. The White, The Yellow And The Black (1975)
AKA ‘Samurai’ and ‘Shoot first… Ask Questions Later’. A pretty funny and well written spaghetti western. Worth a watch if your looking for some light entertainment and a few laughs.
. Get Him To The Greek (2010)
Don’t understand why films like ‘Superbad’ (2007) and ‘21 Jump Street’ (2010) become beloved classics while this was forgotten. It’s got the comedy of a raunchy late-2000’s Seth Rogan like film and the action of a James Bond movie. The inclusion of Pedo Diddy didn’t age well but that can be forgiven.
A Scanner Darkly (2006) is a rotoscoped movie based on a Philip K Dick novel set in future LA with a detective trying to find the supply of a dangerous new drug while being addicted to it and suffering from his addiction. The rotoscoping helps add a vibe of delirium to the movie and it is well acted including probably one of the best uses of Keanu Reeves as an actor.
Checking out more of Richard Linklater’s work is also highly recommended.
Waking Life (2001)
Philosophy and dreams combine for an enlightening journey. It’s a good rewatch if you’ve not seen it in a long while.
Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), Before Midnight (2013, I haven’t seen this one)
Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have beautiful explorations of love and the human condition.
I’d like to nominate two animated French anthologies.
- Oggy and the Cockroaches: The Movie (2013)
Based on the TV series, which involves a blue cat, Oggy, trying (and failing) to stop three cockroaches (Joey, Marky, Dee Dee) from eating the food in his fridge. Much like its spiritual predecessor, Tom and Jerry, it’s devoid of dialogue. Only this time, it takes place across four time periods: the Stone Age, Medieval Europe, Victorian London (a spoof of Sherlock Holmes) and the very distant future (a spoof of Star Wars). It’s got a pretty interesting ending as well (I won’t spoil it). If you enjoy silent cartoony humour then I can see you liking this as well, otherwise I wouldn’t really bother. (Sidenote: the opening scene is eerily similar to that of the Minions movie, which came out just two years later.) - The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (2017)
Unlike Oggy, this one has dialogue. I personally watched the UK English dub, which was superb IMO! It’s a compilation of three 30-minute specials involving farm animals going on adventures. The first and third ones involve Pig, Rabbit, and Duck trying to fill in for some fantastical deliverer: in the first, they find a stork with a broken wing and try to deliver a baby for him, and in the other, they try to distribute presents because they believe Santa has passed away. The second involves a Fox going to a Wolf and learning to steal chicken eggs and wait for the chicks to grow up, instead of terrorising the adult chickens already in the farm. However, this falls apart when the hatched chicks start calling him “Mummy”. Not all of the segments are of equal hilarity (my ranking: 1 and 2 are both great, yet 3 is mid – maybe I’m just a Grinch), yet it does consistently manage to deliver in terms of its simple yet fun art style, and just the overall charm.
These films aren’t exactly the most compelling IMO, but they’re good watches when you’re lazing and just want to have some cartoony fun.
I really like Gladiator (1992) which is an underground boxing film with James Marshal, Cuba Gooding Jr and Brian Dennehy.
James Marshal is a young boxer who’s dad hits hard times and moves to a rough area where he gets dragged into the underground boxing scene.
When an island off the coast of Ireland is invaded by bloodsucking aliens, the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.
Also The Siege of Jadotville but probab
Irish Commandant Pat Quinlan leads a stand off with troops against French and Belgian Mercenaries in the Congo during the early 1960s.
Not exactly “hidden gem” but definitely not well known.
