Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Some Kind of Wonderful...written by John Hughes is so good and so vastly underrated. He was certainly the auteur of the 80’s teenage angst and the comedy and drama that comes from that age, having written and directed absolutely brilliant 80’s pieces of cinema.

I think this one got a little buried with iconics like Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller, Weird Science which came just previously. He was just so tuned into that world and mentality.

I was absolutely taken, the first time I saw this. Don’t know exactly when or how, but it was long ago, perhaps VHS? I dunno, but this one holds up time and again for me and is just an absolute pleasure to watch, each and every time. This just oozed 80’s, from the style to the music and it was perfect. Lea Thompson, Eric Stoltz, Craig Scheffer (who took the reigns from William Zabka quite nicely, but certainly not equaling), Mary Stuart Masterson. Just a great, underrated teenage rom-com.

Thanks to this John Hughes collection I just got, I’m able to rediscover all over again and extras which is a nice little bonus.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

It's because suckers don't recognize the glory that is Lea Thompson.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

I’m def doing whole set. In which order is what I have to decide. Probably chronological after SKoW.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

this was total cast effort and MSM especially killed it in every scene. She rocked the emotion of this film. They all did really. The ending seems more of cop out actually, now that I think about it.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Why is it a cop out? Because Amanda finally realizes she doesn't need either Keith or Hardy and she becomes her own person? Or that Keith and Watts were the ones meant for each other?

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

I'm not talking about her acting abilities...

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

All The Right Moves and Howard the Duck :up:

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

the hookup with Watts was what I didn’t buy, but still a well done, acted scene...

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

yissss

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

QT's Death Proof

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Cradle Will Rock by Tim Robbins.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

The Hudsucker Proxy by the Coen Brothers

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

The Silent Partner from Curtis Hanson (wrote the screenplay).
High Fidelity from Stephen Frears.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

I was gonna say Death Proof too, because a few segments of clunky dialogue aside (Seriously, Q? "I'll be your best friend"??), it's just a lot of fun.

But I'll say One Wonderful Sunday by Akira Kurosawa. No samurais, no Toshiro Mifune. Just a young couple spending their one day off together as Japan rebuilds from WWII. The scene where they're in a war-destroyed cafe pretending that they're running a restaurant is beautiful.

For another, although it's more highly regarded (but not as much as it should be), Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur. The 39 Steps and North by Northwest are his more well-known "falsely accused man on the run" movies, but Saboteur is just as good. In fact I'd rate it higher than Steps (but not as high as NxNW)

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

The “obvious” answer for Martin Scorsese is After Hours. And yeah I do love that under-rated movie.
But the most under-appreciated gem in his filmography is the short film he shot for New York Stories starring Nick Norte and Rosanna Arquette called Life Lessons. I haven’t seen it in ages but I just loved it. One of the very best movies I have ever seen about art and artists.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

A Simple Plan directed by Sam Raimi is a quiet, exquisite film. Makes you squirm, the actors whose characters are in these ridiculous situations play it so real.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

It's also one of the rare occasions where I thought the changes they made from the novel made the story better.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

I'd forgotten it was based on a novel. With what you say, is it still worth a read? Wow, now I want to watch the movie, it's been a long time.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

It’s a fantastic book. One of my favorites ever. The author, Scott Smith, adapted the screenplay and got an Oscar nomination. The changes are actually pretty minimal. The author has only written one other book since, The Ruins, which he also adapted into a movie, albeit a far lesser one.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Hmm. I'm trying to think of directors that I might be able to think of something. Maybe some of these will qualify:

The Limey - Something about this Steven Soderbergh thriller just clicked with me. I liked his play with editing, which he used in other movies in more toned down ways but works better here.
Thieves Like Us - I wouldn't say this is my favorite Altman, but I think it's a great movie that doesn't get mentioned all that much.
Zelig - It has always been one of my favorite Woody Allen films.
One, Two, Three - I think this is a wonderful Billy Wilder comedy and one of Cagney's best performances. Maybe it's too much of an artifact given its politics.
The Straight Story - I don't know if it's underrated so much as overlooked among David Lynch's films. I suppose it's easy to focus on his weird stuff.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Blu i respect you brother, but this is so wrong. Few movies i outright despise, but this is one. It is so awful.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Excellent choices, although I should point out that ZELIG was highly praised and a huge critical favorite when it came out. I was skeptical at all the hype and a friend of mine at the time insisted, "It really is that good!" I eventually saw it and was disappointed. It would have made a good short film--about 30 min., but the concept was, for me, too slight to justify a full-length feature. Of course, it could be considered underrated today, since it's 38 years later and, for obvious reasons, doesn't get talked about as much as MANHATTAN or HUSBANDS AND WIVES or the films that relate more directly in their way to the Woody Allen/Mia Farrow conflict.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

It's been at least twenty years since I read it, but I remember that the things the movie did with the Jacob character (BBT) being more poignant.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Aside from a REALLY out of place Star Wars reference (the movie takes place in 1960s California/Mexico), I absolutely love Hanson's 80s teen sex comedy Losin' It. You got a pre-stardom (and slightly chubby) Tom Cruise, and Hanson may have been the first to realize that Jackie Earle Hailey was destined to play creeps and villains, because even though he's the protagonist here he's VERY unlikeable. Intentionally.

Re: Most underrated gem in a director or writers resume?
 

Munich - Spielberg
Eyes Wide Shut - Kubrick
Biutiful - Iñarritu
Polytechnique - Villeneuve
Rumble Fish - Coppola
The Passenger - Antonioni
The Counselor - Scott
New Rose Hotel - Ferrara
Fire Walk With Me - Lynch
The Hunger - Scott
Tetro - Coppola
The Skin I Live In - Almodovar
Miami Vice - Mann