Sleeper movies

[Ed62]

Do you have a favorite "sleeper" movie? A sleeper being defined as one that did not get a lot of publicity, and is somewhat unknown.

Mine is "The Earthling". It's one of my favorite movies, and it is not science fiction, as the name might imply. It stars William Holden (I think it was his last movie) and Ricky Schroder when he was a child. It focuses on the relationship of a boy and a man (a stranger) who is dying. The boy must learn survival techniques, as it takes place in a remote area of Australia. This is one I highly recommend. Try a local library or a video store. Following is a plot summary of it from a website:

The Earthling (1980)
Patrick Foley (Holden) has been on the move all his live. Tired of drifting, he wants to spend his last days in an isolated Australian valley where he grew up. On his difficult journey he meets Shawn (Schroder), a little desperate city-boy whose parents were killed in an accident in this remote inhospitable territory. Being unable to accompany the boy back to the civilized world he reluctantly takes him with him on his trip to that valley and teaches him in a rugged way how to survive ...

[cgallery]

The World's Fastest Indian:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412080/

[SHADOWFOX]

I have seen a bunch of them sleeper movies. Mostly through word of mouth from friends. For me sleeper movies are movies that were not nationally advertised and just spread its following through people that have seen it and have highly recommended it. Well here are some sleeper movies that I am highly recommending:

THE BOONDOCK SAINTS by Troy Duffy
Twin brothers Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus), feeling that their God-given mission is to cleanse the Earth of all human evil, set out to rid Boston of crime. But instead of joining the police force, these Irish Americans decide to kick criminal butt their own way -- à la Charles Bronson. Willem Dafoe is the openly gay FBI special agent assigned to investigate.

28 DAYS LATER by Danny Boyle
A killer virus (it turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs) is accidentally released from a British research facility. Carried by animals and humans, the virus is impossible to contain and spreads across the entire planet. Twenty-eight days later, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected.

EQUILIBRIUM by Kurt Wimmer
In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: Books, art and music are strictly forbidden, and feeling is a crime punishable by death -- a rule that's enforced by feeding the denizens a mood-limiting drug. John Preston (Christian Bale) is a top government official responsible for destroying those who resist the rules. But when he misses a dose of his own medication, he experiences a pang of conscience.

DOG SOLDIERS by Neil Marshall
In Neil Marshall's directorial debut, a squad of soldiers is sent out on what should have been a routine military exercise in the wilds of Scotland. But the excursion turns into a waking nightmare when Sgt. Harry Wells (Sean Pertwee) and his men discover the bloody corpses of Capt. Richard Ryan's (Liam Cunningham) battalion. As the sun goes down, the soldiers are tracked by a pack of werewolves determined to feast on their flesh.

CAUTION: These movies are not meant for the young ones to see.

[Brian in Dawson Creek]

Doctor Zhivago

The UK broadcast edition 2002, with Sam Neill, Hans Matheson and Keira Knightley (from the recent pirates of the Caribbean movies with Johnny Depp)

If you’ve seen the original 1965 version, and liked it … you gotta see this one.


Brian

[gerti]

Secondhand Lions

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327137/

Great movie, funny, suited for all ages!

[germdoc]

Most of my sleepers are horror movies.

Great recent action flick is Amigo Perros--Mexican movie, kind of like Pulp Fiction set in Mexico City. Great performances and character development. Also look at The Matador, with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.

The Devil's Backbone is in Spanish, set in Franco's Spain--a surprising ghost story involving boys living in a boarding school who uncover a terrible secret.

A few other scary flicks: The Others, with Nicole Kidman; Deep Calm, one of Nicole's early Australian movies and one of the scariest thrillers ever! The Incident at Raven's Creek--atmospheric, unusual supernatural/alien thriller also from Australia. Happy Mother's Day, Love George--AKA Run, Stranger, Run--is an early Ron Howard movie that's very moody and frightening--I remember it from many years ago.

Alltime cult classic which is inexplicable--must be seen to be believed--is David Lynch's Eraserhead. I've seen it twice, been mesmerized both times, but still don't know what the **** it's about.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

Don't know if it is a sleeper movie or not but the movie and the soundtrack are very good. Its "The Man From Snowy River", I can watch it at least once a day and the CD is in the computer so that when I am on it I can listen to it.

[cabinetman]

A movie that I don't think made it big was The Last Detail, (1973) with Jack Nicholson, Otis Young and Randy Quaid. About two sailors who had to take another sailor to the brig and decided to give him a last fling.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070290/

[Tom Slick]

Lock, stock, and two smoking barrels is really good, it's sequal was more well known, snatch.
From Dust to Glory is also a favorite. it was a documentary about the Baja 1000 race.

[jackellis]

We don't care for most of the well-publicized stuff Hollwood churns out. Bend It Like Beckham became a favorite as did the star (Parminder Nagra now has a gig on ER). We liked Second Hand Lions enough to buy the DVD.

Right now we're working our way through the Sci-Fi TV series called Firefly and we'll eventually see Serenity, a movie sequel. Firefly is one of the best TV series I've ever seen and it attracted quite a cult following for a show that was cancelled after 13 episodes.

[SHADOWFOX]

Right now we're working our way through the Sci-Fi TV series called Firefly and we'll eventually see Serenity, a movie sequel. Firefly is one of the best TV series I've ever seen and it attracted quite a cult following for a show that was cancelled after 13 episodes.

I love the Firefly series and saw it last year and became a huge fan of it. Then I saw the movie "Serenity" and it left me wanting more from the creator. FOX screwed up big time with this series and the department responsible for the marketing effort with this series should never get a job somewhere else. I've seen some series that are on TV that are nowhere near as good as Firefly.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

[QUOTE=SHADOWFOX;246409]FOX screwed up big time with this series and the department responsible for the marketing effort with this series should never get a job somewhere else. QUOTE]

Fox? No way! They never mess up marketing killer shows. I mean they did cancel Family Guy, but they brought it back. What about Arrested Development?!>!>!!!?!?!? Talk about a cult following!

[LinuxRandal]

While I really do like The World's Fastest Indian, I hardly consider it a sleeper, with all the publicity I saw for it. But by those standards, it always suprised me that some things go directly to video, when they would be great at the movies. The Grumpy old men movies in particular.

I tend to like black comedy as a whole, and some of them actually got big: Hotel New Hampshire, Harold and Maude. But there is one that crossed both that, and the scifi genre, by combining something like Dr. Strangelove, with it. Dark Star. Wierd thing was how it inspired Alien.

For Horror movies, the one that comes to mind, may or may not have been a sleeper, as I was a kid when I first saw it. The Changling. And another one, that I always expect to be played more: Something Wicked this way comes.

I really cut down going to movies after seeing one years ago. Then a few years back I went with some friends and saw the Matrix, and my opinion was it's just the combination of Tron and Terminator 2. Now I am seeing so many direct remakes, I just stay away from the the rental places too.

[germdoc]

Blood and Wine, and The Crossing Guard, both feature GREAT Jack Nicolson performances. In fact, just about anything with Jack in it is a classic, regardless of how well it did at the box office. Ditto for The Last Detail and Five Easy Pieces.

Again, for you adrenaline junkies, Shallow Grave with Ewan McGregor was well-done. Also check out Requiem for a Dream and Pi, both by Darron Aronofsky. The visual equivalent of meth.

OK, this is really out on the cult scale, but does anyone remember a series of horror movies made in the Philippines featuring the Chlorophyll Beast? Starring John Ashley, who along with John Agar, was a staple of low-budget horror movies? (http://www.1000misspenthours.com/rev...astofblood.htm) When I saw them in my teens (in the 70's) I thought they were pretty scary yet titillating. Might have been the native girls with the tear-away sarongs...

[charger1966]

Well mine would have to be DIggstown


Very good movie with James Woods and Louis Gossett Jr.
It is one of the best movies that James Woods has ever been in and it got Hardly any recognition at the box office.

Keep Making that Sawdust
Lance