Life is way too short to waste reading bad books, watching poor movies and wasting your precious and valuable free time having mediocre experiences. Especially cinematic ones, after all that's why you have me! I've already found heaps of hidden gems for you, so you can just relax and enjoy the movies that I consider to be the best (and unmissable) hidden gems that you may have accidentally missed or overlooked.
Now, don't feel bad about it, people actually miss a lot of top quality viewing experiences all of the time because smaller and independent movies just get squashed by blockbuster movies, and most people just aren't going to the movies to see small budget or independent films. They also aren't going to the cinema half as much as I am either I would imagine, so it's more than likely that you've missed some of these rippers along the way, not through any fault of your own, but just from a lack of exposure; but never fear....I've got your back!
In no particular order (and remember that my full reviews of these films are on their genre lists if you want more information), here are my top 20 picks for hidden gem movies that you may have missed:
- The One I Love (Romance)
- Don Jon (Drama)
- The Cabin in the Woods (Horror)
- The Only Lovers Left Alive (Art House)
- Short Term 12 (Drama)
- A Ghost Story (Art House)
- Wind River (Drama)
- Once (Foreign/Romance)
- Calvary (Art House/Foreign)
- Moon (sci-fi)
- Ingrid Goes West (Drama)
- Son of Rambow (Comedy)
- Sightseers (Foreign)
- In the Mood for Love (Foreign)
- Young Adult (Drama)
- Beautiful Boy (Drama)
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Drama)
- Youth (Drama)
- The Fall (Fantasy)
- The Grand Seduction (Comedy)
Release Date: 2018
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 130 mins
Green Book is my favourite feel good movie of the year! Directed by Peter Farrelly and based on the interviews that Nick Vallelonga had with his father and Don Shirley (as well as the letters that his father wrote to his mother from the road); this inspiring, touching, funny and at times deeply confronting tale is such a joyful watch.
Don Shirley is a sophisticated African-American classical pianist in need of a driver with some muscle to take him on tour across the deep south of America in the 1960's. Don ends up hiring Tony 'Lip' Vallelonga for the job, a fast talking Italian-American bouncer that proves to be so much more than Don had bargained for when he hired him.
Named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, which was an actual mid-20th century guidebook for African-American travellers that was written by Victor Hugo Green to assist them in finding hotels and restaurants that would accept them, Green Book is rife with political and social injustice. However, underneath all of the ugliness there is a wonderful tale about friendship, acceptance and courage.
Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali make the perfect odd couple as Tony and Don, delivering equal amounts of humour and heartfelt sincerity to their intriguing and evolving characters, and the real life story being delivered here is certainly one worth hearing.
FINAL SAY: The world's full of lonely people afraid to make the first move.
4 Chilli Peppers