Outside the Box - PHOENIX's Top 100 Not Quite Obscure Films

In spite of it being decently popular amongst my age group, I did not like Napoleon Dynamite much at all.

Same. There's a bit of a strain to its quirkiness that undercuts the energy it's going for.

Yeah, Napoleon Dynamite sucks ass.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Very basically, I simply find Napoleon Dynamite really funny *shrugs shoulders*. I don't want to overanalyze it and undercut that - so I'm blocking all critical commentary out, covering my eyes, and pretending it's not there.

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LOL. I have a few films like that.

Films about depression are certainly rare, and it's seeming lack of commercial appeal certainly makes it hard to find films which explore the topic. Christine Chubbuck was a real-life news reporter who famously committed suicide live on air. She said, "In keeping with the WXLT practice of presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local blood and guts news, TV 40 presents what is believed to be a television first. In living color, an exclusive coverage of an attempted suicide." Then she shot herself. Antonio Campos, who had his own struggles with depression, talked to everyone she knew during those days and tried as hard as he could to paint a portrait which explains her mind-space at the time, and what was internally driving someone with that much going for her to take extreme measures and do what she did. What he came up with was a woman often at odds with what her work demanded of her, and the world around her - which, added to her specific complexities, led to what happened. Christine is a personal journey about the indignities female reporters often had to bear if they wanted to keep working, and the psychological profile of how tough that is to deal with for someone who suffers from depression or has dark inclinations. I found it fascinating, and the movie itself funny at times, moving, tragic and a bridge to understanding what just seems like a horrible thing to do to yourself and others. It sticks in my memory, and from time to time I'm compelled to watch it.

The premise seems fairly simple. Craig Daniels (Pat Healy) and his old friend Vince (Ethan Embry) meet a wild man with plenty of money who dares them to do outrageous things and compete with each other for cash. As the stakes are raised, and the money gets serious, the stunts they're asked to do become more and more humiliating, outrageous, dangerous and illegal - testing the outer limits of friendship, and the morals of both Craig and Vince. I have to admit, I simply enjoy watching people cross that boundary - the one we'd normally never, ever cross, and take those risks. What I always find so interesting in this is the way these characters slowly become primed to actually do the ultimate, simply by being rewarded and adapted to the increasingly obsessive nature of risk/reward and it's hypnotic spell. I'd say that in the last ten years, Cheap Thrills has become more relevant - but I never see it as a super-serious comment on society as much as an increasingly tense thriller that goes from prank to deadly serious one step at a time. A low budget surprise for me when I first saw it - and I've loved it ever since.

Reds isn't obscure, but it never found really popular enough traction to be carried forth as a well-known film outside of cinema enthusiasts, and I certainly admire and enjoy it very much. Perhaps that's because I love most things historically Russian, although I suspect that's only a partial reason this film resonates with me. Jack Reed (Warren Beatty) is such an interestingly obsessive and unwavering kind of historical figure in this, and kind of feels doomed from the very get-go - so even if this is a true-life tale, it feels operatic and epic. Also, unlike many other true-life biographical films, Reds really transports you to it's place, time and people as if you're living amongst them yourself. Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, Gene Hackman make up a tremendous cast. It's not flashy, but I appreciate the fact that it's not trying to glamorize itself or become too melodramatic - instead remaining so very human.

On Letterboxd I noted an impression : "A grand epic - and an ode to the journalist/writer and artist in shaping the world he or she observes. It turns John Reed into a towering figure, completely committed to his principals, and unwilling to submit to the fact that utopia is an impossible dream. He finds a likeminded soul-mate in Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) and against the backdrop of World War I and the Russian Revolution they live out their passion for writing and become embroiled in the politics of the day - always with all of their heart - and every fiber of their being. It doesn't get any more epic than that - and this callback to a bygone cinematic age makes it one of the final great epic films. There's nothing to fault in Reds, and it's distinct phases makes it an engrossing 195 minute journey that never seems dull. Warren Beatty's greatest achievement, for which he won a Best Director Oscar."

Death Rides a Horse is a superb genre exercise, and I think an essential spaghetti western - simply because everything it does, it does to perfection. Of course, while watching it you'll find innumerable moments and aspects that Tarantino has borrowed wholesale and transplanted into his films. It combines two common tropes - the revenge story, and the "tutorship variation" - where an older, experienced (and somewhat redeemed) character teaches a younger protagonist various ways that highlight their age and differing motivations. Usually, by the end, the partnership ends in conflict. Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law are perfectly cast, and it was an immense pleasure watching both of them strut their stuff in this film. It also has an absolutely wonderful score by Ennio Morricone, just to top off a gritty and downright fun genre film. It's the tale of Bill (Phillip Law) who witnesses the rape of his mother and sisters, and the murder of his entire family as a child - in his quest for revenge he becomes a master gunslinger, but has to rely on the help of Ryan (Van Cleef), who knows all the old tricks and has a dark secret. They both have their own motivations, which lead them on the same path - up to a point. Simple, but ever so stylish, fun, cool and in a cinematic sense razor sharp in editing, cinematography and performance. I love it.

Bad Taste is to Peter Jackson what The Evil Dead was to Sam Raimi. It haunted video shop shelves here, and gained a certain popularity - which meant Jackson could continue to push through into becoming a regular filmmaker, making Meet the Feebles and Braindead. It's very inventive sci-fi/horror that's basically an hour and a half of utter madness as members of a team known as AIDS (Astro Investigation and Defence Service) investigate the disappearance of an entire town and come into disgusting conflict with aliens in humanoid shape. The gory make-up effects coupled with it's great comedic sense and overall utter insanity proved a winner, and I think it's one of the best low-to-no budget films ever made. $25,000 is silly - how can you make a great sci-fi film for that, let alone one that has as much as Bad Taste does? It ain't Bladerunner, but by lord it's something. Launched the career of an outstanding filmmaker who went on to work with budgets a little higher than a few grand.

Even though it wouldn't make my top 10 list, I like Napoleon Dynamite well enough. It lives in the same kind of world that the almost brilliant Greasy Strangler does, and i don't mind visiting places that kick their eccentricities up to 100. Yes, they are both too much, but that almost what is the most fun about them. They just commit, for better or worse.


Christine and Reds would definitely make my list though. Two incredible films

Yeah, Reds is very good.

You'll need a shower after watching Snowtown - it's real-life murderer, John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) will have crept under your skin, and invaded that peaceful place you have in your mind to take time out. Cinema can take me to a variety of different destinations, but there's no substitute for where this film takes me - there's an essence really being in the sickeningly wrong place at the wrong time we become the influential young protagonist here, Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) - 16-years-old and taken under a serial killer's wing. When it comes to true crime, Snowtown is near the top of my list - to see a person driven to do such terrible things while feeling like there's a righteous and completely justified reason for doing them will always be interesting, and the fact these things really happened will be hard to shake.

I think every country has a classic film which represents a distilled concoction of culture, purity, love, energy and soul - to a degree which can never be equaled once it's out. Perry Henzell's Jamaican masterpiece The Harder They Come has all of those things in spades, and represents a time and place that's unique and worthy of appreciation. That's even before we consider it's incredible reggae soundtrack - one that would go on to introduce this place's special brand of music to the world. It's a crime film in which our protagonist, pushed over the edge by the corruption and hopelessness that surrounds him in this Caribbean nation, takes inspiration from films like this one, fulfilling a circular self-prophesy that plays out during the film's bravura ending. It has so much style and brash coolness that I can never think of it without smiling to myself. "The Harder They Come" and "You Can Get It If You Really Want", sung by lead actor Jimmy Cliff, are classic songs in and of themselves. A completely unique and original one-of-a-kind special film.

I wasn't that big on Reds, but I really love Jack Nicholson's supporting performance. He steals every scene he's in.

Bad Taste is crazy fun!

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Some filmmakers are the proud parents of a selection of classic films without compare - and see a few of their seemingly lesser-lights slip by under the radar. Mike Leigh is a filmmaker that sometimes tends towards the verge of misery porn, but here the sparkling Poppy (Sally Hawkins) goes completely in the opposite direction, and we're instead faced with an indomitable spirit. I've never seen a person like this examined in relation to the world we live in, and the way she reacts to and handles different situations provides a refreshingly new take - making this another unique film that I often tend to return to. Featuring way down the credits, but equally unforgettable, is Eddie Marsan as driving instructor Scott - a nervous, bad tempered purveyor of conspiracy theories and distinctly dark thoughts. This man must share an hour or so every now and then with Poppy, and the results give the film some of it's more unforgettable moments - at least for me. I never see this come up very often in "Best of Mike Leigh" discussions, but from the first day I saw it, Happy-Go-Lucky became a favourite.

I really dug that one. It's a great exposure to a culture much of the world might not have known about otherwise and contains one of the most memorable main characters I've come across in film.

Melodrama and murder don't get any better than they do in 1951 classic A Place in the Sun, featuring searing and unforgettable performances from Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters. Frankly, I'm amazed at how a film from so long ago can reel me in emotionally and completely wring me out like a wet piece of cloth - usually I don't feel as big a connect with characters so foreign in manner and persuasion. I do with these. Montgomery Clift's George Eastman is a character who yearns for what we all do, but his methods and morals lack something quintessential in most of us - which mean we're in for quite a ride as he meets the rich and beautiful Angela Vickers (Taylor) after Alice (Winters), the woman he's been with, announces she's pregnant. This film won 6 Oscars - but missed out on the top ones, Best Picture, Actor (Clift) and Actress (Winters) - Stevens won for directing this however, one of my all-time favourite 1950s films and a timeless masterpiece that never gets old - at least for me. A lot of great talent performing at their peak.

During an average year, there are many films which fly under the radar - and The Stunt Man was only ever going to pass by unnoticed because of it's limited release. It has, however, been recognized over the years as a classic. Steve Railsback plays the main protagonist in this, A Vietnam veteran called Cameron who evades police attention by pretending to be a stunt man on a movie set. The director, Eli Cross, is played by Peter O'Toole, and he gives another of his absolutely unforgettable performances - this one based on his Lawrence of Arabia boss David Lean. We enter twin worlds in this - that of reality and fiction, which often blur as Cameron decides to give the job of performing stunts a real go as he lays low - seeking danger to avoid danger becomes a risky pursuit though, when people can easily arrange for an "accident" to happen. It's a fun film, this, fast-paced and exciting while also becoming a movie about movie-making, which is always interesting. Must seem funny - all of the cameras and lights filming cameras and lights. Anyway - The Stunt Man is clever, fast, and should have been one of the highlights of 1980 film-wise. It instead had to kind of seep out slowly - but it's still made it's mark, and has it's place in film-lovers hearts.

Oh, I love all of these movies (even though I haven't seen A Place in the Sun)