The Ultimate Debate: The Top 100 Films You Have Never Heard Of
This is a long-standing pursuit of mine, somehow listing the top 100 obscure films of all time. This thread is intended to initiate a debate on the subject. First, the ground rules. 1. The average person on the street should not recognize any title on this list; 2. Titles do not just magically appear on this list, they must be fought for via argument/debate of its merits. Once titles are nominated and placed on the list, they are to be ranked in terms of their merits. I also suggest that the appropriate subgenres are represented.
I will start things off by nominating some films.
1. Q-The Winged Serpent: Larry Cohen still writes films, but in the 70s and 80s he was the Jack-of-all-Trades behind many films that may end up on this list (Bone, It's Alive, The Stuff, God Told Me To, etc.). Q is special for a number of reasons. It's cast includes David Carridine, Richard Roundtree, Candy Clard, and Michael Moriarty, who delivers an unbelievable performance as small-time cook Jimmy Quinn. Moriarty's performance includes an unbelievable audition as a lounge pianist in which we first hear his improvised tune, "Evil Dream". Of course, there's the serpent which is a claymation spectacle to behold as it decapitates window washers, swoops down on bathing beauties, and ultimately protects its nest in a scene remeniscent of King Kong's climax.
2. Putney Swope: Robert Downey Sr.'s blaxploitation masterpiece doesn't boast the most heralded cast (Arnold Johnson, Anonio Fargas, Allen Garfield, and a cameo by Mel Brooks), but it remains an excellent political satire, attacking an endless array of subjects: Madison Avenue, black radicalism, the President of the USA, political correctness, etc. 1969 was a year in which many great films were made, but Swope almost always goes unrecognized. Putney Swope, the name of the title character, is a black man who mistankingly becomes the head of a major advertising agency on Madison Avenue. He decides that he wont rock the boat, but sink it, producing a number of highly controvercial but effective commercials.
That's all for now. Please feel free to debate the merits of these choices and/or contribute your own titles to the top 100 films you have never heard of.
3 comments:
I think those are two good choices. Larry Cohen has a lot of movies that might qualify, especially BONE and GOD TOLD ME TO. An even more obscure Cohen film is THE PRIVATE FILES OF J. EDGAR HOOVER. I wonder if Q is too well known ... or if Sam will use his veto power to strike it from the list?
I'll have to think about this some more to come up with some good nominations. For now, how about:
The Sadist (1963)
This is a movie that I'd vaguely heard about that really took me be surprise. It's a really taut and nihilistic film for 1963 and has one of cinema's all time great performances from Arch Hall Jr as an ape-like psychopath. Vilmos Zsigmond's photography is also outstanding.
The Outfit (1973)
This is one I checked out recently after the death of director John Flynn, who also made ROLLING THUNDER (another candidate?). This one stars Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker as a couple of bad asses seeking revenge against the Mob. It's based on a novel by Donald Westlake, who also wrote the novel that POINT BLANK was based on, and it's a fantastic tough 70s thriller, very much in the same tradition as ROLLING THUNDER.
I have yet to see the outfit and did not find it listed on Amazon.com. Where did you find a copy of it? It looks very promising indeed but I can't give it my blessing without having seen it.
I would agree that The Sadist is worthy of the list, but should our Arch Hall Jr. films stop there? How about Egaah which also stars Richard Kiel? This might be appropriate to nominate as the doppleganger to Hall's Sadist--the guitar-playing, square-jawed golden boy that serenades his women when he isn't protecting them from a caveman. I could see these two being nominated together, which would pretty much uphold our obligation to the memorium of Arch Hall Jr. Thoughts?
Oh, I agree on the Sadist.
I didn't get a clear answer from you regarding Swope, but my instincts tell me you give it an okay.
Hi,
Two initial choices from me:
1. Our Lady of the Assassins
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0250809/
This is Barbet Schroeder's hi-def-shot drama set in Medellín, Colombia, in which a burnt-out middle-aged writer begins an affair with a gun-toting teenager who's being hunted down by a rival gang. The fluid camera Steadicams its way round town with them as they chat, bicker and evade assassination attempts. It's a beautiful movie, content to let its characters talk their way through a story which affords opportunities for near-constant suspense. Of course, one of its main points is to depict the reality of living in a city plagued by violence and near-lawlessness. But it also has a wonderful strain of black humour and a genuinely romantic take on its central relationship. And the thing which I initially found somewhat off-putting - its daytime soap look - is the thing which I now feel makes the movie. It's never been released in the UK; I've only ever seen it on imported DVD. (The Region 1 is bare bones, the French Region 2 has v. good extras but no English subs.)
2. Un Maledetto imbroglio (a.k.a. The Facts of Murder)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053039/
Pietro Germi's supremely entertaining and glittering police movie was the last 'drama' he made before crowd-pleasing comedies such as Divorce Italian-Style and Seduced and Abandoned ensured his reputation. A robber makes off with some jewels from a well-to-do apartment one day in Rome and the cops set about investigating. Great double act from Germi himself in the lead role of the sardonic investigating officer and Saro Urzì (who also plays Vitelli in The Godfather) as his witty, loyal partner. This film deserves to be better-known; the Italian DVD has no English subs. (and I for one don't understand better than elementary Italian), but it hardly matters when there's such a terrific score from the always-excellent Carlo Rustichelli and a wonderfully attractive visual style.
Not sure how helpful these will be to the compiling of the list, but they are two of my favourite 'obscure' movies.
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