Loved these 3 films - recommend me some more.

[AET]

Recently watched a host of films and all the 'new' release blockbuster - without fail - left us cold. Our 3 favs, which were watched by accident were: The Contender (US political drama starring Jeff Bridges), The Cider House Rules and The English Patient (1st time we'd seen it !)

All very different films, but sharing many similarities to our taste

1 Very strong, intelligent script.

2 Great casting.

3 Superb, sensitive acting.

4 Excellent direction, score and visuals.

Having wasted so much money on hyped movies, I'm just wondering what other great movies there are out there that we might have missed.

Your help would be appreciated. Will consider foreign and classics, but most interested in the more recent ones.

Thanks

[Robby]

If you like The Contender have you tried 13 Days with Kevin Costner?. Fantastic film, very thought provoking. It about the Cuban Missile crisis and shows quite alarmingly how close the world came to a nuclear war.

I'm sure there are many more others will point out but 13 Days sticks quite prominently in my mind for being both entertaining and in some ways educational.

Failing that what about Dude Where's My Car?:D :p

[utero]

Michael Mann's The Insider

[BigHairyScotsman]

If you really want to experience good films, then IMO you need to give the 'Hollywood' stuff a wide berth and try taking the 'Foreign' & 'Art House' route for a change. My suggestion would be to surf around and visit a few DVD/Film forums & discussion sites to get the greatest possible number of opinions, there are plenty out there. Having said that there are also quite a few people here who could recommend loads of titles that you 'must see' :)

Another thought is trying films by a specific Director or Writer, a thread has been created here (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44563) by Michael Brooke, concerning the films of David Cronenberg. There will be different Directors every so often, so it might be worthwhile keeping an eye on.

My final suggestion would be to not limit yourself by only wanting to see recent stuff, as there is 100 years of cinema to choose from :D

Happy hunting!

BHS

[AET]

Ahh 13 Days, yes I forgot about that. Not seen it. U seen 'Missiles of October?, that's about the missile crisis as well.

Just seen the thread about foreign film recommendations below, so I've printed that and will give some of those a go.

Yes I loved The Insider, Pacino and Crowe - excellent.

Anymore?

[Chyna Tsui]

The Sting with Redford and Newman. The DVD is non anamorphic and mono but the film is that good imo and should not be missed.(although I believe a SE is around the corner).

Acting is brilliant and the script and story is very clever.
No cgi, no special effects, just quality story and acting. One of my favourite films of all time.

[AET]

Think I've seen the sting, but not for a long time.

Will give it a go.

Anymore?

[wong fei hong]

As far as American movies go, I would heartily recommend Magnolia, Wonder Boys, Rushmore, The Virgin Suicides, Happiness and American Beauty as fairly recent films with the qualities you're after. Away from Hollywood, can't think of better examples of the way to make movies than Amelie, In the Mood for Love and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

You'll have to wait for a version of Amelie on dvd with english subtitles, but you may still catch it at the cinema. :)