Rocky wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
go tell the spartans
the adding machine
coogan's bluff
the flim-flam man
the shootist
hamburger hill
motel hell
saving your life
an american tale
planet of the apes
wired
citizen's band
convoy
rancho deluxe
I agree with several of these and your other list. I will have to check out the rest that I haven't seen! I was going to mention Silent Running when I read the thread topic. Here is an underrated movie:
The In-Laws (the original with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin)
"the inlaws" was a hoot. peter falk and alan arkin were a funny pair, a bit like a more brittle rowan and martin. anyways, you will find that "
the adding machine" is very hard to find, and the version you will find is a poor multigenerational copy off of a tv station's telecine machine, and is barely viewable and listenable. but the essential transcendant nature of this picture still shines through. it is my favorite movie of all time. i am a sucker for anything about heaven.
"rancho deluxe" was a frustration, in that i got the unmistakeable impression that too much of it was left on the cutting room floor, which left it with story flow [continuity] problems. the coarse-grained high-sensitivity film they used filtered the natural beauty of the filming locations. the utterly unsympathetic amorality of the protagonists made me want to bathe in clorophyll afterwards. but it was an interesting story.
"the flim-flam man" is also hard to find in a viewable format. there are multiple versions out there recorded off of VHS/Beta, telecine, satellite dish. the satellite dish version is in widescreen and is in much better condition overall. anyways, this was g.c. scott's best comic performance of his whole career. he was a hoot and also very charismatic.
"the shootist" [old west slang for gunslinger/assassin] was john wayne's last film, and it was resonant in that both him and his character died of cancer. it had a black humor about it, in that due to the character's painful gut cancer, he had to carry a whorehouse pillow around with him to sit on. a very somber, dark film.
"an american tail" made me cry. very primal themes of separation and loss.
"saving your life" is another hereafter-themed movie that draws me in like a fisherman and pole reel fish in. another heavenly movie,
"made in heaven," is a great movie to be viewed with friends, to be discussed afterwards.