Five films I love that you've probably never heard of

Hello all

As many of you know I am a keen film watcher and I want to recommend five films to you that you've probably never even heard of......so here it goes....

THE OPPOSITE OF SEX (1998)

Cast : Christina Ricci, Lisa Kudrow, Martin Donovan, Ivan Sergei and Johnny Galecki.

The Opposite Sex is a black comedy about a 16 year old school student who's step father dies (something which she is delighted by) and she goes to see her half-brother, a gay teacher. Whilst staying with him, she seduces his apparantly gay boyfriend and after a while reveals she is pregnant. Throughout the rest of the film she uses all of those around her but is the anti-hero type, you can't help but feel on her side.

Meanwhile, there are several mini-stories going on with all the other characters, including her half-brother getting blackmailed by a gay former student of his.

There are many reasons I like this film.

Now, the next thing I'm going to say will surprise many as it's not the thing I usually say, either in my blog or in life in general, but Christina Ricci is fucking hot in this film. This look REALLY suits her and she plays her character extremely well.

The interconnecting stories are interesting and other than Ricci, the star of the show has to be Lisa Kudrow, who successfully plays a character who is so far gone from anything else you've ever seen her in.

AT FIRST SIGHT (1999)

Cast : Val Kilmer, Mira Sorvino, Kelly McGillis

What's this? A love story? Why yes, yes it is. However, it's not just a love story, there is far more about it that just being a love film.

It's about a woman who goes on holiday and meets a blind man. They fall in love and then they discover an operation that will give the character sight, and then the film gets into a different feel and type of film. You begin to realise that simply giving a blind man sight wouldn't be enough, because the formerly blind man can't read non-braille and therefore can't even fill in application forms for jobs.

It's an interesting film in that sense, as well as a good love story, which is something I don't normally like.

I've always been a fan of Val Kilmer and he is excellent in this role, whereas Mira Sorvino is nothing special, but they work as a pair, they are believable, which is something that not a lot of on-screen couples actually achieve.

It may not be to a lot of people's tastes, but there is so much more to it than just a simple love story.

BRONSON (2009)

Cast : Tom Hardy

I was working at a cinema when this came out and they refused to show this because they wanted to be seen as a family cinema (that despite showing numerous horrors, violence and similar type films). Luckily another cinema across the city was showing it.

There's no real need to go into a full on description of what the film is about. It's basically a film about the life of infamous British prisoner, Charles Bronson. It follows his journey from childhood to being one of the best known prisoners on the planet.

Bronson is an interesting film to say the last. Obviously made on a low budget because of it's poor production value, that doesn't stop it from being intriguing but there is one particular reason why this film is awesome, Tom Hardy.

I had liked Hardy from his first appearance as a clone of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek Nemesis, and I am delighted that he is now becoming quite famous as his talent deserves it. His performance in this film is simply extra-ordinary. He carries an entire film on his own and it's hard to put into words just how awesome his performance is, so I won't try.

TORMENTED (2009)

Cast : Alex Pettyfer, Tom Hopper, Tuppence Middleton.

I'm a big fan of British horror films and this is often a film I recommend if I am telling my friends about British horror.

The story revolves around a gang in school who bully a kid to the point of suicide. The kid then comes back as a ghost and starts killing them all off one by one.

Pettyfer has since gone on to star in Hollywood films such as Beastly and In Time, this was his first decent role after Stormbreaker (which I never saw) and he is excellent as the main bully. His self-obsessed friends are played excellent by their respective actors and some of the deaths are excellent, with the death of Sophie being particularly amusing.

I have no major complaints about this film and although I've only seen it about 4 times, I consider it to be probably my favourite British horror film, which is something pretty special given the other films on that list.

ZEROPHILIA (2006)

CAST : Taylor Handley, Kyle Schmid, Gina Bellman

This is a film where I don't know anyone else who has seen it, which is a shame as it's an interesting concept for a film.

Basically a guy loses his virginity in the woods and it activates a gene which means that whenever he gets aroused, he changes sex, which of course leads to some interesting situations. He struggles to deal with it at first, especially when his female form starts falling for a guy, at which point he struggles to decide whether he then wants to be a man or a woman.

This film is a hidden gem and it's an interesting concept because although very few men want to be women and vice-versa, being the other gender, even briefly, could change your entire perspective on everything and you might end up surprising yourself.

With some excellent music through, as well as a strong performance from a relatively unknown cast, this is an excellent film that I would recommend.