Life in Hollywood is anything but fair; while utter nonsense films, inescapable nightmares like Beverly Hills Chihuahua make money hand over fist thanks to unprecedented promotional campaigns, true classics often slip unnoticed through the cracks. Featured below is our own hand-picked selection of the best feature films that never quite got their time in the sun, out of respect to all the filmmakers, actors and wonderful stories that deserved a lot more attention than they got.
Directed by Clark Gregg
The big screen adaptation Chuck Palahniuk's classic book had some big shoes to fill; A story of a sex-addicted con-man who pays for his mother's hospital bills by manipulating the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death is not an easy story to tell. How do you capture the twisted comedy and vital but subtle nuances of character without compromising the darker tones of the plot? Who could pull off Victor in a way that didn't bastardize Chuck's vision?
Director Clark Gregg made tidy work of a complex film, and he deserves a hot load of credit for this one. The story is a perverse path through the colorful world of sexual compulsion/obsession, self-induced choking and Colonial theme parks, with a side order of a mother/son story too weird not to see for yourself. Thanks in no small part to Gregg's vision and an impressively versatile cast, the book comes to life onscreen, and Choke has successfully managed to stay out of that all-too-common 'The book was so much better’ category.
There are all kinds of half gut-busting, half wince-worthy sex scenes in the film (none of which can be described in detail here), and it made for a hell of an awkward experience with my mom sitting next to me, to say the least. But Choke is a fantastic ride, with a much more prominent comedic streak than I had anticipated. As a huge Palahniuk fan, I was a little wary going into this one. But while it isn't the pop-culture cult relic that Fight Club is, Choke holds its own and doesn't disappoint.
American Teen
Directed by Nanette Burstein
This documentary about seniors at a small-town high school in Indiana was written off by many as MTV-esque fodder, but a solid showing at Sundance earned it an honest look. In fact, it's nothing at all like what you see on the anything-but-music channel these days, instead offering a truly captivating look inside the life of four high school teens and the perils of growing up in America. If nothing but a snapshot of life in the very first internet generation.
The Wackness
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Written and directed by John Levine, The Wackness is a fantastic snapshot of life in the summer of '94 through the eyes of a kid going through the rites of passage into manhood, who's insightful enough to be aware of the fact that this is a cornerstone moment in his life. Set in New York City, Luke (Josh Peck) is a pot dealer just out of high school who needs answers to the sudden barrage of life's questions and conundrums. He's worried he may be losing his mind - or worse, depressed. Luke befriends a psychiatrist named Dr. Squires (played to perfection by the great Sir Ben Kingsley) and starts attending weekly sessions with the shrink to help clear his head. His payment? Weed, of course. Kingsley's character keeps a big glass bong on the desk in his office.
The film is only 110 minutes long, but I could've sat in that theater all damned day. It was like stepping into a time machine. The lingo, the music, the atmosphere, it all perfectly captures the essence of a moment of innocence in our history that our children will never experience or understand. Hard to believe it was 15 years ago that Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul were the hottest thing around, and skinny white kids were even more awkward than they are now at trying to xerox black culture. Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump were in theaters, and "Beavis and Butthead" were all the rage. It was years before 9/11, Paris Hilton and "American Idol" would be a part of the fabric of our nation. Imagine that.
Things weren't perfect in 1994, but the world sure was a hell of a lot easier to live in back then. If anything, The Wackness will take you back to that feeling, if just for a little while.
Directed by Larry Charles
Bill Maher knows how to push buttons. With Religulous, he takes hammers to the most sensitive buttons of all for an hour and a half. digging through the myths, inaccuracies and utter fallacies of religion across the world, with an extra focus on Christianity. He travels around the globe interviewing people about God and religion, calling bullshit on capitalist mythology and hacking up every sacred cow in his path in the name of logic and practical sensibility. Known for his razor-sharp analytical skills and even sharper wit, Maher brings his no-hold-barred honesty along on an unusual spiritual journey that challenges every fairy tale you've ever heard.
Maher can be a smartass at times, and it's noteworthy that he doesn't speak to many people in the film that are actually well-spoken spiritual thinkers, but maybe that's the point. He spends the entire film breaking down the widespread fairy tales, not the superfine details. He challenges the lazy herd mentality in a way that only he knows how to do without getting punched in the face. Often.
Charlie Bartlett
Directed by Jon Poll
A rich kid discovers the power of ritalin and quickly becomes the self-appointed psychiatrist (and pharmacist) of the student body at his new high school. Anton Yelchin, who also plays Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek film, was really what put this movie on the list, thanks to a spot-on performance. A pre-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. makes a few appearances as well, stealing the show towards the end.
But Downey and Yelchin aside, Charlie Bartlett is a slightly more tongue-in-cheek coming-of-age movie than what we're used to seeing. It's worth a look.
Let the Right One In
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Oscar is a bullied and disregarded young man who finds the deadly combo of love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but very strange girl. Oh yeah, she happens to be a vampire. Despite the fact that it likely completely passed under your radar, Let The Right One In is, really, one of the best horror movies in the last few years. And I may get shit for this (especially from you closet Twilight fans), but I'd even go so far as to call it one of if not the best vampire movie since Interview with the Vampire. And that was 15 years ago. The characters are believable, they don't make you sick, and the story is solid.
Man on Wire
Directed by James Marsh
Philippe Petit's daring high-wire routine, which he defied death and broke all kinds of laws to perform between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, is what some still consider "the artistic crime of the century." Man on Wire is a look inside the tightrope walker's inner workings. Petit's engaging nature as a subject and Marsh's devotion to detail makes the film an impressive achievement.
Directed by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore
Michael Rapaport stars as Les Franken, a complete loser who leads a pitiful life as a meter maid, unremarkable in every way. That is, until he enrolls in a drug study for an experimental antidepressant, Specioprin Hydrochloride. An unexpected side effect of the drug triggers a chemical reaction in his brain that convinces Les he's developing special powers. Not only that, but he must quit his job to answer his new calling in life: to be a superhero.
Special was actually released in theatres in the UK more than two years ago (November 17, 2006) and on DVD in the UK in March of 2007. The States are way behind on this one, but it's still totally worthwhile.
Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by Danny Boyle
Simon Beaufoy's screenplay whittles a book of short stories down into a study about the importance of life experience over intellectual attainment. Under Danny Boyle's visionary direction, the story of a lucky young man at odds with his own destiny in a world of staggering poverty is told in an inspirational, sentimental and even hilarious film that everyone can find a connection to.
There's an unmatched beauty in the cinematography, and the performances are stellar as the power of friendship and personal journey are examined in a gripping and ultimately inspiring, uplifting, relatable way. It's one of the year's must-see films, so get to it.
Che: Part One
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
Based on the life of the revolutionary Che Guevara (yeah, the guy on the t-shirt you bought to impress that chick that one time), this epic film sets out to tell the larger-than-life man's story from his Argentinian beginnings as a doctor to his immersion in Cuban politics and eventual murder in Bolivia. This is the first installment of a two-part film series, the second part of which is due in February.
