The Best Movies You Might Not Have Seen
These are those gems you discover because you took a chance, or got sucked into one of them on late night cable, or because you're a fanatic for a particular actor or director and end up watching something truly special. INCOMPLETE, There are 8 now, but this list will probably sit around 100 or so.
List activity
974 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
21 titles
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsShia LaBeoufSigourney WeaverJon VoightA wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.It's always a pleasure when a movie manages to create an entire mythology without feeling like a film that is setting out to create an entire mythology. This is a children's film for adults and an adult's film for children. A-List director Andrew Davis treats this with as much energy as he did The Fugitive or The Package.
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsLinda FiorentinoPeter BergBill PullmanA devious sexpot steals her husband's drug money and hides out in a small town where she meets the perfect dupe for her next scheme.Endless spiral downward into hell, but still so damn fun. HBO cost Linda Fiorentino her big shot at Oscar with a slightly early release to TV or video. Catch young Peter Berg in his tour-de-force as well.
- DirectorGary FlederStarsAndy GarciaChristopher WalkenChristopher LloydFive different criminals face imminent death after botching a job quite badly.One of the few Pulp Fiction derivatives that manages to find its own voice and tone amidst a motley crew of characters. Especially notable is Treat Williams as a truly crazy thug, but the entire cast is amazing, and there are scores of stars in this thing.
- DirectorShane BlackStarsRobert Downey Jr.Val KilmerMichelle MonaghanAfter being mistaken for an actor, a New York thief is sent to Hollywood to train under a private eye for a potential movie role, but the duo are thrown together with a struggling actress into a murder mystery.The maestro of the buddy movie also happened to pen (and direct) the best satire of buddy movies, as criminal-turned-actor Robert Downey Jr and gay private eye turned movie consultant end up on "the case of the dead people in L.A."
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsClive OwenNick RedingNicholas BallAn aspiring writer is hired as a croupier at a casino, where he realizes that his life as a croupier would make a great novel.Clive Owen's original breakout role as the Jack-the-writer-by-day-Jake-the-croupier-by-night, who fancies that as the dealer, he is above it all, empowered by watching those around him lose.
- DirectorMatthew VaughnStarsDaniel CraigSienna MillerMichael GambonA successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.Director Matthew Vaughn essentially creates the British mob version of Carlito's Way. Immensely satisfying and a who's who of British actors including just-pre-bond Daniel Craig (who might have been hitting his notness apex with this film), it is from the Guy Ritchie camp, but Vaughn demonstrates a style that delivers a bit less style and a bit more substance. Michael Gambon is a delight as but one of the foils.
- DirectorPaul WeitzStarsHugh GrantDennis QuaidMandy MooreA popular television music talent competition hosted by a pompous egomaniac becomes the setting for an assassination attempt when the President of the United States becomes a celebrity judge in an attempt to rehabilitate his image.Mainstream comedies with beloved stars don't get much darker than this one, which is probably why it didn't fare well in theaters, but it delivers in laughs, in smirks, and in overall satisfaction. In today's environment, I'm not sure this one gets made, which is but one more reason to find it and check it out. American idol, Islamic terrorism, general celebrityhood, and naked ugly ambition and the resulting ennui are all mixed together in this cocktail, and it's a leg-(and side-)splitter.
- DirectorRobert MooreStarsPeter FalkAlec GuinnessPeter SellersFive famous literary detective characters and their sidekicks are invited to a bizarre mansion to solve an even stranger mystery.
- DirectorJames GoldstoneStarsGeorge SegalTimothy BottomsRichard WidmarkA blackmailer threatens to sabotage roller coasters at various American amusement parks if he isn't paid a huge ransom.
- DirectorTony KrantzStarsAntonio BanderasThomas KretschmannWilliam FichtnerA private detective is hired to find a missing stripper. A simple job turns complicated when everyone he questions ends up dead.Filmed in my old hometown by the one film company in town, this film still amazes me. I came in right in the middle of it the first time and had my mind blown as I realized that I was in the middle of a gumshoe movie that suddenly was about anti matter and particle colliders, sexual pen-pals and was riddled with all sorts of visual and line-based physics jokes (hence one take on the title). This jumble was fascinating enough for me to watch from the beginning. Upwards of 150 times by now (I keep it in the background while I work sometimes.) Hard-boiled physics lesson. :)
- DirectorNanette BursteinBrett MorgenStarsRobert EvansEddie AlbertPeter BartDocumentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans (the film shares the same name as Evans's famous 1994 autobiography).
- DirectorIan SharpStarsLewis CollinsJudy DavisRichard WidmarkIt's suspected that a peace/anti-nuke organization in UK has some extremists willing to use terrorism. The action will probably be against an embassy in London. The SAS/Special Air Service try to get the organization infiltrated.Rented this movie on a whim, and got a fine, layered film detailing an SAS man who goes undercover as a idealistic gun-for-hire in order flush out some terrorists and their British comrades and sympathizers. Stars a young Judy Davis as one of the terrorists, a wealthy ideologue.
- DirectorByron HowardChris WilliamsStarsJohn TravoltaMiley CyrusSusie EssmanThe canine star of a fictional sci-fi/action show that believes his powers are real embarks on a cross country trek to save his co-star from a threat he believes is just as real.Three words: Rhino the Hamster.
Three more words: If.....you're........AWESOME! - DirectorHerbert RossStarsKathleen TurnerDennis QuaidFiona ShawA spy couple on maternity leave in New Orleans, entertained by a mugger named Muerte, is called in when Novacek steals explosives.One of those scripts that just pops the whole way through. I knew that this could happen in family movies from the 40s and 50s, but in 1993? Easily my favorite Dennis Quaid role, and this was right around the time Stanley Tucci broke out in "Big Night", but I will always remember being introduced to him in this film and the unmatchable Morty....err....Muerte.
- DirectorPatrick Read JohnsonStarsDouglas BarrRoyal DanoAriana RichardsDimwitted Martians drop into a little Illinois town on the day that the local radio station happens to rebroadcast Orson Welles 1938 "War Of The Worlds".Don't get your hopes up, and you won't be disappointed. I love this movie because it rolls along with such abandon and energy that you can look past most of the kiddie movie trappings. Some great one-liners, deliberately cheesy alien costuming, and another nice take on misinterpreting "War of the Worlds" (to join Buckaroo Banzai!)
- DirectorJohn McTiernanMichael CrichtonStarsAntonio BanderasDiane VenoraDennis StorhøiA man, having fallen in love with the wrong woman, is sent by the sultan himself on a diplomatic mission to a distant land as an ambassador. Stopping at a Viking village port to restock on supplies, he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a quest to banish a mysterious threat in a distant Viking land.The pedigree of the filmmakers: source cult-classic novelette by Michael Crichton, and uber-action director John McTiernan (Die Hard, The Hunt For Red October) elevated people's hopes to insane levels. Instead what you get is a grounded and likeable story of a Muslim protagonist, a fish-out-of-water as he is compelled to join 12 vikings on a quest to protect a village from a cryptic barbarian horde. Unlike Die Hard, he is clever, but isn't even the 12th toughest in his party. But he persists and finds courage, hope, and friendship. Tidy story, and I see that as a plus in this case.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsGeorge HamiltonLauren HuttonBrenda VaccaroZorro, the legendary swordsman, has passed on his weapon and his sense of duty to his noble son, Diego, a dashing swashbuckler like his father. But after an injury sidelines Diego, he is forced to hand the mask over to his twin, Ramon.As over 35 years have passed since its release, more and more young movie fans have had this picture slip by them. With every role infused with actors who can capably deliver a strangely excellent camp, it stands , IMHO, as one of the only mainstream comedies from the 80s to host a major gay theme and while some stereotypes are touched on in Zorro's gay brother who covers for him while he is injured (sartorial daring, good-natured cattiness), he cuts a dashing figure and is just as capable and heroic as his brother. Throw in the constant comic trappings of Rob Liebman's in-the-closet-sort-of villainous Alcalde, and you have a wealth of warm, clever humor tackling something that today couldn't be made any better. Insanely quotable, this is a hidden classic.
- DirectorWim WendersStarsTraci LindRosalind ChaoBill PullmanMike is a successful Hollywood producer of violent movies. Then he himself experiences extreme violence, goes missing, joins some Latino gardeners and reviews his life.An overly ambitious effort from Wim Wenders it sends up being very aware of itself, but possessing some impossibly likable characters, standout scenes, and still-timely themes.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsDwayne JohnsonSarah Michelle GellarSeann William ScottDuring a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.it From the director of Donny Darko comes this off-the-charts-weird fable starring The Rock, Justin Timberlake and many SNL alums in grim-yet-manic acting roles. The story is so weird and the dialog so strange, and the events so bizarre, it will entertain you, even if none of it coheres in a meaningful fashion.
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsChris MessinaCaroline DhavernasBokeem WoodbineA group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.An M. Night Shymalan script that stands out as a great little thriller-with-the-signature twist, but that twist, is thorough and so clever that it ties up several threads at once in a tidy fashion. A solid entry in my "The most Christian movies always R-rated, horror pictures."
- DirectorPatrick LussierStarsGerard ButlerJustine WaddellJonny Lee MillerA group of thieves breaks into a chamber expecting to find paintings, but instead they release the count himself, who travels to New Orleans to find his nemesis' daughter, Mary Van Helsing.Gerard Butler as Drac, Christopher Plummer as Van Helsing's descendant and so many minor stars in supporting roles, it will make your head spin. What makes this Drac stand out is its contribution to the mythos with a nice reveal (which probably isn't new, but its memorable), and additionally, has one of the best lead-ins to the sequel, while still ending this one seeminly permanently.