Seraphim falls seems to have flown under the radar, even when it was released I'm not sure many people were talking about it.
Title was difficult to pronounc perhaps. More catchy film title methinks would have helped. Thought it was terrific myself.
I own a copy of the BD steelbook. The films that have truly fallen off people’s radars are the ones that don’t have a home video release, cannot be found on streaming services, etc.
Ordinary People Moonstruck Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean Australia The Day the Fish Came Out. Brassed Off
I think you've set a little bit too high of a bar for falling off people's radars, if they don't even get a home video release then they were never really on people's radars, to begin with. I didn't actually know Seraphim Falls came in steel book though it sounds like it's a UK exclusive or something and as far as I can tell you can no longer buy a new copy in NZ.
I am a collector, so I operate on a different level to your average Joe. There are many films that were moderately successful at the box office between the 1920s and the 1970s that have never been released on home video, or at least never made the transition to DVD or BD. They would have been on people’s radars back in the day, but have largely been forgotten now. That’s my definition of obscure. If yours is a 21st century film that received mixed reviews and less than stellar box office receipts, but is nevertheless readily available to the general public then we are, indeed, conversing about two different things.
If it's not in stores it's not readily available to the general public, maybe as a collector, you'd see any film released following the 1980s as being as common as a copy of Star Wars but I wasn't thinking about how available it is to buy I was thinking about how often I've heard it mentioned or spoken about. I remember showing it to some friends maybe 5 or 6 years ago who had never heard of it. After all, the title of the thread is titles no one mentions before not titles you can't even buy on VHS. There are episodes of Doctor Who that have never had a home video release but are well known even by people who haven't seen them. By your bar, the first film mentioned on this thread Baby Doll shouldn't count either since I can pick it up on AppleTV.
The threads not about the availability of films per se. Just that in converse no one seems to mention certain titles anymore.
This pointless argument is not how I envisaged my Saturday morning panning out, so I’ll say one more thing before bowing out. Please don’t feel compelled to respond. The further away from a film’s release the more it fades into history and other films come along to (temporarily) excite the public interest. Every now and then, a picture becomes an evergreen that transcends its original theatrical run and even develops cross-generational appeal. I’m thinking of things like The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life, Star Wars, etc. Most films either fade into obscurity or are kept alive by virtue of their availability on home video, and are only really discussed by a relatively small number of enthusiasts. Don’t tell me — I don’t want to know — but ask yourself, do you really see a distinctly average modern Western that didn’t receive stunning reviews, and didn’t set the box office alight, as something people should be discussing around the water cooler 14 years after it came and went?
I don’t know how other people think about classic films but seems De Palma isn’t mentioned much anymore and only about Scarface now and then more because of its star. Carrie was groundbreaking and created its own genre.
After reading Paul Hirsch's book and watching the DePalma documentary I've been meaning to sit down and watch all his work that I haven't seen yet. He's an interesting director because he is very Hitchcockian but he's also sort of skirting the edges of greatness and being just good. I think much like Copolla his best work may be behind him where Spielberg I think is still making some great movies.
I guess lots of movies. Something Wild (80s movie) The Grifters The British TV drama GBH appears to have gone awol.