Underrated movies/hidden gems

[Cassius Clay]

Logan Lucky

Road to Perdition (any movie that involves male characters that love each other but can't/won't communicate - whether father/son or brother/brother - is my shit).

A river runs through it

[Derived Absurdity]

Mad Max: Fury Road

[Faustus5]

Naked Lunch

The Invitation

[Gendo]

Triangle (2009)
Predestination

[Raxivace]

I've seen all but two of these lol.

Logan Lucky

Is this really underrated or underseen? Like its a pretty good movie, I liked it quite a bit, but I thought it got a solid amount of mainstream coverage and that people generally liked it.

Haven't seen the other two you mentioned.

Naked Lunch

The Invitation

I saw Naked Lunch once in an internet stream but that was an absolutely terrible way to watch it. Gonna have to give it another viewing in better circumstances at some point.

Agreed about The Invitation.

Triangle (2009)
Predestination

Most agreed about Triangle, I didn't think Predestination worked well at all except for the surprisingly thoughtful transitioning storytline. When it became about "LOL TIME TRAVELING TO IMPREGNATE THE SEX CHANGED VERSION OF YOURSELF" I thought it got a bit dumb. I dunno why the Before Midnight sequel had to be like this.

[Cassius Clay]

Oh, The invitation is a good one. And I need to watch Triangle.

I think Logan Lucky is a bit of a hidden gem. Not underrated in it's reviews, but underseen. It surprised me.

Road to Perdition is a well-made mob movie that's kind of an homage to those old depression-era gangster movies. It's criminally underrated. And the soundtrack by Thomas Newman (if you're into that sort of thing) is beautiful. ..almost defines the movie for me. Some of the themes are personal to me (Catholicism, legacy, fathers and sons etc)...but I still think it's a well-designed movie even if it doesn't hit you personally.

[Raxivace]

I love old 30's gangster movies (Cagney, Bogart, Robinson...they're my guys) so I might check out Road to Perdition then if it's a throwback to them.

[BruceSmith78]

I remember being excited about Road to Perdition because I liked Tom Hanks and I was really into gangster flicks, and I went to see it in the theater and was completely underwhelmed and disappointed. I think Tom Hanks is just too much of a nice guy to pull off a convincing gangster.

[Cassius Clay]

@Rax I love how those movies get really campy with Tommy gun-usage. Have you seen Boardwalk Empire?

@Bruce I remember people saying that about Hanks, but I kinda felt like that's why it works. He's a reluctant, self-hating gangster(an orphan, groomed to be a hitman by the man who adopted him - like a child soldier) that has accepted that he is going to hell..and will do anything to protect his children and keep them from the same fate. I suspect you will appreciate it more if you watch it again.

[Raxivace]

Yeah I've seen Boardwalk Empire. I liked it quite a bit, though HBO kind of screwed them on their last season. They really could have used another one between 4 and 5, if only to properly end Rothstein's story.

[Cassius Clay]

I lost some interest in it after the major thing that happened(you know the thing I'm talking about)...and I didn't even watch the last season. Still plan to finish it some day.

This scene from Miller's Crossing is one of the greatest abuses of the Tommy gun I've ever seen:

[Cassius Clay]

Watched a rom com on netflix called 'Set it up'. Surprisingly entertaining. Taye Diggs as a douchebag boss was funny as shit. I used to think I hated romantic comedies but I realize it was that we were so oversaturated with them...just like we are with superhero movies now(I'm so goddamned sick of superhero movies).

[Eva Yojimbo]

Strangely, the first one that came to mind when I saw thread title was Orson Welles's The Trial. Most remember him for Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, and Magnificent Ambersons, but I now feel like The Trial is not only his best film, but probably the best surrealist film ever until David Lynch came along with Mulholland Drive.

I'm sure if I went through my film list I could add a few hundred names here, but it's curious to me that's the first one that came to mind... maybe because I just read Raxi's review of the "new" Welles movie.

[Raxivace]

Oh yeah if we're going to talk about less contemporary films then The Trial absolutely is underrated. The surreal aspects are amazing and Anthony Perkins is every bit as good in that as he is in the far more seen Psycho.

I hope Criterion gets The Trial one of these days- it would certainly help the film be seen more often. They've been on a Welles kick these last few years anyways and that would be a worthy addition.

[Eva Yojimbo]

Oh yeah if we're going to talk about less contemporary films then The Trial absolutely is underrated. The surreal aspects are amazing and Anthony Perkins is every bit as good in that as he is in the far more seen Psycho.

I hope Criterion gets The Trial one of these days- it would certainly help the film be seen more often. They've been on a Welles kick these last few years anyways and that would be a worthy addition.

Doubtful that will happen since Studio Canal owns the rights and they canceled Criterion's license for many films a few years back. I actually have the Studio Canal Region B blu-ray release of it, though I haven't seen it yet.

For a more modern underrated film, Killer Joe comes to mine. It's from the guy that made The Exorcist and it's just one of those good, grimy, "everyone's an immoral asshole" films that makes you want to take a shower after watching it. I really thought the drumstick scene would become more infamous than it did. It also has one of my favorite opening scenes ever.

[Raxivace]

Studio Canal!!!!

I forgot, they're the jerks that nabbed the rights to The Third Man too. Luckily I got my own copy of the Criterion blu-ray a few years back.

[Cassius Clay]

Saw Triangle and I see why you guys keep recommending it. Really hard to talk about without spoiling it. My first impression was that it felt like a subpar b-movie (but one that wasn't self-aware)...it exceeded my expectations by the second half. The internal logic of the film was surprisingly consistent(given the complex subject matter), and they wrapped it up pretty neatly by the end. And the "horror" aspect isn't really felt until the movie is over and you reflect on what the hell you just watched...and you feel the need to immediately watch it again. Also helps that some aspects of said horror aren't spelled out for you, so you kinda have to reflect on it by the end to "get it".

[Cassius Clay]

Rax, curious to know what you think of Road to Perdition if you ever get around to watching it.

[Raxivace]

Rax, curious to know what you think of Road to Perdition if you ever get around to watching it.

I'll get around to it at some point, hopefully in the next few months here.

[Cassius Clay]

Watched Road to Perdition last night to see if I still like it The answer is yes.

Hanks' character is misunderstood. Sullivan sr has a darkness and innocence at the same time...which I think Hanks plays well.

Edit: Matt Damon is good at playing that type of character too, and I realize that's basically what the Bourne character is. Gosling does a similar thing.