Hidden Gems List
Here's some little seen titles to seek out. Consider this one of those lists for people who ask "Recommend me something good" - Well here goes (Different genres and many decades represented in no particular order).
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- DirectorScott FrankStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittJeff DanielsMatthew GoodeChris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsKen WahlKaren AllenJohn FriedrichThe Wanderers is a teenage, Italian gang in Bronx, NYC, 1963. They have their confrontations with other gangs. Drugs and weapons are uncool. Adult life awaits them.
- DirectorAndrey KonchalovskiyStarsJon VoightEric RobertsRebecca De MornayTwo escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsCarice van HoutenSebastian KochThom HoffmanIn the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.
- DirectorFrank PiersonStarsEric RobertsJudd HirschSusan SarandonIn the criminal and violent world of modern-day Gypsies based in New York City, their 'king' Zharko Stepanowicz passes his leadership to his unwilling grandson, leaving the skipped father resentful.
- DirectorFabrice du WelzStarsEmmanuelle BéartRufus SewellPetch OsathanugrahA couple are looking for their child who was lost in the tsunami - their search takes them to the dangerous Thai-Burmese waters, and then into the jungle, where they face unknown but horrifying dangers.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsChris EvansJamie BellTilda SwintonIn a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
- DirectorMatthew ChapmanStarsCharlie HunnamTerrence HowardPatrick WilsonA police officer looks to talk down a young man lured by his lover's husband to the ledge of a high rise, where he has one hour to contemplate a fateful decision.
- DirectorNancy SavocaStarsRiver PhoenixLili TaylorRichard PanebiancoBefore leaving to fight in Vietnam, a group of teenagers play a game where they try to seduce the ugliest girl they can find.
- DirectorNancy SavocaStarsTracey UllmanVincent D'OnofrioLili TaylorUnsettling drama about three generations of Italian-American women struggling to get by in post-World War II New York's Little Italy.
- DirectorIvan PasserStarsJeff BridgesJohn HeardLisa EichhornRichard spots a man dumping a body, and decides to expose the man he thinks is the culprit with his friend Alex Cutter.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsWilliam PetersenKim GreistJoan AllenFormer FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsDonald SutherlandAdam HorovitzAmy LocaneA troubled youth from a split Los Angeles family is sent to a private psychiatric hospital after a violent scrape with the police. In the hospital, he makes a connection with one of the doctors who has his own problems.
- DirectorBill DukeStarsLaurence FishburneJeff GoldblumLira AngelA uniformed police officer is recruited by the DEA to infiltrate a drug smuggling ring looking to expand its operation.
- DirectorBoaz DavidsonStarsLawrence MonosonDiane FranklinSteve AntinPizza delivery boy Gary, loudmouth David and hunky Rick are three high school students out to lose their virginity any way they can. Gary falls for transfer student Karen, who gets involved with Rick.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsRena OwenTemuera MorrisonMamaengaroa Kerr-BellA family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
- DirectorChris WeitzPaul WeitzStarsHugh GrantNicholas HoultToni ColletteWill, who attends single parent meetings to woo women, meets Marcus, a troubled 12-year-old boy. As they become friends, Will learns to be responsible while he helps Marcus with his studies.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJesse BradfordJeroen KrabbéLisa EichhornA young boy struggles on his own in a run-down hotel after his parents and younger brother are separated from him in 1930s Depression-era Midwest.
- DirectorDaryl DukeCurtis HansonStarsElliott GouldChristopher PlummerSusannah YorkA timid bank teller anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money himself before the crook arrives. When the sadistic crook realizes he's been fooled, he tracks down the teller and engages him in a cat-and-mouse chase for the cash.
- DirectorScott HicksStarsAnthony HopkinsAnton YelchinHope DavisWidowed Liz Garfield and her son Bobby change when mysterious stranger Ted Brautigan enters their lives.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsRiver PhoenixChristine LahtiJudd HirschThe eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live his own life.
- DirectorJonathan MostowStarsKurt RussellJ.T. WalshKathleen QuinlanA man searches for his missing wife after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert.
- DirectorDavid Hugh JonesStarsAnne BancroftAnthony HopkinsJudi DenchTrue story of a transatlantic business correspondence about used books that developed into a close friendship.
- DirectorDavid MametStarsLindsay CrouseJoe MantegnaMike NussbaumA psychiatrist comes to the aid of a compulsive gambler and is led by a smooth-talking grifter into the shadowy but compelling world of stings, scams, and con men.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsBurt LancasterSusan SarandonKate ReidIn a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsLeelee SobieskiKris KristoffersonBarbara HersheyThis fictionalized story, based on the family life of writer James Jones, is an emotionless slice-of-life story. Jones here is portrayed as Bill Willis, a former war hero and now successful author who obviously drinks too much and is starting to experience health problems.
- DirectorJake KasdanStarsBill PullmanBen StillerRyan O'NealThe world's greatest detective Daryl Zero aided by his associate Steve Arlo investigates a complex and mysterious case of blackmail and missing keys for shady tycoon Gregory Stark who is less than forthcoming about what is really happening!
- DirectorChris MengesStarsBarbara HersheyDavid SuchetJodhi May1963. Thirteen year old Molly Roth, the eldest of three offspring of Gus and Diana Roth, lives a carefree life as part of the affluent white minority in South Africa. Race is a non-issue for her as although, under apartheid, the Roths largely exist among other white people like them, she feels equally comfortable around the black people in her life, such as their servants and her parents' black friends. Beyond knowing that they are busy in their work, Molly is unaware of the full extent of what her parents do, Gus a leading member of the South African Communist Party and Ruth an anti-apartheid journalist who also secretly works for the underground in support of the outlawed African National Congress. Shortly after Gus quietly escapes the country to evade probable arrest by the government - Molly believing it just a short work related trip - Molly's carefree life starts to unravel when Diana is detained for ninety days under a new law that allows such detention without ever even being charged with a criminal offense. The goal of Diana's interrogators, led by Inspector Muller, is to get her to divulge details especially of the underground, most specifically proverbial "names". Beyond missing her mother, Molly begins to resent the anti-apartheid work which has directly and indirectly impacted her life in a negative way, she wanting a mother, not an activist-mother. As the situation with Diana evolves, which includes someone needing to act as caregivers to Molly and her younger sisters while Diana is in detention, Molly gets a broader perspective of her situation under apartheid as she is able to see more of life just outside her protected white enclave, and as she is made aware of what Diana is trying to achieve for society in her work.
- DirectorVictor NunezStarsAshley JuddTodd FieldBentley MitchumA young woman struggles for independence and identity in a small Florida tourist town.
- DirectorGeoff MurphyStarsBruno LawrenceAlison RoutledgePete SmithA scientist awakens to find himself alone in the world. In a desperate attempt to search for others, he finds only two who have their own agenda.
- DirectorBud YorkinStarsGene HackmanAnn-MargretEllen BurstynA 50-year-old married man begins an extramarital relationship which creates uncomfortable friction in his family between his long-time wife and grown children.
- DirectorLee David ZlotoffStarsAlison ElliottEllen BurstynMarcia Gay HardenOscar-winner Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist) headlines this critically praised drama about a young woman, just out of prison, who finds spiritual redemption working at a cafe in Maine.
- DirectorDouglas Day StewartStarsSteven BauerBarbara WilliamsJohn GetzIf you met Ray and Mickey Davis, you'd swear they had a perfect marriage. But if you read Mickey's diary, you'd know that unrest is lurking just beneath the surface.
- DirectorTed KotcheffStarsJames WoodsGabrielle LazureAlan ArkinThe story of a Jewish writer, from his life as a young boy in Montreal to his more complicated grown-up life.
- DirectorRaymond De FelittaStarsMichael RispoliKelly MacdonaldKathrine NarducciA dreamer finds that his wife and friends are binding him to his mediocre existence.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsChristopher WalkenBrooke AdamsTom SkerrittA man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability to foresee future events.
- DirectorRichard BenjaminStarsSean PennElizabeth McGovernNicolas CageIn 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
- DirectorFrank D. GilroyStarsCharles BronsonJill IrelandDouglas FowleyAfter spending 3 unforgettable hours with an outlaw, a beautiful young widow turns her story into a worldwide famous book.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsScott GlennToshirô MifuneDonna Kei BenzA down-and-out American boxer becomes involved in a feud between two Japanese brothers.
- DirectorTerry GeorgeStarsHelen MirrenFionnula FlanaganAidan GillenThe 1981 hunger strike in an Irish prison, in which I.R.A. prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against their treatment as criminals rather than as prisoners of war. It focuses on the mothers of two of the strikers, and their struggle.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsMichel BlancSandrine BonnaireLuc ThuillierA recluse is accused of murdering a young woman simply because his neighbors think he is strange.
- StarsHelen MorseBryan BrownGordon JacksonSet against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades.
- DirectorLéa PoolStarsPiper PeraboJessica ParéMischa BartonAfter starting at an upmarket boarding school, a teenage girl forms close friendships with her two older roommates. However, when she discovers that her new friends are lovers she finds herself caught in a complicated situation.
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.
- DirectorSteve BarronStarsLenny von DohlenVirginia MadsenMaxwell CaulfieldAn artificially intelligent PC and his human owner find themselves in a romantic rivalry over a woman.
- DirectorChristopher MorahanStarsPaul McGannAmanda DonohoeFrederick TrevesA lowly hospital orderly impersonates a recently deceased doctor and goes to work in the busy ER of a small hospital where he meets and befriends a nurse who slowly figures out his secret and helps him maintain his charade.
- DirectorGary ShermanStarsStaci KeananCheryl LaddD.W. MoffettA flirtatious teenager with an eye for older men gets more than she bargained for when the handsome stranger she's pursuing turns out to be a serial killer.
- DirectorDavid AyerStarsChristian BaleFreddy RodríguezEva LongoriaA tough-minded drama about two friends in South Central Los Angeles and the violence that comes between them.
- DirectorWayne KramerStarsWilliam H. MacyMaria BelloAlec BaldwinIn an old school Las Vegas casino, its top gambling jinx breaks his curse when he falls in love, much to his boss' consternation.
- DirectorJoseph B. VasquezStarsDoug E. DougMario JoynerJohn LeguizamoFour young friends spend one crazy Friday night on the streets of Manhattan that quickly turns into a night, they'll never forget.
- DirectorPeter MastersonStarsGeraldine PageJohn HeardCarlin GlynnIn 1940s Texas, an elderly woman is determined to visit her childhood home one last time.
- DirectorRoger DonaldsonStarsBruno LawrenceAnna Maria MonticelliGreer Robson-KirkAfter the break-up of his marriage, a racing driver sets out to get back his daughter - at any cost.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsDonald SutherlandKate NelliganStephen MacKennaA ruthless German spy, trying to get out of Britain with vital information about D-Day, must spend time with a young woman and her crippled husband.
- DirectorTom McCarthyStarsRichard JenkinsHaaz SleimanDanai GuriraA college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsAdrien BrodyBebe NeuwirthJoe MantegnaBaltimore, Fall 1954: Schools implement the new integration law. Ben finds the "colored" girl in his class cute - upsetting his Jewish mom and granny. Ben talks to her while his brother looks for his WASP dream girl.
- DirectorDavid MametStarsVal KilmerDerek LukeWilliam H. MacyThe investigation into a kidnapping of the daughter of a high-ranking US government official.
- DirectorKevin JordanStarsDerick MartiniSteven MartiniAmy HathawayTwo brothers share a house in the Fairfax district of LA: Tony a feckless actor, Chris an accountant. Both have relationships on rocky ground. As these emotions swirl, Tony meets his letter carrier, a single-mom named Kathy who's come to LA from Wyoming with her daughter, a budding actress. Chris meets Anna, an Italian beauty working in the States, for a few months, wrangling animals on movie sets. Chris also befriends Clive, an aging, crusty man whose longing for his recently-deceased wife is a portrait of true love. Can Clive's example help Chris sort out his love life, and can Tony grow up enough to see the possibilities with Kathy and her daughter?
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsTed DansonIsabella RosselliniSean YoungTwo couples go to a mutual friend's wedding and end up swapping partners.
- DirectorRobert De NiroStarsRobert De NiroChazz PalminteriLillo BrancatoAn intense drama about a boy torn between his tough, hard-working father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsVanessa ParadisDaniel AuteuilFrédéric PflugerOne night, a fading entertainer intervenes when a woman contemplates suicide, beginning a strange, unpredictable relationship.
- DirectorDavid AttwoodStarsLinus RoacheVincent PerezLia WilliamsThe horrors of war are examined from the view points of lifelong friends, who end up on opposing sides in the war in Sarajevo. One is an expert marksman, who trains the snipers used to terrify the city and the other becomes a freedom fighter, who rejects his friend's offer to gain an escape from the city. As might be expected, the two eventually have to face-off against one another.
- DirectorJohn GrayStarsArmand AssanteDonald SutherlandAlex JenningsDuring the siege of Charleston of 1864, Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley becomes the first submersible to sink an enemy warship in wartime.
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsBilly CrudupPatrick FugitKate HudsonA high-school boy in the early 1970s is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour.
- DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsSteve BuscemiThora BirchScarlett JohanssonTwo eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyJennifer LopezVing RhamesA career bank robber breaks out of jail, and shares a moment of mutual attraction with a U.S. Marshal he has kidnapped.
- DirectorMick JacksonStarsAdam GarciaRosario DawsonJake BuseyAndy works in marketing but wants to create something "real" so he gets a job in research with huge a pay cut. He teams with 3 nerds to develop a $99 PC for 3rd world students. Then comes the dot-com crash.
- DirectorChristopher McQuarrieStarsTom CruiseRosamund PikeRichard JenkinsA homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper responsible for a mass shooting.
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsSaoirse RonanTom HollandGeorge MacKayAn American girl, sent to the English countryside to stay with relatives, finds love and purpose while fighting for her survival as war envelops the world around her.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsKurt RussellJack WardenGerrit GrahamWhen the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.
- DirectorXavier KollerStarsNecmettin ÇobanogluNur SürerEmin SivasThe story of a poor Turkish family who try to emigrate illegally to Switzerland.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsJohn SavageDavid MorseDiana ScarwidHandicapped after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, a man finds common ground in the troubled souls at a local dive bar.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsHarrison FordHelen MirrenRiver PhoenixAn inventor spurns his city life and moves his family into the jungles of Central America to make a utopia.
- DirectorBen YoungerStarsGiovanni RibisiVin DieselNia LongA college dropout, attempting to live up to his father's high standards, gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm which puts him on the fast track to success. But the job might not be as legitimate as it first appeared to be.
- DirectorÉva GárdosStarsNastassja KinskiScarlett JohanssonRaffaella BánságiA young Hungarian girl struggles to find her place in the world when she's reunited with her parents in the USA years after she was left behind during their flight from the communist country in the 1950s.
- DirectorRobert KaylorStarsGary BuseyJodie FosterRobbie RobertsonTired of her dull job as a waitress, Donna decides to join two carnival hustlers and see what life in their field is like.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsRobin WilliamsMary Beth HurtGlenn CloseA struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsRichard GereLisa EichhornVanessa RedgraveJoining WWII, USA ships soldiers to UK. Matt and John arrive in 1942. Each see a local woman - married or to be engaged with soldiers serving faraway.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsJohn GoodmanCathy MoriartySimon FentonThe teenage son of a navy sailor newly stationed in Key West gets some excitement with his friends when a small-time film producer comes to town to premiere a kitschy horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- DirectorKeith GordonStarsJohn GloverIlan Mitchell-SmithWallace LanghamThe Vigils are a gang of students at Trinity Catholic School... part of the tradition. They control the other boys by intimidation and the threat of violence.
- DirectorJ.C. ChandorStarsRobert RedfordAfter a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsRoy ScheiderBruno CremerFrancisco RabalFour unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsHiep Thi LeTommy Lee JonesHaing S. NgorDuring the Vietnam War, a Vietnamese woman struggles hustling on the streets, where she comes face to face with those involved in the conflict around her.
- DirectorGeorge ArmitageStarsFred WardAlec BaldwinJennifer Jason LeighAn ex-con's first act of freedom is moving to Miami where he restarts his old criminal ways with even more potency.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJack LemmonSissy SpacekMelanie MayronWhen an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
- DirectorJack FiskStarsSissy SpacekEric RobertsSam ShepardA divorcee with two sons has an affair with a young sailor passing through her Texas town in 1944.
- DirectorAnthony DrazanStarsHarvey KeitelFairuza BalkKelly LynchA recently widowed, small-time hustler struggles to raise his two daughters on his own, and still make a dishonest living in 1960s Portland, Oregon.
- DirectorMichael SpierigPeter SpierigStarsEthan HawkeSarah SnookNoah TaylorAs his last assignment, a temporal agent is tasked to travel back in time and prevent a bomb attack in New York in 1975. The hunt, however, turns out to be beyond the bounds of possibility.
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsEthan HawkeUma ThurmanJude LawA genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
- DirectorStephen GyllenhaalStarsRosanna ArquetteJudge ReinholdTom BowerLoving parents throw away their young son's insulin in the belief that God will then heal him of diabetes.
- DirectorTom FlynnStarsPeter GallagherSuzy AmisJohn C. McGinleyMike, Danny, and Rick are grown men who share a house in Chicago. They take on a fourth house mate, John, who is Mike's estranged first cousin. John's welcome to the house is crowned by his introduction to a game of perpetual pranks called "Watch it!" When not playing pranks on each other, the three men spend their time womanizing, avoiding commitment, treating women badly, and talking about women in the coarsest terms. John, somewhat of a drifter with a fear of commitment, is nonetheless a man apart from this trio of feckless cowards. He takes a shine to Anne, recently jilted by his cousin Mike. Meanwhile, Rick is doing his best to ruin a promising relationship with the fetching and sincere Ellen. How Annie, Ellen, Rick, Mike, and John sort out (or fail to sort out) their social lives becomes the focus of the movie.
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsVince VaughnAnne HecheJoaquin PhoenixTwo friends must choose whether to help a third friend who was arrested in Malaysia for drug possession.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsWoody AllenZero MostelHerschel BernardiIn 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsJason Scott LeeAnne ParillaudPatrick BerginArctic, 1965: Avik tells his story starting in 1931. A mapmaker flies Avik, then a preteen Eskimo boy with TB, to a hospital in Montreal where he meets Albertine. They meet again when Avik joins World War II in the UK.
- DirectorFrank PerrySydney PollackStarsBurt LancasterJanet LandgardJanice RuleA man spends a summer day swimming as many pools as he can all over a quiet suburban town.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsLee MarvinErnest BorgnineKeith CarradineIn 1933, during the Depression, Shack the brutal conductor of the number 19 train has a personal vendetta against the best train hopping hobo tramp in the Northwest, A No. 1.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSarah MilesDavid HaymanSebastian Rice-EdwardsBill, a young boy living on the outskirts of London experiences the exhilaration of World War II. During this period, Bill learns about sex, death, love, hypocrisy, and the faults of adults as he prowls the ruins of bombed houses.
- DirectorPat O'ConnorStarsHelen MirrenJohn LynchDonal McCannA young man fraught with guilt longs to defect from the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He is drawn to the widow of a slain Protestant policeman but must hide his secret that he was involved in her husband's murder and evade the authorities.
- DirectorUlu GrosbardDustin HoffmanStarsDustin HoffmanTheresa RussellGary BuseyThe difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsWilliam HoldenBarbara StanwyckJune AllysonWhen the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.
- DirectorLisa GottliebStarsJoyce HyserClayton RohnerBilly JayneTerry feels discriminated against when the summer jobs at the Sun Tribune go to two guys. She decides to do something about it. She dresses like a guy and gets a haircut. Will students at the other high school notice? Girls notice "him".