I’m a huuuuge fan of “Jawbreaker”…you know, with Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart? …Not to mention Pam Grier, Carol Kane and Jeff Conaway (Kenickie!!). Oh, and Marliyn Manson, of course. (??)

The film itself isn’t a spectacular work of film, but the way it’s shot/produced/edited makes it very, very fun to watch.

And “Closer.” I’m not in love with the idea of watching people cheat on each other (over and over again), but it’s the rawness of the characters combined with beautiful music and that keeps me watching it. (And, thanks to the fact that no one wants it, I bought it used for $5).

OK, I’ve gotta come clean here: I’m a fan of any movie with a slo-mo walking scene. “Jawbreaker” and “Closer” both have one.

I too liked ‘Closer’ very much, the music was great in that film. It helped me learn of the talents of Damien Rice. A lot of raw emotions from the actors in that film.

I forgot to mention one of my favorites of all-time. ‘Kids’ this movie has stars it in, but they are stars now, not when it was filmed. Rosario Dawson and Chloe Sevigny both got one of their first real roles in this film. Filmed like a documentary almost, the dialogue is genius, the message is raw and impacting. I absolutely love this movie.

I’ve seen a lot of movies I’d consider hidden gems over the years, but here are a few I’ve seen recently that I enjoyed:

Tarnation
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390...
This is a creatively done documentary about and done by Jonathan Caouette, telling the story of his troubled childhood, family problems and relationship with his mother. Jonathan was interested in making movies since he was a young teen, so he had all kinds of material to make the movie with. He uses things like answering machine messages, old photos, old home movies and short films, and video diaries to tell his story. The songs used are top notch too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m...

Taxidermia
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410...

This Hungarian movie is NOT for everyone. It’s twisted, weird, perverted and not in English. There’s more than one scene that may make you queasy. That said, it’s really well done, powerful and different than anything I’ve seen. My eyes were wide for nearly the whole film. Here’s a short description of the plot from imdb:

Gyorgy Palfi’s grotesque tale of three generations of men, including an obese speed eater, an embalmer of gigantic cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis.

I’d post a trailer, but it would be NSFW. You can search for one on YouTube.

Jekyll
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497...

This is a mini-series from BBC rather than a movie. It led to me finding one of my new favorite actors: James Nesbitt. He was perfectly cast for the role of Jekyll. If you like this, I also recommend another BBC show he was in, Murphy’s Law.

Here’s a description of the mini-series from imdb:

London, 2007. Tom Jackman is the only living descendent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He has made a deal with his dark side: a body share. What Mr. Hyde doesn’t know is that Tom has a family. There is a wife and two children that he’ll do anything to protect from his dark side. With all the resources of modern technology, and the best surveillance hardware, he’s determined to keep his dark side in line. He’s done a deal with his own devil. What neither of them knows is that an ancient organisation, with limitless wealth and power, is monitoring their every move, and a plan over a century in the making is coming to fruition.

And here’s a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O...

If anyone has seen or ends up seeing any of these, let me know what you think.

I just rewatched Jekyll, and I like it lots. James Nesbitt is one of my favorite actors, which leads me to:

Bloody Sunday – It’s about the infamous massacre of Irish protesters by British soldiers in 1972. Nesbitt is in it. Paul Greengrass of United 93 fame directed.

Henry Fool – I could go ahead and list all of Hal Hartley’s movies, but this is my favorite.

I have to go drink now, but I fully intend to revisit this. You have been warned.

I love The Brothers Solomon.

“I think we maybe need to broaden our search to include less conventional methods of having a baby.”

“Like anal?”

I would also like to add Alpha Dog to the list.

Kids is a great movie. You should check out the makers follow up of Kids. It’s called Gummo and it’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like driving by a car wreck. You just gotta look but you hate to see what’s there. I’ve watched it repeatedly.

The Way of the Gun has stars but I have turned on so many people to this film that have never heard of it. Benicio Del Toro, Phillipe Ryan and James Caan star in this movie that was written by the guy that did Usual Suspects (Another gem!). The opening scene from Way of the Gun is worth the price of admission alone. And there is a really cool slow car chase.

I would also add The War. It has Kevin Costner but it’s amazing how many people have never heard of it. And when they watch it, they ALL wonder why they never heard of it. As gems go, this one is 24 karat.

Finally, Idiocracy is a fantastic commentary on the American species. It’s a futuristic comedy but it is shockingly real. It didn’t get too much play but has picked up a huge cult following. It’s set in America circa 2525 and people sit in Lazyboy recliners with a built in toilets and watch a 8 foot TV with advertising bordering the entire screen. The most popular TV show is called “Oww, My Balls!!” The president is an Ex wrestling star and people can’t speak intelligently anymore. Words are replaced with sounds and grunts.
An absolute MUST SEE! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.

Yeah, I’ve seen Gummo…it was very weird…the kid beating the dead cat with a stick was messed up.

I’ve also seen the War and Idiocracy. The War is a really solid movie…Idiocracy had a funny premise, and some real insight into our society, but it seemed to lose it’s laughs about half way through the movie and go a little over the top, for my taste…it seemed to have elaborate ideas but a minimal budget which hurt some of the effects. But still funny none the less and indeed a gem.

Drinky: if you think Gummo is disturbing, peep ‘Irreversible’….that movie made me feel dirty just watching it. It’s got Vincent Cassel in it, who is a superb actor. I’m gonna check out some of those flicks you mentioned.

Gummo is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure if it was good or bad, but I know I’m never watching it again.

Here are a couple more:

The Trial – This is Orson Welles’ version of the Franz Kafka story. It remains as faithful to the tale as anyone could probably manage. Stars a young Anthony Perkins as the hopeless bugger afflicted by the mindless State.

The Petrified Forest – I suppose age makes this one a hidden gem. It stars Bettie Davis, Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart in one of his first roles. Bogey is notorious criminal Duke Mantee. He takes a diner full of people hostage, and they proceed to have tense conversations regarding the meaning of life and such. Good stuff.

How did I miss this thread? I have several just from recent years:

Hustle and Flow (it’s mainstream, but far too many people still haven’t seen it): Terrence Howard’s coming-out party. Best movie ever made about a pimp.

Talk to Me: Don Cheadle playing Petey Greene, a radio jock from the 60s. Great cast that includes Martin Sheen, Taraji P. Henson and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

A couple of older ones:
Fright Night-great 80s vampire movie that was sort of a precursor to Scream in that it’s self-referential and the characters use knowledge gleaned from movies to fight the baddies. AWESOME movie.

You’re right on about The Descent. I have on this site called it the best horror film of the past 5 years. Oldboy also.

I have more. I’ll post more as they come to mind.

If we’re using the word “gem” somewhat loosely, I must nominate one of my favorites, Little Corey Gorey…anyone else see it? I’m convinced if I find one other person in the world who has, he/she will be my BFF soulmate!

Assuming you haven’t seen it and want to know a little more about it, here’s what I wrote about it on my blog over a year ago:

There’s something to be said for lowering your expectations. I wasn’t disappointed. While I would have to put this movie in the so-bad-it’s-good category, in some sick and twisted way, I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. Some low-budget—really low budget, like maybe filmed with a home video camera in the basement of someone’s house—horror flick (or is it a comedy?) with cheesy dialogue and campy acting achieved its goal…it entertained.

Corey (Todd Fortune…who?) is abused by his rude and obnoxious stepmother. The abuse is encouraged by his stepbrother, Biff. The two take great delight in tying Corey to a curtain rod, beating him and throwing beer cans at him. All the while, neighbors pass the house and open up their front doors to the sounds of yelling and screaming coming from the house. They cover their ears, close their doors and walk away quickly.

Things start looking up for Corey when he meets foul-mouthed trollop, Jackie. He finds out that Jackie’s a fan of Ozzy Osbourne and spends his life savings ($18 each for two tickets!!!) on a pair of tickets to his concert in hopes of winning her love…or something.

Unfortunately, brother Biff ends up at the concert with Jackie and comes home (with her panties) bragging about the evening. The two start fighting in the bathroom and Biff falls and breaks the shower door, cutting his arm in the process. He tells Corey that stepmother is going to kill him when she sees what he’s done. Corey knows Biff’s right…so he kills Biff and disposes of the body. Problem solved.

Not so much. Corey Gorey (yes, Gorey is his last name, not a description like I thought) grows some balls and hogties his stepmother on the living room couch, intending to starve her to death while he goes about his day. Jackie stops by the house looking for the drugs her recent date promised her, not thinking twice about the woman tied to the couch; then Biff’s drug dealers show up looking for the money they’re owed for the drugs. Now what?

A party, of course! Corey and Jackie decide to throw a party to earn the drug money needed to pay off the dealers…at the house…with stepmother still tied to the couch…with signs attached to her that say IF YOU UNTIE ME I’LL CALL THE COPS and DO NOT FEED THE FATTY. No one questions this display. As a matter of fact, some of the partygirls are kind enough to give stepmonster an extreme makeover. The whole scene was hilarious.

Unfortunately, Corey is betrayed by his beloved Jackie. He spirals quickly and the beast within is unchained. The ending is so wrong it’s right.

Kinky Kong…low budget, bad acting, and no storyline.

It’s a porno car wreck that I can’t turn away from!

Can’t say I’ve seen that one…not a huge porn fan.

But to get off an a tangent, I did grow up with one of the biggest porn stars of all time. Savannah (Shannon Wilsey)…our parents are best friends when we were growing up in California, she used to babysit me. She died a while back, but if you go to Hollywood, she is still on the front of a bunch of adult shops.

There was this 80’s movie called Moving Violations that I caught the other day. I had forgotten how hilarious it was. Basically it’s about a bunch of people that have to take a defensive driving class together. It stars Bill Murray’s brother, and Jennifer Tilly, and some other B actors (it has the Where’s the Beef? lady in it) Just hilarious.