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The Deserve a Second Chance thread
	Topic by: underdog Posted: July 28, 2005 - 4:49 PM PDT Last Reply: August 1, 2005 - 6:31 AM PDT

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author	topic: The Deserve a Second Chance thread
underdog	post #1  on July 28, 2005 - 4:49 PM PDT   How many films out there are dying on the vine - or in people's queues, or not in people's queues, that maybe were underappreciated upon initial release, or misunderstood, or poorly distributed, or all three? How many of these would you trumpet to other people - "See it, really, trust me!" - or champion the cause of...? They may not be at all perfect, they may not be for all tastes, but these are films that deserve a second chance. Maybe these are destined for future cult status... Like, f'rinstance, Novocaine, and The Final Cut. Odd, dark little movies starring comedians. Imperfect, but worth a look. Novocaine is meant to be funny, and also a bit of a noirish thing, dental noir you could call it - it's definitely an odd duck. The Final Cut is really interesting, if flawed. What other ones would you recommend people give a try that were overlooked first time 'round? C
dpowers	post #2  on July 28, 2005 - 5:18 PM PDT   this is an older one, from '78, but one of the really interesting social pictures made in the USA is who'll stop the rain? based on the book dog soldiers, about vietnam vets who get into drug smuggling. nick nolte is good (maybe overpowering). the whole film though catches something about what it means to want to be back in society and not quite make it. the ideas are moving targets, maybe not clearly lined out all the time, but i like that the movie takes a bunch of chances and sometimes they don't amount to much.
underdog	post #3  on July 28, 2005 - 7:57 PM PDT   > On July 28, 2005 - 5:18 PM PDT dpowers wrote: > --------------------------------- > this is an older one, from '78, but one of the really interesting social pictures made in the USA is who'll stop the rain? based on the book dog soldiers, about vietnam vets who get into drug smuggling. nick nolte is good (maybe overpowering). the whole film though catches something about what it means to want to be back in society and not quite make it. the ideas are moving targets, maybe not clearly lined out all the time, but i like that the movie takes a bunch of chances and sometimes they don't amount to much. > --------------------------------- That's an excellent suggestion, dp, a fine, neglected film - I think it finally made its way to disc fairly recently. Powerfully acted, one of Nolte's better films. Yeah, I should have specified, you can pick a film from any period of time - some older films are still unfairly maligned or ignored or forgotten, many years after their initial release.
shiori308	post #4  on July 28, 2005 - 9:50 PM PDT   I wouldn't at all consider this a good movie per se, nor would I recommend it normally and perhaps this is more for the guilty pleasures thread, BUT, I went and saw this movie on a blind date I didn't want to go on expecting it to be so awful that it would actually sustain my horrible mood for the entire night. Anyhow it is entirely silly but I have watched it on more than one occassion so for silly STUPID comedy that isn't as AWFUL as one like me would expect I am going to say Rat Race. Like I said not an oscar winner but good popcorn social movie... don't judge.
underdog	post #5  on July 28, 2005 - 9:50 PM PDT   Btw, I don't think Final Cut is great per se - it's just an interesting conceit and provocative, if still a uneven and less than it should have been given its super premise. There are plenty of good reasons why people avoided it first time around. But it definitely deserves a look. (Heck, maybe I should review it for the site.)
underdog	post #6  on July 28, 2005 - 9:54 PM PDT   > On July 28, 2005 - 9:50 PM PDT shiori308 wrote: > --------------------------------- > Rat Race. > > Like I said not an oscar winner but good popcorn social movie... don't judge. > > > --------------------------------- I won't judge! Look at the two I just recommended, which are more pretentious in ambition than Rat Race. I thought RR had its moments (watched it on cable) and yet with the cast - well, especially with Rowan Atkinson, it's sad compared to Black Adder or something - and the rest of the cast. But I could see how one could find it entertaining. (I even rented Johnny English in desperate hopes it would be worthy. It wasn't.) Maybe it deserves a second guilty chance.
Battie	post #7  on July 29, 2005 - 12:04 AM PDT   Anime: Gantz. I almost wrote it off the first time around, and now I'm finding myself going, "Hey, this is pretty darn good." Mind you, it had slow moments, and sometimes the introspective crap annoyed me to no end (NLee: quit talking!), but there was excellent character development, twists that were nutty, and just an interesting plot. Man, I watched the entire first season in like two days. I feel like people are speaking Japanese in my head. *rubs head* But Gantz is being added to my "This Will Be Bought" list. :P Despite the two-episodes-per-disc crap. I really dislike companies that drag out series on a huge DVD set for extra money. Bloody bastards. >:|
Battie	post #8  on July 29, 2005 - 12:07 AM PDT   How 'bout a series? Mind of Mencia I wrote off at first because I don't trust Comedy Central to give a show to a GOOD comedian. Even after catching part of an episode, I went..."Ehhh. No." But after watching another two episodes, I'm finding it just funny as heck. I'm watching this same episode for like the FIFTH time (which is bad for CC, but it's soooo funny).
Cinenaut	post #9  on July 29, 2005 - 8:59 AM PDT   I've got a book called "The 100 Best Movies You've Never Heard Of" or something like that and it's got suggestions like Cutter's Way, which I see underdog has already reviewed AND listed. I've had The Final Cut queued up. I saw part of Novocaine on broadcast TV. The climatic dentistry scene is crazy! It probably wouldn't make a good double feature with The Marathon Man if you were planning to go to the dentist soon.
NLee	post #10  on July 29, 2005 - 9:00 AM PDT   > On July 29, 2005 - 12:04 AM PDT Battie wrote: > --------------------------------- > Anime: Gantz. I almost wrote it off the first time around, and now I'm finding myself going, "Hey, this is pretty darn good." Mind you, it had slow moments, and sometimes the introspective crap annoyed me to no end (NLee: quit talking!) ... > --------------------------------- Huh? Was that a pre-emptive shush? I wasn't going to say anything bad about Gantz, other than the fact that the main characters are annoying, and that the big-breasted... I meant well-developed girl never get full "exposure", and that the plot is slow like hell, and that each bug-hunts drags on for thress episodes because everybody just stand around talk talk talk and cry cry cry. I wasn't going to say all of these. Honest!
Cinenaut	post #11  on July 29, 2005 - 9:20 AM PDT   I was trying to think of a more recent movie and looking through my rental history, I came up with The Reckoning. Not a masterpiece, but worth a look if just to see Willem Dafoe play a nice guy for a change.
underdog	post #12  on July 29, 2005 - 10:14 AM PDT   > On July 29, 2005 - 12:07 AM PDT Battie wrote: > --------------------------------- > How 'bout a series? Mind of Mencia I wrote off at first because I don't trust Comedy Central to give a show to a GOOD comedian. Even after catching part of an episode, I went..."Ehhh. No." > > But after watching another two episodes, I'm finding it just funny as heck. I'm watching this same episode for like the FIFTH time (which is bad for CC, but it's soooo funny). > --------------------------------- I wrote that series off, too, before ever watching it - simply because I was already sick of the non-stop plugs for it every time I turned on Comedy Central! I was watching a few taped episodes of the Daily Show and when I fast forwarded through the commercials felt like I was fast forwarding solely through Mencia ads. So it was a relief of sorts it finally premiered - and y'know what? It is pretty darned funny. I watched the Patton Oswalt comedy performance on CC like 20 times, and that was *after* seeing him live and do basically the same jokes. So I won't mock.
underdog	post #13  on July 29, 2005 - 10:15 AM PDT   > On July 29, 2005 - 8:59 AM PDT Cinenaut wrote: > --------------------------------- > I've got a book called "The 100 Best Movies You've Never Heard Of" or something like that and it's got suggestions like Cutter's Way, which I see underdog has already reviewed AND listed. > Yeah, needless (for me) to say, Cutter's Way definitely belongs in the "deserves a second chance" files - it's so gorgeously shot, passionately, but realistically, acted and is really one of my favorite films from the 70s. Good choice! I think The Final Cut (and 1 Hour Photo) are probably both destined to become "queue orphans."
Cinenaut	post #14  on July 29, 2005 - 10:23 AM PDT   Yeah, I had mentally blended The Final Cut and 1 Hour Photo into a single movie.
underdog	post #15  on July 29, 2005 - 11:11 AM PDT   I think we should do an editorial "top list" for Dentists. So we have Novocaine, Marathon Man, and... what else? The original In Laws? (Arkin was a dentist.) Hm.
Cinenaut	post #16  on July 29, 2005 - 11:19 AM PDT   Little Shop of Horrors, of course!
underdog	post #17  on July 29, 2005 - 12:42 PM PDT   > On July 29, 2005 - 11:19 AM PDT Cinenaut wrote: > --------------------------------- > Little Shop of Horrors, of course! > --------------------------------- Of course! But the original, right? We can't have too many Steve Martin as Dentist choices on the list. ;-)
Cinenaut	post #18  on July 29, 2005 - 1:13 PM PDT   Yes, the original! Unfortunately, this other black comedy about dentists doesn't appear to be available on DVD.
DLeonard	post #19  on July 29, 2005 - 1:38 PM PDT   OK, here is one that cannot be found here at GreenCine. Robert Aldrich's Hustle with Burt Reynolds and Catherine Deneuve, plus a half dozen great character actors. Certainly not perfect, but it is an intersting take on the all too familiar police story genre. Especially good to watch are Eddie Albert as the heavy (kinda) and Ben Johnson as a revenge bent father. Something I watched for a second time recently was Cronenberg's Spider and I found it to be much more compelling the 2nd time around. The movie was completely ignored when in the theatres maybe because it lacked the gore Cronenberg fans come to expect and was too weird for non-Cronenberg fans. But it's a shame because the performances across the board are great.
artifex	post #20  on July 29, 2005 - 4:12 PM PDT   I think Gattaca was definitely underappreciated when it came out. The execution was great, without a lot of cheesy CGI, etc.

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