Underrated Movie #86 ~ Flightplan

Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster) is on a trans-Atlantic flight when her daughter vanishes, but the captain (Sean Bean) and air marshal (Peter Sarsgaard) begin to doubt that the child was ever on board. With almost no support from the plane’s staff, Kyle can only rely on herself to find her little girl. (Netflix)

Great Movie Scenes ~ The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Cato (Burt Kwouk) ambushes Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) and the grand battle that ensues destroys much of the house. Meanwhile the madman Dreyfus tries to destroy Clouseau from the floor below. Directed by Blake Edwards. Warning: Spoilers. Click here to watch.

Underrated Movie #85 ~ Grand Canyon

A sequence of random but life-altering incidents conspire to link a group of Los Angeles denizens from disparate economic and social classes, leading to epiphanies about responsibilities and relationships in director Lawrence Kasdan’s pensive drama. Ultimately, two men from divergent lifestyles try to be friends. Co-written by Kasdan and his wife, and featuring a top-notch ensemble cast, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. (Netflix)

Underrated Actor ~ Michael Gambon

Here’s another face that you may recognize, but probably don’t know the name. In the early 1970’s, Michael Gambon auditioned for the role of James Bond after George Lazenby left the series, but was turned down because they didn’t want to hire another unknown actor. He claims to not like being interviewed, and he once said that he lies during interviews to make them more “interesting.” In 2002 he was named the successor to the late Richard Harris as Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series. Other ntable appearances include The King’s Speech (2010), The Good Shepherd (2006), Layer Cake (2004), Open Range (2003), Gosford Park (2001), The Insider (1999), and The Wings of the Dove (1998). Click here for a complete filmography.

Underrated Movie #84 ~ Ghost Town

British funnyman Ricky Gervais stars in his first feature film lead as Bertram Pincus, a hapless gent who’s pronounced dead, only to be brought back to life with an unexpected gift: a newfound ability to see ghosts. When Bertram crosses paths with the recently departed Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), he gets pulled into Frank’s desperate bid to break up his widowed wife’s (Téa Leoni) pending marriage to another man. (Netflix)

Underrated Movie #83 ~ Searching for Bobby Fischer

After 7-year-old Josh Waitzken gets hooked on speed chess and becomes a whiz at it, his dad hires an implacable chess master to coach the boy but reassesses his decision when Josh’s once-pleasant hobby turns into a source of anxiety, similar to what famed chess-master Bobby Fischer went through. (Netflix)

Great Soundtracks ~ The Shawshank Redemption

Underrated Movie #82 ~ The Long Good Friday

Bob Hoskins made his mark with a vivid portrayal of a London mob boss sweating the big deal designed to make him rich and legit. Suddenly, everything goes wrong when a series of bombs literally destroy his world. He escapes unharmed, but now faces the knowledge that someone wants him dead soon. A tough crime saga, The Long Good Friday paints a bleak portrait of a man caught up in forces beyond his control. (Netflix)

Underrated Movie #81 ~ Three O’Clock High

Casey Siemaszko, Anne Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor and Richard Tyson star in this high school comedy about a kid named Jerry, who has just seven hours to polish up his fighting skills so he can survive a face-off at the end of the day with the school’s meanest bully, Buddy. With the help of his sister, his friends and a heaping dose of good humor, Jerry hopes he’ll end up on top. But there’s no telling what’ll happen at 3 o’clock… (Netflix)

Underrated Movie #80 ~ The Hunted

In the woods of Silver Falls, Oregon, Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro) — a trained special forces assassin gone AWOL — begins to make a sport of killing deer hunters in the area. To stop Hallam the FBI turns to L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones), the very man who trained him. Resistant at first, Bonham feels obligated to stop his former student. (Netflix) From the “how did this one slip under the radar?” files, The Hunted is “a pure and rather inspired example of the one-on-one chase movie.” (Roger Ebert)