
i watched it and really liked it
only thing id have to add to this thread: im not even sure this movie is really unknown/underrated but none of my friends knew it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/ truly great movie, watched it so many times :>
Man From Earth is amazing! I was privileged to watch it without any spoilers whatsoever and that made it so much better. I really liked Nymphomaniac and Upstream Colour recently, both excellent, imo. I want to see Nymphomaniac director's cut, but I can't find it anywhere. Apparently it's like over 5 hours long or something.
it all takes inside a cabin. its about a guy claiming he is thousands of years old and people debating if he telling the truth or not. the meeting takes place when a professor is retiring and this is their get-together. the debate is amongst professors and each use their respective fields to debate.
i thought i was going to fall asleep within 5 minutes of watching it but i fcking loved it.
i watched it and really liked it
only thing id have to add to this thread: im not even sure this movie is really unknown/underrated but none of my friends knew it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/ truly great movie, watched it so many times :>
It's at the IMDb Top 250 films and has over 300.000 votes.
On September 27 2014 05:55 Liquid`Drone wrote: I don't know if I can think of any "underrated" movie.. People/critics usually rate movies according to how they felt about the movie, and I don't think I'm in any position to tell them that they actually felt differently about it, as I am not them. What makes more sense is to talk of underappreciated movies, essentially movies that should be watched by more people because they are awesome, but somehow have slipped under the radar.
As such, I just have to mention the movie I finished 1 hour ago, because it is the first time in forever where I literally found myself thinking "wow, this might just be the best movie I have ever watched." It's not really underrated though, because I've yet to meet anyone who watched it and didn't absolutely love it, but it seems to have slipped quite a lot of people's radar.
I don't know, man. Some movies really are underrated, because group-think is a real thing. Some movies are just never given a chance, get a horrible reception upon release and then either have to find an audience later, or never find an audience. Showgirls is the great classic example of this. A big budget NC-17 rated Showbiz satire from an a-list director and a hot writer that currently sits at 17/36%(critics/users) at rotten tomatoes. Love it or hate it, this movie is not bad from any technical measure, but some people did find it offensive and a lot of people seem to miss that its a satire and that means that this film's rating doesn't really reflect the movie, but rather the audience's taste(this is true I suppose for all films, although usually the films technical quality and the audience's response correlate. Audiences respond better to well made films). Nobody should go into Showgirls with their shot glasses and drinking games thinking they're getting Sharknado. They're not. They're getting an ambitious well made film that's not to everybody's taste. Showgirls is not under-appreciated, it is in the purest sense of the word, underrated. The rating undersells the film's quality.
So this is my long way of telling everybody to go watch Showgirls. It's great. Even people out there who do call it 'bad' are often secretly calling it great, as in, "that was a great bad movie."
but you're rating it really highly. and someone finding it offensive is grounds for them rating it poorly. someone not getting that it's sarcasm is grounds for them rating it poorly. you can't say something is underrated without stating that something is objectively good - and you'll have a very hard time convincingly making that argument.
I can't make an argument that a film is objectively good, but I can make an argument why the popular opinion doesn't give a certain film enough credit. Maybe it's because the popular opinion on a film is some sort of reactionary misread, as I believe is the case with Showgirls, or maybe its because expectations at release were artificially high and the audience is reacting to that, as is the case with Prometheus, or maybe the film in question is underrated because it won an Oscar over other better films, as is the case with Crash, or maybe the film is underrated because the film was marketed to a wide audience predisposed to dislike it, as was the case with Noah.