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Great Obscure Films

TimBowe

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Frances Von Zerneck's God's Lonely Man 1996

Francis Von Zerneck’s debut feature, “God’s Lonely Man,” is a stunner both for its technical assuredness and as a chilling saga of an off-kilter character who sets himself up as an urban vigilante.
Variety Staff


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Robert Kramer's Ice

One of American independent Robert Kramer's strongest "underground" features (1969), arguably his best, made in and around New York before he resettled in Paris. This potent and grim SF thriller about urban guerrillas of the radical left, shot in the manner of a rough documentary in black and white, has an epic sweep to it. (Like many politically informed art movies of the period, starting with Alphaville and including even THX 1138, it was set in the future mainly as a ruse for critiquing the present.) Now as then, the power of this creepy movie rests largely in its dead-on critique of the paranoia and internecine battles that characterized revolutionary politics during the 60s; the mood is terrorized and often brutal, but the behavioral observations and some of the tenderness periodically call to mind early Cassavetes. A searing, unnerving history lesson, it's an American counterpart to some of Jacques Rivette's conspiracy pictures, a desperate message found in a bottle.

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Ok, my take on this is that it pays to be careful to not just go for literal laurels from film festivals. They seem sometimes to be just a circle jerk of odd films that round robin each other with awards despite not being interesting to average or even discerning viewers.

Is there another way to have a seal of approval for obscure films?
 
I saw this a few years ago late at night on one of the movie channels. Not a great flick but I still find it intriguing for some reason.

13
 
I ran across 9 queens and dot the i by accident, and though I had never heard of either, they may not be obscure for all I know

Both were interesting in the unexpected ending tradition.
 
The movie that I consistently recommend as 'the best movie you've never heard of: 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters.'

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089603/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Its about that time when (forty year old historical spoiler alert) Japan's most famous author tried to overthrow the democratic government and restore the Empire. Not only have most people not heard of the movie, few have heard of the coup attempt, because the Japanese DO NOT talk about it. This movie is banned in Japan.

And about the movie: great production values, great score, great acting. Nothing cut rate here. Of especial note are the vignettes of scenes from the author's books, filmed as if they were staged productions.
 
Has anyone ever come across some best of lists in this vein? I'd imagine some quick Google searching would do the job.
 
Three Canadian films:
Wedding in White (1972): slice-of-life realism
Last Night (1998): sci fi apocalypse--low budget Canadian style
Proteus (2003): surreal/experimental: two-pronged historical narrative (one prong involving Linneaus), interlarded with present-day vignettes
 
I'm not sure how obscure "The Thirteenth Floor" is, but I think it was made more obscure by coming out the same year as "The Matrix".
 
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Smoke Signals holds a special place in my heart.

Plot-wise it is a pretty generic coming of age story, and elements of it can be uneven, but it's delightfully quirky, tugs at the heartstrings in all the right places, and offers a very different perspective of America than one is used to seeing in films.
 
One of my favorite films

John-Luke Montias Bobby G. Can't Swim 1999
"Bobby G. Can't Swim" reminds you what a great independent film can accomplish. Gutsy, unconventional, bursting with raw urban energy, this surprisingly suspenseful drama portrays New York Hell's Kitchen residents whose lives are governed by the immutable circumstances of their tawdry existence. Pic heralds the arrival of a bold new talent in actor-writer-director John-Luke Montias.
Lael Loewenstein
Variety


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Also I love William R. Pace's Charming Billy 1999
Intriguingly balanced between moody grimness and keenly observed sympathy, William R. Pace’s debut feature, “Charming Billy,” aims ambitiously high in its dramatization of how a mild-mannered, all-American guy devolves into a mass murderer.
Robert Koehler
Variety

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