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I know the movie is pretty well known but "The Usual Suspects" was a complete surprise to me. I didn't know the ending ahead of time.
The foreign film "Life is Beautiful" also had a surprise ending for me. It was a bit corny at times (just like the director) but just a well made movie. I'm not one to get emotional during movies but this one caught me by surprise."The farther we go, the more the ultimate explanation recedes from us, and all we have left is faith."
~Vaclav HlavatyComment
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I just watch the Da Vinci code on the train to London and Angels and Demons on the way back, both surprised me as thoroughly entertaining flicks.Comment
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I personally get a lot of recomendations from friends, or follow the string with recomendations with the IMDB, and have discovered films, I would never have heard of.
Animal kingdom
Animal Kingdom (2010) - IMDb
Howard Marks Mr.Nice
Mr. Nice (2010) - IMDb
four lions
Four Lions (2010) - IMDb
The guard
The Guard (2011) - IMDb
and my favourite at the moment
Cemetry junction
Cemetery Junction (2010) - IMDbLast edited by alex; Oct 19, '11, 1:04 PM.Comment
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Exactly! Maggy and I just figured it was a fighting movie and Maggy does not like fighting, boxing, etc. so we never had any interest in seeing it. Then we saw it on TV and were so blown away by it that we bought the DVD. A very odd yet well done story. I love movies with twists and turns that toss something at you that you never saw coming. I did a lot of writing in school (creative writing and math are my strong suits) and so many movies/TV shows are so predictable that I often can sit there and tell Maggy what is going to be said or done next. There are just too many formulamatic writers out there. Our joke is that they just put the blank pages through the Formula-Matic 2000 and out pops the script!
"Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you." - Frank BarronComment
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Bottle Rocket.
This was when everyone was trying to be the next Tarantino, so this was a surprising and charming take on the "botched robbery" scenario. Have been a Wes Anderson fan since.Comment
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That is WAY WAY WAY too true these days. But I don't know if it's exactly fair to just blame the writers, I think it's the producers who all have Robert Mckee disease right now.Exactly! Maggy and I just figured it was a fighting movie and Maggy does not like fighting, boxing, etc. so we never had any interest in seeing it. Then we saw it on TV and were so blown away by it that we bought the DVD. A very odd yet well done story. I love movies with twists and turns that toss something at you that you never saw coming. I did a lot of writing in school (creative writing and math are my strong suits) and so many movies/TV shows are so predictable that I often can sit there and tell Maggy what is going to be said or done next. There are just too many formulamatic writers out there. Our joke is that they just put the blank pages through the Formula-Matic 2000 and out pops the script!
Last edited by Brazoo; Oct 19, '11, 3:00 PM.Comment
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I totally agree - and I went through exactly the same thing. I'm a huge Wes Anderson fan too!
Actually I think I gave Bottle Rocket a shot just because I thought Owen Wilson looked a bit like a young Dennis Hopper on the poster and and that made me curious.
Have you seen the newer DVD with commentary? It's kind of crazy how much latitude and trust they got to reshoot things and get things right. I don't hear that happening much. James L. Brooks is an awesome awesome dude.Last edited by Brazoo; Oct 19, '11, 2:50 PM.Comment
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Raiders of the lost ark...
Did not want to see it in 81. I was 9 years old and it looked boring. I went to see some kids movie while Dad went to see Raiders in another part of the theater. He left the theater describing it to me as excited as a little boy. So I went to see it with him the next week. Of course I loved it!
Will never forget ya Dad! Love you!Comment
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Clerks and Mallrats... I missed the initial hype around Clerks so when I finally did see it I couldn't get over how I KNEW those characters and conversations... follow that with Mallrats, I had actually seen it before Clerks and didn't really put two and two together at first. There was just something charming about it. To this day I still can't exactly put my finger on what it is but there is something remarkably inspiring to me about those two films and their characters. Mind you the other Kevin Smith films are okay but nothing super special, and honestly his non 'Jersey' stuff rates pretty much as crap to me.
Another odd ball 'film' that I really appreciate is "The St. Francisville Experiment". While it was cashing in on the Blair Witch phenomena at the time when i watched it (since they were selling it as a 'true' story) made me start to really watch what the camera was capturing and really pay attention to the way it was edited. I still appreciate those lessons learned.
On an emotional level there is still no one film that ripped out my heart more than "Mask" with Cher. Even as a young kid that film flat out moved me. I haven't watched it in a long time and probably won't anytime soon because it's just too damn sad.
Oh yeah... forgive me Hector... but Superman returns is still one that amazes me for the fact that it actually had me NOT liking Superman by the end of it. Shame on you Bryan Singer. Shame.Comment
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Sometimes the movies that surprise me are the ones that I've actually already seen, but then watch again years later and realize I was missing something the first time.
For instance, I can remember going through my Tarantino phase back in the early '90s. I was renting Reservoir Dogs at the video store (for like the fifth time), and the guy behind the counter recommended I check out Michael Mann's Heat. So I watched it... and I thought it was a pretty average -- and sometimes even boring -- police procedural, whose big claim to fame was that it had Pacino and De Niro together for the first time. "This is nowhere near as good as Tarantino's stuff," I thought.
Fast forward years later, and Heat blows me away. The way it delves into the character's lives, and the way that it's a story about men, but is interested in the lives of the female characters, and how the men try (and often fail) to relate to them, and the way the cop and thief relate to, and even respect, one another. The whole movie feels like a novel. It has a breadth and depth to it that I just somehow didn't notice the first time around. And I find the ending really poignant.
It's the movie that got me interested in Mann as a filmmaker, and I've liked all of his other movies. (With maybe the exception of Miami Vice. I kinda hated that one.)
And speaking of Wes Anderson, he's another filmmaker I was indifferent to the first time around. I thought Bottle Rocket was flat, Rushmore was creepy, and Tenenbaums was just weird. Now he's one of my favorites, and I actually love those last two movies, and have re-watched them many times. (Rushmore even quotes Heat a couple of times!)
It weirds me out a little that my opinions can change so drastically. I haven't decided if that's something to be proud of, or if I'm just super fickle.Last edited by Sandman9580; Oct 20, '11, 2:33 AM.Comment
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I watched the remake of 'True Grit' with Jeff Bridges the other night. Wow! Talk about a surprise. One heck of a film. You don't need to be a "western" fan. You don't need to be an action/adventure fan. All you need to like is well developed characters and a little heart. Incredible performances from all involved...ESPECIALLY the little girl. Absolutely Oscar worthy. And the dialogue is just fantastic. I didn't hardly blink through the whole film. Funny, tense, bitter sweet, and completely engaging. A timeless classic. If you pass on this film, you have missed one of the better ones made in some time. Yeah, I was surprised. I was blown away.
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I completely relate to that - there are a few memorable times I've done that - usually with music. A couple of my favorite bands were ones I started out thinking were "not bad" and gradually gained more excitement for re-listening to them. It grows on me.
I guess we can sometimes be affected by a particular mood or attitude - maybe a lack of sleep. I remember renting and watching "The Piano" when it was new on video and being incredibly disappointed - everyone loved it and I thought Jane Campion's other movies were great - so a few hours before I returned it I put it back on and thought it was brilliant. I was exhausted the night before - I worked all week and thought watching a good movie would relax me - but I wasn't the the mental state to absorb it. On my day off I was relaxed and focused. I guess, anyway.
"Casino" is another one - but I think that's because 5 years after "Goodfellas" with the same director, cast and writer it was hard not to compare the two movies. 10+ years later it feels like it's own story - it's a lot more about people trying to fool themselves than the mobster stuff.
"RoboCop" was a movie I didn't like as a kid, because I wanted it to take itself seriously - at that time, I thought it was being goofy. I didn't understand satire that didn't look like MAD Magazine - you know?
I think our attitudes about changing our opinions and even admitting when we're wrong is a little messed up. People who do that get labeled 'flip-flopper'. Who wants to be the exact same person when they were 20 as when they're 70? Who wants to be that closed minded? People don't want to learn or grow?
But, I have a few friends that make it seem like one of the most important things in life is that you never change your opinions. I get in arguments with this one friend where it feels like everything you've ever said is suppose to be on record someplace and you can't ever see another side of the issue at another time. My gut impulse in these situations is to try and prove that I'm "not wrong", but it's all very silly. Why do we care?!
Anyway - I'll be checking out "Heat" again for sure. I liked that movie when it came out, but I've actually been told by a few people that if I don't think it's UNBELIEVABLY FANTASTIC that I should watch it again - so I will.Comment
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Very well said indeed.
Heat is an amazing film which only improves with future viewings. The first time I watched it I thought that it was a great film, with an awesome (and loud!) gun battle in the middle.
With subsequent viewings the breadth and depth, as you say, of the film's characters is wonderful.
The film gets me every time, and also features great music.Comment
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