FILM FRIDAY: Underrated Films

Evening guys, this weeks Film post is about my favourite underrated films, so without further ado (cause' this could be long) here are my picks!

Stardust (2007)

Starring: Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Ricky Gervais and Robert De Niro.

 

For me, Stardust will always remind me of those days near the end of the school year where you were allowed to pick a DVD to watch as a class, it is one of those particular days that I have to thank for the discovery of one of my favourite films ever. The movie centres around Tristan’s journey into the world of Stormhold, the magical town across the border of the English town of Wall, to retrieve a fallen star for his ‘true love’ Victoria. What Tristan doesn’t count on is becoming embroiled in a family feud over the next King of Stormhold, or becoming attached to the star, Yvaine.  He is also being pursued by 3 witches who aim to kill Yvaine and use her heart to grant them eternal youth. The cast in UNBELIEVABLE and in terms of the love story, this is my favourite in existence, Michelle Phiefer is brilliant as the main witch, Lamia, and so is Claire Danes as Yvaine. If none of this has encouraged you to watch the film, it’s narrated by Sir Ian McKellen and there’s Robert De Niro as a cross dressing pirate Captain. Seriously.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton

Moonrise Kingdom is one of those films where everyone who has seen it absolutely adores it. Wes Anderson’s film is stunning, it follows Sam and Suzy, two introverted young teens, who fall in love as they write letters to each other. They arrange to run away together and the movie follows both the scout group that Sam ran away from, Suzy’s parents and the local police force as they attempt to find the pair. The cinematography (ooh long words) is absolutely beautiful as anyone who has seen a film by Wes Anderson will understand. Such a good film considering how it is relatively unheard of, I cannot recommend it enough!

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

Starring: Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles, Larisa Oleynik

A modern adaption of Taming of the Shrew, the film sees Cameron, a new kid in school, try to find an older guy to date the older sister of the girl he likes. Sounds complicated? Not really. Basically, Cameron has a crush on Bianca Stratford, however she is not allowed to date until her older sister Kat Stratford does. Therefore, Cameron enlists the help of older guy Patrick Verona to pretend to date Kat so that Bianca can go out with Cameron. In true rom-com fashion, Patrick doesn’t anticipate developing feelings for Kat. But this film is so, so much more than just a rom-com, released in 1999, I feel like this film is eclipsed by Clueless, Mean Girls, and She’s the Man in terms of early 2000’s teen comedies which is why it’s on this list. Heath Ledger is unbelievable as Patrick, seriously, I fell in love with his within the first few scenes, and Kat Stratford is everything I aim to be over the next few years, utterly unamused by the male race, and the kind of girl who stands up and fights for herself. The ending is fabulous and there are some of my favourite movie quotes ever in this film!

Zathura (2005)

Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Kirstin Stewart, Dax Shepard, Jonah Bobo 

Zathura is like a semi-sequel to the cult classic Jumanji, it also feature around a ‘magical’ boardgame, which once Walter and Danny, two squabbling brothers, start playing, begins to effect reality. The cards that the boys receive with each turn tell them what they are going to face next. The boys’ house is launched into space and their sister Lisa is frozen in cyronic sleep. They realised the only way to win is to continue to play, despite being attacked by an alien race of Zorgons. The boys continue playing, avoiding the dangers with the help of an astronaut, who Lisa falls in love with, and eventually return home. The boys (obviously) overcome their differences and become close again. This movie really needs to be seen to be appreciated, it’s one of my favourites and the special effects are seriously cool, especially the Zorgons. However the film is relatively unknown so if you loved Jumanji or consider yourself a sci-fi fan then you HAVE to see this film!

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Meryl Streep, John Connelly

I will never, ever, ever understand why ‘A Series..’ didn’t get a sequel, or heck, why it didn’t get 10 sequels to complete the book series? The first movie, which encompasses the first 3 books, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window, is wonderful. I don’t have the patience to explain the plot but the movie follows the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klause and Sunny, as they are moved from guardian to guardian following the death of their parents. After a spell with their evil ‘cousin’ Count Olaf, they soon discover that Olaf plans to steal their large inheritance fortune and that they are embroiled in far more than just an inheritance argument. The books are incredible, the films match up to them and Jim Carrey is the best Count Olaf that could possibly have been cast. Despite my unhappiness at the movie encompassing three books in one, I don’t think there were massive chunks of plot missed out considering they had no plans to make a sequel. This film did well at the time but for a series of books which had the potential to reach Harry Potter levels of popularity, the film just doesn’t have the same level of fame. This needs to change and if you only watch one film this month, please make it this one as it deserves so much recognition, and the books *which are some of my favourites ever* do too! 

Phew! I hope you guys enjoyed this, do you have any films to recommend to me or request a review? If so, comment below! Please do +1 this and tweet/like it! Until next time, have a wonderful weekend!