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Five Good Films You May Have Never Seen

by on July 28, 2010

As there were no new releases this week in which I was interested, I have decided to give a few recommendations on films that you may have never seen and in turn, I’m asking for your recommendations.

So, in no particular order, here are five films that I enjoy that you may have never seen.


Them – 2006 – Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud.
This is an example of a simple story that when directed by someone with a talent for creating an eerie atmosphere becomes an unnerving film. This French film was originally marketed as a completely true story, including a mock news reel available on the film’s web site. Clémentine and Lucas, ready for a weekend away from work, retire to their isolated home. Clémentine is awoken in the middle of the night to a strange noise and the film gains speed from there. If you are someone who has a fear of being alone in a large house or if you have a fear of home invasion, skip this one. Otherwise, it is a great example of an atmospheric piece from France. If you enjoy this and want something a little gorier, also check out Frontiers, another French horror film.


Blood In Blood Out: Bound By Honor – 1993 – Taylor Hackford, director of An Officer and a Gentlemen, Proof of Life and Ray.
Hackford’s film follows half-brothers Paco and Cruz and their cousin Miklo. Miklo is half-white and half-Hispanic. Unfortunately for Miklo, he appears to be white, having received his father’s white skin. From his mother he received a love of his Hispanic heritage. Miklo doesn’t fit in his father’s world and he is not readily accepted by the Hispanic group of his family. Miklo goes to great lengths to prove himself and thereby become a member of the “Vatos Locos” gang. The film follows the family for thirty years and shows how three different people’s personalities lead them to react to a single event in drastically different ways. It is a long film, but the story is beautiful. Also, this is the first place I ever remember seeing Billy Bob Thorton, Benjamin Bratt, Delroy Lindo, Ving Rhames, Danny Trejo and Lanny Flaherty.


Eurotrip – 2004 – Jeff Schafer, only because the director’s guild forced the trio of writers/directors to select an individual director.
Eurotrip follows Scotty and Cooper, two high school friends on their trip to Berlin to meet Scotty’s beautiful German pen-pal. Originally titled Ugly Americans, Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Travis Wester and Michelle Trachtenberg are joined by some outstanding cameos. Full of cultural misunderstandings and hilarious situations, watch for Vinnie Jones. This is the one you have most likely seen, but I have found that there are enough people who haven’t seen this one and need to be informed.


If Lucy Fell – 1996 – Eric Schaeffer
Sarah Jessica Parker, Eric Schaeffer, Elle McPherson and Ben Stiller star in a romantic comedy about a pair of friends that decide that if they are not in stable relationships by a certain date that they will jump off of The Brooklyn Bridge. If Lucy Fell is mostly about the characters and partially about the dialogue. This is one of the few romantic comedies I enjoy and while some parts of this one seem contrived, like most rom-coms, I think the dialogue makes up for it. Parker plays Lucy, a role that doesn’t annoy me like most of her roles do. Schaeffer is quite funny and I’m surprised he hasn’t been in more films. Ben Stiller plays Bwick Elias, an artist that is out of touch with everything. Also, keep your eyes open for a VERY young Scarlett Johansson.


Triangle – 2009 – Christopher Smith
Another horror film? Yes, horror is my genre of choice. I wouldn’t feel right without providing a horror heavy list. Triangle is about a group of passengers on a yacht. When the yacht is no longer safe because of weather conditions, the passengers jump onto a passing cruise ship, only to find that they are in much greater danger. Not much more can be said without spoiling this one. Triangle is not the best horror film ever made, but it has inspired more conversation than most horror films in recent memory, except for Martyrs (which I can not recommend, even though I liked the film). Love it or hate it, chances are, you will talk about it.

I’d like to hear from you. What film do you really enjoy? It doesn’t have to be the perfect film, just something that you love that many people haven’t seen.

Jay (J.C.) Fralick is the host of The Drivecast
The co-host of the Wanna Watch a Movie Podcast
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66 comments read them below or add one

  1. Moon was another good one that I’m afraid slipped by a lot of people. Sam Rockwell was fantastic in this film!

  2. Of all the films, I’ve only seen one of them. (Eurotrip.) Now I’ve got some to add to my Netflix list!!

  3. I’ve been wanting to see Them. I did enjoy Frontiers very much.

    I like where Joel’s head is at. Moon was my favorite film from last year. Absolutely great movie!

    Matthew Burnside Factoid: In Eurotrip (love it!), a joke is made about the Eastwood Mall. Never heard of it? You shouldn’t have. It is a small mall in Niles, OH. I worked there for 2 years. I have always been shocked that joke didn’t get cut.

  5. This is going back a darn long ways, but I’m a huge fan of Monte Hellman’s “Two Lane Blacktop”, perhaps the best film about muscle car racing ever. I know. You’re saying “meh… it doesn’t have ghosts or wizards in it”. Yeah? Well, watch this:

  7. Moon was great, I triple that recommend.

    Others that nobody seems to have seen but me:

    Dangerous Beauty (1998)
    The Duellists (1977)
    Buying The Cow (2002)
    The Ten (2007)
    Charlie Bartlett (2007)

  8. Everything is Illuminated. Hilarious film with a touching ending and good performances all around.

  9. I echo Jaime’s Miyazaki’s recommendation, specifically with “Spirited Away.” Other favorite, rare little gems for me include Charles Burnett’s “To Sleep With Anger” (featuring a creepy Danny Glover), Miranda July’s “Me And You And Everyone We Know”, “Notes On A Scandal”, and the awesome “F For Fake”, Orson Welles’ quasi-documentary about art forgery.

  12. Hedwig and the Angry Inch
    Harold and Maude
    BACON HEAD (hard to find Troma-distributed film made up of very funny and weird vignettes)
    TETSUO: Iron Man (like Japanese David Lynch)
    Phenomena (aka Creepers) (Dario Argento film with Jennifer Connolly)

  13. “Sunshine” – amazing sci-fi from the writer/director team that brought us “28 Days Later”. It starts out tense and becomes horrifying. This is kind of a more patient alternative to “Event Horizon”, not detracting from that film of course.

  14. Boy, that list was not what I expected… How about this:
    - The Delicate Art of the Rifle (1996) – An excellent story of a sniper told by his theater geek roommate
    - The House of Yes (1997) – Mark Waters directs Parker Posey in a twisted tale of family drama and JFK assassination
    - Even Dwarves Started Small (1970) – Bizarre film about dwarves from Werner Herzog
    - Frat House (1998) – Todd Phillips debut documentary is great even if parts of it might have been staged
    - The Ruling Class (1972) – Brilliantly odd movie about a crazy man who thinks he’s Jesus, while his rich family plots against him

  15. I’m feeling a Netflix queue clean up and mass film add coming soon. Keep meaning to see Moon. A few mentioned that I have seen. Great ones. Keep them coming!

  16. with the exception of Blood In Blood Out, this list is not that extensive, I’d suggest a few other ones like…”Feed”

  17. THEM gave me nightmares for weeks. WEEKS. I saw it at SXSW, came home, and was terrified to be left alone at night. The film is amazing!

    I’ll have to check out a few of these films — add them to Netflix and whatnot.

  18. Martian Child w/John Cusack – very sweet father/son story
    Still Breathing w/ Brendan Fraser & Joanna Going – slow moving love story but cinemetography is gorgeous.

  19. Ooh, I second Sunshine and Amelie. Quite polar opposites, but both completely worth watching (and re-watching).

  21. Ditto for Two Lane Blacktop.

    Anyone who has not seen Moon is really missing out. Check out one of Sam Rockwell’s earlier movies– Box of Moonlight. Weird, but good.

  22. Triangle scared the crap out of me and I had to watch it a couple times to get everything.

  24. Speaking of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, anyone else see Mysterious Skin. I only saw it once in the theater, in which I was the only attendant, but I remember Araki building more of a narrative than usual.
    I’m a crazy PCU fan and I’m constantly shocked when no one ever catches my references to it.
    The first time I saw The Believer I was rather speechless; that and Gosling in Half Nelson.
    I could do this all day.
    Thanks for the list, especially the Horrors. My life’s goal is to find the perfect horror movie.

  26. The only movie selection from this list I really agree with is “Blood in, Blood out”. But what about “Colors”? That was a great film too.

    If you want to see a very strange, but intriguing animated film, check out
    “Through a Scanner Darkly”. Very wierd. Has good people though -
    Woody Harrelson, Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and some others I can’t remember.

  27. oh dood, if lucy fell is one of la mama’s favorite movies.

    this is to say it’s awesome.

    now i want to see it. fly home or netflix?

    tough decision, yo.

  28. Voices of a Distant Star. Short (25 minutes) anime made pretty much by just one dude (Makoto Shinkai). His artwork is stunning. His full-length features can get a bit boring but every frame of his movies is frame-able. http://brk.to/voices

    Dark City. I feel like people on Nerdist would have seen it, but I’m listing it just in case. Dude wakes up naked in a tub with no memory of who he is and a carved-up dead woman in the next room. It just gets weirder from there. One of Ebert’s favorites and (kind of) similar to Inception. http://brk.to/e6r

    Oh and I like that everyone is recommending Moon. Has anyone that’s seen that NOT liked it? I love the use of practical effects. Models over CG! Good flick.

  30. Eric Schaeffer was writing/directing/starring in the sublime series “Gravity” on Starz until it was canceled last month. It was by far the best show on TV that no one was talking about.

  32. The Protector

    It is a Thai movie I believe and it is an epic fighting movie. The style they use is Muay Thai I believe and they brake so many bones it is just EPIC!

  33. Suspiria – If you like horror and can look past some amazingly bad dubbing, it’s a beautifully shot film. Gore-geous.
    Feast (2005) – From Project Greenlight 3. One of the funniest horror flicks I’ve ever seen (that no one else has).
    Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Shane Black is a word magician, imo. The exchanges between Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer are zinger-riffic.

  35. I’m going to recommend a few lighthearted options:

    “Not on the Lips” by Alain Renais
    “8 Women” by Francois Ozon
    “Easy Virtue” with Colin Firth (a remake of a Noel Coward play)
    “Lone Star State of Mind” with Joshua Jackson (hilarious!)

    I like to laugh, if you can’t tell.

  38. 1.) “Moon” (2009) – Duncan Jones gets snubbed as best director, Moon gets snubbed for best film, and Sam Rockwell gets snubbed for best actor… I guess being David Bowie’s son just doesn’t carry as much weight as it used to.

    2.) “Ghost Town” (2008) – Possibly the best movie Ricky Gervais has been in. I think it was unfairly overlooked as romantic comedy slop, just like every movie starring Greg Kinnear, which is a shame in this case because it was amazingly well done.

    3.) “The Lookout” (2007) – Joseph Gordon Levitt was coming off an amazing performance in “Brick”, which no one also saw, but this movie was the better of the two I think which is why it garners a spot on my list.

    4.) “The Weather Man” (2005) – Nicolas Cage at his finest if there is such a thing. If you haven’t seen this movie, then you haven’t truly been depressed… if there is such a thing…

    5.) “Death at a Funeral” (2007) – N0, that date is not a typo. Long before this movie got the crappy American overhaul, and Chris Rock, it was a dark, gritty, hilarious Brittish Comedy, with the huge plus of being directed by the amazing Frank Oz. Kudos to the remake though for the carryover of Peter Dinklage, possibly the best part of BOTH films.

  39. I will second Ghost Town and The Lookout. I enjoyed both those films.

    Ravenous (1999)
    Sweet Land (2005)

  41. Although it probably doesn’t fit here anymore or shouldn’t since Inception, I find that not enough people have seen my favorite film of all time: Memento.

    Chistopher Nolan is a genius.

  42. I can second: Moon, Feast, Suspiria, Sunshine, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Brick

    I worked in a video store for a few years. I’d also recommend these that people would overlook:

    Lars and the Real Girl – one of the the best movies I’ve seen in a long time, with Ryan Gosling as a guy who orders a doll girlfriend over the internet, not as funny as you’d think, more sweet

    Following – early Christopher Nolan… enough said

    Arthur – for you younger folks, late British comedian Dudley Moore plays an ultra-rich playboy who needs to grow up, one of the funniest movies ever, but also poignant, with Sir John Gielgud

    Fulltime Killer – Hong Kong release with Andy Lau, great story of two rival assassins, superior and stylish action sequences

    Let the Right One In – overlooked because it’s a Swedish vampire movie, being remade by Matt Reeves as “Let Me In, but don’t miss the original

  43. 10 Items or Less, starring Morgan Freeman and the gorgeous Paz Vega. It’s an odd flick with a fairly simple premise that warms the heart after watching it…definitely flew far, far under the radar when it came out.

  44. Before I begin: those of you who have not seen Moon and have Netflix accounts need to know that it is available on Instant. Go! Why are you still reading my post?

    Everyone else: how could I possibly be at a post on a website called Nerdist with 41 comments so far and be the first one to mention Primer? Wow! Well, I’ll take the honor! So yeah:

    Primer – one of the best “thinking sci-fi” movies I’ve ever seen, up there with and possibly above Moon. Two engineers accidentally invent a time machine, and chaos ensues. It was made on a budget of only a few thousand dollars!

    The Machinist – before filming Batman Begins, Christian Bale starved himself, got down to 120 lbs, and made this film. It’s very bizarre… about a man who works in a factory as a machinist. He has had insomnia for over a year, and the viewer cannot tell just quite how much of what surrounds him is real. An incredible psychological thriller.

    Hannah Takes the Stairs – this film is part of relatively unknown film movement called mumblecore, in which a more realistic approach to storytelling is taken, leaving in the awkward pauses and using unknown actors and heavy improvisation. I’ll admit right off the bat that some may not enjoy the style, but I’m a fan.

  45. [I love "hidden gem" lists--perhaps you should expand this into a regular feature?]

    Here are my five:

    CQ (2002)
    Writer/director Roman Coppola (son of Francis) tells the tale of a young American in 1960s Paris (Jeremy Davies), hired to salvage a BARBARELLA-style sci-fi camp mess. Meanwhile, he focuses the lens on himself as his personal life becomes its own disaster.

    DARK DAYS (2000)
    Documentarian Marc Singer burrows deep under the streets of NYC to live with a homeless set derisively referred to as “Mole People.”

    THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS (2003)
    Cinematic iconoclast Lars von Trier impishly challenges his hero, Jorgen Leth, to repeatedly remake Leth’s own short film, THE PERFECT HUMAN, with increasingly more taxing “obstructions.”

    HIGHBALL (2000)
    Noah Baumbach’s uber-indie response to FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL: a group of friends convene and reconvene through a series of parties. Shot in six days for next-to-nothing.

    THE LAST MINUTE (2001)
    Ultra-quirky trip down the rabbit-hole of fame’s vagaries, and into the murkiness of what lies beyond. Written and directed by Stephen Norrington.

    Honorable mentions: AMERICAN PIMP, BACKBEAT, BUS 174, THE DANCER UPSTAIRS, DIG!, FOUR DAYS IN SEPTEMBER, HAIKU TUNNEL, INTACTO, KONTROLL, LENNY, LIVING IN OBLIVION, MEN WITH GUNS, REAL LIFE, RKO 281, RUSSIAN ARK, SCHIZOPOLIS, SPRING FORWARD, STANDER, STYLE WARS, THURSDAY, WAYDOWNTOWN, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

  46. Oh man u caught me. “Primer” was on my list at #6. Hands down the best movie about time travel and I don’t just mean indie films. Also in the honorable mention section are three amazing Val Kilmer movies “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” an amazing film and Downeys real comeback roll, “Wonderland” about John Holmes and the wonderland murders, and “Salton Sea” which u should see for the stellar performance by Vincent D’Onofrio as the drug dealer that did so much meth his nose fell off… fucking brilliant.

  47. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! You’ve just cured the “I don’t know what to watch on Netflix anymore” blues.

    Also, films you should watch:
    Time Crimes
    Let the Right One In
    Black Dynamite

  48. MAY (2003) – an amazing horror movie that more people should see. It’ll make you really uncomfortable but it will feel sooo good.

    I’m curious about the “Let the right one in” remake. I really enjoyed that movie. It was shot beautifully, very interesting framing.

  49. DEAD MAN (1995) – black and white film featuring Johnny Depp as William Blake. Can be slow but a Lot of good performances.

    RESERVATION ROAD (2007) – Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo in a great and emotional movie about two men involved in a hit and run that changes their lives.

    GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS (2005) – Elijah Wood in a cultural shock role, relevant now due to the world cup.

    And some that have been mentioned

    LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

    LOVE LIZA

  50. Black Sheep. It’s easily the best B horror movie I’ve ever seen. The sheep go crazy and become a terror! I mean, a sheep bites off a guy’s dick. If the cover said only that, I’d have rented it. It’s magical.

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