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Movie Sleepers?


DizRotus

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This list starts and ends for me with the 1976 Paddy Chayevsky film "Network".

NO american should be issued a diploma of any significant value without seeing and understanding this film first. Paddy not only saw the future of television - he saw the future of the world, driven by the device we know as television. While it enjoyed a certain popularity in the 70's, and won four Academy Awards, the film has largely been forgotten, and more importantly the message has been forgotten, too. IMO, one of the 10 most important films in the last 50 years, and a cinematic art that is every bit as well done as the message is.

"When the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome, god&^#* propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what sh.... will be peddled for truth on this network".

- Howard Beale (who is, not by coincidence, my avatar image)
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How about:

Defiance with Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber

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Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies

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Both are incredible stories about triumph and determination and based on true stories.

Bill

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Riding Giants

Bustin Down the Door

(excellent surf movies)

Absolutely and a couple more of the same genre that should be added .

Step into Liquid - done by Dana Brown the son of Bruce who did Endless Summer 1 and gosh almost 30 years later Endless Summer 2 .

Billabong Odyssey - all about the insane big wave riding being done today .

I would also throw Dogtown and Z-Boys into the mix .

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Riding Giants

Bustin Down the Door

(excellent surf movies)

Absolutely and a couple more of the same genre that should be added . Step into Liquid - done by Dana Brown the son of Bruce who did Endless Summer 1 and gosh almost 30 years later Endless Summer 2 . Billabong Odyssey - all about the insane big wave riding being done today .

I would also throw Dogtown and Z-Boys into the mix .

For sure. I always felt that Step into Liquid did get enough attention so wasn't a sleeper. Awesome though, one of my favorites.

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Don't know if they really qualify as sleepers, but here are a few that have knocked me out over the years....

Something Wild - by Jonathan Demme - starring Jeff Daniels & Melanie Griffith

Brother From Another Planet - by John Sayles - starring Joe Morton

Badlands - by Terrence Malick - starring Martin Sheen & Sissy Spacek [:)]

James

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Quiz Show - directed by Robert Redford, a riveting dramatization of the quiz show scandals in the late 50's, specifically Charles van Doren's run on the show "Twenty-One"

Searching for Bobby Fischer - One of my favorite sports films; and if you disagree with my defining chess as a sport, it's more about fatherly expectations, and includes training, the "slump", and more edge-of-your-seat drama than some of the athletic-oriented films

That Thing You Do - Tom Hanks directorial debut - about the "one-hit" Wonders, and featuring a very catchy tune, and some warm nostalgic nods to the early 60's

Intolerable Cruelty - one of the Coen Brothers less-lauded films, a terrific satire of divorce among those of means. Plus it features the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones...

Galaxy Quest - warm-hearted spoof of TV space fantasy fandom and the egos of the performers from the shows - with some surprisingly good special effects when it gets real

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+1 for The Game - I really enjoyed this film.

The Sixth Sense - another film i also enjoyed and have in my collection

Not sure you could classify The Sixth Sense as a sleeper film... it grossed nearly 300 million at the box office domestically, and 380 million overseas...

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I'll second on Galaxy Quest. One of my favorite "spoof" movies, but with a good solid story line.

Cool

...and wonderfully quotable:

"Miners, not minors..."

"At least he's outside"

"Just like my mom used to make"

"I'm just jazzed to be on the show..." , or just about every line delivered by Sam Rockwell's "Guy"

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"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more" - Network

" You look like a boxer, can't you sir?" - Mickey in ******

"Apparently the best thing to do is cut the body in 6 pieces and pile it up [makes piling motion with hands]" - Bricktop in ******

Bricktop's favorite means of disposal was a stun gun, a plastic bag, and pack of hungry pigs - ******

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Anyone ever wonder where the plot for "A Fistful of Dollars", "A Few Dollars More", etc came from?

Akira Kurosawa's iconic nameless wandering samurai in "Yojimbo".

Black and white, but really good. The "Fistful of Dollars" plot is almost identical, including the side characters like the coffin maker, etc.

The second one, Sanjuro is also pretty good.

If you like Akira Kurosawa's films, the iconic classic, "Seven Samurai" is a great "sleeper". It's a long movie however, but well worth it.

[H]

[H]

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