(ALMOST) TWENTY GREAT MOVIES YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF (part one).

NOTE: I sat down yesterday and wrote this anger-laden tirade about some of the things that were pissing me off in the entertainment industry, but I got called away from the computer before I finished it and by the time I came back, I was over it. This is called Switching Horses in Mid-stream.

Since I did promise, however, to make this blog mostly about entertainment and popular culture, I will share with you a list that I have of really great movies that you probably have not only never seen, you've probably never heard of. There are all sorts of little films that fly under the radar and don't get noticed by any large group of folks. Some of them do get some small mention at awards time, but most of them just sail on through high in the hopes that someone finds them through Netflix or Blockbuster. These are great movies, but either because of poor marketing of a lack of commerciality, no one noticed them. Well, I noticed them, my friend...and I'm gonna tell you all about them. Here, in roughly alphabetical order, are almost twenty of them:

1. BOBBY (2006) Written and directed by Emilio Estevez. son of Martin Sheen, brother of Charlie Sheen and ex-husband of Paula Abdul, this is a wonderful film about the twenty-four hours leading up to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan, not through the eyes of Mr. Kennedy, but through the eyes of a group of ordinary people connected only by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Featuring a large ensemble cast that includes William H. Macy, Lawrence Fishburne, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Shia Lebouef and believe it or not, Lindsay Lohan, this film uses actual news footage as well as it's fictional characters to illustrate one of the saddest moments in our nation's history.

2. BRAZIL (1985) Directed by Monty Python vet Terry Gilliam, this bizarre dystopian urban fantasy features Jonathan Pryce (Something Wicked This Way Comes, Pirates of the Caribbean), Robert DeNiro (Raging Bull), Katherine Helmond (tv's Who's the Boss), Ian Holm (Brazil, The Fifth Element), Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbitt), Jim Broadbent (Hot Fuzz, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and the cream of the English acting community in a story about one man fighting for the personal freedom we all deserve. Funny, strange and not for everybody, you'll be talking about this one for weeks after you've seen it (even if only to ask others what it was about).

3. BRICK (2005) Call it "high school noir". In this modern day mystery, writer/director Rian Johnson creates a word where teenagers all talk like Sam Spade and the name of the game is drugs, sex and death. Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines on-screen alongside Emilie DeRavin (Lost), Lukas Haas and Richard Roundtree (Shaft).

4. BUBBA HO-TEP (2002) King of the B's Bruce Campbell (Army of Darkness) plays Elvis Presley thought long-dead by the world at large but living as an Elvis impersonator in a Texas nursing home and brilliant character actor Ossie Davis is Jack, a black man whose elderly body houses the brain of John F. Kennedy who team up to fight off (what else?) a mummy in this off-beat comedy written and directed by Don Coscarelli. Low budget and low brow, this is just wicked, wicked fun. Rumor has it, Coscarelli is planning a sequel called Bubba Nosferatu, but Campbell has been replaced as the King by Hellboy actor Ron Perlman.

5. BUCKAROO BANZAI IN THE 8TH DIMENSION (1984) Another weird one, Buckaroo stars Peter Weller (Robocop) as the title character a scientist/neurosurgeon/rock star who fends off the world conquering ways of the 8th Dimension Lectroids, led by John Bigbootie played with amazing energy by John Lithgow (The World According to Garp, tv's Third Rock From the Sun). Also starring Ellen Barkin (Oceans 13) and Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, Independence Day) from the days when you weren't allowed to make a sci-fi film that Jeff Goldblum wasn't in.

6. CASANOVA (2005) Ok, this one you might have heard of. Since Heath Ledger's death last year, this little indie by Lasse Hallstrom has gotten much more attention though at the time of it's release it was totally over-shadowed by another Ledger vehicle, a little film you may have heard of called Brokeback Mountain. I much prefer this gem, however, the story of the mad Italian lover who only wants to settle down with Sienna Miller (Factory Girl) and leave the Lothario lifestyle behind. Also stars Mrs. Lasse Hallstrom AKA Lena Olin (Chocolat, tv's Alias) Oliver Platt (A Time to Kill) and Charlie Cox (Stardust).

7. CASHBACK (2006) What a wonderful film! Based on an Academy Award-winning short film by Sean Ellis (who also wrote and directed here), Cashback is the story of an insomniac artist played by Sean Biggerstaff (no jokes!) who discovers he can freeze time and move between the seconds to find love and happiness once again. This film probably features the most tasteful nudity I have ever seen depicted on-screen. Ever.

8. EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS (1983) Martin Davidson co-wrote and directed this rock and roll mystery of the life and times of Eddie Wilson (Michael Pare'-The Philadelphia Experiment) who disappeared and was presumed dead in an automobile crash at the height of his fame and fortune. Is he really dead or just in hiding? And whatever happened to that last legendary album that disappeared with him? Bandmates Tom Berenger (Platoon, The Big Chill) and the outstanding Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos) and reporter Ellen Barkin (Buckaroo Banzai) are on the trail of all the answers in one of the first films to earn it's sequel almost solely based on video sales alone (The sequel by the way, is awful!)

9. FREQUENCY (2000) Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, Any Given Sunday) and Jim Caveziel (The Passion of the Christ) star in this immensely satisfying story that combines time travel and the aurora borealis for a part-action/part-mystery sci-fi tale of father and son bonding across the years. Good stuff. Also stars Noah Emmerich (The Truman Show) and Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Streets).

10. HAPPY, TEXAS (1999) An undiscovered cult classic, this one stars Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn, That Thing You Do) and Jeremy Northram (Gosford Park) as escaped cons who hide out in Happy as the extemely gay pagent coordinators of a children's beauty pageant. Confusion begats comedy in great performances by William H. Macy (Bobby) and Ally Walker (Universal Soldier, tv's Profiler). Co-written and directed by Mark Illsley who mortgaged his own house to pay for the film.

I'm tired so I'm stopping here. I'll deliver the other half of the list later. In the meantime, feel free to disagree with me or suggest movies that I've left out. Thanks.