Entertainment For Lively Minds
Obscure films, where do they go?
I taped a film on Monday called Clay Pigeons. The description was intriguing but it didn't have a review in the Radio Times. A film about a gas attendant who keeps being discovered at murder scenes was worth a shot. So I set it up and watched it last night. It had a woman in the right bottom corner doing sign language, but the start was good so I kept with it.
It's an obscure film from 1998 with a decent cast and produced by Ridley and Tony Scott. It wasn't bad and I enjoyed it while watching it. Afterwards it felt a bit pointless as the dots of the story don't really join up and the first half has little connection to the second half.
Clay Pigeons description:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118863/
It made me think two things.
1. These medium budget, non-art house independent movies (ie. not made by Paramount etc) all suffer from the same script problems. Lucky Number Slevin, The Matador, the Michael Douglas In-Laws remake, Butterfly On A Wheel, My Mom's New Boyfriend with Meg Ryan, The Whole Nine and Ten Yards are the type of films I mean. They always have strangely pointless, unsatisfying endings. It's as if the scripts don't get re-written enough and put through the generic sausage machine until they really work. As "evil" as the studio machine can be, sometimes they get it right as the generic three act structure type of thing just works better than anything else. Those independent films have a tendency to have endings that have no true connection to the start, in my experience.
2. It's amazing how many perfectly decent movies just vanish. I have a book called something like The Virgin Movie Handbook 1989. It's a compilation of movie reviews for that year. There's maybe about three movies to a two page spread. One of those movies will mean nothing to me, the other will be a half remembered thing from way back (Wes Craven's Shocker, Bob Balaban's Parents, Peter Greenaway's Drowning By Numbers) and the other will be a well known film. The number of films that just disappear into an obscure void is amazing. I also have lots of ten year plus old Empire and Total Film magazines. Similar numbers when I look through the new cinema review pages.
Any better than average, now long deleted and critically ignored films you want to big up?
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Can I big up Martin
Directed by George Romero its a vampire film where the main character might just be your ordinary everyday pyscho. He drugs women and drinks their blood by cutting their wrists and his uncle (who he lives with) certainly believes he's a vampire.
It's odd, pretty scary, I've only seen it once but have never forgotten it.
Good Call!
See also 'The Crazies', not as good as Martin, but pretty enjoyable
There's a remake of 'Crazies' coming out soon
It dosen't look too bad.
Same applies
to records and books, I guess? They all disappear into a huge dark void, only to be half remembered on various blogs around the world.
'Screamers' is a long forgotten sci-fi b movie, that is much better than it has any right to be.
'Ice Storm' was a particulary evocative, haunting film that I haven't seen around for ages.
'Name of the Rose' is an absolutely wonderful film, that in an age of constant repeats, seems to have dropped of the radar
Try going to a film and video trade fair
I've been to loads of these and the volume of movies and TV produced, in every language, from all corners of the globe, that no-one will ever see, is truly staggering.
Love, Honour & Obey
Didn't have a huge budget
Filmed in sort of improvised manner (ie the charcter names are the same as the actors)
Cast: Ray Winstone, Sadie Frost, Jonny Lee Miller, Jude Law, Kathy Burke, Sean Pertwee, Rhys Ifans
Gangland storyline, sort of Guy Richie with more humour.
Great film (in my opinion) but don't recall seeing a review and no-one I know had heard of it (before I mentioned it).
Not deleted though - still available through Amazon (other on-line retailers are available)
And
Morons from Outer Space - I thought it was amusing
I never saw 'Love, Honour & Obey'...
...but I remember the 'Avenues & Alleyways' clip being shown more than once during the film's TV publicity push:-
Alvin Purple
Delightful romp-com is how I remember it when I saw it at the flicks many moons ago. Or did I dream it?
It's real
Sadly belongs in the Great Lost Australian Films box, along with Don's Party, The Long Weekend, They're A Weird Mob and the one about the newspaper.
not quite hollywood
'not quite hollywood' a documentary about australian films made in the 60's/70's was released last year and is very good features 'long weekend', 'patrick' etc and it interviews quentin tarantino
check it out
Thanks
For that tip, JC.
Dreamt it, I suspect
I recall Alvin Purple as being the other half of a double bill with Blazing Saddles and I thought it was woeful. Delightful isn't a word I'd readily associate with it.
Transsiberian
One of those bizarre international co-productions with starry names - Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Eduardo Noriega. Can't have been cheap to make with lots of harsh weather location shooting along the titular railway. Only 'released' in 2008 but came free with a newspaper last year. Someone lost a lot money. Actually a very entertaining mash-up of Runaway Train and The Lady Vanishes. Worth a look.
Money
Isn't it because cinemas will only take the big blockbusters for fear of losing money?
I wanted to see Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll but it vanished from the cinema near me in the blink of an eye. There were two screens showing Avatar instead.
The Keep
Very strange World War Two horror pic from Michael Mann with Gabriel Byrne, Ian McKellen and Scott Glen. The film was heavily cut by the studio but even in its truncated form it has a unique atmosphere even if there are some glaring flaws. Have always hoped for a Director's Cut but I think Mann is too busy shooting rubbish like Miami Vice and Public Enemies.
The Squeeze
They don't show The Squeeze on telly anymore and at time of writing, it's yet to even receive a DVD release. Outrageous really because it's one of the best, most authentic and most underrated Brit-crime thrillers ever made to rank alongside Get Carter. The latter may have been based on the original Ted Lewis novel, Jack's Return Home, but the Squeeze is closer to Lewis's sleazy tone.
It's also horribly authentic, in part due to its gritty locations: a cigarette smoke-fugged London Underground, dismal pubs and Soho 'massage parlours', and a pre-gentrified Battersea and Clapham, vividly portrayed in birds-eye view.
What a cast too: Stacy Keach. David Hemmings. Edward Fox. Stephen Boyd. Carol (Poor Cow) White. And, well, Freddie Starr. Who's admittedly excellent. It was made in 1977 by Michael Apted, who also devised the 7-Up series, oddly enough.
I've an old VHS of this complete with original cover, but this really deserves a DVD release as soon as. If they can ressurect 'Babylon', they can do the same for The Squeeze.
Anyone remember these?
Zero Effect - an offbeat sort-of comedy with Bill Pullman (or was it Jeff Daniels, I get them confused sometimes) as a brilliant private investigator with such catastrophic social skills that he has to use a slick PR man (Ben Stiller) to front up the business. Robert Wagner and Kim Dickens are in it too. Really good film which I've never seen since it vanished from the cinemas soon after it arrived.
Last Night - I think I might have mentioned this before. The earth is about to come to an end in some unspecified way. Everyone knows. The film follows a few people as they prepare for the end. Just a bloody wonderful film, funny,wry and touching. My favourite character is the head of the gas company, played by David Cronenburg, who spends the last few hours phoning round the company's customers to assure them there will be service right up to the end.
The Quiet Earth - on a slightly related theme, the film starts with a man waking up and gradually coming to the realisation that he may well be the only man left alive on earth. Heavy, man.
Wow
Those three films all sound incredible and I've never heard of any of them!
Love the first two...
but have never even heard of The Quiet Earth. Must seek it out.
The Quiet Earth!
It's a New Zealand film. As you correctly say, the man wakes up to find everyone else has disappeared. With not-very-hilarious results!The scenes in central Auckland are really well done.
Thanks for the reminder
I'd completely forgotten about Last Night - I actually saw it in the cinema and it was great - must search out the DVD.
Johnny Suede (one of Brad Pitt's early films) is a little underappreciated I think. It's currently £2 in Fopp at Cambridge Circus if anyone's interested.
Prince of the City
A very long, very complicated true story about police corruption starring Treat Williams and Jerry Orbach from Law and Order. I saw it once when it came out in the early 80's, it impressed the hell out of me and vanished.
Unman Wittering and Zigo was a MASSIVE hit when I was at high school, at least in the circles I travelled in and I have not heard of it since. It was about evil schoolkids if I recall
I've actually seen a few of the other films on this list, The Quiet Earth is a Kiwi film starring the late, great Bruno Lawrence.
Alvin Purple was so successful in Australia it spawned a sequel "Alvin Rides Again" and a TV series. Every scene was identical to the previous one. Gormless (and somewhat unwilling) man has an inexplicable power over women, they can't help themselves and have their way with him. That is it.
Yes!
Unman, Wittering and Zygo (absent!) - good one, in the tradition of If...
Prince of the City
Seconded...Fantastic film
Films i love but nobody (Apart from on here ) seems to know
Rampage--Directed by William Friedkin. a serial Killer film with the bloke from The "Papa don't preach " Video. Also ; Live and Die in L.A
Short Time ---Dabney Coleman and the Bloke who played Max Headroom,Me and my mates love this film. Very funny
The Tao of Steve--- am i the only person who has seen this ?
there are a few more but i'd need to go through my DVD collection.
You are not alone!
I love theTao Of Steve. It's a romantic comedy that is both romantic and funny - and intelligent. Greer Goodman is Very Fanciable. And if you have the DVD, don't miss the director's commentary, which is a delight.
Static
There's a film called 'Static' - Matk Romanek. 1986 - I've always wanted to watch. One of those off-the-wall, surreal,young american indie movies, but coherent and heartfelt also..allegedly.
I've heard a lot of good things about it from people whose opinions i respect but as far as I'm aware it's never been released on DVD over here.Last time I checked there was a VHS torrent on Pirate bay but too few seeds to be worth bothering with.
Anyone here seen it?
Opinions?
Sources?
Is That
The one with the bloke who makes crucifixes,Chrish ? if,so. it was very very weird. That's all i seem to remember. I watched a hell of a lot of films in the 80's.
At a loose end one weekday afternoon 12 or 13 years ago
I wandered into the Irish Film Centre in Dublin, and bought a ticket for whatever was due to start next. It turned out to be an Australian film called Kiss or Kill, which was just great.
I've never come across it since, though I did track it down online a year or two ago, before deciding not to order it in case I'd falsely remembered just how good it was. I might have to correct that now. Thanks for inadvertently reminding me.
The Plague Dogs
I bang on about this to anyone who'll listen.
It came out about 1982, and it was the sort of follow up to Watership Down in that it was also based on a Richard Whatsisname book and it was the same animation team.
Two dogs escape from a medical research centre and are hunted down by authorities as they might be contagious. It's absolutely heartbreaking. The main theme is sung by Alan Price: great sad gospelly song.
Bill Forsyth films
Comfort and Joy seems to have been forgotten, along with That Sinking Feeling. I really enjoyed those. Looking at Wikipedia there are several others I've never heard of, let alone seen.
that sinking feeling
came out on dvd a few months ago, but it's an awful, dubbed version - posh edinburgh accents instead of the original glaswegian.
Liquid Sky
Is a no budget US indie movie from the early eighties I've seen twice in cinemas, but has never had a UK dvd release. Quite ridiculous/brilliant story about new wave styled clubbers being attacked by aliens who feed of orgasmic energy...
On a related subject great to hear Twin Peaks series 2 DVD is finally getting a UK release.
23:58
A French movie about a heist that takes place during the Le Mans 24-hour motorcycle race. Saw it once at GFT in 1993 and have searched for a video/DVD ever since, to no avail.
I loved Short Time years ago
but I bought it on budget DVD and it wasn't too good. Brilliant set up for a film though (cop thinks he has only days to live so wants to die in the line of duty so his family gets the a massive payout, but no matter how dangerous a situation he always comes out alive).
Zero Effect is a great detective film. It gets screened on terrestrial TV about once a year so it's easy enough to see. Well worth seeing.
12:01 is a 1993 TV movie that no one seems to know about. It's the same story as Groundhog Day but with a murder in it. Really good film though the ending is flawed (SPOILER: they stop the time bounce but it would have made more sense to do another day so less carnage and death takes place).
Cold Turkey
Populace of dying town attempt to give up smoking to win prize whilst tobacco company frantically try to sabotage the endeavour.Comedy with Dick Van Dyke and many other weel kent faces from 60's and 70's US film and TV.After searching for this for years a mate paid a fortune for a ropey VHS copy on e-bay.It popped up on TCM just the other day.
good choices
'zero effect', 'last night' and 'the quiet earth' last seen all on VHS although 'the quiet earth' has been uploaded to youtube.
my choice would be 'music of chance' based on a paul auster story starring james spader, mandy patinkin, chris penn and the great m.emmet walsh-terrific
The Music of Chance
Excellent film and script. In answer to the question of where they go, once the rights to a (non-studio) movie have been sold to distributors they are exploited for a set number of years - five or six was the norm when I was in this business in the 90s. "Exploited" means released in cinemas first, then DVD, sold to pay TV, then free-to-air TV and so on. Once this period has ended the rights usually revert back to the production company. In the case of TMOC this seems to have been IRS Media and Transatlantic Films, both of whom are no longer with us - as is the way of the film business. There's often a fire sale when a film company goes bust and there are a few companies who sell the rights to these obscure films, but, sadly, once they have had their first run they tend to languish in obscurity pretty much forever, unavailable and rarely seen.
The one I would love to see again is "Lamerica" by Gianni Amelio, a great, political Italian film from 1996.
I vaguely remember The Music of Chance
....psychological games playing film with a very downbeat ending. Very disturbing.
I've got The Quiet Earth on DVD but for some reason I've not sat down to watch it yet. Certainly not long deleted.
Here's another: Hustle with Burt Reynolds and Catherine Deneuve. Great mid 70s cop thriller with Burt actually acting a la Deliverance as opposed to Smokey & Bandit clowning around.
Timescape
Jeff Daniels (I think) realises the weird people visiting his town are tourists from the future. Saw it on early evening BBC2 about 15 years ago, but never since.
Goodbye Pork Pie
an old favourite, 80's New Zealand road movie starring an old Mini. Sort of Thelma And Louise for sheep shaggers.
Now this is obscure (maybe?)
In France - in the early 1980s I saw Malcolm McDowell's Britannia Hospital. That's not the obscure bit. There was a short film that went with it that brought the house down, laughter-wise.
It featured kidney beans in a group, gathering together to overthrow some unseen opressor. No dialogue apart from squeaks. It really was very funny. Anyone know what it was?