We've all seen them - movies you've just happened to stumble upon that hardly made a wave in the hottest movie magazine. What movies have you seen that you just can't say enough about, if only people had ever heard of them?

My favourites:

"Canadian Bacon" - anyone from Canada, who lives near Canada, knows a Canadian or just like Canadian jokes would LOVE this movie. An all-star cast including John Candy, Rhea Perlman and Alan Alda are a Niagara Falls Sheriff, his Deputy and the US President (respectively). The movie is set at the end of the Cold War and peace has broken out. You know the old saying, some of the only people who don't profit from peace are arms manufacturers? Well, what happens when that's the entire economy of Niagara Falls (well, minus bowling alleys and bars)? This movie is pretty good for the entire family, although the younger ones probably wouldn't get most of the jokes.

"Enemies: A Love Story" - Starring Anjelica Huston and Ron Silver. This is a *weird* movie that is pretty humourous regarding a pretty serious subject. Ron Silver's character lost his wife in WWII in Europe. Now he's moved to the US and married the young Polish girl who worked for him and his wife. But he's also got a Russian bit on the side! There were so many times I thought I *knew* what would happen in the story and then there was a huge turn so I had no idea what would happen next. It's rated R for a love-scene or two and mature content.

"Haunted Honeymoon" - Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner star as a young couple of radio stars back in the 1930s. This is the FUNNIEST scary-mystery I've ever seen!

"My Fellow Americans" - Jack Lemmon, James Gardner and Dan Akroyd (also the guy who plays Josh on "West Wing") are in this movie where two ex-presidents - who have hated each other their entire political career - need to band together to try and find out who is behind a coverup, and who is trying to kill them. This is a hilarious movie that makes you wish politics was this fun.

"Ever After" - with Drew Barrymore and Angelica Huston: Another twist on the Cinderella story but very well done and a great family movie.

"Creator" - with Peter O'Toole and Muriel Hemingway: about a scientist who attempts to clone his wife but meets a young lady who teaches him to let go of the past. A very humorous and touching movie. Watch with tissues.

"The Big Lebowski" kind of sank without a trace, except for Coen Brothers fans. It is a little odd, but if you just ride with it, very funny.
"Mask", with, of all people, Cher. A real tear-jerker, about fifteen years old or so by now.

Oh, and "Dead Man" with Johnny Depp. This is my husband's favorite movie. You need a fairly high tolerance for lack of what a rigid person might call "sense", however.

"The Believer": Ryan Gosling showing off his acting ability.(Really,it's scary.) I've mentioned this movie before but in case you don't know,Gosling plays a young neo-Nazi who also happens to be Jewish. Very controversial before it's release so much so that it premiered on Showtime or HBO and not in your local theater.

"The Man In The Moon": One of Reese Witherspoon's first movies. I caught it on the Bravo channel one night and was hooked.

"Tigerland": Colin Farrell stars as a soldier drafted during the Vietnam war. There aren't any actual war scenes because the whole movie takes place during Farrell's training.(Hmm...Colin Farrell playing a randy guy who loves the "F" word.....what a stretch!) But he is actually very good.

"Molokai: The Story of Father Damien".

This is a fabulous movie, made in about 1999-2000. It appeared in the cinema for such a short time that if you blinked, you probably missed it. I tried to get it when it came out on video, but none of the shops would stock it because they didn't think it would sell. I managed to get a copy of it recently via special order but it wasn't easy. Now I am trying to get the book it was based on (have ordered it from Amazon as it is not available in Australia).

"Molokai" is the true story of the work of a Catholic priest, Father Damien, who worked with the lepers of the Molokai colony. Father Damien is currently being considered for sainthood.

This movie may not be to everybody's taste but I particularly like true stories and I am also interested in leper colonies since my sister-in-law "CC" (Maynooth's sister) was adopted from a Philippine leper colony. Her parents were lepers and in keeping with the policies at that time, as soon as she was born, she was taken away from her parents and put into a Catholic orphanage so that she would not contract leprosy. Her mother wrote to my mother-in-law (they were pen-pals) and asked her to adopt CC and give her a good life in America, which she did.

The bureaucracy involved was unbelievable as "CC" was the first child to ever leave that island. In fact, my mother-in-law was never one to mess about - when she found obstacles, she went straight to President Marcos and enlisted his help to get the adoption accomplished.

Anyway, back to the movie "Molokai". It stars David Wenham in the title role, an actor well known in Australia for his role as "Diver Dan" in "Seachange". He also played Audrey in "Moulin Rouge" and Faramir in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Apart from David Wenham, it also stars Sam Neill, Kate Ceberano, Leo McKern, Kris Kistofferson, Derek Jacobi, Peter O'Toole - to name a few.

I highly recommend this movie. I loved it so much I made a quiz on it. It is probably the LEAST played of any quiz on this website, indicating how few people are familiar with this movie (at least I hope that's why it hasn't been played!)

Hope it's okay to bump this thread up, as it's a good one!

I also saw the Father Damien movie Molokai several times.He's one of my most admired people in spiritual work - because he wasn't afraid of anything. I love that.

Mask - because it's a true story about the heroic but much - suffering Roy Dennis,whom we are introduced to as a teenager suffering from Lionitisan almost always fatal bone cell disease which results in terrrible deformity. Roy is still living, although in a struggle with substance abuse problems.

Being There is my favorite Peter Sellers movie just because it has an abstract fairy tale feeling to it. Sellers is wonderful as Chance the Gardener, along with Shirley McClaine as his [non] love interest.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape is another sleeper most people missed. Not only is Johnny Depp easy on the eyes, but the storyline of this odd movie will have you both scratching your head and wishing the Grape family well. Not for the shallow minded.

Ballad Of the Sad Cafe is all at once grotesque [ the Sherwood Anderson kind ] creepy and heartwarming. Skillfully cast with Keith Carradine and Vanessa Redgrave, it is a movie about the deep south you will never forget. One of the [eeriest] and finest films ever made.

KT, it's nice to know someone else has actually seen "Molokai"!

I liked "Gilbert Grape" too. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was superb in his role and, as you say, Johnny Depp is always watchable.

I have a huge list of these but will mention just a few:

- Three Women is probably one of the strangest yet most absorbing films I've ever seen.

- Secrets And Lies was nominated for numerous things but wasn't in most theaters very long. Brenda Blethyn was astonishingly good in it.

- The Stunt Man is another intriguing "little" gem. Peter O'Toole is never boring to watch.

- Cross Creek was awesome, too, but I usually think I'm one of the few who saw it and one of the fewer who found it wonderful.

- Shy People, with Jill Clayburgh & Barbara Hershey, has stuck with me for years.

- My Own Private Idaho was quirky, to say the least, and probably/obviously not to mass liking but it was well crafted and thought provoking (even though that I'm about as far away from a Keanu Reeves fan as one can possibly be...).

I never saw Molokai . Sounds like I need to, though.

Yes! Cross Creek is a terrrific movie, Gats. You're right - nobody paid attention to it.

There is a movie called "The Saint of Fort Washington" that had me crying rivulets by the time it was over. It stars Danny Glover and Matt Dillon, and Ving Rhames also appears. I honestly don't know if it ever was released in the theaters, but I caught it on HBO in the mid 1990's and was enthralled. It is about a schizophrenic teenager living as a homeless person in New York City. Very moving.

I love Gilbert Grape. Always liked Johnny Depp, even from the very BAD movies like Cry Baby. And despite that many people think of him as a pretty boy, I respect and admire Leonardo DiCaprio's skill as an actor.

Probably the best portrayal ever of a severely autistic person is turned in by Leonardo DiCaprio during Gilbert Grape...an amazing performance for which he never received enough credit.

Never thought his looks were remarkable one way or the other. He looks way too much like my cousin Ronald down in New Orleans, who used to chase me with a stick. A negative association problem, I guess.

The 1978 movie "Piranha", which is about genetically engineered piranhas being released into Lost River Lake and the father of one of the children at the lake must do everything he can to save them.

The 1977 movie "Kingdom of The Spiders", starring William Shatner, which is about spiders taking over a small midwestern town.

The 1977 movie "It Happened at Lakewood Manor" (aka, Panic at Lakewood Manor), starring Suzanne Somers, which is about everyday ants attacking and killing people at a resort.

The 1976 movie "Food of The Gods", which is about insects and animals growing to enormous sizes because of some kind of "food" that grows. The nearby town knows about it and protects the gigantic insects and animals and tries to harm the people who figure out what's happening. Also, the 1989 movie "Food of The Gods II".

The 1980 movie "Alligator", which is about a baby alligator being bought at a carnival, only to be tossed down the toilet because no one wanted it. The alligator grew up in the sewer and became the biggest, baddest, man-eating animal alive.

The 1975 movie "Trilogy of Terror", starring Karen Black, which is really three terrifying stories, one of which is about a little Indian doll that comes to life and tries to kill woman who bought him.

I thought 'The Big Lebowski' was very good. It bordered on the insanely ridiculous but somehow kept jhust enough sanity to make it an enjoyable film.

'Dead Man' is way to out there for the common movie watcher but I definitly enjoyed it.


'The Beiliver' was a fantstcic film, very moving and compelling. It is similar in style to 'American History X', only more subdued and more compelling.

One move I thought that was fantastic that no one else seems to like is 'Secondhand Lions'. Its about a boy whose mother dumps him with his two anti-scocial great uncles who have been missing for 40 years and supposedly have millions of dollars hidden away.

I loved Secondhand Lions! Robert Duvall and Michael Caine are so excellent in it and it's such a neat story! One of the few movies I've seen in the past few years that is suitable for the younger members of the family but equally enjoyable for a roomful of adults!

I agree completely about Secondhand Lions. I wish Hollywood would make more movies that are suitable for younger audiences and that also appeal to adults.

Secondhand Lions has to be one of the finest 'everybody' films I have ever seen. Promoted by the studio as a family film, it is dryly funny, well acted by a stellar cast and has a quirky enough plot to keep even me happy.

On the same par as this is the oddball, always forgotten Holes- which is such a masterpiece that I sometimes watch it when I'm down [ not a kid in sight]. This is that 'role you can sink your teeth into' for several folks - Sigourney Weaver as the earthy, crack the whip warden of a work camp for teenage offenders, John Voight as the eerie "Mr. Sir." and newcomer Shia LaBuef as the unfortunate Stanley Yelnats. Great stuff, whether you've got kids or not.

Now, my kids hated "Holes" - they had both loved the book, and were really looking forward to the movie, and were sorely disappointed. I think this might be another instance of the reader having a vision of the story which the director does not share...

Just a few I can recall now. I assume this doesn't include grade-B horror/sci films and other rarely seen indie films.

I remember "The Hidden" getting not-so good reviews at the time it came out. Now it's a cult classic for the sci-fi genre. Great acting from both Kyle MacLachlan & Michael Nouri.

"Can't Buy Me Love". The boy rents girl to become popular story. Silly but I thought really well done for a teenage love story.

The Patrick Bergen & Uma Thurman version of "Robin Hood". It was on Fox TV here in the states, in theaters in Europe. Beats the Kevin Costner's embarrasingly bad version by many country miles (in my opinion). Sadly, when the Bergen/Thurman film reached DVD, it was butchered because of a couple sexual references- which was unusual as they appeared on Fox! Glad I taped the original full length from TV.

"The Phantom" with Billy Zane & Kristy Swanson and "The Rocketeer" with Bill Campbell & Jennifer Connelly. I thought they were both a lot of campy, tongue in-cheek fun.

"Streets of Fire". Worth it just to see Diane Lane.

"Lake Placid" Bridget Fonda and a monster sized crocodile- can't loose with this one.

"Finding Graceland" Harvey Keitel as Elvis (maybe) and Bridget Fonda as a Marilyn Monroe impersonater. Great film for Elvis fans.

I remember seeing 'Mask' in the theatre, and crying so hard that I couldn't breathe. I agree that 'Second Hand Lions' is a delightful film. My son actually asked for a copy for Christmas a couple of years back.
My favourite little known film has to be 'American Dreamer' (1984) with JoBeth Williams and Tom Conti. A very frustrated and unhappy woman wins a trip to Paris by writing in the style of her favourite books. A head injury induces amnesia, and she begins to believe that she is the heroine from these books, and runs around Paris being heroic. It's hysterical.
My other favourite also stars Tom Conti, along with David Bowie. It's called 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' and is about a Japanese P.O.W. camp.

I remember seeing 'American Dreamer' on HBO a couple of years after it came out, and really enjoying it. I think it was overshadowed by 'Romancing the Stone' (which came out earlier the same year) because of its slight similarities.

'In Country' (1989) stars Emily Lloyd as Samantha, a teenager who lives with her Uncle Emmett, played by Bruce Willis. Sam's father died in Vietnam before she was born, while Emmett still lives with his memories of being in Vietnam.

'Blue Sky' (1994) stars Jessica Lange as the mentally unstable wife of Tommy Lee Jones, who works in atomic testing for the Army in the 1960s.

I also agree about 'Secondhand Lions'. It's a very touching and enjoyable movie which reminds me of 'Forrest Gump' the way it can elicit laughter one minute and tears the next.

Definitely Second Hand Lions & American Dreamer. Also:

Tea With Mussolini
Object of My Affection
Forbidden Planet
The Uninvited
Real Women Have Curves
Phantom of the Opera (Musical)

Even though it got really good reviews none of my friends or family members liked "Shattered Glass". They thought it was boring. I, however, was on the edge of my seat. Does that make me a dork? I don't care, it was awesome. Peter Saarsgard was awesome. Hayden Christenson was awesome. Totally awesome!!