Underappreciated (cult?) movies from A-Z - Romansuave's writeoff
May 25 '05 (Updated Jun 06 '07)
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Movies are not stored alphabetically in my brain, but my list of my epinions is and in an orgy of self-promotion, I decided to choose movies that I have reviewed that deserve to be better known. I'd like my reviews to be better known, but I mean that the movies are underknown and underappreciated. I only had to reach into movies that I do not think are very good for "Q" and "X." Even those are interesting and not widely known or remembered.
The cult of these 26 movies may be small, but I am part of a cult championing most of them, so it seemed the most appropriate available location in which to participate in romansuave's alphabetical movie writeoff. The alphabet is an arbitrary organizing device, but within that constraint, the choices are not arbitrary, and I don't think that any of the movies are canonical mainstream movies, even if cult membership for many is low (too low, alas...)
Attack! Robert Aldrich's gritty WWII movie has outstanding performances by Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, and Buddy Ebbsen.
The Bravados features Gregory Peck as the kind of Western hero who was relentless to the point of madness (as James Stewart was in some of Anthony Mann's westerns from the 1950s, Clint Eastwood and Charles Coburn in Sergio Leone's later ones).
City of Hope has one of the multi-storyline, large cast movies John Sayles (like Robert Altman) specializes in.
Daisy Miller is Peter Bogdanovich's presentation of Henry James's novella. The movie, with Cybill Shepherd in the title role, was dismissed contemptuously when it was released, but is quite good.
The Enemy Below is classified a "submarine movie," but more of it occurs above the waterline as Robert Mitchum duels Kurt Jürgens.
Forever Callas has a heartbreaking performance by Fanny Ardant as Maria Callas after she destroyed her voice and a fantasy of Franco Zefferelli (who knew and directed Callas) to capture her acting on screen (with Jeremy Irons as the director/impresario).
Germany, Year Zero is Robert Rosellini's movie about a desperate child in the rubble of Berlin, ca. 1945. It's quite chilling.
Heat and Dust is a partly contemporary Merchant and Ivory movie set in India, with Julie Christie in the present-day story, Gretta Scacchi in the 1920s as that character's aunt. Far superior to David Lean's big-budget "A Passage to India."
Islands in the Stream has George C. Scott channeling Ernest Hemingway—or looking like Ernest Hemingway and playing the part of "Papa" Hemingway imagined for himself. Claire Bloom glides through it as one of the ex-wives, and there's an epic battle for one of the sons to land a fish.
Journey into Fear is a stripped-down version of Eric Ambler's pioneering thriller with Joseph Cotten playing a less boobish American than in "The Third Man" and with Orson Welles on the side of authority (albeit Turkish authority).
Kagemusha is not as great a movie as Kurosawa's next movie, "Ran," but that may be an empty category. Tatsuya Nakadai is in my opinion even better in the Pirandelloish role of thief pretending to be clan leader than as Lear in "Ran." Toshiro Mifune is the Japanese actor best-known in the West (at least before Takehashi Kitano), but Tatsuya Nakadai was his peer, especially notable in Kobayashi's (far-too-little-known) The Human Condition trilogy.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is an astounding documentary about a German-American who was shot down during the Vietnam war and managed to escape.
Malèna is in my opinion the best Italian movie since "Cinema Paradiso" (also directed by Giuseppe Tornatore , though the shift from farce to tragedy seems to have thrown some audience. (The juxtaposition does not seem to have disturbed admirers of Fellini movies.)
Night of the Iguana contains the best screen performances of Richard Burton and Ava Gardner, plus a fine one by Deborah Kerr, in John Huston's movie filmed on location in Puerto Vallarta of Tennesee Williams's last great play.
Olivier, Olivier is a haunting mystery (another Pirandelloish one, directed by Agnieszka Holland of "Europa, Europa" fame) of youth and murder in the French countryside. The scenery is spectacular and Grégoire Colin was growing into the eye-candy he would achieve by the time of Beau Travail
Painted Faces is a harrowing tale (almost as harrowing as "Farewell, My Concubine") of de facto slave trainees for Peking Opera in Hong Kong of the 1950s. One of the abused children will grow up to be Jackie Chan.
The Quiller Memorandum has a great conclusion, but is not very involving (in part because it's hard to care what happens to George Segal) a tale of double- and triple-crosses in Harold Pinter's style, but out of the domestic arena.
Red Beard is another very great Kurosawa movie overshadowed by his string of masterpieces. Like High and Low, it showcases Toshiro Mifune in a fairly restrained role. It absolutely, completely, totally has to be seen in widescreen, because the action often involves both of the far ends of the frame at the same time.
The Search is the second instance of a desperate lost boy in immediately post-WWII Germany. In Fred Zinnemann's quasi-documentary, the boy is befriended by Montgomery Clift who aids in the boy's search for his mother. The movie is less harrowing than "Germany, Year Zero," but shows Clift early in his career.
Tokyo Eyes is an oddly entertaining comedy (masquerading as a thriller) about alienated youth in Tokyo. It is, unfortunately, thrown off balance by the incursion of the big yakuza star Takahashi "Beat" Kitano.
Up at the Villa
based on Somerset Maugham's short novel, but has Tuscan scenery, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Sean Penn, Anne Bancroft chewing scenery, and Jeremy Davies looking soulful as a refugee romantic.
Vivacious Lady is a mildly amusing comedy with Ginger Rogers, James Stewart, and a particularly delightful Beulah Bondi. The plot is hard to credit even for a screwball comedy, but if the implausible premises are overlooked, the movie is fun
Western Union is a better-than-expected Western with Randolph Scott and Robert Young and some nasties. Who'd have thought a movie about putting up telegraph poles could be so entertaining?
I have not reviewed any movies with titles that start with "X." The two that came to mind are both so hideous that it would be hard to under-rate them (Xanadu; X, Y, and Zee). The only movie with any possible case to be made is the 1976 Brazilian movie "Xica" (Xica da Silva), written and directed by Carlos Diegues. Xica da Silva is a slave in 18th-century Brazil who bewitches and destroys men. It's better than "Xanadu," but highly suspect on sexual politics grounds.
Yossi and Jagger is a heartbreaking account of Israeli soldiers guarding the border with Lebanon and the love between the title characters (both male: Ohad Knolle and Yehuda Levi). I enjoy the music video, too. I (also love Yi, Yi, but so does everyone who has seen it.)
Zandy's Bride is not all that good (I have reservations about the sexual politics in "Z"), but has good performances by Gene Hackman and Liv Ullman and striking California coast scenery.
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