Every year around this time a lot of smaller films get attention from the media because they are part of the Oscar Buzz. It’s the all-powerful buzz that boosts ticket and DVD sales.
Unfortunately this golden treatment doesn’t happen to a lot of films that really deserve it. That’s what I’m here for! I’m going to shine a light on ten films this year that deserve more attention by the general public. Starting with…
ROSE BYRNE as Beth Buchwald and HUGH DANCY as Adam Raki in Adam
One of the best romantic movies of the year is the unconventional story of a man with Asperser’s Syndrome and the woman he meets at his apartment complex. This trailer played at my art house theater for two months straight, but I haven’t met anyone who actually went to go see it. The two leads (Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne) are truly incredible and the script always plays fair, which is difficult with this premise.
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans
Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) and Frankie Donnenfeld (Eva Mendes) in BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS.
Remember way back when to the days when Nicolas Cage was a respectable actor? That day may finally be coming back if he keeps picking roles like this. In the latest Werner Herzog crazyfest, Cage plays an incredibly immoral police lieutenant who has to solve the murder of an entire family. It’s more of a comedy than a mystery because the memorable scenes include Cage staring down hallucinatory iguanas. It’s so much fun.
Cameron Diaz stars as Norma Lewis in Warner Bros. Pictures', Radar Pictures' and Media Rights Capital's thriller THE BOX.
On this site, you can find my full review of The Box but I need to bring it up again because this movie is HATED. There are some stats saying this was one of the worst audience received movies of the year. Are we all in crazy town? This is a very fun thriller that actually equipped an element of mystery to it. I think people didn’t like the answers to the mystery, but the whole movie was such a unique experience that I enjoyed every second of it.
Alison Lohman as Christine in Drag me to Hell
This is the widest released movie of the year, but it still wasn’t seen enough in my opinion. Its PG-13 rating put off a lot of the horror buffs and a lot of the mainstream public didn’t recognize that it was as much of a comedy as it was a horror movie. Sam Raimi has a very unique sense of humor and it hasn’t been on this much display since Army of Darkness. Check this out so you too can join the chorus about how poorly this movie was advertised.
Jessica Biel stars as Larita Whittaker in Ealing Studios' EASY VIRTUE.
This is the most flawed movie on my list, but there are so many redeemable parts to it. This is based off the Noel Coward play that was made into a movie once before by Alfred Hitchcock during his British years. It’s about a son of a prestigious British family returning home suddenly with his new American wife, played by Jessica Biel. The pacing is all over the place at times, but the performances by Biel and Colin Firth are so great that it makes up for it.
Tomorrow comes Part 2 of the Under-appreciated Movies of 2009
