LJ specific
Following a question from tvor I’ve typed out the 30 “cinemas best kept secrets” list from Empire. I don’t agree with it - but if anyone has a lost classic they want to point me at - be my guest.
The band wagon (1953) Vincente Minneli / Fred Astaire
Baby it’s you (1982) John Sayles / Rossanna Arquette
Beautiful Girls (1996) Ted Demme / Tim Hutton
The bitter tea of general yen (1932) Frank Capra / Barbara Stanwyck
Dead man (1996) Jim Jarmusch / Johny Depp
Build my gallows High (1947) Jaques Tourneur / Robert Michum
Bullet in the head (1990) John Woo / Tony Leung
Breaking away (1979) Peter Yates / Dennis Quaid
The Changeling (1979) Peter Medak / George C. Scott
China Syndrome (1979) James Bridges / Jane Fonda
Cube (1997) Vincenzo Natali / Maurice Dean
Fun with Dick and Jane (1976) Ted Kotchell / George Segal
Internal Affairs (1990) Mike Figgis / Richard Gere
Ikiru (1952) Akira Kurosawa / Takeshi Shimura
Killing of a chinese bookie (1976) John Cassavetes / Ben Gazzara
Martin (1978) George A. Romero / John Amplas
Witchfinder General (1968) Michael Reeves / Vincent Price
Meet the Feebles (1989) Peter Jackson / a bunch of Puppets
Q: The winged serpent (1982) Larry Cohen / Michael Moriarty
Targets (1967) Peter Bogdanovich / Boris Karloff
Seconds (1966) John Franenheimer / Rock Hudson
The taking of pelham 123 (1974) Joseph Sargent / Walter Matthau
Static (1986) Mark Romanek / Keith Gordon
Subway (1985) Luc Besson / Christopher Labert
Tucker (1988) Francis Ford Coppola / Jeff Bridges
To live and die in L.A. (1985) William Freidkin / William Pettersen
Under Fire (1983) Roger Spottiswode / Gene Hackman
Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) John Mackenzie / David Hemmings
What’s up Doc (1972) Peter Bogdanovich / Barbara Streisand
It’s a weird list - Some of them I hope are jokes (what’s up doc?) Some seem too recent to be lost classics no matter how good they were (Cube?) and some are amongst my own personal faves (Static - a film about a boy who invents a device that lets you see what’s going on in heaven, Ikiru - about a dying man, Dead Man - about a dying man I see a theme developing here! and Unman Wittering and Zygo which is a brutal nasty piece of work.)
The band wagon (1953) Vincente Minneli / Fred Astaire
Baby it’s you (1982) John Sayles / Rossanna Arquette
Beautiful Girls (1996) Ted Demme / Tim Hutton
The bitter tea of general yen (1932) Frank Capra / Barbara Stanwyck
Dead man (1996) Jim Jarmusch / Johny Depp
Build my gallows High (1947) Jaques Tourneur / Robert Michum
Bullet in the head (1990) John Woo / Tony Leung
Breaking away (1979) Peter Yates / Dennis Quaid
The Changeling (1979) Peter Medak / George C. Scott
China Syndrome (1979) James Bridges / Jane Fonda
Cube (1997) Vincenzo Natali / Maurice Dean
Fun with Dick and Jane (1976) Ted Kotchell / George Segal
Internal Affairs (1990) Mike Figgis / Richard Gere
Ikiru (1952) Akira Kurosawa / Takeshi Shimura
Killing of a chinese bookie (1976) John Cassavetes / Ben Gazzara
Martin (1978) George A. Romero / John Amplas
Witchfinder General (1968) Michael Reeves / Vincent Price
Meet the Feebles (1989) Peter Jackson / a bunch of Puppets
Q: The winged serpent (1982) Larry Cohen / Michael Moriarty
Targets (1967) Peter Bogdanovich / Boris Karloff
Seconds (1966) John Franenheimer / Rock Hudson
The taking of pelham 123 (1974) Joseph Sargent / Walter Matthau
Static (1986) Mark Romanek / Keith Gordon
Subway (1985) Luc Besson / Christopher Labert
Tucker (1988) Francis Ford Coppola / Jeff Bridges
To live and die in L.A. (1985) William Freidkin / William Pettersen
Under Fire (1983) Roger Spottiswode / Gene Hackman
Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) John Mackenzie / David Hemmings
What’s up Doc (1972) Peter Bogdanovich / Barbara Streisand
It’s a weird list - Some of them I hope are jokes (what’s up doc?) Some seem too recent to be lost classics no matter how good they were (Cube?) and some are amongst my own personal faves (Static - a film about a boy who invents a device that lets you see what’s going on in heaven, Ikiru - about a dying man, Dead Man - about a dying man I see a theme developing here! and Unman Wittering and Zygo which is a brutal nasty piece of work.)