Title says it all. My girlfriend and I like to watch movies in downtime, especially as we move to the winter months. Are there any solid movie recommendations that you've seen recently and didn't gain the popularity it should have? A few great "sleeper" movies I've watched recently (these may or may not be sleepers, I just have never heard of them from mainstream media):
- The Prestige (starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, ScarJo)
- The Place Beyond the Pines (starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes)
- The Gentlemen (starring Matthew McConaughey and Charlie Hunnam
- Prisoners (starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman)
- Nightcrawler (starring Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Nocturnal Animals (starring Isla Fisher, Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Whiplash (starring J.k. Simmons, Miles Teller)
Again, hope you don't get hung up on the above if they're sleepers or not, I've just stumbled across them scrolling through streaming channels and really liked them.
Not that they didn't have the prominence they deserved at the time but:
Vanishing Point, Ronin, Equilibrium, Boondock Saints, US Marshals
Equilibrium and Boondocks Saints are good fun. Wouldn’t watch them twice but certainly entertaining action.
Phantoms with Ben Afleck
I'm sorry, what the fuk just happened?
Phantoms like a mf
Hell or High Water
Baby Driver
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. (watched it on a plane and couldn't stop laughing!)
Brightburn
Sing 2 (not really a sleeper but if you don't have young kids you probably haven't seen it...it's been on repeat at my house for a month and it hasn't gotten old yet)
Everybody wants some (it's no Dazed and Confused but still worth a watch)
Hell or high water and Baby driver are both awesome for different reasons. Would high recommend both.
+1 for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. LOVE this film.
Oh ok it is "Fracture" with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. I am a movie buff so have obsessively watched this movie over and over again. I like it.
Fracture is 10/10, and one of my favorite movies. To add to it, Nocturnal Animals (you have it on your list but it is so good it deserves another mention), The Imitation Game, Donnie Darko, Zodiac, 8th Grade (completely different vibe than the rest but a master piece).
Not sure it (or any of the movies I mentioned for that matter) is a sleeper, but everyone should see Requiem for a Dream once. It was the most impactful movie I have ever seen and stayed with me more than any other cinematic masterpiece.
Yeah I think all kids should see Requiem For a Dream. It’s a great flick. To see the ugly side of addiction. I’ll never forget that hole in his elbow at the end in the car. So gross - haha wow.
Collateral with Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise — amazing plot and dynamic.
Definitely a rewatch. All the easter eggs, exact writing (look up what the word Vincent comes from), cameos like Statham.
Heat (1995). Awesome LA heist movie with Al Pacino, Robert de Niro, and Val Kilmer. Good reviews but never hear it talked about
Also Point Break (1991)
Good flick. I’ve surfed that break at the end of the movie - Bell’s Beach Australia.
The slide at the end of Heat was perfect. If you've seen it, you'll get the reference.
Upvoted for Point Break, one of my favorites of all time. RIP Bodhi!
Zodiac
Inglorious Basterds
12 angry men
12 angry men is one of the best films of all time, a true classic. Simple plot, solid acting, no special effects or eye-catching BS, just a great movie. Only additional comment I would add is you need to be ready for a serious movie that requires focus when you sit down to watch it.
I wish films like this were made today!! It’s so good and somehow still feels fresh after all these years
I like Inglorious Basterds
A few great movies that you may like that I feel more people should see:
Wind River is such a good sleeper +1 SB
Came here to say the same thing +1 for wind river
I love The Peanut Butter Falcon!
Road to Perdition. It has Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, and Daniel Craig
Glad to see the Place Beyond the Pines get some recognition. Such an underrated movie and one of my all time favorites
A Scanner Darkly.
A simple plan
Anti-trust
Untouchables
A couple very entertaining ones I’ve watched recently:
Old Henry (2021)
The Outfit (2022)
Big Trouble In Little China is a personal favorite
10/10 film, you just cant be sober when you watch it
The gentleman was a great pick
Inside Man
The Score
Good heist movies
Incendies
Eyes Wide Shut
Cinema Paradiso
del
Being John Malkovich
Adaptation
insomnia - Nolan film that has robin Williams and Al Pacino.
12 Monkeys- Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. Psychological thriller.
Children of Men
Being John Malkovich is hilarious. Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich!
Great movie lol…Cameron Diaz in her prime
The Place Beyond the Pines is a good pick.
I'd add "Sound of Metal" on Amazon Prime. Riz Ahmed is an amazing actor.
Sound of Metal is absolutely incredible, the ending is flawless. I think stories like this become more relevant as you get older when you start to see the frailty of life around you. Riz Ahmed is a top tier actor.
For real. This scene is one of my favorites. Hits hard
Also I'm going to add "A Beautiful Boy" Chalamet's acting is unreal in it and Steve Carrell does a great job in drama. The story hurts too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y23HyopQxEg
Training Day
It doesn't appear he is saying "my 'man'" in the gif.
Gonna show some love to foreign language films, mostly thrillers, in no order:
Korean
Japanese
European
Chinese / Canto
Other
You left one off the Korean list: The Man from Nowhere.
Another from the Chinese (formerly Hong Kong) list: Time & Tide.
Edit because everything is best in threes. Japan : Yakuza (Like a Dragon)
Raw is such a great movie.
Good list. The wailing is probably the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.
The Machinist
A hidden life
Action Comedy: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., American Made
War Drama: 1917
Sci-Fi: I Am Mother, Annihilation
RomCom Drama: The Spectacular Now, The Edge of Seventeen
Romantic Drama: Before Sunrise
Comedy Drama: The Grand Budapest Hotel, Logan Lucky
Biographical Drama: Molly's Game, Dark Waters (2019)
Western: True Grit (I've only watched the 2010 version, but have heard very good things about the original)
Horror: Let The Right One In (Swedish movie, would recommend over the American Adaptation), Triangle (2009)
Movies already mentioned above: Baby Driver, Inglourious Basterds, Sicario, Arrival
arlington road with jeff bridges and tim robbins. pretty unheard of and fantastic ending
Snatch and There Will be Blood
—————
I love all the movies on OP's list, many are my favorites.
Mississippi Grind is an excellent sleeper with Ben Mendelsohn from Place Beyond The Pines, and my favorite Ryan Reynolds performance.
Wind River and Hell or High Water have been mentioned a lot here and are great fits based on your list of examples (although not sure if HoHW is a "sleeper" - it has oscar noms).
Liked seeing the korean recs on here too, great rabbit hole to go down if you don't mind subtitles. Basically everything Bong Joon Ho (director of Parasite) has made is awesome, and Snowpiercer is pretty crazy and in English too (stars chris evans and tilda swinton).
ETA:
Good Time by the Safdie bros might be a good rec for you. Same guys that made Uncut Gems. Pretty intense/stressful watch of bad people being bad, but is similar to Nightcrawler in that sense.
Pallet cleanser after that could be trying out some of Taika Waititi movies like JoJo Rabbit and Hunt for The Wilderpeople.
Mentioning Jojo Rabbit also made me remember Leave No Trace (same lead actress, + Ben Foster, and same director as Winters Bone, 100% RT score) which is excellent and fits with other examples here.
ETA2:
Ok also should mention True Romance for the people suggesting Inglorious Basterds/Tarantino movies. Its written by Tarantino but directed by Tony Scott. Still feels very much like a Tarantino movie and has amazing scenes from Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Brad Pitt as supporting characters. Starts off a little boring but turns into one of my all time faves.
- Vanilla Sky
- Predestination
- Eurotrip
- Knives Out
- Widows
- The Gangster, the cop, the devil (Korean if you don't mind the subtitles)
EUROTRIP is a GOAT tier movie!!
Best sleeper movie of all time: Gattaca
Agreet- Gattaca is fire
I can get behind gattaca.
Two for the money
Knock around guys
The Edge - with Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins. Written by David Mamet, very powerful, great pacing.
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- Blade Runner
- Blade Runner 2049
- The Dark Knight
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (series)
- Neon Genesis Evangelion (series)
Source code is also a great watch
Knives Out. I went to the movies not knowing what I was going to watch (like the old days), and stumbled across this movie. Amazing cast with better directing and a clue-like storyline that keeps your engaged the entire time. With all the Marvel movies and the like, it was nice to see a light-hearted thriller like this.
Dead Calm - psychological thriller
The Invisible Guest - mystery / thriller
The invisible guest has one of the best plot twists of all time. So unpredictable
Sleeper movies not mentioned above (unless I missed it):
Somewhat gritty:
Sideways
The Wrestler
Hustle and Flow
Cadillac Records (decent movie, Jeffrey Wright does good work)
American Gangster
The Last Shift
Comedies/dumb funny movies that are better than expected:
Good Boys
Girls Trip
Think Like a Man
Soul Plane
Zach and Miri make a Porno
Docs:
King of Kong
Dawg Fight (Billy Corben Can't stop making films about Dade County Miami)
Most 30s for 30s (depends on your interest)
Hoop Dreams
Gone Girl (2014)
Captain Phillips (2013)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
The Fugitive
.
The Game - directed by David Fincher
Underrated for sure!
The Man From Earth (2007)
It's one of the best films you will ever see and 100% of the film is just a bunch of people talking. With a budget of $200,000, it's genre-creating and a lot of for-profit film studios should take note. A professor is moving away and at his going away party he claims to be +-14,000 years old, and his professor friends grill him with questions.
Shrek 2
Ice Age
The Grey
Empire - IB meets drug dealer.
Fast and Furious 1 - 10,000. Must be watched in order, with strippers and cocaine for the optimal experience.
I just watched the German adaptation of “All Quiet on the Western Front” in theaters (also released on Netflix) and highly recommend it if you’re even remotely interested in history or war. Hell, even if you’re not, well worth the 2.5 hours. Really gives perspective to just how gruesome and meaningless some of the battles during WWI were, how nationalistic fervor on both sides caused a nation’s youth to suffer through unimaginable situations, and the dichotomy between those making decisions and those acting them out.
Cinematography was fantastic, actors were amazing, and the brutal nature of war was never ending - especially interesting seeing how the terms of negotiating a ceasefire led into WWII.
Yeah I got my Netflix subscription back to watch it. It was definitely good (not great) and super depressing. Reading about the last military deaths on the day of the armistice is super depressing. I contend (as others do) that it was the most pointless war ever fought (at least in the context of the damage).
Shot Caller
IDK what a sleeper film is but I wonder if George of the Jungle fits the bill.
A few I believe to be quite under-appreciated: The Lobster, Good Time, After Hours, Raw, Enemy, Looper, Synecdoche New York, Mommy, Don't Breath, Barton Fink, Lost Highway, The Wailing, One Hour Photo, Dear Zachary, The Invisible Guest, Timecrimes, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Funny Games, The Host, The Train to Busan, Me Earl and the Dying Girl, Victoria, Caché, Miller's Crossing, Arlington Road, Falling Down, Polytechnique, Nine Days, Sound of Metal, Room, The Nice Guys, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, The Farewell, The Platform, Game Night, Coda, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Green Room, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Coherence, Short Term 12, Gerald’s Game, The Assassination of Jesse James, One Cut of the Dead, The Squid and the Whale, A Taxi Driver, Minutes…
2 really good movies that have bizarrely low ratings:
Dead Man on Campus (comedy)
Death Note (2017, English language film) (horror)
These Final Hours
Water for Elephants
Rounders
Outlaw King
Hell or High Water
Bad Influence
Donnie Darko
Man on Fire, The devil's advocate, Spy Game, The desert fox, The man from UNCLE, Following, the king of comedy, Margin Call
Those of us in the industry are just worried about buying our kids the GI Joe with the kung-fu grip.
Michael Clayton
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