Needs More Love / Live-Action Films

aka: Film

• Barry Lyndon: An underrated Stanley Kubrick masterpiece telling the tale of a wandering rogue finding many adventures in war and gambling into nobility. Much lush visuals like a picaresque painting and a charming story, too.
• Black Dynamite: It's "the funniest movie you've never seen." It only played in theaters for two weeks and grossed just short of $300,000 on a $2.6 million budget.
  • It did eventually find its audience, and even has an Animated Adaptation airing on [adult swim].
• Calvary: John Michael McDonagh's second film. It's a multi-layered drama about religion in modern Ireland rich in symbolism and available analysis. A departure from the brothers' comedy works.
• The Cat from Outer Space: A classic comedy film, often overlooked due to its resemblance to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (despite the fact that it came out years before E.T.). A fine film with many hilarious moments, decent characters and impressive action scenes.
• The Element of Crime: Lars von Trier's debut movie, a dark, Deliberately Monochrome, psychological crime thriller which simultaneously Homages and deconstructs Film Noir, set in the post-apocalyptic Crapsack World of post-World War II, destroyed beyond recognition Germany, with elements of Diesel Punk and Mind Screw, shot in a style that is essentially German Expressionism turned up to eleven. The result is darker than Blade Runner. One of the most neglected films of The '80s.
• The dark satire Man Bites Dog definitely Needs More Love, but it's easy to see why it didn't catch on. A mockumentary about a Serial Killer and the violent crimes he commits? And it's funny? It simply must be seen to be believed.
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service is possibly one of the best Bond films that no one knows about. It's also the closest adaptation of the bunch, sticking to Ian Fleming's novel from the explosive beginning, to the absolutely heartwrenching ending. It's just as much a Shakespearean tragedy as it is an action film. Just watch it; George Lazenby is actually pretty good as Bond.
• Funny People. A thoughtful, quirky comedy with two big name stars, Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, directed by the king of comedy of the moment, Judd Apatow, about a dissatisfied comedian who finds out that he has a terminal illness and has little time to live. Subtle, with some Tear Jerker moments and a very contained, nuanced performance by Sandler. Perhaps hurt by the season in which it was released and the fact that it's not Sandler's usual fare.
• It's hard to fathom how the director of The Fall pulled the movie off with no CGI whatsoever. Just about any scene in the film could be framed and put in an art museum. It's that beautiful. Then you take into account that shooting took four years, over 20 countries, and the film becomes a miracle.
• Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Most people who saw the ads just shrugged it off as a simple little kids' film, and those who did see it prepared for a CGI fest with a ton of fun scenes, and came out disappointed that it was mostly just conversations. But if you actually listen to the conversations, you'll find it's a smart, charming and delightful movie that ranks right up there with It's a Wonderful Life and Mary Poppins as one of the great family films.
• My Favorite Year is a brilliant comedy that Needs More Love. Peter O'Toole plays a drunken former Swashbuckler movie star who absolutely destroys a young admirer's heroic illusions (and yet — somehow — also manages to justify them) and it's funny every single viewing.
• The Way of the Gun. It has a great cast and in a lot of ways is a modern Western, but many people often think that it's a Tarantino rip-off.
• The Feature Films For Families company produced many obscure and admittedly Narmish films. Still, many of these films had interesting plots full of Narm Charm as well as decent (if perhaps a trifle simple) characters. Also, many of them had a knack for reinforcing traditional family values and morality without coming across as too preachy.
• Fluke is probably the most underrated dog movie of all time. It follows the story of a dog named Fluke who is actually a reincarnation of a human who died in a car accident. When he starts to remember, he decides to go look for his family. It might sound silly, but it's filled with so much Tear Jerker it's not even funny.
• Walt Disney's Pollyanna a charming, thoughtful and upbeat movie, despite its reputation for being a sickeningly sweet film that bombed at the box office.
• M. Night Shyamalan's Wide Awake is even more overlooked than Unbreakable. It had the same kind of heart The Sixth Sense has, Robert Loggia's performance was outstanding, and at the same time it had its little moments like the protagonist's friend faking a huge sneeze to skip class. It had all the depth The Sixth Sense had, yet it was a Box Office Bomb.
• Demon Hunter (2005) is a halfway decent supernatural action flick, but no one knows it exists.
• The films of James Gunn. Though often a critically well-received writer and director, his films always seem to end up falling through the cracks or get screwed by the studio with no advertising or because his films aren't mainstream, with a lone exception.
  Examples include:
  • Tromeo and Juliet
  • The Specials
  • Lollilove (co-starring him and directed by his ex-wife Jenna Fischer)
  • Slither
  • Super
• The Return of Hanuman is different from other Indian films. It's also one of the few movies that doesn't revolve around a Hindu god (in this case, Hanuman) in the past, but also in the (Bollywood-esque?) present (and even makes the gods depicted as hilarious). It's a fine quality two-dimensional Indian animated movie (though with a bit of blatant CG), which is pretty hard to find nowadays, since most present Indian animated films are either 3D or a half-and-half mix of 2D and 3D. The movie overall is hilarious if you actually get it, with some heartwarming and awesome moments.
• Miloš Forman's adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons, Valmont, came out one year after Stephen Frears' and fell through with the audience. Both are excellent films, but the latter's darker approach had shaped the perception of the story so far that the former seemed tame and naïve in comparison. Despite of being a completely legitimate interpretation of de Laclos' novel.
• Reign of Fire. Come on, Christian Bale fights dragon alongside his best buddy, Leonidas of Sparta. The movie's only fault was that it was half an hour too short.
• David Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner. It's a little slow for the first twenty minutes or so, but once things start to happen it pulls you right in and will keep you guessing at what's really happening up until the end!
• Resurrecting the Champ, a boxing drama based on a true story about the relationship between a sportswriter trying to get promoted and his story, a homeless man who may have been a championship boxer many years earlier. Actually has a good performance from Josh Hartnett.
• The Rocketeer. Everybody thinks all superhero movies are either The Dark Knight or Batman & Robin in terms of quality. Well, The Rocketeer has the right balance between seriousness and good-natured fun.
• Subject Two is a small, sci-horror movie about a Mad Scientist's new assistant being repeatedly killed and brought back to life in a remote cabin in the mountains.
• The Salton Sea is a Tarantino-esque crime film that really showed off Val Kilmer as an actor. It's not talked about much and was a bit divisive in its reception, but it's a dark, well-made film.
• Another Val Kilmer flick, called Spartan. Labeled by many as the 'thinking man's thriller', it's both a moody and incredibly atmospheric film. Lots of Spy Speak and Mamet Dialogue, and some memorable moments.
• Narc (2002) is a gritty crime film that was done on a modest budget. Some have said it's like a darker version of Training Day. The film has some amazing acting and a powerful ending.
• Fish Story is a Japanese film composed of vignettes, beginning with the world waiting for an apocalyptic comet to strike, then going back in time to some college guys out on a group date, a doomsday cult that's 13 years too early, a ship hijacking, and finally back to the recording of a song we've heard several times thus far and how it saves the world. Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, and enjoyable to watch the pieces come together, it's available for instant viewing on Netflix.
• C.R.A.Z.Y. is a 2005 French-Canadian film that takes place from the 1960s-1980s. It's about Zac, a gay man who denies his sexuality his entire life because of his strict father and devout Catholic mother who believes him to be a miracle child due to being born on Christmas day. It has strong characterizations, great dialogue, incredible music, and amazing cinematography. Plus the actor who plays Zac is pure Mr. Fanservice and always seems to be in his underwear.
• De Laatste Zomer (The Last Summer) is an under-the-radar low-budget film about four teenagers spending their last summer together. The acting and writing is high quality, and even parts or aspects that should feel predictable somehow don't.
• Gummo is a divisive film due to its weirdness and disturbing nature, but it's managed to build up a cult following. It could be seen as a case of style over substance, but it's a highly original film and has some memorable scenes.
• The Assassination of Richard Nixon is a clever and fair look at how a person can be broken down and driven to violence. The main character (who is based off a real person) is one of the greatest losers ever in film, and even at the end of the film it's hard not to empathize with him. Great acting from Sean Penn as well.
• Ben X is a believable and emotional look into autism and what a struggle it would be to live with on a daily basis. It also covers themes such as bullying and escapism, and makes an interesting statement towards the end.
• The 2007 Australian film Noise has been seen by few, but it's a fantastic crime film with a great atmosphere and interesting characters.
• Suicide Club might seem like little more than Gorn, but it also has great black humor and a unique atmosphere. Its plot is confusing (and its sort-of successor didn't help much), but if you can handle the violence then there's an interesting experience to be had.
• The Messenger (2009) is a war drama that shows the lives of two soldiers as they do Casualty Notification service. Because of this, there's not really any combat, nor does it contain a strong political message. Instead it's more of a character study, and it has some brilliantly acted and heartbreaking moments.
• The 1995 film Safe is about a housewife who develops multiple chemical sensitivity disorder and must seek treatment. It's an interesting look at mental illness, how it's treated in society and functioning in different sorts of social settings.
• While may be be too raw for some people, Nil By Mouth deserves to be seen. It's one of the most believable and realistic in its portrayal of domestic abuse and London street life.
• Strange Days is a fantastic cyberpunk film that failed to find an audience when it was released, and sucessfully blends elements of drama, romance, action and science fiction. The POV-cam SQUID scenes are all well-made and immersive, and despite the occasional corniness it provides a darker look into humanity. Ralph Fiennes does a great job as the sleazy Lenny Nero, and it also has a great soundtrack that fits perfectly with most of the scenes.
• Clean, Shaven provides a realistic and objective look into schizophrenia by showing us the abstract images and sounds the protagonist is experiencing. This makes it quite a Mind Screw, and it's not a particularly uplifting experience either. But for the right tastes it's a perfect film.
• Castaway on the Moon is an under-the-radar Korean film about a suicidal man turned castaway and his communication with a hikikomori. It's an unusual premise, but much better than it sounds and despite appearances has little in common with Cast Away. Even though the story can seem a bit absurd, it's a touching and enjoyable film.
• Breakdown is a thriller with Kurt Russell playing the lead, and it manages to be both intense and believable throughout.
• Another highly underrated Kurt Russell film, Stargate, the film that spawned the highly successful (not to mention long-lasting) Stargate SG-1 series as well as the entire Stargate-verse as a whole, has been eclipsed by its descendants. Which is sad because it really is a good sci-fi adventure, drama (with a pinch of comedy) film in its own right.
• The Seventh Continent is one of Michael Haneke's lesser-known films, but it's also one of his best. There are lots of shots of the main family doing mundane activities to emphasize the emptiness and loneliness that they are going through. It's never melodramatic nor does it milk the audience for emotions, and their suicides at the end is incredibly tragic and powerful.
• Gasper Noe's Enter the Void is a uniquely visceral and groundbreaking film. It's quite disturbing to watch (as expected from Gasper) due to its strange and sexual imagery. But from its POV scenes to the protagonists out-of-body experiences, it's a film like no other. Enter The Void was Gasper Noe's dream film, but unfortunately it did poorly financially.
• Drugstore Cowboy is one of Matt Dillon's most prized films and often considered one of the best films of 1989. It's also unfortunately one of the most forgotten. It's about four people that rob drugstores for narcotics and the fallout that happens after. It can be watched on Netflix's instant stream.
• Speed Racer. When it was released in 2008, it was a critical and commercial flop. Now it is becoming a cult classic, with many now calling it underrated, one of the most faithful adaptations ever, and groundbreaking in terms of visuals.
• Whale Rider is a fictional film about the spiritual lives of contemporary Maori trying to hold onto past traditions of gender and power. A girl, Pai, rises to the challenge of being the new chief for the village, but the current chief, her grandfather, refuses to allow a girl to be trained for the role. She trains behind his back with their family members while chaos occurs in the form of a massive whale beaching. The only way the whales find the will to live is when Pai reenacts the Maori creation legend of riding a whale. Can be watched on Netflix Instant or YouTube.
• The oddball Italian supernatural flick Cemetery Man premiered on only six screens in the US, got trashed by critics, made a pitiful box office gross, and came late to the DVD market with a bland cover that gives no hint how surreal and unique it is. It's a comedic zombie movie with a romantic subplot, over ten years before Shaun of the Dead advertised itself as such, and it skillfully balances the three elements to create a dizzying and stunningly complex narrative that delivers both funny gags and gross-out moments as well as metaphorical analysis on the nature of life, death, love, friendship, happiness, and reality. It's considered one of the best horror films of the 1990s by the few people who have seen it, but it will likely never be as well-known as it deserves.
• Santa Sangre is a surreal little slasher-thriller-romance from director Alejandro Jodorowsky that absolutely deserves your attention. It's so strange, so graceful, so over-the-top and yet so quiet—a lot of contradictions stuffed together to make a captivating story about a circus magician named Fenix and his domineering mother. Fenix is an intensely charming protagonist who holds my heart throughout the entire movie, even when he reaches his darkest points, and woven amidst all the blood and vice is an incredibly sweet love story. Sort of David Lynch meets Guillermo del Toro.
• Adam (2009) is one of the most honest love stories ever released. It shows the problems of a man with Asperger's Syndrome, Adam (Hugh Dancy) who isn't involved in society. He falls in love with his neighbor Beth (Rose Byrne), who is the only person who helps Adam get out. Everyone involved in the project did their homework regarding how someone with Asperger's Syndrome is supposed to act. Unfortunately, due to limited release, Adam bombed at the box office. That means many people have missed out of one of the most honest love stories released to theaters. For more persuasion, see what an internet reviewer with Asperger's Syndrome himself has to think about it.
• The Spanish-French film called La Luna En Botella (The Moon in the Bottle) is not well-known, but still remains a hidden gem of sorts. This film is set mainly in a cozy vintage-style café, and its overall atmosphere feels somewhat like an absurdist and surreal version of Amélie. Aside from random BLAM-style comic scenes, sometimes involving making love in inappropriate places, the film tells a set of different people's stories and how they overcome difficulties in their lives, whether with their love life, work or others, by following their dreams. It also features a great soundtrack, and has musical numbers featuring an antique detuned piano.
• Trick 'r Treat is claimed by many critics to be the "best horror anthology in years". Produced by Bryan Singer, it was originally released at the Austin-Butt-Numb-A-Thon in 2007, before being officially released in 2009... on DVD. It has an interesting story featuring a high principal moonlighting as a serial killer, a school bus massacre revisited, Anna Paquin as a supposed 'young virgin', and a trick-or-treating demon attacking an old man. Everything connects to each other at the end. Many have even called it the best Halloween-themed movie ever. Unfortunately, it wasn't given its well-deserved theatrical release.
• The Thin Red Line. Specifically the 1998 one, directed by Terrence Malick. Though it did make back nearly half its budget, the reason it is on here is because its main competitor, Saving Private Ryan, is more well-known, and considered by some to be the better film. While it got modest reviews, and was nominated for several Academy Awards, it won none, losing some to the aforementioned Saving Private Ryan. The film takes the trope War Is Hell up to eleven, and often adds philosophical narrations based around said trope. It features an All-Star Cast who all give outstanding performances. Though it could be a few minutes too long, if you want a war film that will have you moved, riveted, or both, this is for you.
• Young Sherlock Holmes. It got mixed reviews and moderate box office on release, but it could be a cult classic, especially now that Sherlock Holmes is so popular now.
• Inspector Clouseau is actually very good. Alan Arkin brings his version of the favorite from The Pink Panther to different measures that Peter Sellers could only hint at.
• Mr. Nobody, a fantastic film with an interesting plot that takes on the idea of omniscience and choices, that is unheard of outside of Belgium.
• Terry Gilliam's obscure classic The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a classic film that is often overlooked due to it bombing at the box office and its troubled production. However, despite all that, this film remains extremy whimsical, with many hilarious moments with the characters, and is entertaining for fans of folktales and fairy tales.
• Red Eye did pretty well when it was released, but hardly anyone remembers it. No clue why—two big-name actors at the top of their form (Rachel McAdams as a mild-mannered hotel clerk taken hostage by a charming but terrifying assassin played by Cillian Murphy), great action, lots of psychological drama, and a healthy dose of (horrifying) sexual tension.
• The Living Wake is an acquired taste for some. A Black Comedy following two Cloud Cuckoolanders through a World of Ham with Monty Python-esque humor as they search for the meaning of life before one of them drops dead. Tonight. At precisely seven-thirty. After a musical number.
• Wish Upon a Star, an underrated 1996 film that aired several times on the Disney Channel throughout the late 1990s, and puts a 1990s spin on the "Freaky Friday" Flip trope. Starring Katherine Heigl and Danielle Harris as two sisters who magically swap bodies after a titular Wish Upon a Star comes true, they first use it to sabotage each other in school before learning to appreciate and help out each other. It's a funny film with tons of heart as the characters mature.
• Roxanne, a hysterically funny and cute romantic comedy from the late '80s. It's a surprisingly good modernized retelling of the play Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah. It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Martin's leading role, and is described by critics to this day as one of his funniest performances ever.
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture gets its fair share of criticism due to its overuse of Scenery Porn and some questionable aesthetic choices, and being followed by what is widely regarded as the franchise's best film. Those problems aside, though, it has some awesome cinematography and special effects, significant character development for Kirk and Spock, and a more cerebral, humanistic theme that sets it apart from its more action-oriented, villain-of-the-week focused successors, all underscored by some of Jerry Goldsmith's best Awesome Music.
• Wild Bill: A British crime drama that follows a man being released from prison and finding that he has to take care of his two boys who want nothing to do with him. The film is smartly written with well-developed characters and released to rave reviews from critics. Despite this, it bombed at the box office and is still obscure to this day.
• Pixels, an excellent sci-fi tribute to pop culture of The '80s, mostly video games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, with outstanding visuals and many amusing moments. It's pretty much a summer blockbuster, but really worth its price and Adam Sandler is not only bearable here, but actually a pleasure to watch. Despite this, it was a critical and commercial dud and has garnered a large hatedom, mainly for Sandler's involvement.
• From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money. Many people have instantly ignored it for lacking any of the talent from the original From Dusk Till Dawn directly involved and being a direct to video release. However, it's far better than it has any right to be. It does something different than the original (a heist crew are being turned into vampires while performing a bank job) while still having the same tongue-in-cheek spirit as the first. It has interesting (though admittedly simple) characters. You actually do care about this heist and are intrigued as to how it'll go down with a vampire in the midst. It's surprisingly intense as each crew member gets turned. It has a fun climax at the end (with a particularly genius scene of a man warding off vampires in a fog-filled room with only a cross) and it even turns the rising sun scene on its head. Overall, not the greatest but it's certainly a fun time to have and it's definitely faithful in tone to the original.
• Sabotage (1936): Even among many of Alfred Hitchcock's fans, this hidden gem is overlooked. This film can be as suspenseful as his later work, and has one of cinema's earliest Shocking Moments.
• The Seventh Sign is one of Demi Moore's lesser-known films, but it's suspenseful and scary, with a few complex plots that perfectly weave together by the end. And it has one of the most bittersweet endings you'll ever see.
• Son of the Mask gained considerable notoriety for its sequelitis and poor special effects, but it works fine as a standalone film as well as a love letter to Tex Avery and other Golden Age cartoonists, and there's a ton of funny moments. And how could we forget about Alan Cumming's performance as Loki?
• The Last Song. Despite being a Nicholas Sparks film, it has a surprisingly invigorating plot, and Miley Cyrus really shows off her acting chops.
• Muppets from Space, while the least popular theatrically released Muppet film by a long shot, still has the usual standard of silly Muppet moments, while simultaneously packing on a reasonable amount of heart via Gonzo's depression and woobie status.
• Heartbreakers made money at the Box Office but it's hardly remembered. A real shame because it features three great performances from actors Playing Against Type (Sigourney Weaver as a conning seductress, Jennifer Love Hewitt as her abrasive daughter and Jason Lee as the Only Sane Man in the cast). It's a genuinely funny movie with a fun story, great gags and a great deconstruction of All Men Are Perverts.
• A Royal Night Out is a fun 'what-if' scenario about Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret going out to celebrate on VE Night. It's not exactly historically accurate but the Rule of Funny is in full swing. Picture how funny it is when the resident Hard-Drinking Party Girl is the princess (and the familiar stumbling home at dawn to disapproving parents happens at Buckingham Palace). Also features some genuine Heartwarming Moments regarding the recreation of the VE celebrations—and some stellar performances from Sarah Gadon, Jack Reynor and especially Bel Powley.
• Sunshine Cleaning - a beautiful and heartfelt Slice of Life from the makers of Little Miss Sunshine. Featuring stellar performances from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, as well as a fun gimmick.
• My Name Is Emily, an Irish film directed by Simon Fitzmaurice. He was suffering from motorneuron disease and directed the entire film through eye-recognition software. It's a compelling story about mental illness with a magnificent performance from Evanna Lynch, showing that she can do far more than just Luna Lovegood.
• The 1982 Australian horror film Next of Kin (not to be confused with the Patrick Swayze film of the same name) isn't exactly well-known outside its country of origin, which is a real shame as it boasts some incredible atmosphere, excellent acting and cinematography, and a fine score courtesy of electronic music legend Klaus Schulze.
• The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle was blasted upon release for being corny and nonsensical—which is exactly what its source material was. It doesn't take itself seriously one bit, and this isn't getting into the constant lampshading and fourth wall breaking that the original series was known for. In all, it better captures the feel of the show than most of the other live-action adaptations of older cartoons that seemed to pollute theaters during the time period.
• A Christmas Horror Story, despite being released direct-to-video, has received praise as one of the best Christmas horror movies released. It has a unique take in regards to the anthology genre of horror films, where it cuts back and forth between different stories instead of showing one story at a time. Easily the best segment of the anthology series is the Santa segment where he fights off zombie elves. The surprise comes during the twist ending where who we were watching wasn't actually Santa, but actually Norman the weatherman who had a psychotic break and started murdering everyone at the mall. Also, William Shatner as a radio DJ.
• North is one of the most infamous movies ever made, chiefly for its blatant stereotyping and questionable messages, not to mention the fact that its director Rob Reiner wanted to make his own Wizard of Oz-type fantasy (unaware that he already made one in the form of The Princess Bride). But people missed that it was supposed to be a parody of these types of morality tales for and about children and that it is funny if you view it from that angle.
• Stoker was a Box Office Bomb, and it's easy to see why—not only did it have a limited release, it's a very grim story, dripping with murder, incest, betrayal, and obsession. And yet... there's a reason this film has a small-but-dedicated fanbase online. The two lead actors (Matthew Goode and Mia Wasikowska) have incredible chemistry together, and Wasikowska manages to play her near-emotionless character to perfection. The aesthetic of this film is simply gorgeous—the costumes, the sets, the cinematography, all of it—and the soundtrack is to die for. If you like dark, slow-building thrillers and utterly screwed-up families, check it out. (And, hey, it was directed by the guy who directed Oldboy (2003) and The Handmaiden, so you know it's good.)
• The Yellow Handkerchief is a beautiful road movie from 2008, featuring early performances from Kristen Stewart and Eddie Redmayne right before they were famous. It concerns three strangers bonding over a road trip as they travel through post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana. Also features truly top-drawer work from veteran actors William Hurt and Maria Bello, nicely understated cinematography, and an absolutely lovely score.
• Gene Kelly proved he could direct a film with his arthouse experiment Invitation To The Dance. This film has three segments told entirely through dance and music, and the third segment has great animation by Hanna-Barbera.
• The Hole is a British thriller from 2001 with some really great twists and turns—all thanks to a layered screenplay. Keira Knightley, who starred in it right before her big break in Bend It Like Beckham, still calls it "fantastic" and urges more people to watch it.
• Daughter of Shanghai is a landmark in terms of Asian representation in Hollywood. It's a mostly forgotten B-movie from 1937, but it starred Asian-American actors in the lead roles (no Yellowface here!) and gave them sympathetic and heroic traits. The film is also quite feminist, featuring a kickass heroine who is active in the story and saves the day more than once. If you're a fan of Anna May Wong, this was one of the few films where she got to play a non-stereotypical Chinese role and she included it among her favorites.
• The 1949 version of Alice in Wonderland is a faithful adaptation of the book that doesn't incorporate elements of its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, includes characters not often seen like the giant puppy, and features puppets that are made to closely resemble the original John Tenniel illustrations. Alice is a live-action girl whose insertion into the Stop Motion world of Wonderland still looks surprisingly convincing over 70 years later. But even if you're an Alice fan, you may not have heard of it. That's because it had the misfortune of being in production around the same time as Disney's take on the story, and though the two films bore no resemblance to one another apart from being based on the same source material, Disney decided to crush the opposition anyway. Claiming they owned the public domain book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, they took their competition to court and though the case was eventually thrown out, succeeded in making the movie fall unfairly into obscurity.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks and all of its sequels. I’m well aware that they are hated by the general public, my address isn’t a rock after all. But I found while rewatching them, they did get a lot of laughs out of me and most of the songs aren’t too bad. Plus, the Chipmunks and Chipettes are extremely adorable.
• The Frisco Kid is an enjoyable Western comedy with a genuinely good protagonist struggling to survive in a setting where that isn't rewarded, and is one of the few movies to show religious Jews in-depth, without mocking or trivializing their identity or depicting it as inherently oppressive (okay, maybe there's a little ribbing, but it's done in a positive way). It barely broke even at the box office and critics didn't like it, but that might be because some of the jokes were difficult to understand for an outsider.
• Solo: A Star Wars Story may be the first Star Wars film to be a Box Office Bomb, the film received a hatedom due to being a Disney-era Star Wars film, and the film is ultimately inconsequential to the Skywalker Saga at large; but the film is still a really great standalone Star Wars story with lots of great moments of awesome from not only Han Solo, but also Lando Calrissian, Chewie, and newcomers Qi'ra and Tobias Beckett. John Powell's score is also one of the more underrated Star Wars soundtracks. Who wouldn't want to see how Han met Chewie and Lando? Or how Han won the Millennium Falcom? Or finally see Han Solo make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs on-screen? Or even Darth Maul's first live action appearance since 1999? The film still managed to develop a small-but-devoted fandom that begs Disney for a sequel, or at least a TV series spinoff focused on Lando.

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