Movies I Love, Even If Nobody Else Does
by marc_brazeau | created - 28 Mar 2015 | updated - 17 Oct 2022 | PublicNot necessarily my favorite movies, but movies that are personal favorites that haven't garnered much love from anyone else.
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1. Havana (I) (1990)
R | 144 min | Drama, Romance, War
In 1950s Cuba, a professional gambler falls for a woman heavily involved in the revolution movement.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Alan Arkin, Tomas Milian
Votes: 8,523 | Gross: $9.24M
A remake of Casablanca, the costumes, sets, and atmosphere are worth the price of admission. Redford and Olin are excellent with great support from Alan Arkin, Tony Plano and Raul Julia.
2. Unstrung Heroes (1995)
PG | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
When a youngster needs a break from the pressures of his parents' household, he moves in with his offbeat uncles and learns some invaluable life lessons.
Director: Diane Keaton | Stars: Andie MacDowell, John Turturro, Michael Richards, Maury Chaykin
Votes: 3,270 | Gross: $7.93M
Diane Keaton directs a wonderful cast with John Turturro, Andie MacDowell, Michael Richards and Josh Mostel. The family story is deeply affecting and I love the crazy uncles even though they were seen as a weak spot by most critics.
3. Cold Feet (1989)
R | 94 min | Comedy, Crime
A psycho-killer with mommy issues, a charming crooked cowboy and their girl steal some jewels. The cowboy decides not to share and goes on the run with the loot. A crazy chase across the country between former partners in crime begins.
Director: Robert Dornhelm | Stars: Keith Carradine, Sally Kirkland, Tom Waits, Bill Pullman
Votes: 456 | Gross: $0.29M
A deeply flawed movie, but the sense of humor is my kind of quirky. Probably the best Tom Waits vehicle this side of Big Time. Bill Pullman makes an early career appearance, stealing a number of scenes.
4. Bamboozled (2000)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A frustrated African-American TV writer proposes a blackface minstrel show in protest, but to his chagrin, it becomes a hit.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael Rapaport
Votes: 12,357 | Gross: $2.27M
An under-appreciated gem from Spike Lee.
5. Tin Cup (1996)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A washed-up golf pro working at a driving range tries to qualify for the U.S. Open in order to win the heart of his successful rival's girlfriend.
Director: Ron Shelton | Stars: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin
Votes: 53,292 | Gross: $53.85M
Lots of people like this movie, but I hold an affection towards it completely out of proportion to it's actual quality. Kevin Costner at his best. Great soundtrack.
6. Heaven (1987)
PG-13 | 80 min | Documentary
A series of interviews are conducted concerning people's beliefs towards the possibility of an afterlife. The interviews are filmed against a set of strange backdrops, and are intercut with... See full summary »
Director: Diane Keaton | Stars: Michael Agbabian, James Allport, Lazaro Arvizu, Stephen Augustine
Votes: 292
An another Diane Keaton project. A mostly forgotten, highly stylized documentary about people's views of the afterlife. Bolstered with wonderful vintage movie archival footage.
7. Walker (1987)
R | 94 min | Biography, Drama, History
An unconventional retelling of the life of William Walker, a 19th century American mercenary leader who became the president of Nicaragua.
Director: Alex Cox | Stars: Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Rene Auberjonois, Keith Szarabajka
Votes: 4,287 | Gross: $0.26M
Alex Cox directs a surreal history of American Imperialism in Central America. Among Ed Harris' finest work. Joe Strummer's soundtrack is unmatched.
8. Barbary Coast (1935)
Approved | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Mary Rutledge arrives from the East, finds her fiance dead, and goes to work at the roulette wheel of Louis Charnalis' Bella Donna, a rowdy gambling house in 1850s San Francisco.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, Joel McCrea, Walter Brennan
Votes: 2,051
What a world.
9. Angelo My Love (1983)
R | 115 min | Drama
Step into the world of gypsy life. Come meet Angelo and his family. See the gypsy court system. A gypsy wedding where a boy's family pays for his wife. Come see the gypsy lifestyle, how they live, how they love family.
Director: Robert Duvall | Stars: Angelo Evans, Michael Evans, Ruthie Evans, Tony Evans
Votes: 249
Robert Duvall's story of a precocious and charismatic gypsy kid in New York. Cast nearly entirely with amateurs from the community it sprung from. It was kind of a big deal at the time. It seems to have been largely forgotten.
10. My Life as a Dog (1985)
Unrated | 101 min | Drama, Comedy
In the late '50s, young Ingemar learns a lot about life and himself when he is sent away from his sick mother to live with his aunt and uncle in a town full of eccentrics.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki Lidén, Melinda Kinnaman
Votes: 22,545 | Gross: $8.35M
This a pretty highly rated movie for this list. A minor classic to the rest of the world, it's a major classic in mine.
11. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Romance
A San Francisco poet who fears commitment suspects his girlfriend may have a knack for killing off her significant others.
Director: Thomas Schlamme | Stars: Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer
Votes: 42,875 | Gross: $11.59M
Sadly, the failure of this movie scared Mike Meyers away from making more personal movies. (The upside of that was the first two Austin Powers.) I love the chemistry between Meyers and Travis. Great wacky cameos by Phil Hartman, Alan Arkin, Steve Wright and Charles Grodin. Meyers is brilliant as his own father.
12. The Razor's Edge (1984)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Romance, War
He had everything and wanted nothing. He learned that he had nothing and wanted everything. He saved the world and then it shattered. The path to enlightenment is as sharp and narrow as a razor's edge.
Director: John Byrum | Stars: Bill Murray, Theresa Russell, Denholm Elliott, Catherine Hicks
Votes: 5,954 | Gross: $6.55M
This film's poor showing probably delayed Bill Murray's appearance in any more ambitious films by another decade. I love the way they captured the period and Murray does a fine job as a spiritual seeker without any undue sentimentality.
13. Home for the Holidays (1995)
PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
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.
Director: Jodie Foster | Stars: Holly Hunter, Anne Bancroft, Robert Downey Jr., Charles Durning
Votes: 14,566 | Gross: $17.52M
Jodie Foster directs a mindbendingly talented cast in a smart, touching family drama.
14. Two Girls and a Guy (1997)
R | 84 min | Drama
Two girls wait outside a young actor's door and find out he's had them both as "only" girlfriend the last ten months. They wait inside after breaking in. When Blake comes home he just can't stop lying but they stay.
Director: James Toback | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Heather Graham, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Angel David
Votes: 8,709 | Gross: $1.95M
Before Tony Stark, this was the ultimate vehicle for Robert Downey Jr's oversize ego. People seem to love it or hate. I loved it.
15. The New Age (1994)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
Episodic story about a yuppie couple who're going broke, and can't decide if they want to stay together - but openly sleep around and experiment with different lifestyles, or not.
Director: Michael Tolkin | Stars: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Patrick Bauchau, Rachel Rosenthal
Votes: 1,262 | Gross: $0.25M
Peter Weller and Judy Davis are by turns ferociously viscous and heartbreakingly vulnerable. A fantastic portrait of a relationship between two big egos on it's last legs.
16. The Anniversary Party (2001)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Love is complex and relationships deteriorate.
Directors: Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh | Stars: Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline
Votes: 8,754 | Gross: $4.01M
Altmanesque quality ensemble cast. Not any great shakes as a story, but you'd be hard pressed to find a group of actors that you'd rather spend some time with.
17. Streets of Fire (1984)
PG | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mercenary is hired to rescue his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a motorcycle gang.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan
Votes: 24,269 | Gross: $8.09M
The opening fight scene alone is worth the price of admission. Walter Hill imagines a highly stylized alternative 50s world. Dynamite soundtrack that includes a live bar room Blasters performance. Highlights include a devilish looking Willem Defoe who prefers to settle scores in latex overalls with sledgehammers.
18. Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Sean Penn, Samantha Morton, Woody Allen, Ben Duncan
Votes: 36,699 | Gross: $4.20M
My favorite non-cannonical Woody Allen movie. Also my favorite non-canonical Sean Penn movie.
19. Limbo (I) (1999)
R | 126 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In an economically devastated Alaskan town, a fisherman with a troublesome past dates a woman whose young daughter does not approve of him. When he witnesses the murder of his shady brother, he, the woman and the kid run to the wilderness.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: David Strathairn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Vanessa Martinez, Michael Laskin
Votes: 6,392 | Gross: $2.00M
Under appreciated work from John Sayles. Has the social tapestry he is known for but with a more personal story and more heart then he often achieves.
20. Texasville (1990)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
The summer of 1984: 32 years after Duane Jackson captained the high school football team and Jacy Farrow was homecoming queen, the small town of Anarene, Texas prepares for its centennial ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Timothy Bottoms, Harvey Christiansen
Votes: 3,048 | Gross: $2.27M
Peter Bodanovich's sequal to The Last Picture Show. Jeff Bridges hang dog midlife crisis is brilliantly rendered as is Annie Potts' switchblade wit as the wife who is happy to give him all the rope he needs.
21. Mystery, Alaska (1999)
R | 119 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
The residents of a small town get over-excited when their hockey team gets chosen to host a televised event.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Russell Crowe, Burt Reynolds, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack
Votes: 28,390 | Gross: $8.89M
It's not that great, but I like it.
22. Nobody's Fool (1994)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Paul Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith
Votes: 22,536 | Gross: $39.49M
Paul Newman is having a tough couple days somewhere cold and snowy.
23. Chinese Box (1997)
R | 99 min | Drama, Romance
The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.
Director: Wayne Wang | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Michael Hui
Votes: 3,596 | Gross: $2.20M
Very smart, very personal, very poignant tale of a British journal working in Hong Kong as it returns to Chinese rule. Highly under-rated. Maggie Cheung's performance alone elevates it to another level.
24. Ready to Wear (1994)
R | 133 min | Comedy, Drama
A chronicle of the interconnected lives of a group of people in the lead up to Paris Fashion Week.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts, Marcello Mastroianni, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Votes: 15,897 | Gross: $11.30M
Altman, old and on the ropes, delivers a series of sharp jabs and deft feints.
25. Creator (1985)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
An eccentric scientist teaches a student in his own manner while he looks for a way to clone his deceased wife.
Director: Ivan Passer | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano, Virginia Madsen
Votes: 3,510 | Gross: $5.35M
This could have been a great film if it weren't for the straight to video shmaltz of the period. Wonderful story and O'Toole is his usual brilliant, gigantic self.
26. Pootie Tang (2001)
PG-13 | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
"The Man" is baffled by a chill hero's invincible weapon: gibberish.
Director: Louis C.K. | Stars: Chris Rock, Lance Crouther, J.B. Smoove, Jennifer Coolidge
Votes: 15,129 | Gross: $3.29M
I just about coughed up a lung ever five minutes the first time I saw this. Who knows how good it could have been if Louis CK had been allowed to make it as weird as he wanted.
27. Henry & June (1990)
NC-17 | 136 min | Biography, Drama
Anaïs Nin meets American writer Henry Miller in Paris in 1931. She keeps a diary of her sexual awakening, which includes Henry and his wife June.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Fred Ward, Uma Thurman, Maria de Medeiros, Richard E. Grant
Votes: 14,199 | Gross: $11.57M
I'm a sucker for early twentieth century period pieces. This one of the best.
28. The Leading Man (1996)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A successful playwright falls in love with his new actress Hilary (Thandie Newton) and, in an attempt to leave his wife Elena (Anna Galiena) without incident, recruits a handsome Hollywood actor (Jon Bon Jovi) to seduce her.
Director: John Duigan | Stars: Jon Bon Jovi, Anna Galiena, Lambert Wilson, Thandiwe Newton
Votes: 1,614
Jon Bon Jovi will surprise the *beep* out of you. Surprising, that after his excellent performances in this and Homegrown, we have seen more of his acting chops since.
29. Homegrown (1998)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three marijuana farmhands see their boss killed, ending their peaceful existence in NW California. They decide to harvest, process and sell the crop themselves. Crime bosses, corrupt cops, killer pilot, greed etc. ensue.
Director: Stephen Gyllenhaal | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Hank Azaria, Kelly Lynch, John Lithgow
Votes: 5,048 | Gross: $0.22M
Dark, smart, funny. Well grounded in the details. Superb performances from Billy Bob Thorton, John Lithgow, Jon Bon Jovi, Hank Azaria and the Princess Bride.
30. Can't Buy Me Love (1987)
PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
An outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month.
Director: Steve Rash | Stars: Patrick Dempsey, Amanda Peterson, Courtney Gains, Tina Caspary
Votes: 42,050 | Gross: $31.62M
Patrick Dempsey's smart, charismatic, emotional performance in this put him on the map. The astronomy and the use of Tucson as a setting really set this apart from the run of the mill high school romance, nerd gets girl genre.
31. Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack
Votes: 9,135 | Gross: $3.56M
32. Montana (1998)
R | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When a suitcase full of money disappears, the members of the gang quickly turn on each other. Everyone wants the money and when the shooting stops, who will be left standing?
Director: Jennifer Leitzes | Stars: Kyra Sedgwick, Stanley Tucci, Robin Tunney, Robbie Coltrane
Votes: 1,866
33. The Impostors (1998)
R | 101 min | Comedy
Wrongly accused of physically abusing a fellow actor, starving thespians Arthur and Maurice find themselves pursued by the law aboard a cruise ship.
Director: Stanley Tucci | Stars: Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, Walker Jones, Jessica Walling
Votes: 5,378 | Gross: $2.20M
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