The Independent Moviemaker - Top Ten Movies You've Probably Never Seen

I used to have a general rule about movies - if a critic liked it, I avoided it like the plague. It was a simple rule that served me well all throughout high school and for several years beyond. But as I aged out of Hollywood's target demographic (18 - 24, in case you're wondering) I found that I had missed a lot of great movies because of that rule. It wasn't until I went to film school that I knew many of these films even existed. This got me to thinking, and when I get to thinking, I get to writing. Here's my short list of films that few have seen, but should be seen. These are the films that somehow slipped through the cracks, haven't been seen by today's moviegoers or were simply the victims of poor distribution and marketing. This list is purely subjective and in no particular order. It also omits many more well-known movies that most movie fans have probably seen.

The Short List

1. Freeway - (1996) Directed and Written By: Matthew Bright
In this modern take on Little Red Riding Hood, Reese Witherspoon is on the run from a social worker, trying to make her way to grandma's house. Along the way she meets a few "wolves."

This film is not for everyone. Originally rated NC-17 for language and violence, the film was re-edited down to an R for theatrical release, where it promptly died, lost in the wave of hyper-violent, uber-hip movies that followed Pulp Fiction. Wickedly funny and unexpectedly intelligent, Freeway might just be the best of the Tarantino-ish clones that came out in the mid-90s. It is available on DVD.

2. The Conversation - (1974) Directed and Written By: Francis Ford Coppola
Somewhere between the first two Godfather movies, Coppola slipped in this little gem. Caught like a tornado between two hurricanes, this movie didn't receive the notoriety of the Godfather films, but still packs a wallop. Gene Hackman plays a surveillance expert who accidentally overhears a conversation that he suspects will lead to murder.

This movie is one of Coppola's best and is perhaps more relevant today than when it was released given the pervasiveness of security cameras and recording devices present in our post-911 lives. It's a smaller film, more personal than many of Coppola's other works, but it is worth checking out. Look for a pre-Star Wars Harrison Ford in a small role. This movie is available on DVD.

3. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang - (1932) Directed By: Mervyn LeRoy
In this classic Warner Brother's social commentary, Paul Muni plays a man wrongly convicted of a crime and forced to serve time doing hard labor on a Georgia chain gang. The final scene of the movie is unforgettable, and the rest of the movie makes an equally powerful statement about the American justice system. As a direct result of this movie, chain gangs were abolished throughout the country. Social impact like this is seldom seen in movies today. This film is available on DVD.

4. The Major and theMinor -- (1942) Directed By: Billy Wilder
Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland star in Billy Wilder's directorial debut. Ginger Rogers plays a woman who tried to make it big in New York but fails. She doesn't have enough money to get home, so she disguises herself as a girl to get child's fare. On the way home, she meets Ray Milland, an army major running a military school. She falls in love with the major, but must maintain her façade as a child to keep him from getting in hot water with his fiancée.

Full of double entendres and tongue-in-cheek humor, this movie is worth seeing just to experience Billy Wilder's first movie as a director. Although not as funny as Wilder's later films, this tale of mistaken identity is still a fun movie today. Made in the unusual time after the start of World War II but before America's entry into the war, this film also offers an interesting insight into America's mindset about the war prior to Pear Harbor. This film is available on DVD.

5. Repulsion -- (1965) Directed By Roman Polanski
Three years before Rosemary's Baby catapulted his career, Polanski made this little black and white film starring Catherine Deneuve as a sexually repressed woman who goes insane. A slow movie by today's standards, reflecting a more European approach to cinema, Repulsion still delivers some real moments of terror. This is one of those movies that is best seen in a theater, but give it a try on DVD if you can.

6. Living in Oblivion - (1995) Directed and Written By: Tom DiCillo
If you like independent movies, then this movie about making independent movies is right for you. Starring Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener and Dermot Mulroney, this comedy is the ultimate tribute to low budget moviemaking. It is fiction, not a documentary, but fiction never had more truth behind it. Anyone who wants to make a movie should watch this hilarious film. It is available on DVD.

7. The Hidden Fortress - (1958) Directed By: Akira Kurosawa
You've probably seen this one, although you know it by a different name - Star Wars.

The basic story is the same. Get a feisty princess out of hostile territory with the help of a couple of humorous sidekicks and a wise older warrior. For Star Wars fanatics who refuse to recognize that Lucas pulled most of his plot from this movie: Toshiro Mifune = Obi Wan, the gold bars = the Death Star plans, the two bumbling farmers = Artoo and Threepio, the scarred up general Mifune faces in the film's showdown = Darth Vader.

This film should be a must-see for any Star Wars fans. It's entertaining in its own right, but when seen in conjunction with Star Wars, the movie offers a fascinating look at how filmmakers draw inspiration (and entire storylines) from other filmmakers.

8. Way Down East - (1920) Directed by D.W. Griffith
If you ever wondered what the big deal was about D.W. Griffith, and you can't get past the racism of Birth of a Nation, this might be the movie for you. Griffith's last big hit, this movie features Lillian Gish as a simple country girl who is tricked by a wealthy man into having a fake wedding, so he can sleep with her. Once she gets pregnant he tosses her aside.

The ice floe sequence at the end of the movie is worth the wait.

9 and 10
There are many, many other films I could list here, but I wanted to reserve the last two slots for you, the reader. When it comes to "best" films, no one person's opinion is any more valid than the next. That's the beauty of movies; they are the most public of arts.

Please feel free to add any suggested movies for this list in the comments section below.