The Best Movies You Never Saw

Here's a few you may have missed . . .
  1. Krull. This movie has been sadly ignored since the 1980's. It has one major flaw that has kept it from keeping popularity: bad special effects. While the effects in this movie are bad by today's standards, they were not terrible for the time period it was released in, either. Regardless of its qualities concerning FX, this movie is wonderful. Its complex plot, a fantasy story combining elements from both modern writers and classic legend, is truly intriguing. And while its effects are, at times, laughable - and admittedly, even some of the makeup is laughable, it is at least imaginative. Who can forget the scenes of moon steeds with flaming hooves? Or the marriage scene in which the couple creates a fire in their own hands? You can often find this movie at yard sales or online.
  2. Trigun. Actually, this is a series of 27 episodes. One of the best things to come out of Japan, I recommend this movie to everyone, and all my friends who have watched it quickly fell in love. Watch it from the earliest episode you can get your hands on, for the plot to make sense. This series has everything: outstanding comedy, fabulous action sequences, and even very moving philosophy. I have NEVER liked a series like I like this one.
  3. The Elephant Man. This is one that can make nearly anyone cry. Directed by the famed David Lynch, this one is artistic, but has substance at the same time. (If the first 25 minutes seem pointless to you, don't quit watching, Lynch tends to put a long "artsy" sequence at the start and end of all his movies.) This is the story inspired by the life of Joseph Merrick, an unimaginably deformed man in the 1800's. Despite his horrible deformity, which covers 90% of his body, Merrick is still able to find acceptance among a few people brave enough to love what they do not understand.
  4. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. You mean you haven't seen this yet? I'm not speaking to you now. Just go home. Go click on the home icon, go home, go look at some stupid web page about, oh, I don't know, whatever it is people like you look at. Just go on leading your dull little life, go play a board game or something . . .
  5. Young Sherlock Holmes. Not a very famous movie, though there is one scene in this movie that you may likely have seen before. There is a scene in this movie featuring a knight in a stained glass window coming to life that has been featured in countless special effects specials. This movie was one of the early works of Spielberg, and though very forgotten, it was very good. Honestly, I have not had the chance to see it, but one of my "intelligence" people have, and she claims that it has many tearjerking and spirit-moving scenes. It is said to be a great mix of drama and action.
  6. DragonBall: The Magic Begins. Ever seen a movie that was so bad that it was hilarious to watch? If you're one of those people that likes to snicker at cheap foreign films and bad animation, you'll love this. It's a terrible movie. That's what makes it so funny. My friend and I rewound this movie after every major scene to watch it again . . . we couldn't get enough! It's a live-action version of the Dragonball cartoons, complete with Goku, Gohan Sr., Oolong, Yamcha, Bulma, Master Roshi, Puar, and (we think) ChiChi [translated as, respectively, Monkey Boy, Sparkle, Piggy King, Westwood, Seetoe, Turtleman, "that annoying parrot", and something we forgot. From the fighting scenes which look like a very cheap Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to the hand-drawn special effects, this is some funny crap to watch late at night! Watch for the scene where hand-drawn stars float around Sparkle's head when he gets hit with a stick - the animators never finished taking the layout directions off the film, and you can catch words like "Cell 2A" at his side.
  7. Invader Zim: Very few people realize that Nickelodeon is owned by MTV. Every so often, though, a show will come to Nickelodeon that reminds me of the spirit of originality and the endless pursuit of cool that first formed the MTV network. Invader Zim is one of these series. While owned by a children's network, Invader Zim could easily survive on any teen- or young adult- oriented network. Its artistic and unique drawing style gives viewers a strong awareness that this series what created by an artist, not a lowest bidder seeking to make a mainstream cartoon. The plot gives this same feeling ten-fold. Those that watched MTV in the early nineties, when the network had multiple late-night shows such as Liquid Television and Oddities, will find a kindred spirit with the better segments of these shows and Invader Zim. Like past MTV animation, Invader Zim strives to be, in a good way, like nothing else on T.V.. Its humor is readily understood and extremely funny, yet belonging to a different genre than anything else airing at this time. (IZ airs Friday nights at 9:00 EST/PCF, by the way.) The plot involves a young alien coming to conquer a planet, yet so 'not part of the program' that he cannot conquer even a simple planet - like the one we live on.