Monsieur Verdoux was something of a 'sleeper' when it first came out. The cognoscenti made sure it became something of an underground classic, while the mainstream critics didn't seem to know quite what to make of it.
Here is one I just became aware of. It was recommended by D'Art on another thread.
The Dead--John Huston
This is an excellent movie version of James Joyce's short story. It closely follows the story. The long party scene is as good as any I've ever seen--at least for the kind of party it is. Those who have read the story will enjoy the way Huston did the party. It follows the story, even using much of Joyce's dialog, but it lets you feel much of the humor that you may have missed in the reading. Angelica Huston plays Gretta, and is very moving when she tells her husband of Michael Feury, her first love. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, it is about a man who learns one night following an annual Christmas party that things between himself and his wife are a little different than he had thought. There is a moment of self revelation. All in all Huston pulls it off very well. Except for A. Huston, the cast seems to be made up of little known but most remarkable Irish actors.
This one is in my personal top 100. I'm not sure at this point what the other 99 are, but this one is in there.
"The Russians are coming!. The Russians are coming" i justed about died when i saw this for the first time. I belive its the same director as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" which is also really good. "The Party" with Peter Sellers. i dont know how long lost these movies are but they came out almost 15 years before i was born so they seem pretty obscure to me.
i suppose you don't all want to hear about my ride in the back of a volkswagen with greg nava and his wife and my friend, well, good, cause i have nothing to tell, it was just a ride in a volkswagen in the back seat, tooo long.
Anyway, wonderful topic, listening and will be back.
As we're talking obscure here, the 1977 satirical comedy of the Watergate scandal, "Nasty Habits" is no longer available on VHS but the DVD is should still be available. It is slyly funny with Sandy Dennis as a klutzy Gerald Ford character and Melina Mercouri aping Kissinger.
LW, I saw that film in the early eighties, and never thought of it in relation to Watergate.
Every nun is emulating a Watergate figure. Sandy Dennis was Gerald Ford, for instance, and was always stumbling or doing something klutzy and Glenda Jackson is a scheming Nixon trying to cover up the "theft" of the sewing box.
No wonder I didn't understand it!
Two movies that I LOVE!! that are not avialable on dvd or video are The gods must be crazy films from South Africa.
Boondock Saints
It was a video/dvd-only release. Never shown on the big screen. There is talk about the sequel being shown in theaters though.
