I’ve heard Night called a film classic for most of my life, even if it wasn’t one when it was first released.
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Hell yes, Bunuel is my favorite director. Late in his career, starting with Belle de Jour, he finally received the broader respect he deserved. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie got him an Academy Award and was an international box office hit… but before that, yeah, he was one of the kings of the cult, the surreal, the controversial.
The man was a brilliant and biting social/political/religious commentator.
Exterminating Angel is incredible, so to Viridiana, L’Âge d’Or, Las Hurdes, and of course, Un Chien Andalou. (and so many others, The Phantom of Liberty is wild, you gotta see that just once in your life)
With this subject, an unpopular suggestion is the very best suggestion.
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It definitely gets more respect these days, but it’s still pretty obscure for the modern audience. Way back in 1998 when AFI didn’t include it on its top 100, I was surprised; then it was left off in 2007 as well. It does show up on TCM quite a bit.
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For the truly obscure, at least in the States, this British indie is one of my favorites.
I wonder what became of director Nick Whitfield, did he move onto production, TV, is he still alive? I can’t find any credits for him after this film.
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and before I say goodnight, Gracie. One more, a cult western.
It’s got Mr. French from Family Affair
Sterling Hayden as a Swede
And a final showdown between a gunfighter and a guy with a whaling spear!
If that ain’t glorious, I don’t know what is.
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One of, I think, the great works of science fiction cinema. The development of a new human culture with its own mores and aesthetics is utterly convincing. Unfortunately, the Polish government shut production down before it could be finished. The existing footage was preserved, and the final cut has interludes of commentary where the director describes the great space battles and such he had in mind over footage of random street scenes.
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On a similar note…
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I’m done for now, I swear. Catch Bobcat Goldthwait and a young Juliette Lewis in a dark, post-apocalyptic Jetsons-meets-Pee Wee’s Playhouse future where sleaze and depravity lurk under the thin veneer of civilization.
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Agreed! Another Aleksey German film that is more than worth the effort it requires of you is Khrustalyov, My Car!
The pacing and continual use of single flowing shots has a delirious effect, which I gather was supposed to bring out the emotional reality and barely suppressed violence in the USSR at the time of Stalin’s death. Needless to say, glad I wasn’t there! Great film though.
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“Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” aka “Elevator to the Gallows.” The apex of France’s love for noir and jazz. It may not be obscure to deep movie fans in this forum, but I have to give it a shout out for any of you that haven’t seen it.
Edit: I can’t spell in French, or my phone autocorrected.
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My brother and I are both big fans of this film. Style, story, that recurring song, all make it sublimely effective. I certainly agree on the German Expressionism aspects of the film, and there are moments which seem to borrow from shadow puppetry storytelling as well.
Speaking of the Marx Brothers, one film of theirs which never got made but which had fascinating potential is Giraffes On Horseback Salad. This was a script Salvador Dali wrote for them. They did recently adapt it to graphic novel at least, so that you can get an idea of what might have been.
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I avoided this for years and years, because people kept talking about what an influence it had on torture porn, and by God I hate torture porn, with a passion.
But some folks I respect rated it high, so I gave it a go. And at the start I was like, “well this isn’t bad”… and then… HOLY HELL!
But I’m glad I watched it, it’s a good one and puts its imitators to shame.
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I’m a bit of a fiend for sound design in films, and the level of detail in key scenes is incredible. Makes it easily 20% more horrifying, which means the total effect is 120% horrifying at certain points.
But agreed it isn’t ‘torture porn’, it doesn’t even feel gratuitous or salacious to me. Just unblinking.
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Hmmm… Would love to see The Jetsons taken down a peg, since I never liked it. But also, I can’t deal with Goldthwait’s schtick at all .
A true dilemma. 
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Takashi Miike is a hit-or-miss director for me. His Masters of Horror episode Imprint is a good one, by the way. My partner is a fan of Audition, and while she has a stronger stomach for torture porn than I, it definitely transcends that genre.
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I’ve only seen 8 Miike films, out of the 100 plus he’s directed.
His remake, 13 Assassins was a stand-out for me (I’ve never seen the original, so I can’t compare) and while someone on the forum mentioned disliking Zebraman, I thought that was hilarious. I actually own that one.
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I’ve read about that script, but I didn’t know it had been adapted graphically.
BTW, you may already know Noah Diamond pieced together the script for I’ll Say She Is and writes about it in the book “Gimme a Thrill.”
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Awesome film. Highly recommend it. Definitely a hidden 70s gem imo.
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Three O’Clock High is a good 80s era movie. Definitely worthy of a watch for sure.
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Been ages, but I remember enjoying that one, all those many years ago
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