Top 10 Most Under Appreciated Films Ever

By Brian Volke
This isn’t a list of the most underrated movies ever. I’ll save that for another time. This is a list of films that have been praised in certain circles but never have stood out because either the director has other work that is considered stronger or it came out during a year where other movies soaked up more of the attention. Here we go:

10) “Big Trouble in Little China” Directed by John Carpenter

Long before Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Tarantino’s Kill Bill graced movie screens came this eastern inspired bit of fantasy from the legendary director of Halloween. It was a box office disappointment at the time but has since found a devoted group of cult followers. You’ll rarely see a film that combines so many elements from other films and contains as much originality and action as this little gem. Kurt Russell also turns in his funniest performance ever as Jack Burton. It’s hard to put this in a genre because it’s so original and different. I guess it would be an eastern inspired science fiction Kung-Fu Western comedy.

9) “Road To Perdition” Directed by Sam Mendes

I think Oscar voters were just getting tired of seeing Tom Hanks films get so much attention but Road To Perdition is an incredible film. The cinematography won the Oscar and rightly so. The film oozes authenticity with spot on period detail. However, that’s just the backdrop to a beautiful film about how a father’s devotion to his son can be both wonderful (as in Tom Hanks’ character) and destructive (as in Paul Newman’s character). If you’ve never seen it, add it to your Netflix Queue.

8)  “Blow Out” Directed by Brian De Palma

Carrie, The Untouchables, and Mission Impossible are some of the first films that come to mind when thinking of Brian DePalma but Blow Out is the finest film he’s ever done. The performances by both John Travolta and Nancy Allen are excellent, the suspense builds and builds to the amazing climax, and DePalma’s use of sound as well as the incredible camera work throughout are first rate.

7) “I Vitteloni” Directed by Federico Fellini

Fellini has a body of work that other directors would dream to have: The heartfelt “La Strada”, the beautiful “La Dolce Vita”, and the mesmerizing “8 ½.” So, it’s normal that most people would gravitate to his most well known work because it is amazing. However, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you missed “I Vitteloni.” It’s every bit as good as his surrealistic works and was a major influence on all male ensemble pieces done afterward. As a side note, this is Stanley Kubrick’s favorite film of all time. If that’s not praise, I don’t know what is.

6) “Casino” Directed by Martin Scorsese

I can understand why many critics and viewers dismissed Casino when it came out. It was a reaction of “Here we go again: another Scorsese movie with Deniro and Pesci. Been there, done that.” But, to dismiss it simply because he used the same actors and genre again would be doing it a disservice. Goodfellas was a crime epic about a young man’s dream to make it in the world of organized crime and how they were a family. Casino’s story is one of utter distrust and paranoia of everyone and everything including one’s own family. The technical wizardry of the camera is better than any other Scorsese effort. We get to know the surrounding of Las Vegas in a very personal way by the time the film is over and with an understanding that money and power can buy you almost anything…almost.

5) “THX 1138” Directed by George Lucas

Before George Lucas was the multi-bllionaire creator of Star Wars, he created a student film at USC film school called “THX 1138” as a short. His close friend Francis Ford Coppola saw it, loved it, and gave him the financing to create it as a feature length movie and the results are amazing. His use of camera, his vision for the future, and a potent story packed with metaphors all come together to create one of the great science fiction films of all time.

4) “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” Directed by Terry Gilliam

My brother hates this film. It’s a normal reaction that is warranted and I understand. It’s not the kind of movie that unites people together but tends to separate viewers into the “Love it or hate” variety. For those that love extreme film making that pushes your sense to the edge, Terry Gilliam delivers. The scenes of drug users, their paranoia, and the limited world they inhabit was clearly a labor of love for all involved and it’s my favorite Gilliam film not named “Brazil.”

3) “Ikiru” Directed by Akira Kurosawa

The king of the Japanese samurai films also had a soft side and shows it here with an amazing story of a man diagnosed with terminal cancer who decides it’s never to late to leave your mark on the world. This movie really moved me and I not only consider it one of Kurosawa’s best but one of the greatest films ever made at showing the power of the human spirit.

2) “Eyes Wide Shut” Directed by Stanley Kubrick

I remember when this film came out, the majority of the attention was focused on Cruise and Kidman, who were married at the time, and how their off screen life affected the film. At the time, Stanley Kubrick had not made a film in 12 years and had been largely forgotten by mainstream audiences. Audience reaction was mixed at best and it was thought of as an inferior entry in a stellar career and I couldn’t disagree more. The visuals in Eyes Wide Shut are some that will stay with me all my life. The look of it, the interaction between the characters, and the pacing are unforgettable. I’ll never think of this as anything but the masterpiece that it is.

1) “Blade Runner” Directed by Ridley Scott

Nowadays, Blade Runner is thought of in much higher regard and with more appreciation than when it was released back in 1982. It grossed a “mere” 30 million dollars and was largely panned by critics despite the high star power of Harrison Ford attached. I supposed at the time most viewers saw Harrison Ford in a science fiction film and thought it would be another space opera like Star Wars and instead they got a slower paced film noir detective story. It took years to find its audience but even today when you think of Ridley Scott, Gladiator, Alien, and Robin Hood may come to mind but none of them can hold a candle to what he accomplished with Blade runner. It’s the greatest film he ever made.

Vic’s Review – “The Thing” 2011

This terrifying prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 classic of the same name tells the story of a team of Norwegian scientists who find an alien ship frozen in Antarctica. When the organism inside awakens, blood flows across the frozen landscape. Leading the group is pilot Carter (Joel Edgerton), who allies with paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in a desperate attempt to rally the paranoid workers to combat the deadly threat.

Victor

Rating 7 out of  10

As a standalone Sci-Fi creature feature The Thing would have played out as an average straight forward monster movie. But as a Prequel to one of the most highly regarded Sci-Fi/Horror films of all time, John Carpenter’s The Thing, the film fares better. Is it a love letter to Carpenter’s film? Yes. Is it almost a play by play of Carpenter’s film? Yes. But these little distractions aside the film plays out very well as a, if by the numbers, sci fi beastie film.

The set up is fast, interesting and straightforward. It begins, obviously, with the discovery of the alien saucer, the one we see in the beginning of JC’s movie, by Norwiegan explorers. The scene is a bit gripping as we see the vessel in near pristine condition. It answers the question of how it would have looked like pre-thermite. We then are introduced to Kate Lloyd, played rather convincingly and capably, by Mary Elizabeth Winstead (McClane’s Daughter in Live Free Die Hard). She agrees to help with investigation into the saucer discovery, Headed by a stern and aloof Professor. The rest is rather predictable fare if anyone has seen Carpenter’s version. It almost plays out like a remake. They dig up and cart the remains of an alien life form back to the base, it thaws (the scientists in Hawks’ version had the brains to keep it in a cold room at least), it gets loose, tries to assimilate a camp member, it fails, they examine the remains, they take samples of the blood and determine that the alien is trying to imitate them in order to survive. The rest is where the film, much to it’s credit actually thrives, but only because it has Carpenter’s version as a template.

The suspense, paranoia and solid acting are all on display here and the characterizations are well fleshed out. We gravitate towards Joel Edgarton as the group pilot, Carter, whom we trust and like as he helps Kate take charge of the fearful and paranoid camp members. The creature effects are deep, dark and very weird. Yes, they are CGI but the shots never linger long and we get creeped out by the contorted and sinewy creatures that are spawned by the The Thing. Kate, obviously is the MacCready of the picture and she figures things out accordingly and does a good job of being the hero of the piece. What I enjoyed the most in the film are all the references and connections to JC’s film. If you observe and watch with a keen eye all the pieces of the end of this film and Carpenter’s version come together nicely. Even as to where “The Axe” came from. The ending is a bit of a let down  but it is oblique and appropriate so I wasn’t as annoyed since they began to piece things together. All in all a decent homage to Carpenter’s visionary film and a nice and welcome companion piece to it. I recommend it to all fans and even non-fans (who may watch this one first then watch JC’s film) of Carpenter’s masterpiece.

John Carpenter films available on Netflix Instant Viewing

There is an abundance of great John Carpenter films available on Netflix for Instant viewing. Among them is “Escape From New York”, “Big Trouble in Little China”, “Prince Of Darkness” and “They Live”, “Ghosts Of Mars”. Most recently the tight thriller “The Ward”. Hunker down with some of these great Carpenter titles on a rainy, thunderstorm filled night with the lights off and enjoy the “Master” doing what he does best…scaring the shit out of you.

John Carpenter’s: The Ward

Master of horror John Carpenter returns to form — and to the director’s chair — for this chilling thriller in which a young woman, Kristen (Amber Heard), is sent to a mental institution with a past as dark and haunted as her own. Terrorized by a ghost, each of the other patients in Kristen’s ward begin to disappear, and that’s just the beginning of her long nightmare. Jared Harris (“Mad Men”) and Danielle Panabaker (Friday the 13th) also star.

Brian
Rating: 8 out of 10

The master is back! It has been far too long since we’ve seen a new John Carpenter film. The last time we saw a feature length film by the esteemed director was 2001’s disappointing “Ghosts of Mars.” Well, I’m here to say not only is he back but this is the finest film he has made since 1994’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”

All of the John Carpenter trademarks are here: the gloomy and atmospheric cinematography, the suspense, the great buildups and chases, and the twisted ending. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I am a card carrying John Carpenter fan. His resume speaks for itself: “Halloween,” “Escape from New York”,” The Fog,” “The Thing,” and the list goes on. However, there were many that thought his time had passed. He had gone through a very productive 1990’s only to walk away from filmmaking into a semi-retirement. I really hope he doesn’t stay away this long again because “The Ward” shows vitality far younger than his age and hearkens back to a time where films unfolded slowly over time to build to a true climax. A lot of the credit for the film goes the terrific performances all around, but particularly Amber Heard who plays a convincing and strong lead. Her strength as the character of Kristen really roots the film and drew me into the story. The script is also very good by brothers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen. But, in the end, it’s John Carpenter’s direction that brings it all together. The scares will make you jump out of your seat and the action will have you on the edge of it. The last 30 minutes are absolutely gripping. If there’s a weakness, it takes a bit of patience to get to the good stuff. The first 45 minutes will have you confused but just sit tight; all will be explained eventually. It really feels good to see John Carpenter back to his low budget horror roots where he belongs. Hopefully, he’s back for good.

Check out our Top 5 John Carpenter movies of all time.

Top 5 John Carpenter Movies

victor

John Carpenter pulls no punches. He is a director of horror, science-fiction, and cult hit movies. He is the master of it. There are no Academy Awards on his shelf, yet he boasts a string of extremely popular films that have made him one of the most successful directors of his generation. From classics like “Escape from New York” to “Starman,” Carpenter has been entertaining and frightening us for decades. Here is my list of Top 5 John Carpenter Movies.

5.  They Live – Carpenter rarely does blatant social commentary but his low budget, alien-among-us opus, They Live oozes with it. Consumerism, apathy, alienation and some political satire. Yes, the film is cheesy at times and the make up is a joke. I think it actually adds to the appeal of the film. Carpenter is in complete control here and it shows. A great, long fight scene by the 2 main leads, Roddy Piper and Keith David, is incredible to watch. Possibly the longest fight scene ever filmed. A great sci-fi outing that never disappoints. Obey. Sleep. Consume.

4. The Fog – I really love this film. Carpenter’s follow up to Halloween cements his place among the upper tier of horror filmmakers. The Fog is first and foremost a dreamy, ghost story that is chock full of mood and menace. A scary campfire tale come to life. Dean Cundey’s photography is top notch as always and Carpenter’s score is intense and ethereal. Carpenter juggles multiple characters and tells a ghastly story about wronged pirates come back to to life to exact revenge. Great film. Just steer clear of the remake.

3. Big Trouble in Little China – Oh that Kurt Russell. He flexes his comedic muscles here as a heroic but bumbling truck driver who unwittingly stumbles upon an age-old Chinese feud. Full of great choreographed fight scenes (way before Crouching Tiger), this tribute to Kung-Fu films is amazing to watch because of Carpenter and Russell’s tongue-in-cheek enthusiasm. It has wizards, ghosts and creatures aplenty. Just plain fun. I have yet to meet someone who did not like this film.

2. Halloween – This film is a masterpiece. Halloween is an example of how to make a horror film right. Much has been said about this influential film that was shot for only $350,000. Cundey’s camera work, Carpenter’s music, and the great lead characters make his film vastly superior to it’s cheap knock-off peers. Yes, it is a slasher film but it is done with the utmost care, precision and love for the then young genre. We care for the characters and Carpenter carefully establishes that Micheal Myers is a force to be reckoned with. Insanely perfect all around, Halloween is a must see.

1. The Thing – Carpenter’s Citizen Kane. The Thing sports an all male cast finely tuned and lead by Carpenter’s frontman, the always capable Kurt Russell. This is a sci- fi whodunnit with paranoid flair. Everything here is masterfully done. The ensemble is flawless. Cundey’s camerawork is miraculous to watch. Carpenter’s direction is tight and precise. But it’s the suspense that Carpenter establishes and the make up FX by Rob Bottin that really shine here. The film plays out like some morbid, alien take of an Agatha Christie novel where we are witness to the characters beginning to fear and distrust each other. The blu-ray includes a fantastic commentary by Russell and Carpenter that is a fan favorite to this day. The Thing is a must own. It is my favorite Carpenter film. Enjoy.

Christine

Geeky student Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon) falls for Christine, a rusty 1958 Plymouth Fury, and becomes obsessed with restoring the classic automobile to her former glory. As the car changes, so does Arnie, whose newfound confidence turns to arrogance behind the wheel of his exotic beauty. Arnie’s girlfriend Leigh and best friend Dennis reach out to him, only to be met by a Fury like no other. Based on Stephen King’s chilling novel.

Victor
Rating: 8 out of 10

How can you make a film about a killer car scary? Well, you adapt a novel by Stephen King, change it around a bit and give the project to John Carpenter. Carpenter to this day proclaims that this film was just a routine paycheck. He sells himself short which is a classic pattern of true cinematic genius. Keith Gordon stars as Arnie Cunningham, a picked on, nerdy high school kid who befriends a popular jock named Dennis, played very believably by future film director John Stockwell. Rounding out the cast are Harry Dean Stanton in a very slick performance as a police detective and Alexandra Paul as Arnie’s soon to be love interest. But how does Arnie get cool enough to date the hottest girl in the school? Well, after a day of getting his ass handed to him he drives home with Dennis and sees her. Who? A piece of crap, rusted out ’58 Plymouth Fury. He immediately falls in love with the real star of the film — Christine. At first she’s ugly, worn out and dilapidated, much like Arnie, and he sees her as a project. So he decides to fix her up at Robert Prosky’s garage. Prosky steals every scene as Darnell, who has the best line in the film-“You can’t polish a turd.” But Arnie does polish this turd.

Christine plays well with with the angle of the loner becoming a force to be reckoned with. And this is what Carpenter excels at. His take is pronounced, accurate and even emotional. Arnie is obsessed with the car which magically fixes itself. And has an odometer that goes backwards. Cracks in the windshield reduce in size. Stockwell and Paul’s characters see the change in Arnie and they attribute it to Christine. How can one be jealous of a car? Well, Carpenter is all over this film. The cinematography by Donald Morgan is exceptional, especially when Christine is barreling after teenagers. All the stars give very real performances and the car itself is basically what makes the film work, and Carpenter shows her off like the very best kind of car porn.

Arnie does become an asshole a bit too fast for my liking, though, and we want to really relate to this kid but by the end you kinda want Christine to run him over. Arnie is lucky to have friends that care about him but he is too obsessed to notice. It ends in a very cool Christine versus tractor showdown. Please observe the nuances of Christine. Many Carpenter fans are polarized by this film. It isn’t scary enough. The ending sucked. Blah blah blah. Take my word — Christine is smooth, fast and terrible. Hell hath no fury like a Plymouth scorned.

Films that defined us

Courtesy of http://www.goseetalk.com

All of us have particular movies we’ve seen, whether as an adult or child, that stay with us in a way others hadn’t before. They’re special experiences we hold onto, whether it was because you saw them with a close friend or the film connected with your life in a personal way. These are movies that define us, and we’re breaking down each by genre. Each week, one of our contributors will list the movies that defined them.

Victor

Comedy: I remember going to see Airplane! in Manhattan and being a couple of minutes late. It was a packed house and a friend and I had such a hard time finding seats because we could not stop laughing!  I am a die hard lover of slapstick comedy and of the Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello, but back in the 80s, when cerebral comedy was ruled by Woody Allen and his ilk, this film was so damn refreshing. It is unapologetic farce. It never takes itself seriously and delivers gag joke after gag joke at a machine gun pace. Even if it flies against all rhyme and reason. I immediately loved it for that alone!  A couple of my favorite scenes: The line of passengers waiting to deliver the hysterical lady her dose of violence. I love the adorable scene where the young girl tells the young little boy she likes her coffee black…like her men!

Horror: John Carpenter’s Halloween is my pick, but this was very hard because even though The Exorcist scared the crap out of me way more than Halloween ever did, Halloween managed to leave a long lasting impression on me. It struck a deep nerve in me that forever carved and shaped what I was to perceive as the horror genre. Similar to the inflection George A. Romero nearly perfected in Night of the Living Dead, Carpenter disrupts our daily, normal, routine lives by sticking a maniac into the mix — on Halloween no less. The evil that is outside is trying to get inside and in the form of an unassuming escaped maniac named Micheal Myers. Carpenter changed how I view cinema and the darkness that dwells out there. The genius of the music and camerawork is also worth noting.

Acton/Adventure: Jaws is my favorite film of all time. I am sure that the genre it’s in can be debated because it has elements of drama and horror. In the end, it is full of adventure and plenty of suspense and action. I saw this when I was 8 years old at a matinee with my mother, and once that music started during the Universal Pictures logo I was changed forever. This was a movie!  Through and through. This is why I wanted to direct and write for the movies. A monster that lurked in the sea that ate unsuspecting people and forced the townspeople to close the beaches and have a constable, salty old fisherman and scientist go out and kill it?  It gets no better than that!  Jaws has great music, great believable portrayals throughout, realistic dialog and even a landlocked villain in the form of the Mayor. For me, though, the best part was that this sea monster really exists.

Science Fiction: I was so pissed that I got to the theater late and missed the opening scroll of The Empire Strikes Back on a winter night in 1983. I got there just in time to see Luke get swiped off his Tauntaun by that snow beast. But that was OK. I caught up with what I had missed. Many, many times after. I thought the first Star Wars had  left an impression that would never go away but after Empire ended (even with me missing the opening) all that just flew out the window. Lucas set the bar extremely high with A New Hope, but blasted past that at warp speed with Empire. I was just thrilled that we were getting to know these character better. More of their likes and dislikes. More of their personalities and more action and suspense!  We were introduced to Yoda and Lando who were and still are 2 of the best Star Wars characters around. It also boasts the best of the John Williams scores. What makes this a film that defined me was that it had, above all else, eye popping effects, emotion and drama, including best revelation in all sci-fi film history. And you all know what I’m talking about.

Vic’s Classics: The Thing From Another World

This celluloid chronicle follows a team of scientists and researchers who discover an unclassifiable creature frozen in a block of ice. When the ice thaws, it unleashes a powerful, destructive creature that’s bent on annihilating everything in its path.

Victor
Rating: 10 out of 10

In John Carpenter’s 1978 seminal horror opus “Halloween” there is a quick and frightful scene which includes a television playing a broadcast of an even more seminal sci-fi opus called “The Thing from Another World.” Carpenter even goes as far as showing practically the whole opening sequence of Howard Hawk’s classic black and white film. A film that exudes classic metaphorical themes and stereotypes of the day, The Thing can be absorbed as campy, tongue in cheek sci-fi or very smart, relevant and intellectual fodder.

I pondered whether director Christian Nyby actually directed this film because it felt more like producer Howard Hawks’. I for one will go out on a limb and admit that all the cool thematic elements of paranoia, isolation, the classic “ Men of science should not meddle with things they know nothing about” (A-bomb, anyone?) are right out of Hawk’s little handbook for awesome film-making.

I must talk about how I love the machine gun rapidity of the dialog delivery in this film. I have lost count on how many times I’ve had to re-watch this film because 4 or more actors are delivering their lines and overlapping the dialog. I love it! James Arness plays the Smart Carrot from outer space and he scared the crap out of me when I was 10 and still does to this day. The door opening scene with his reveal at the other side is brilliant and very iconic. Great, classic sci-fi for a rainy day or a late night. John Carpenter would go on to re-make this film staying very true to the original source material. Highly recommended!

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Tony’s Netflix Watch It Now: Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang. Directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog).

Antonio
8 out of 10

I’m a huge Carpenter fan. I loved “Starman” and “Prince of Darkness” – a movie I first watched with a gaggle of other 12- and 13-year-old boys at my buddy’s birthday party (we also took in “Predator,” and played hours and hours of Double Dribble on Nintendo). I’ll always view POD warmly – as a rite of passage into “thinking man’s” horror amid the uncertainty of pubescence. AOP13, tediously remade in 2005 with Larry Fishburne, Ethan Hawke and Gabriel Byrne, sets up a lot like POD. It’s a film with a lot of swagger and it’s aged quite well. From the bass-in-your-face, synth-soaked brilliance of Carpenter’s evocative score, to the stilted dialogue and eerie tone, the director’s vision for the film is adeptly handled.

Austin Stoker is solid as Ethan Bishop, a veteran beat cop whose career is taking off. Before he gets a permanent gig in the upper brass, he’s got a brief assignment to hold down the fort in an abandoned Los Angeles police station for a night – at least until the movers arrive in the morning. He’s likable if a little generic, but convicted killer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) –  brought in when a prison-bound bus has to stop for a sick inmate – is the real star. His demeanor is cool and his go-to line is a classic, even if the relationship he develops with the precinct’s sultry office babe Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) is a little forced and bizarre.

You know that uneasy feeling that comes over you when you hit the “bad blocks” of urban neighborhoods? This motherbleeper has that in spades. Carpenter admittedly crafted the film as a re-imagining of Howard Hawks’ classic western “Rio Bravo,” with simultaneous inspiration from George Romero’s groundbreaking “Night of the Living Dead.” He’s seamlessly woven the terrifying urban gang mythos and the good-guy/bad-guy partnership into a spooky and claustrophobic thriller that breathes unnerving tension.

Antonio D’Aarcangelis is a fantasy sports and sports writer. Each of the films he reviews are available on Netflix’s “Watch Instantly” feature.

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Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Antonio (8 out of 10)

I’m a huge John Carpenter fan. I loved “Starman” and “Prince of Darkness” – a movie I first watched with a gaggle of other 12- and 13-year-old boys at my buddy’s birthday party (we also took in “Predator,” and played hours and hours of Double Dribble on Nintendo). I’ll always view POD warmly – as a rite of passage into “thinking man’s” horror amid the uncertainty of pubescence. AOP13, tediously remade in 2005 with Larry Fishburne, Ethan Hawke and Gabriel Byrne, sets up a lot like POD. It’s a film with a lot of swagger and it’s aged quite well. From the bass-in-your-face, synth-soaked brilliance of Carpenter’s evocative score, to the stilted dialogue and eerie tone, the director’s vision for the film is adeptly handled.

Austin Stoker is solid as Ethan Bishop, a veteran beat cop whose career is taking off. Before he gets a permanent gig in the upper brass, he’s got a brief assignment to hold down the fort in an abandoned Los Angeles police station for a night – at least until the movers arrive in the morning. He’s likable if a little generic, but convicted killer Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston) –  brought in when a prison-bound bus has to stop for a sick inmate – is the real star. His demeanor is cool and his go-to line is a classic, even if the relationship he develops with the precinct’s sultry office babe Leigh (Laurie Zimmer) is a little forced and bizarre.

You know that uneasy feeling that comes over you when you hit the “bad blocks” of urban neighborhoods? This motherbleeper has that in spades. Carpenter admittedly crafted the film as a re-imagining of Howard Hawks’ classic western “Rio Bravo,” with simultaneous inspiration from George Romero’s groundbreaking “Night of the Living Dead.” He’s seamlessly woven the terrifying urban gang mythos and the good-guy/bad-guy partnership into a spooky and claustrophobic thriller that breathes unnerving tension.