Falling Through The Cracks? Four Films from the Last Thirty Years That Could Use A Rescue

There's always a lot of talk about "lost" films from the 1970s and before that are either becoming available or need to be made available. I love the cinema of the 1970s as much as anyone, but with the fading of DVD and Blu-Ray into a collectors' only marketplace, and with fragmentation and inconsistency in streaming services, you might be surprised at some of the more recent films that appear to be falling through the cracks.

I've picked four such films. Some of these are moderately big name movies or involve name directors or stars. So there is hope that they will permanently find their way on to a streaming service or to being in print on DVD/Blu-Ray.

Availability is, hopefully, subject to change, and I hope you will let me know in the comments if you know of a place where these films are (legally) available that I've missed - particularly for streaming.

Ruby in Paradise (1993) - Victor Nuñez's slice-of-life character study of a young Southern woman was a critical favorite and won the Grand Prize at Sundance (near the peak of Sundance power). It helped to launch the careers of Ashley Judd and Todd Field (who himself has become a respected filmmaker and has credited Nunez as an inspiration). It is a beautfiul, quiet story of a young woman finding herself and what she wants out of life. Alas, while it was released around the period of peak indie film mania, it has been somewhat lost amid flashier, louder, and more aggressive indie films of the period. It needs to be rediscovered. It is unfathomable that this has only been released in DVD in Canada and that I cannot find any service that streams it. I can only presume that it has been lost in the shuffle amid October Films' acquisition by Universal and then Universal's constant changing of owners since.

The Woman Chaser (1999) - I had the good fortune to catch this film directed by Robinson Devor and starring Patrick Warburton when it was (barely) released back in 2000. It is a fascinating absurdist film about a used car dealer turned filmmaker going nuts. Shot in black and white and set in the 1950s. Warburton is fantastic and he still speaks fondly of the film and role. It's as much a send-up of Hollywood and filmmaking as it is of film noir and hardboiled 50s films. While there was apparently a brief revival in San Francisco a couple years back, the film is only available that I know of if you can find a used VHS tape (and still have a VCR). Allegedly there are some questions about who holds the rights for this one, but it is time for a revival and for this film to get a second look from filmgoers. [UPDATE: The Woman Chaser is listed on iTunes now with a release date of May 20, 2014. Not ideal, but better than nothing if true. We shall see. UPDATE 2: May 20th rolled around and suddenly the release date listed on iTunes was July 22, 2014, raising questions about whether this one is really on the way.]

Secrets & Lies (1996) - How in the world is it so hard to see Mike Leigh's brilliant dissection of family dysfunction? Recipient of the Palme d'Or and five Academy Award nominations, this brilliant film stars Brenda Blethyn as a middle-aged woman that meets the adult daughter she gave away for adoption - and learns the daughter is black. The daughter is played wonderfully by Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Her race is not used to merely create some hoary comedy of manners, but as a method for exploring the way that families allow poor communication to chip away at their familial relationships. It is only when the "secrets and lies" are stripped away that these family members can learn to deal with each other and to accept each other for who they are. There are some old DVD copies floating around that you can buy from third party sellers on Amazon, but otherwise in the United States you're out of luck unless you catch it on TV. You can't even rent an old DVD from Netflix at this time. Another film released by October Films on this list. Get your shit together, Universal.

Rad (1986) - Seriously, WTF? The interest in this VHS classic from the 1980s is so immense that a proper release would surely make some decent money. It was a giant hit on VHS. The only explanation I can think of for why this hasn't been released on DVD or (legal) streaming is rights issues. That the movie is blatantly available via bootleg suggests that it may not just be music rights, either. If a major distributor (it was originally released via Tri-Star, which is now owned by Sony) was sure it held the rights, I'd think they'd put a stop to YouTube streaming at a minimum. Cheesy as hell but one day there will surely be a better opportunity to go on this 80s nostalgia trip.

Again, let me know if I've missed where these movies are legally available, and let me know if there are any other films that should be added to the list of films from the last thirty years that are falling through the cracks.

*[EDITED AFTER POSTING DUE TO ERROR ON AVAILABILITY]