Category: Underappreciated Movies

Nov 17 2014

This Week’s Underappreciated Movies

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

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Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Why Don’t You Play in Hell?

I’m on the road this week, so I’m going to cheat and quote myself from a year ago:

“This is a movie seems to be what happens when Japan retrieves everything that Quentin Tarantino borrowed from Japanese cinema. The first 20 minutes of the film are directed like an ADHD hummingbird on speed, setting up dozens of strange characters in a dizzying shower of weird dialogue and dazzling visual cues. The core plot slowly emerges: a yakuza gang enlists movie nerd gang to help make a film in celebration of the gang boss’ wife’s emergence from prison. Why Don’t You Play in Hell? is fast, furious, bloody, joyful, entertaining, satirical, and really fucking funny. It moves at such a breakneck pace that you won’t want to blink, for fear you might miss something.”

Why Don’t You Play in Hell? has just been released on streaming and home video formats, so now, finally, you can see it, too!

skeleton-key

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Skeleton Key

We keep mentioning great movies that have been overlooked in our episodes, so let’s highlight one of those right here. Skeleton Key, starring Kate Hudson, is a lovely southern gothic tale, set in an old New Orleans mansion with secrets oozing around murky corners, and a grim matriarchal figure at the center of a lot of questions. Caroline (Hudson) has taken a job as a personal caregiver for an elderly brother and sister after the brother has some sort of stroke. But as Caroline develops a relationship with the brother, unsettling clues start coming to life, and a public lynching a generation ago might play a part. Surprisingly spooky, with lots of hidden undercurrents.

Nov 10 2014

This Week’s Underappreciated Movies

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

Naughty Marietta

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Naughty Marietta

Based on the stage operetta, this gem from the very early talkies features one of the most influential sopranos of her time – the lovely and golden-voiced Jeanette MacDonald. She teams up with the also talented (and handsome) Nelson Eddy in this runaway bride, hidden identities romance. MacDonald is a princess being forced into an arranged marriage in Europe. What is a sassy, strong-willed woman to do? Run away to New Orleans of course! Rescued from pirates by the heroic young captain, there is much flirting and singing and finally a rousing rendition of “Ah Sweet Mystery of Life” (yes, this is the operetta that began it all!) as they declare their love and escape together. MacDonald and Eddy have great onscreen chemistry, as well as beautiful singing voices, and are benefitted by a lively script.

SixStringSamurai

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Six-String Samurai

The premise: in 1957, the Soviet Union nukes the United States. In the years after the apocalypse, Elvis becomes king of Lost Vegas. 40 years later, this film starts when King Elvis dies, and musicians start to converge upon Lost Vegas to vie for the throne of Rock n’ Roll. The film follows the adventures of a badass sword-wielding guitarist (who looks like Buddy Holly) and a feral child, who slice their way across the desert of America while being stalked by Death (who bears a suspicious resemblance to Slash from Guns n’ Roses). All this happens while accompanied by the music of the Red Elvises. If that sounds awesome, well… it is.

Nov 03 2014

This Week’s Underappreciated Movies

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

lifeforce

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Lifeforce

Lifeforce a glossy mid-1980s outer space sci-fi vampire sex invasion film that erupted out of the infamous Cannon Films studios at the apex of their heyday. It’s like everything that was right and wrong about mid-80s sci-fi fare got packed into a single, sprawling, kinda insane film that managed to find an excuse to have a woman walk around buck naked for most of the movie’s running time. Bonus: a younger (and yet still bald) Patrick Stewart appears midway through. Superbonus: this film contains a sweeping score by none other than the great Henri Mancini. You have to see this thing to believe it.

audition

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Audition

I recommend this movie even though I have no intention of ever watching it again. It’s the kind of movie that really sticks with you. Audition is a Japanese film about a widower seeking to get back out into the world and hopefully make a fresh start with a new love. A friend comes up with a perfect dating-screening ploy: A movie audition with a call for a specific type of young female. What could go wrong? At the audition, our protagonist Shigeharu Aoyama (played by Ryo Ishibashi) spies a lovely young woman and pursues her. Warning signals pop up – but who can deny true love?

Oct 27 2014

This Week’s Underappreciated Movies

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

GingerSnaps2

Windy’s Pick of the Week: Ginger Snaps 2

Have we recommended Ginger Snaps? Maybe we’ll do that next! But you don’t need to have seen Ginger Snaps to really get into this unexpected sequel. Brigitte is suffering from a unique curse – being a werewolf. Trying to self-medicate with monkshood while being a runaway leads to her being locked into a juvenile psychiatric ward – and that’s where things get REALLY interesting. The clock is ticking and she needs to either get her drugs or get out – neither of which seems likely. Will her new young friend Ghost help her? A very surprising and interesting take on the werewolf mythos, mixing in excellent commentary on mental health and women’s issues. The ending will leave your jaw hanging! (Sidenote: the young girl Ghost is played by Tatiana Maslany, who is absolutely destroying the lead role in ORPHAN BLACK)

Housebound

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Housebound

Housebound is a brand-new, delightful horror-comedy from New Zealand. It took Fantastic Fest by storm a few weeks ago, and it was in my top five of best films seen at the festival.

Housebound focuses on a young woman who is caught trying to steal a cash machine. Instead of sending her to jail, the judge decides instead to sentence her to house arrest at her mother’s eerie old country home… which does not delight either woman. However, after a few days, it becomes clear that the mother believes the house is haunted, and while the daughter does not agree about the paranormal, there are definitely things going on that neither can explain. What ensues from there is both creepy and hilarious; if you have fondness of the poppy horror-comedies of the 1980s, you will find a lot to love here.

Housebound became available on several American streaming video services last Friday. Highly recommended!

Oct 20 2014

This Week’s Underappreciated Movies

Every Monday, each of us will suggest a film that we feel too few people have seen.

waxwork

Melissa’s Pick of the Week: Waxwork and Waxwork II: Lost in Time

It is October, which means I have to remind people that Waxwork and Waxwork II exist. These two movies are far from perfect, but they both have flashes of delight and brilliance that are worth your time. The first film centers around a wax museum, where patrons of the museum go missing when they step into the tableaus and find themselves inside the action of the scene. The second film inexplicably involves a time portal. The brilliant part is that both films have a very episodic structure, where individual characters are thrown into vastly different environments… which means the filmmakers use those segments to parody other horror movies. The films also make great use of cameos, including folks like John Rhys Davies, Patrick Macnee, Bruce Campbell, Marina Sirtis, and David Carradine. Oh, and did I mention that David Warner is in the first film? And that Zach Galligan did something other than Gremlins? Yeah, check these two films out. They’re fun.

spiral_staircase

Windy’s Pick of the Week: The Spiral Staircase

Dorothy McGuire stars in this early and eerie serial killer movie (with Ethel Barrymore as the older woman she cares for!). Someone is targeting young women with disabilities, and Barrymore is worried about her young caretaker who is also a mute. Early but effective special effects showing you the killer’s viewpoint are quite creepy in this pleasant whodunit. A good choice for a chilly fall evening!

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