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Hollywood is a machine. Every week, every month and every year countless films are released into theatres and not every one is as successful as the studio heads would hope. Sometimes the publicity machine was askew, sometimes the movie targeted an odd demographic, sometimes the release was steamrolled by a much larger movie and occasionally the movie is flat out bad.

But Hollywood's loss is our gain. There is a veritable treasure trove of film out there that you may not have seen. I will be your guide to this veritable wilderness of unwatched film. It will be my job to steer you towards the action, adventure, drama and comedy that may have eluded you, and at the same time, steer you away from some truly unwatchable dreck.

Hopefully we'll stumble across some entertainment that may have slid under your radar. Wish us luck.

Tin Cup (1997)

Do you remember when Kevin Costner was a player? It was just a decade ago that he couldn't turn around without falling into a classic movie. Bull Durham is still one of my favorite movies of all time and is aging as well as anything I have in my collection. Nowadays, after the last few fiascos that Costner has been involved with, I wouldn't be surprised if his email goes right into the spam folder at the major studios. Swing Vote came and went so fast it may as well have gone directly to video. He's rapidly moving into the same bracket as Steven Segal, but with fewer broken elbows.

It's a little bizarre when you look back over Costner's career and see this downward trajectory. It wasn't that long ago that Costner could do no wrong, and Tin Cup is a sterling example of just how golden his touch was a decade ago.

Tin Cup stars Kevin Costner (obviously) as Roy "Tin Cup" McAvoy, Cheech Marin as his best friend/caddy Romeo Posar, Rene Russo as Dr. Molly Griswold and Don Johnson as pro golfer and chief nemesis David Simms. This was excellent casting by the way. None of these actors seem forced at all and this film may be Marin's finest work ever.

Tin Cup revolves around the life of Roy McAvoy over the course of about one year. He's a middle-aged adolescent who refuses to grow up, lives in a trailer and works on/owns a driving range. He owes a large amount of cash to his ex-girlfriend, who works as a stripper, and he shows all the maturity of a green banana, which is to say, none.

Roy's perfectly happy living like he is. His current address is a run-down mobile home, he doesn't so much as work as screw around on his driving range and he passes his days making absurd golf shots for prop bets.

It all falls apart when Molly shows up on his range looking for driving lessons. Roy tries his usual patter on her and she deftly rips apart his slacker façade and player lines with practiced wit. Naturally, Roy is smitten, and he wants to be with this woman who sees right through him. Unfortunately, his life is literally a disaster, and the movie basically centers on Roy trying to bring some sense of order to his life.

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