Never Seen It: Part One

Posted by Harry in Film, Frontpage, Never Seen It | 4 comments

Never Seen It highlights films that you might not have heard of or watched but definitely should, the kind of films that aren’t as well-known as others and don’t attain the accreditation or accolade they perhaps deserve. The films noted may not be 5-star features but every one mentioned is a film worthy of your time…

Jackie Brown (1994)

Probably Quentin Tarantino’s least known film, it explores blaxpoitation and combines an excellent class with a ironically well-structured non-linear narrative and a very much inventive script which plays just right with the tone of the film. Pam Grier stars as Jackie Brown, the strong-minded middle aged woman who’s not taking any shit from nobody, not even Samuel L Jackson’s gun-runner Ordell Robbie who wants to take out Jackie to cover his own ass and prevent the ATF from tracing his sales back to him.

Jackie serves as his money smuggler as she works as an air-hostess for a Mexican airline and when things go awry and the ATF try to use Jackie to take down Ordell she devises a plan to walk away from jail and with 1/2 million dollars of Ordell’s money, with the help of bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster).

With Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, a young Chris Tucker and Michael Keaton supporting the main cast there’s a real sense of energy from the film, and the pacing is spot on. It seems that Jackie Brown gave Tarantino the taste for using a female as the main protagonist, as Kill Bill followed six years later.

It may not be as good as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, but Jackie Brown holds its own and it’s well worth a watch if only for Pam Grier’s stellar performance and the fantastically-directed main scene.

Desperado (1995)

One of my favourite sleeper hits, Desperado is the second in Robert Rodriguez’  “Pulp Western” trilogy and in my opinion it’s the best. After El Mariachi, Rodriguez boosted the cast, secured more money and handed the lead role of El Mariachi to Antonio Banderas and in my opinion he gives his best performance of any film he’s been in as the guitar-playing, gun toting mariachi who is seeking revenge for the death of his lover.

It’s an exquisitely directed film with a lot of Mexican flair and led by Banderas, every individual in the cast come into their own throughout the film. Special mentions to Steve Buscemi as El Mariachi’s friend who puts the fear into Cheech Marin, and Joaquim de Almeida as the drug lord Bucho who is more closely connected to El Mariachi than it first seems.

While Once Upon A Time in Mexico was a great film in its own right, Desperado is Rodriguez’ best alongside From Dusk Till Dawn, mixing pitch-perfect dialogue with explosive action sequences and a compelling story to tie everything together. The highlight of the film goes to Buscemi’s story telling where you are first introduced to El Mariachi but there are multiple scenes in Desperado that are masterpieces.

wmd – The Inside Story (2008)

I’ll doubt anyone who reads this will have heard of this film because of its British independent cinema background and its minimal release and despite it seeming to be bare-bones and politically driven it’s as good as modern day thrillers get.

Based on the decision to invade Iraq, it focuses on an MI6 desk officer who stumbles across the falsification of documents supporting the decision from the American and British government and his self-set task to try and uncover the secrets behind it. While you may think that the film is something Michael Moore may have written it doesn’t play out like that and there’s no real element of documentary here.

The film is shot entirely using CCTV and hidden cameras to create the element of Simon Lenagan’s character being constantly watched. It’s an impressively designed film and when it’s over you really feel inclined to believe everything the film wants you to believe. wmd. was based on evidence which actually exists, with a fictional narrative based around it. In my opinion it’s a modern-day Hitchcock thriller which plays with your expectations and doesn’t include more than needed. It’s very much an unknown film but if you can find the film, you’ll be rewarded for watching it.

Adaptation (2003)

Probably Spike Jonze’s lesser known film, Adaptation is almost a sequel to Being John Malkovich, but from a different, real-life perspective, that of the writer Charlie Kaufman. The film tells the true story of how he was tasked with writing a film about a book based on flowers entitled The Orchid Thief but after much struggling settled on writing a script about himself trying to write the flower film.

Charlie Kaufman adapted the script for Adaptation to include a fictional brother and a more dramatic series of events but the film is highly enjoyable within its uniqueness. The bizarre elements work much in the same way Being John Malkovich does and while you don’t have anyone entering their own mind you have Nicolas Cage playing Kaufman and his fictional brother. His performances are brilliant throughout and with the help of Meryl Streep playing the journalist writing up an article about orchid poacher John LaRoche but falling in love with him and writing The Orchid Thief, Adaptation flows really well despite its complexity in the structure and the slow pacing.

Dogma (1999)

Very much a cult classic, Kevin Smith’s comedy of biblical proportions stars Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as the fallen angels Loki and Bartleby who find a way of getting back into heaven through a loophole which if successfully used would prove God was not infallible and would undo all creation. The Voice of God sends prophets to stop Loki and Bartleby from getting back into Heaven and save humanity.

Much in the same vein as Clerks and Jay & Silent Bob, Dogma has a very select humor and its slightly no-holds-barred satirical approach to Christianity may not hit the right notes for some people but for the right people Dogma is a highly enjoyable and unique twist on religion which plays with the conventions of typical religion-based films.

Featuring Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Alanis Morrissette as God and Salma Hayek, the obscure cast mix surprisingly works with the obscure plot. Dogma may not be one of the best films ever made and it certainly isn’t without controversy but it’s a well-constructed film that, much like Wayne’s World, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Jay & Silent Bob and Dumb and Dumber, is a firm favourite in a select few’s film collections.