50 Great Movies You Haven't Seen
None of these tragically underrated films has over 10,000 ratings. For perspective, Shawshank has 2 million. Which is a shame because these are movies that I can't recommend strongly enough. How many have you seen?
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- DirectorFred C. NewmeyerSam TaylorStarsHarold LloydMildred DavisBill StrotherA boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
- DirectorJohn G. BlystoneBuster KeatonStarsBuster KeatonNatalie TalmadgeJoe KeatonA man returns to his Appalachian homestead. On the trip, he falls for a young woman. The only problem is her family has vowed to kill every member of his family.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsJames CagneyJean HarlowEdward WoodsAn Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsGreta GarboJohn BarrymoreJoan CrawfordA group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious hotel in Berlin deal with each of their respective dramas.
- DirectorRay EnrightBusby BerkeleyStarsJoan BlondellDick PowellRuby KeelerA multimillionaire decides to boycott "filthy" forms of entertainment such as Broadway shows.
- DirectorFrank TuttleStarsGeorge RaftClaire DoddEdward ArnoldEd Beaumont is the personal friend, advisor and bodyguard to Paul Madvig, the political boss of a large city. When a mysterious murder is committed---the son of a Madvig political opponent---Madvig's enemies try to pin the crime on him because he is waging a clean-up campaign they oppose. Ed risks his life and his reputation to find the killer and clear his friend.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersVictor MooreRoguish gambler/dancer "Lucky" Garnett is challenged by his fiance's father to come up with $25,000 to prove he's worthy of her hand. But after he falls in love with a dance instructor, Lucky'll do anything to keep from earning the bucks.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantJean ArthurRita HayworthAt a remote South American trading port, the manager of an air-freight company is forced to risk his pilots' lives in order to win an important contract as a traveling American showgirl stops in town.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckEdward ArnoldA penniless drifter is recruited by an ambitious columnist to impersonate a non-existent person who said he'd be committing suicide as a protest, and a social movement begins.Also don't miss Capra's slightly more popular but still under-viewed You Can't Take it With You
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperBarbara StanwyckOscar HomolkaA group of professors working on a new encyclopedia while living in a Manhattan mansion take in a mouthy nightclub singer who is wanted by the police to help bring down her mob boss lover.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsFranchot ToneAnne BaxterAkim TamiroffIn the North African campaign a British straggler manages to pass himself off as a waiter at the hotel commandeered as Rommel's headquarters. He has thoughts of assassinating Rommel but his cover may have an even better use.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsJean ArthurJoel McCreaCharles CoburnDuring the World War II housing shortage in Washington, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsGregory PeckDorothy McGuireJohn GarfieldA reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBurt LancasterHume CronynCharles BickfordAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard ConteValentina CorteseLee J. CobbA war veteran turned truck driver attempts to avenge the crippling and robbing of his father at the hands of an amoral produce scofflaw.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsAlec GuinnessStanley HollowaySidney JamesA meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsCary GrantGinger RogersMarilyn MonroeA chemist finds his personal and professional life turned upside down when one of his chimpanzees finds the fountain of youth.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsErnest BorgnineBetsy BlairEsther MinciottiA middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.
- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsFarid ShawqiHind RustumYoussef ChahineA newspaper salesman at the train station in Cairo develops an unhealthy obsession with a woman who sells refreshments.
- DirectorAllen BaronStarsAllen BaronMolly McCarthyLarry TuckerA hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York, but a special girl from his past and a gun dealer with pet rats get in his way.
- DirectorRobert Downey Sr.StarsArnold JohnsonStan GottliebAllen GarfieldThe board of directors at a Madison Avenue ad agency must elect a new chairman. In the maneuvering to make sure that enemies don't get votes, all the members accidentally cast their ballot for the board's token black man, Putney Swope.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsJane FondaMichael SarrazinSusannah YorkThe lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsRobert StephensChristopher LeeColin BlakelyWhen a bored Holmes eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon after an attempt on her life, the search for her missing husband leads to Loch Ness and the legendary monster.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsKirk DouglasHenry FondaHume CronynA charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsStockard ChanningJack NicholsonWarren BeattyTwo bumbling hustlers in the 1920s attempt to gain the fortune of an heiress. Nothing will stop them, not even murder.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsLucille BillingsleyZella GrahamCal HarbertsA documentary about a pet cemetery in California, and the people who have pets buried there.
- DirectorRoss McElweeStarsRoss McElweeDede McElweeRoss McElwee Jr.Documentary filmmaker Ross McElwee sets out to make a movie about Union General Sherman's March to the Sea towards the end of the American Civil War, but keeps getting sidetracked by his own love life.
- DirectorDavid ByrneStarsDavid ByrneJohn GoodmanAnnie McEnroeA small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its sesquicentennial and converge on a local parade and talent show.
- DirectorWhit StillmanStarsCarolyn FarinaEdward ClementsChris EigemanA group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up.
- DirectorJodie FosterStarsHolly HunterAnne BancroftRobert Downey Jr.After losing her job, making out with her soon-to-be former boss, and finding out that her daughter plans to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend, Claudia Larson faces spending the holiday with her family.
- DirectorBobcat GoldthwaitStarsBobcat GoldthwaitJulie BrownBruce BaumShakes is good at his job as party clown - when he's sober and shows up. Five druggy clowns frame him for the murder of his boss.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsBill PaxtonBilly Bob ThorntonCynda WilliamsA small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
- DirectorS.R. BindlerStarsSid AllenBrent BaskinGreg CoxTwenty-four contestants compete in an endurance/sleep deprivation contest in order to win a brand new Nissan Hardbody truck. The last person to remain standing with his or her hand on the truck wins. An absurd marketing gimmick at first glance, the contest proves to be much more...
- DirectorJosh BeckerStarsBruce CampbellJeremy RobertsAnita BaroneCarl is released from jail after serving a 5-year term and immediately sets about executing his next heist. The plan is relatively simple but time is critical. However, he doesn't factor in bad luck or the incompetence of his accomplices.
- DirectorLynne RamsayStarsTommy FlanaganMandy MatthewsWilliam EadieA naïve young lad navigates the dirty squalid streets of 1973 Glasgow and the poor youth around him.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsBae DoonaLee Sung-jaeKim Ho-jungAn idle part-time college lecturer is annoyed by the yapping sound of a nearby dog. He decides to take drastic action.
- DirectorBéla TarrÁgnes HranitzkyStarsLars RudolphPeter FitzHanna SchygullaA naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsMarie-Josée CrozeJean-Nicolas VerreaultStephanie MorgensternAfter plunging her car into a river, a woman encounters a man who helps her come to terms with her life.
- DirectorCory McAbeeStarsCory McAbeeRocco SistoGregory Russell CookSamuel Curtis, an interplanetary trader, sets forth through a rustic and remote solar system, unaware that his old friend Professor Hess is trying to kill him.
- DirectorHenry Alex RubinDana Adam ShapiroStarsJoe SoaresKeith CavillMark ZupanQuadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs, overcome unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsSteve CooganJeremy NorthamRob BrydonDirector Michael Winterbottom (Northam) attempts to shoot the adaptation of Laurence Sterne's essentially unfilmable novel, "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman."
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsMichael ShannonDouglas LigonBarlow JacobsSet in Arkansas, this poetic and powerful film directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter) tracks a blood feud that erupts when two sets of half-brothers come to blows at their father's funeral.
- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsHediyeh TehraniTaraneh AlidoostiHamid FarrokhnezhadOn the last Wednesday before the spring solstice ushers in the Persian New Year, people set off fireworks following an ancient Zoroastrian tradition. Rouhi, spending her first day at a new job, finds herself in the midst of a different kind of fireworks -- a domestic dispute between her new boss and his wife.
- DirectorGarth JenningsStarsBill MilnerWill PoulterJessica HynesDuring a long English summer in the early 1980s, two schoolboys from differing backgrounds set out to make a film inspired by First Blood (1982).This one actually has over 10k ratings but it's one of my favorites and a lot of people have never heard of it
- DirectorJeremy SaulnierStarsChris SharpKate PorterfieldTess Porterfield LovellA random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
- DirectorJeff MalmbergStarsMark HogancampEmmanuel NnejiEdda HogancampDocumentary about Mark Hogancamp. After a vicious attack leaves him brain-damaged and broke, Mark seeks recovery in "Marwencol", a 1/6th scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. Inspired the movie Welcome to Marwen (2018)
- DirectorJoseph KahnStarsJosh HutchersonShanley CaswellSpencer LockeAs a copycat killer named after movie villain Cinderhella stalks the student body at Grizzly Lake High School, a group of co-eds band together to survive while serving detention.
- DirectorStephen ChowStarsChao DengShow LoYuqi ZhangShan, a mermaid, is sent to assassinate Xuan, a developer who threatens the ecosystem of her race, but ends up falling in love with him instead.