Last night I watched a French film called 'Renaissance' which was entirely shot in a simply stunning visual style all black and white but with no grey, it really has to be seen to be believed, the story is fairly standard noir/sci-fi and not bad but nothing to write home about but still I would strongly recommend seeing this film as it's a real treat for the eyes.

Dark City also arrived and I'm going to have to pull myself away from GTA for long enough to watch it as I have heard great things about it.

I'm also a big fan of Darren Aronofsky and Miike Takashi, not to say I just watch artsy films as I sometimes love a loud and dumb blockbuster but I've only heard about these films through word of mouth and was wondering if any of you had any gems (films or games) that are either cult or largely ignored by the general public.

Renaissance was a great film, but the acting was just short of Channel 5. Very nice twist though.

Ok get a sammich and a beer (or coke or whatever you fancy) Here is all the movies you have not watched but should;

Boondock Saints, This one got around the town I used to live in by word of mouth alone, small film, amazing, must see,great writing, good actors, plus see Ron Jeremy in the only non adult film I have ever seen him in. everyone who I had watch it went out and bought a copy the next day. Bonus points if you have Irish ancestry or are from Boston you will love this film, love it

Equilibrium, a great look at society if we were all logical, maybe too logical. Great style, good actors (Christian Bale) very good script, lots of action too

Sunshine, a newer sci-fi film. Very smart dark and creepy, a little reminiscent of the original Alien movie (which was fantastic but does not seem to be aging well, still love it though!)

Death Note, a Japanese film based off the manga series of the same name which also spawned an anime series. So anime fans and Death Note fans in particular find this live action movie, very smart film (and lots of hot Japanese girls woohoo!) also had a sequel, Death Note: the Last Name, which ends at an earlier place than the manga or anime but ends in a differnt fashion from either of those. I think the Last Name was a little better than the first film but both are excellent nonetheless

Old Boy, based on the manga of the same name,a Korean film about revenge from a man that was wrongfully imprisioned for 15 years. Great movie not for the faint of heart it's intense!

Brotherhood of the Wolf, French film based on an old legend from France, just before the French Revolution, it ends the old legend that no one could solve back in the day. Brilliant movie, very moody and tense, really you owe it to yourself to watch this one.

Ok I'm gonna shut up now

The_root_of_all_evil:
Renaissance was a great film, but the acting was just short of Channel 5. Very nice twist though.

thanks for that - i was wondering what it was like

The Sting. And Sneakers. You must watch them. I command you.

The Fountain, by Darren Aranofsky. Beautifully shot, very trippy in places, some gorgeous visuals. And it's got Rachel Weisz in it.

The Vengence Trilogy: Of which Oldboy is the 2nd between Sympathy for Mr Vengence & Sympathy for Lady Vengence. All great films taking different angles on revenge.

Black Snake Moan

Come & See: Russian war drama & one of the most disturbing war films I have ever seen

Boiling Point: Makes every American action movie pale in comparrison. Completely over the top but absolutely amazing.

The Spook who sat by the door: A CIA trained African American leads a gurilla war against the state. 'nuff said :-)

Running with Scissors: Its worth seeing for Brian Cox's performance alone.

If...: Malcolm McDowlls first feature film. Teenage rebellion in a public school

Anything directed by Terry Gillingham

The Trois Coleurs triology: theyre not great films, but Still very much worth seeing,

Le Dernier Combat: Luc Bessons first film, & absolutely bizarre. Be warned: very much an university student arthouse movie.

The Warriors: Everyone knows about it, but im surprised by how few have actually seen it (same with The Crow). "Can you dig it, suckers?"

The Warrior (with Ifran Khan): Indian movie about an enforcer for a corrupt local Raj who attempts to attone for his crimes. Before you ask, no, it isnt a steriotypical bollywood film

My son the Fanatic: Om Puri is a taxi driver who has "assimilated" into British culture but has to deal with his son coming under the influence of a radical Islamic group

Im speaking more about films that have been passed over by the public than by critics. Indeed, Any foreign film except Amilie can really be added to this list :-P

Cousin_IT:
The Vengence Trilogy: Of which Oldboy is the 2nd between Sympathy for Mr Vengence & Sympathy for Lady Vengence. All great films taking different angles on revenge.

Hell yeah. Best movies of the past 20 years. Also:

The Descent: Top notch brit-horror from the guy who made Dog Soldiers.
Brick: A film-noir style high school film. It's fantastic, much better than it sounds.
Grizzly Man: A documentary about Timothy Treadwell, a nutter that spent thirteen summers living with Grizzly bears in Alaska. Astonishing stuff.
Little Miss Sunshine: Black comedy about a dysfunctional family's road trip across America to see their youngest one take part in a beauty pageant.

They may not be the most underground films, but they're all great and didn't do too well at the box office.

Thanks everyone, I watched Dark City last night and really enjoyed it, it was moody, intersting and original, do you know the way to shell beach?

Boondock saints is another favourite of mine, I've watched that film tons of times it's become something of a St Patricks day tradition.

I'll have to go do some shopping online now and start working through the others reccomended, makes me glad dvd prices have come down so far :)

yes! brotherhood of the wolf was great, i am a real fan of French film or at least the French film that reaches NZ shore, so also you should see 'the city of lost children' and anything with jean reno or gerard depardieu. ^__^

One of the films I regard as some of the best I've ever seen is the french "Le Couperet" or "The ax" in English. It's extremely well acted and has a great feel to it. Great plot twist in the end as well

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422015/

I am a fan of foreign film. La Haine, Le Hussard sur le toit, and Le Grand Bleu all great french films. One of the main reasons I like foreign film is that they are often tragedies rather than happy-ending hollywood gloss. Old Boy, Hard Boiled, Infernal Affairs, lots of Hong Kong cinema that do stuff way beyond Hollywood as well.

Games: psychonauts, beyond good and evil.

While I'm on the subject I'll give some other's that in my opinion are must see

Pi - Darren Aronofsky's first film about a brilliant mathmaticians descent into madness

Happiness of the Katakuris - plays like 'The Sound of Music' meets 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', my favourite Takashi film since the incredibly brutal 'Itchi'

Big Fish - Beautiful film, Tim Burton at his best blurring the lines between dreams and reality

Dogville - A woman on the run takes refuge in a small town only to be taken advantage of and abused by the seemingly 'nice' locals, no buildings and very bare sets make this an interesting cross between theatre and film

City of God - ok so not really missed but still one of the best gangster films ever, trying to survive in the slums of Brazil

Taxi (and the sequels) - The original by Luc Besson not the terrible Hollywood remake, very funny, very French, brings a smile to my face every time.

I'll drop a few (what i think are anyway) gems as well:

Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

Leon: Film with a young Natalie Portman in it, great movie. More of an action flick

Dragon Tiger Gate: If you're a fan of Chinese martial arts movies, this is one for you, i enjoyed it. Some of the physics are over exaggerated, but it's a Chinese martial arts movie, it wouldn't be one if it was bound by the laws of physics.

I can't think of any others right now.

Cheers

Shieldsy

Metal Arms Gltich in the system was an underated gem of a game but thats a game
as for movies, I thought Kung Fu Hussle was amazing, and there's another movie...but I can;t think of the name right now...I really like "Gandhi" (shut up) but I don't know if thats really under rated

Metal Arms Gltich in the system was an underated gem of a game but thats a game
as for movies, I thought Kung Fu Hussle was amazing, and there's another movie...but I can;t think of the name right now...I really like "Gandhi", hell I loved it (shut up) but I don't know if thats really under rated

**the double post is a screw up sorry**

Movies:

Deja Vu: The advertisements made it look like absolute crap, but the movie itself is good. My brother and I got it on a lark and watched it one night. It was surprisingly compelling, and deals with the concepts of time paradox in really interesting ways

Gattaca: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, both of them actually acting. It's the future, and we can select the best possible fetus to give birth to, which means that we create a society based on who has the best DNA. What happens when someone without the best DNA wants to go into outerspace? He may not have the DNA, but he has the indomitable will.

Saved: Picture Juno if it weren't pretentious about being hip and cool. Teenage born-again Christian becomes pregnant after trying to "cure" her homosexual boyfriend after hallucinating seeing jesus while she was drowning. I didn't make that up.

Donnie Darko: It's really messed up (probably even more than Pan's Labyrinth, which is saying something). At first glance, it's about time-travel, except maybe not. If you really think about it, though, it's all about the effects we have on other people's lives. Here's the big question:

MirrorMask: It's Neil Gaiman writing a movie. It's funny, psychological, and really sweet at times. Did I mention it's Neil Gaiman?

Television:

The Dresden Files: I originally avoided it because it wasn't true to the books. If you can divorce yourself from the books and appreciate the series on its own merits, it's fantastic.

X-Men (Evolution): I know, it's a kid's show. It was on the WB, for goodness' sake, but the amazing thing: it was good. It was probably the best treatment of the X-men I've seen (including the movies). Yes, it can tend toward a bit of melodrama at times, but that's keeping in line with the comics themselves.

Games:

Fire Emblem (any of them): Extraordinarily difficult turn-based strategy RPGs, they have complex, deep, plots, and some of the most endearing characters I've seen. It's all text-based conversation (very little voice acting), but it reads like a JRR Tolkien story.

Books:

The Dresden Files: Picture Harry Potter mixed with film noir, and you've got a good idea

John Dies at the End: Funny, irreverent, well-written, and occasionally though provoking. Read it, I command you

my vote would go to big fish, pretty damn good

but the best movie evar is a movie called 'Freddy got fingered' , starring Tom Green, i know about 6 people who have seen it, it;s the funniest movie ever made, Tom must have been high or something to make it

for those who want a little teaser, let me tell you about the opening sequence, Tom's skating through the mall being chased by a sucrity guard, he gets away pulling off some sweet moves and then he smacks face first into a door that opens the other way

One movie I've found underappreciated is American Psycho. It is an entertaining, gorey detailed vision of a psychopaths mind and probably one of Christian Bale's best acting jobs.

Shieldsy:
Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

Teeth: About a teenage girl who learns that breasts weren't the only thing that grow in puberty.

A Scanner Darkly: Keanue Reeves is a Narc cop who's been order to spy on himself. A mind-fuck and a half.

El Topo: If you made a hybrid plant-creature of Salvador Dali and cannabis, mixed it with pure LSD and made a film on it, you would not even come close to this... If you see it, watch it because you will never see anything like it.

Eraserhead: Closest to El Topo, but like an ant compared to an elephant there is a large difference

Oh yeah, anyone else seen Switchblade Romance? A modern French slasher film with tons of gore, hints of lesbianism and a soundtrack by Muse. Pure awesome.

The movie that I recently watched that really impressed me was The Mist.
It is an old Steven King short story, and its directed by the same guy that did Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile and The Shield on TV. And it has the guy from Thank You For Smoking, which is another underrated movie that you should all see.
I would have never picked it up if I didnt read the back and see there was weird alien things in it lol.
But Im a big Sci-Fi nerd.
It was so good that it changed my opinion that ALL movies are overrated pieces of crap.
There are exceptions of course but I think everyone loves fight club and matrix and starwars and stuff.

Zekko5:

Shieldsy:
Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

The two do compliment eachother well. Rather pretentiously, the book is written in such a way that it adapting it to a filmscript wouldnt require great changes to the story. That cheeky devil Steinbeck

Evil Lawyer:
One movie I've found underappreciated is American Psycho. It is an entertaining, gorey detailed vision of a psychopaths mind and probably one of Christian Bale's best acting jobs.

Great movie, hated the ending. Totally ruined the whole movie for me.

Golden Sun and Baten Kaitos Origins

Best Games Ever

Zero Effect, a mystery/drama/romance/thriller/dark-comedy, made in 1999. Written and directed by Jake Kasdan (the son of Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back), and loosely inspired by an original Sherlock Holmes story. Bill Pullman is fantastic as the lead, and this is one of the few movies with Ben Stiller in it during which I DIDN'T want to strangle him, but the supporting cast is nothing short of fantastic.
It's primarily a drama, but it's got some great dark comedy moments, stylized editing, and fascinating plot twists.
See it.

Cousin_IT:

Zekko5:

Shieldsy:
Of Mice And Men: From what i remember this was a good movie i haven't seen it in years, it is a drama though. And it's the only movie I've watched and cried during.

This film is only for you if you don't mind the incredibly slow pace and abundance of useless shots it has (I mean that, I'm not one that only watches action-pumped movies, but this is just over the top slowly paced, with no purpose as far as I can see). The acting is good, though.

Don't bother with the book on which it is based, either. Story's good, but the writing is terribly monotonous and simple.

The two do compliment eachother well. Rather pretentiously, the book is written in such a way that it adapting it to a filmscript wouldnt require great changes to the story. That cheeky devil Steinbeck

Agreed. The whole film script style of writing only made the book extremely boring for me to read, though. The story and interesting characters were the only things that kept me interested enough to plow through the boring writing. Who the hell still writes more than 4 pages describing the room they're in, and in the end it turns out it didn't really make any difference whether they were in the barn or in their room, because the dialogue could pretty much be done anywhere? A 'lil scene setting is nice, but seriously, four friggin' pages saying that the picture of the tractor isn't on the wall opposite the door, not next to the door, but on the wall left of the door? (I'm making that up, but you get the idea)

Pretty much anything in the Tartan Asia Extreme range is worth a good look at - Battle Royale, Dead Or Alive, Bangkok Dangerous, Audition... they're all superb film experiences, especially looking at them from a film-makers point of view.

The Man Who Would Be King- Hardly anyone remember it, but this was a great movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine back in 1975. Great story, great acting, great everything. Connery and Caine play off each other so well in this gem, it's a treat to watch. What's it about? Oh, men decide to become the kings of Afghanistan. They don't make 'em like that any more...

Hickey & Boggs- another 70s movie, this one about two down-and-out detectives in Los Angeles. It's a total period piece, and the only DVD version has atrocious quality problems (better to catch it on Sky IMO) but it has some great acting by Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, both playing it totally straight. If you're an American whose image of Cosby is a genial father figure from 80s prime-time TV, it's quite a shock.

Princess Mononoke- anime fans are probably familiar with it, but the rest of you should give it a try. Every movie should be this wonderful. Even the English dialog is good.

Dark City- the Matrix done right. Plus, breasts!

I agree- Brotherhood of the Wolf is great. If you can stand subtitles, use the French dialog. Equilibrium is hated by people who take it too seriously but has high marks from me. Gattaca is one of the best science fiction movies ever.

RufusMcLaser:
The Man Who Would Be King- Hardly anyone remember it, but this was a great movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story which starred Sean Connery and Michael Caine back in 1975. Great story, great acting, great everything. Connery and Caine play off each other so well in this gem, it's a treat to watch. What's it about? Oh, men decide to become the kings of Afghanistan. They don't make 'em like that any more...

Great film.

i didnt realise Equilibrium counted as a past over film but its pretty darn good (& now I think about it I cant name many people who have said theyve seen it). Brotherhood of the wolf im not so keen on though. Like most movies of its ilk its good till you discover whats doing everything (as was the case with jeepers Creepers. Great till you learn its a harvest deamon doing it then it just decends into a pointless slasher action flick. JP that is not BotW)

Tremors: on paper it looks like a stereotypical monster movie, but it's got such charm and wit. The sequels weren't as good, but they didn't suck either.

The Taking of Pelham 123: the original one, I mean. It was a blockbuster when it was released but has pretty much slid out of sight since... save for that remake that, frankly, sucks enough to dredge the Hudson River bottom. In my opinion the original still works as a period piece, an ironic view of New York when it was America's problem city.

No Man's Land: excellent but depressing drama set in the Yugoslavian civil war. Oscar winning but you don't hear anything about it anymore... I recommend watching it with a friend, and on a day you can step out afterwards into the sunlight with birds singing unless you really do want to end it all.

Incident at Loch Ness: to describe is to spoil, except to say that it's written by and stars Werner Herzog and it's about Loch Ness. And it's very, very weird.

I suppose I should stop now, before I ramble on too long.

-- Steve