By Brett Blake I've decided to follow up my previous article on this subject with yet another roster of five movies that, for whatever reason, are either underrated or underseen by the population at large. I think it's important for movie buffs to become evangelists for the films they love that don't often get talked about, so to that end, and in no particular order, here we go... Frenzy (1972) FRENZY marked director Alfred Hitchcock’s return to his London roots for the first time since 1940 (having worked exclusively out of Hollywood during those intervening 30+ years), and the result is a fresh, engaging thriller centering on a serial murderer and an innocent man wrongfully pursued for the crimes. The movie is something of a hodgepodge of classic Hitchcock themes (a man on the run, blacker-than-black macabre humor, a hint of sexual perversion mixed with shocking violence), but the very witty screenplay and the revitalized direction of Hitchcock make this a must-see; there are some tracking shots, in particular, that are pretty fantastic in their composition. It’s curious to think that this is truly one of Hitch’s “forgotten” films (as so many of his movies post-THE BIRDS are), but it deserves to be seen and appreciated by more people. The TRAILER is another one of Hitchcock’s patented pitches in which he appears - in full showman fashion - to personally sell the movie to you; he’s a delightfully deadpan ham. October Sky (1999) This is the tale of a teenager in late-1950s West Virginia who’s captivated by the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, to the point that he becomes obsessed with building and launching his own rockets. Jake Gyllenhaal, in one of his first big roles, does a great job of communicating his character’s earnestness and drive, and I think anyone who’s ever had a burning desire to do something special or out of the ordinary with their life will find him easy to identify with. The plot, which primarily involves the conflict between the boy and his coal miner father (played by the great Chris Cooper), is on the cliched side, yes, but’s it’s acted well, and turns out to be quite affecting. Additionally, the locations and cinematography give the film a very unique, semi-autumnal look that’s great, and Mark Isham’s musical score is absolutely lovely, a moody and (at times) uplifting bit of writing that has gone mostly overlooked in film music circles. It’s a schmaltzy movie, no doubt, but a little well-done schmaltz never hurt anybody. The TRAILER’s on the hokey side (complete with unnecessary voice over!), but it’ll have to do. The Party (1968) Peter Sellers and writer/director Blake Edwards are most known for their acclaimed collaboration on the PINK PANTHER series of films, but this movie - often overlooked - came in the middle of that famed series, and is actually funnier than many of the PANTHER installments. Sellers plays an eccentric Indian film extra working in Hollywood who’s accidentally invited to a huge, glamorous bash; what follows are some incredible sight gags and comedic setpieces, all tinged with a degree of good-natured bizarreness. They don’t all hit, but the ones that do are howlingly funny, and Sellers’ work here is some of his very best. His character isn’t as tightly focused as his Inspector Clouseau creation, but he goes to some really weird places in THE PARTY that are very funny. The movie’s an “everything and the kitchen sink” kind of deal, which some people could find grating, but for those ready for a huge helping of late-1960s zany comedy, this one’s a blast. The trailer for this film stinks, so here’s a complete scene, instead. Blow Out (1981) Brian De Palma has always had the reputation of being, well, let’s say indebted to Alfred Hitchcock, and while that’s certainly true with many of his films, in the case of BLOW OUT, he drew inspiration from Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 psychedelic mystery, BLOW-UP. De Palma’s film stars John Travolta (in what I would argue is his finest performance) as a movie sound recordist who - while out at night gathering sound effects - records a fatal car accident. This “accident” turns out to be nothing of the kind, and soon Travolta is on the run from some very dangerous people intent on keeping him silent. It’s something of a continuation of the tone of the paranoid political thrillers that started cropping up in the ‘70s, and De Palma’s command of cinematic technique is first rate (including innovative camera set-ups, masterful editing, and a dense, detail-laden sound effects track), and he draws exceptional performances from Travolta and - as a full-blown nutjob creep - John Lithgow as one of the men on Travolta’s tail. Toss in some bravura suspense sequences and one of the great gut-punch endings of the 1980s, and you’ve got one hell of a top notch thriller. The TRAILER is a fairly good encapsulation of what to expect. The Freshman (1990) What we have here is a movie with basically a one-note gag idea (“Let’s get Marlon Brando to spoof his own performance from THE GODFATHER!”) that, miraculously, is a pretty darn charming and breezy little romp. This was Brando at the height of his “collect a huge paycheck, then sleepwalk through the role” phase, but he’s fully engaged in this, and really quite funny in the way he affectionately lampoons his own previous work, but there’s also a surprising amount of warmth and humanity to the performance, too (it’s not just a performance designed to get laughs). Beyond Brando, you’ve got Matthew Broderick playing as likable and affable as he’s ever been, you’ve got a wild plot that manages to involve Broderick settling in at film school (and some accompanying gentle satire), a Komodo dragon, an endangered species import/export racket, bent government agents on the take, and a clinically insane gourmet chef, and you’ve got a clever screenplay that hits all the right notes - and makes all the right mob movie references - without ever seeming hackneyed. HERE’s a kind of cheesy trailer that doesn’t really do the film justice, but you’ll get the idea.
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