Tele's List of 100 Lesser-Known or Under-Appreciated Films Everyone Should See (THE LIST IS COMPLETE! p26)

[DeeCee]

On 6/20/2016 at 11:06 AM, Telemachos said:

29. Phar Lap (1983)

written by: David Williamson

directed by: Simon Wincer

starring: Tom Burlinson, Richard Morgan, Robert Grubb

 

Synopsis:

The true story of a Australian racehorse that becomes a champion with the help of a local stableboy.

 

Points to anyone (except for @DeeCee) who’s seen or heard of this. I think this was a solid hit in Australia, but it didn’t do much here in the States. Another old-fashioned movie, this is along the lines of NATIONAL VELVET or SEABISCUIT or other classic horse-racing movies, but tinged with a darker, sadder element. Phar Lap was a star that came out of nowhere in the 1930s, become the beloved darling of the racing public in Australia, and challenged the establishment.

 

Tom Burlinson had already become a star Down Under with THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER, and here the Aussie crew all went on to have solid careers — Russell Boyd, the cinematographer, shot MASTER & COMMANDER, and director Simon Wincer’s done a ton of excellent work with smaller movies and TV.

 

I can't find an English-language trailer for it. Here's a clip of a training montage:

 

 

Because you bastards killed him.

[Dementeleus]

18. Koyaanisqatsi (1983)

written by: Ron Fricke, Michael Hoenig, Godfrey Reggio, Alton Walpole

directed by: Godfrey Reggio

 

Synopsis:

A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on nature, humanity and the relationship between them.

 

One of the most unusual, powerful and unique movies you’ll ever see, KOYAANISQATSI is one of the best examples of the pure audio-visual power of cinema. There is no dialogue. There is no plot. There are only images and Philip Glass’ amazing and unforgettable score.

 

“Koyaanisqatsi” is a Hopi word meaning “life out of balance”, and the movie is an exploration of nature, humanity, technology, and how they come together, dominating life on this planet in different ways and at different points in time. It’s such an influential movie that it basically created a whole sub-genre of followups: two more films followed, to complete the “Qatsi” trilogy (POWAQQATSI and NAQOYQATSI) as well as cinematographer Ron Fricke’s own trilogy (CHRONOS, BARAKA, and SAMSARA). 

 

They’re all worth watching, but KOYAANISQATSI is the original and still best. When you watch it, you will never forget it.

 

(My superpower is being able to type "koyaanisqatsi" without having to look it up.)

 

 

 

 

[The Stingray]

 

[baumer]

Schizopolis just made my must see list.  That sounds absolutely insane lol

[Jake Gittes]

Schizopolis might be my favorite Soderbergh. It's funny as hell.

 

The color in those Powell and Pressburger films is unbelievable. What I wouldn't give to see Colonel Blimp, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes on a huge screen. 

[The Stingray]

Speaking of Soderbergh, I would say Out of Sight (his best film, imo) is/seems fairly under-appreciated.
 

[Dementeleus]

17. Until the End of the World (1991)

written by: Peter Carey, Wim Wenders, Michael Almereyda (original idea by Wenders and Solveig Dommartin)

directed by: Wim Wenders

starring: William Hurt, Sam Neill, Solveig Dommartin, Max von Sydow, Jeanne Moreau

 

Synopsis:

In the “near future”, Claire's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash. She rescues Sam, a fugitive on the run, who claims his father invented a device which records dreams. Claire and Sam continue to elude the law, traveling around the world. Writer Eugene follows them and writes their story.

 

A science-fiction story that’s more about people and their relationships than concepts. Like many famous older SF movies, it’s set in the “near future” that’s now our past: in this case, the story unfolds in 1999, as world civilization is potentially threatened by an Indian nuclear satellite that might crash. But that’s mainly just a backdrop against the adventures of Claire and Sam. This movie falls into the classic road trip genre, but what’s interesting is the gentle quirkiness and humanity that Wenders manages to find in every scene. As Claire and Sam wander from Europe into Russia and Asia and ultimately Australia, their trip becomes more and more about the concept of memories, and dreams, and how technology can help (or hinder) what makes us fundamentally human.

 

There’s a legendary 5-hour cut — not an assembly cut, not an early draft, a completed cut that’s the full version of Wenders’ vision. Up until now, the only version is the theatrical edition, which runs about 2.5 hours. You can feel the trims occasionally, there are subplots introduced that don’t contribute a great deal to the story, and occasionally the pace and tone seems like they change abruptly. The good news is that the long cut actually has a chance of a release (on video or streaming, at least) — it played at a few select museum venues last year. So, watch this version now, and get ready to (hopefully) watch the full version at some future date.

 

Technically, the production was complicated and financing took a long time to come together. Wenders originally wanted to shoot it on 70mm, but that wasn't feasible. They ended up shooting in 15 cities, in 7 countries, across 4 continents. The movie's also notable for being the first film to shoot some clips with digital video. (They weren't able to get approval to shoot in China, so Wenders sent his actress Solveig Dommartin into the country with just a prosumer video camera).

 

The soundtrack, btw, is absolutely fantastic: a collection of great songs by alt-rock bands from the early 90s: Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, REM, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, U2, etc etc etc.

 

 

 

[baumer]

I think we are no longer in the territory of lesser-known films. I think we are just flat-out into films that only tele has heard of it LOL

[Jake Gittes]

Patiently waiting for that long cut of Until the End of the World, but I've listened to the soundtrack a few dozen times. SO GOOD.

[baumer]

Correction 

 

Only films tele and Gittes have seen. 

[Dementeleus]

15 minutes ago, Baumer said:

I think we are no longer in the territory of lesser-known films. I think we are just flat-out into films that only tele has heard of it LOL

 

It came out in the 90s! I thought for sure you might've seen it (or at least heard of it).

[baumer]

Nope lol. I've heard of koyan....however the fuck u spell it....lol....but not the last one

[The Futurist]

The Tele seems to know a lot of things about God Legend John Milius, the unsung hero of the new Hollywood, the craziest and the most interesting character of the bunch.

[Dementeleus]

Some of it I knew, some is the power of Wikipedia.  

[The Futurist]

3 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

Some of it I knew, some is the power of Wikipedia.  

 

I read a lot of stuff about Milius, he s one crazy motherfucker, he s probably a Trump supporter.

 

 

[Dementeleus]

5 minutes ago, The Futurist said:

 

I read a lot of stuff about Milius, he s one crazy motherfucker, he s probably a Trump supporter.

 

 

Eh, he's probably more of a Gary Johnson type. I'm not sure how active at all he is

now (politically or otherwise), given he's recovering from a nasty stroke from a few years ago. 

[The Futurist]

Sorry, don't know who Gary Johnson is but Milius has said tons of stuff that are anything but PC.

He would probably kill the entire SJW nation with a Twitter account.

 

He had a stroke ? Too bad and yeah, we don't know what he s up to, nothing much it seems ...

 

 

[Dementeleus]

1 minute ago, The Futurist said:

Sorry, don't know who Gary Johnson is but Milius has said tons of stuff that are anything but PC.

He would probably kill the entire SJW nation with a Twitter account.

 

Gary Johnson is a prominent Libertarian and ex-Governor of New Mexico.

 

From what I can tell, Milius was very much a proponent of classical libertarian ideals, which would simultaneously put him on the right (in some areas) and left (in others). The era when he was active (counter-culture 60s, Vietnam, the Cold War) is also very different than today. 

 

There's more to political philosophy than whether or not you're "PC" (whatever that even means anymore). Or at least, there used to be. 

[DAR]

Let's not go down that road.

 

I have heard of Koywhattusi and some of these other films from just reading Roger Ebert.

[RascarCapat]

2 hours ago, Baumer said:

I think we are no longer in the territory of lesser-known films. I think we are just flat-out into films that only tele has heard of it LOL

 

Yeah I was going to suggest Tele to bring in some Zal Batmanglij / Mike Cahill movies into the foreground but I think even that is way too known for his list.

Edited June 21, 2016 by RascarCapat