Films that have surprisingly/secretly made your Top 10 List

[User169]

.... oh, and "About a Boy".... the bumbling "Too good looking" Hugh Grant, giving 'that' performance again! He was very age defining was old Hugh, a bit like The Stone Roses and friggin' Spice Girls.

Some of his earlier films are worth a look. They're mostly unintentionally hilarious - Bitter Moon and Rowing with the Wind are particular stinkers.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Agreed, just for the cinematography alone. Shot on some very rare Zeiss f0.7 prime lenses so he could shoot a lot of the scenes using just candle light.

I'm gonna see if you can get it on bluray..... got an old DVD of it that looks like someone video'd it on their portable.

 

[User169]

Quite like watching the Bratpack movies. "Class", "Breakfast Club" and "About Last Night" are particular faves.

 

[Grant Fondo]

The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Makes me want to cry in parts, but the sincerity and fatalism are well portrayed)
Breakfast on Pluto (Sadly, my entire knowledge of Irish political history is based on these two films)
Nicija Zemlja (No-Man's Land - Bosnian film by Danis Tanovic - widely available with English titles)
The African Queen (Really not sure why, but I just love it)
The Man who killed Liberty Valence (I don't like Westerns usually, but this is not really a Western)

These might seem (in part) to fit my demographic, but no-one else I know thinks them any good at all - and some have seen none of them.

African Queen is mysteriously good I have to agree, I suppose its the same premise as "Driving Miss Daisy", two old codgers can't stand each other and ultimately reconcile their differences, aaaah, the end.

 

[smutchin]

Not sure I really understand the question, but here's a wilfully eclectic selection of some of my favourite films:

The Matrix (the first one, not the sequels)
American Pie (again, the first one, not the sequels)
Excalibur
Mary Poppins
Dumbo
Roman Holiday
Brief Encounter

 

[smutchin]

African Queen is mysteriously good I have to agree, I suppose its the same premise as "Driving Miss Daisy", two old codgers can't stand each other and ultimately reconcile their differences, aaaah, the end.

The main difference being that African Queen is brilliant while Driving Miss Daisy is shite.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

This is a top tenner if ever there was one, Court Jester, a 50s classic!

 

[Inertia]

Mine are three animations by Japan's Studio Ghibli: My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea - the best thing about having a child is that sometimes you get to watch surprisingly beautiful things that evade cynicism. Oh, and only in the original Japanese versions (we're a bilingual family) because the American dubs mess with the soundtrack, in the case of Kiki's Delivery Service even replacing the perfect happy 50s throwback theme-song with something much less effective.
Here it is (unfortunately just the song):

hey, I don't have kids but I still watch those! I'd add Spirited Away. I have to make do with subtitles though which I still prefer for some strange reason.

Id say Shawshank Redemption was the biggest surprise for me, the subject matter sounds very dark and depressing but it was uplifting and enjoyable to watch.

 

[Grant Fondo]

The main difference being that African Queen is brilliant while Driving Miss Daisy is s***e.

Nah, DMD is cool, what's your verdict on Goodbye Mr Chips (The Robert Donat one)?

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

The Dish - Just a quiet work of genius in an SFX/big star obsessed world.
The Sound of Music - Don't know why, if I come across it while channel surfing I just watch it.

 

[MontyVeda]

+1 for The Railway Children... Swallows & Amazons too, and lots of the CFF films such as Hide & Seek, GlitterBall, A Hitch in Time, St Ursula's in Danger, etc.... but they aren't guilty pleasures in my book.

I think my only true guilty pleasure is Buffy The Vampire Slayer (TV series)... I have to mute the theme tune so my neighbours can't hear how sad i am but i've come out to my friends about it... they weren't impressed.

 

[The Horse's Mouth]

Goodbye Mr Chips - Good call.

Escape to Victory - Any film with Michael Caine, Bobby Moore & Pele must be worth watching.
Carry on up the Khyber. Sir Sydney Roughdiamond. Tiffin anyoen
Running Man. Arnie at his best/worse, depending on your point of view.
Ratatouille. Brilliant animation.
The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn & Charles Bronson. Enough said.

 

[MontyVeda]

The Dish - Just a quiet work of genius in an SFX/big star obsessed world.
The Sound of Music - Don't know why, if I come across it while channel surfing I just watch it.

the dish is great, nothing to feel guilty about.

SoM... cracking film... the sign of a great musical is it would still be good if you take all the song and dance routines out. The scenes where they're escaping the Nazis and that sod Ralph(?) grasses them up is still very gripping.

 

[Mattonsea]

Yep, love WALL-E and the Studio Ghibili films (esp. Princess Mononoke)

My surprising top ten additions/guilty pleasures - Romancing the Stone and Crocodile Dundee.

Watched Crocodile Dundee last week , and then downloaded the soundtrack. bit weird...

 

[threebikesmcginty]

...what's your verdict on Goodbye Mr Chips (The Robert Donat one)?

There is no other but the Donat one, same as The 39 Steps.