Subgenre Sampler

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Reality (2023): Dir. Tina Satter
Feat. Sydney Sweeney, Josh Hamilton, Marchánt Davis; A potent chamber drama that re–enacts true events surrounding a government security breach related to Russian interference in the 2016 US…
Language Lessons (2021): Dir. Natalie Morales
Feat. Mark Duplass, Natalie Morales; A Spanish teacher and her American student develop an unexpected friendship over a series of conference calls in this quirky, Co–Vid inspired…
Freshman Year (S#!%house) (2020): Dir. Cooper Raiff
Feat. Cooper Raiff, Amy Landecker, Dylan Gelula; An intimate microbudget indie depicting the experience of an awkward, lonely college freshman who unexpectedly makes a connection with a girl at a…
Kajillionaire (2020): Dir. Miranda July
Feat. Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger, Gina Rodriguez…; Irreverent comedy from writer–director Miranda July (ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW) following a struggling family who survive on petty crime,…
Man in the Hat, The (2020): Dir. Stephen Warbeck, John-Paul Davidson
Feat. Ciaran Hinds, Stephen Dillane, Maïwenn …; Road–trip comedy–musical about a man who sets off from Marseilles in a small Fiat 500, with five angry men in a Citroën Dyane…
Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020): Dir. Eliza Hittman
Feat. Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Sharon Van Etten; The director of BEACH RATS directs impressive newcomers Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder as a pair of teenage girls from rural Pennsylvania who travel…
Assistant, The (2019): Dir. Kitty Green
Feat. Julia Garner, Matthew MacFadyen, Makenzie Leigh…; A searing, beautifully modulated indictment of toxic office culture in the wake of the #MeToo movement, that follows the daily routine of an intern…
Bait (2019): Dir. Mark Jenkin
Feat. Edward Rowe, Simon Shepherd, Giles King…; A fisherman in a picturesque Cornish village finds his traditional way of life threatened by gentrification in this experimental but dramatically…
Climb, The (2019): Dir. Michael Angelo Covino
Feat. Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin…; Expanding on their short film of the same name, friends Michael Angelo Corvino and Kyle Marvin write and star in this caustically funny portrait of…
Good Posture (2019): Dir. Dolly Wells
Feat. Grace Van Patten, Ebon Moss-Bacharach, Emily Mortimer…; Gentle and literate indie comedy following a charming but lazy young woman who suddenly decides to make a documentary about a family friend, a famed…
JT Leroy (Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy) (2019): Dir. Justin Kelly
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Kelvin Harrison Jr.…; The most outrageous and fascinating literary hoax of recent times is dramatised in this adaptation of Savannah Knoop’s memoir Girl Boy Girl: How I…
Safe Spaces (After Class) (2019): Dir. Daniel Schechter
Feat. Justin Long, Fran Drescher, Kate Berlant; A biting comedy following a NYC professor who has an awkward run–in with a student, and attempts to defend his controversial behavior while…
Clovehitch Killer, The (2018): Dir. Duncan Skiles
Feat. Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Samantha Mathis; A tense, effectively slowburn horror–thriller from the writer of COP CAR that stars Charlie Plummer (so good in LEAN ON PETE) as the dutiful…
Keep the Change (2018): Dir. Rachel Israel
Feat. Brandon Polansky, Samantha Elisofon; A tender, funny and unique New York romantic–comedy that melts the heart with two engaging performances from the thirty–something leads…
Kindergarten Teacher, The (2018): Dir. Sara Colangelo
Feat. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Rosa Salazar…; English–language remake of the 2014 Israeli film of the same name about a jaded teacher, mother and aspiring poet who becomes obsessed with one…
Little Woods (2018): Dir. Nia DaCosta
Feat. Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Luke Kirby; Impressive debut from writer–director Nia DaCosta, detailing the struggles faced by a pair of sisters trying to make ends meet in an…
Miseducation of Cameron Post, The (2018): Dir. Desiree Akhavan
Feat. Chloe Grace Moretz, Jennifer Ehle, John Gallagher, Jr.…; Surprise winner of the U.S. Grand Jury prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, this heart–breaking indie drama stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a…
Stray (2018): Dir. Dustin Feneley
Feat. Kieran Charnock, Arta Dobroshi; Moody, taciturn local drama in which two damaged strangers cross paths in mountainous Central Otago.
Thunder Road (2018): Dir. Jim Cummings
Feat. Jim Cummings, Kendal Farr; Jim Cummings wrote, directed and stars in this feature debut as a Texan police officer who suffers a nervous breakdown after his mother dies, risking…
Wildlife (2018): Dir. Paul Dano
Feat. Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ed Oxenbould…; Actor Paul Dano makes an impressive directorial debut with this adaptation of the novel by Richard Ford. Set in Montana in the fall of 1960, a child…
20th Century Women (2017): Dir. Mike Mills
Feat. Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig…; Recalling her turn in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Annette Bening shines once again as a bohemian Californian mom, who here enlists Greta Gerwig and Elle…
Brigsby Bear (2017): Dir. Dave McCary
Feat. Kyle Mooney, Greg Kinnear, Mark Hamill…; A wonderfully outré yet comedy starring Saturday Night Live’s Kyle Mooney as a young man whose only connection to the world are his eccentric…
Florida Project, The (2017): Dir. Sean Baker
Feat. Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe; An impoverished mother and her 6–year–old daughter are the focus of this vibrant offering from acclaimed indie director Sean Baker…
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017): Dir. John Cameron Mitchell
Feat. Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman…; An energetic, endearingly campy film blending aliens with punk culture, from John Cameron Mitchell (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH). Set in 1970's London…
Jeune Femme (Montparnasse Bienvenüe) (2017): Dir. Léonor Sérraille
Feat. Lætitia Dosch; Drama set in Paris, following a spirited yet struggling woman in her 30's in the wake of a difficult break up with her wealthy boyfriend. A…
Lovers, The (2017): Dir. Azazel Jacobs
Feat. Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aidan Gillen…; Authentic sombre comedy with Debra Winger and Tracy Letts well matched as a long–married, dispassionate couple whose romantic spark suddenly…
Marjorie Prime (2017): Dir. Michael Almereyda
Feat. Jon Hamm, Geena Davis, Lois Smith…; An entirely thought–provoking chamber–piece set in the not–too–distant future where an elderly woman with encroaching…
Patti Cakes (Patti Cake$) (2017): Dir. Geremy Jasper
Feat. Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett; Charming indie film telling the rags–to–riches story of an aspiring rapper from a downtrodden area of New Jersey who refuses to let…
Pin Cushion (2017): Dir. Deborah Haywood
Feat. Lily Newmark, Joanna Scanlan, Isy Suttie; Blackly comic British indie about an eccentric and close knit mother–daughter duo who attempt to start a new life when they move to a small…
Skate Kitchen (2017): Dir. Crystal Moselle
Feat. Rachelle Vinberg, Dede Lovelace, Nina Moran; Beautifully evocative and uplifting teen drama set in the world of NYC skateboarding, following a group of real–life female skaters who are…
A Ghost Story (2016): Dir. David Lowery
Feat. Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara; A supernatural drama of striking originality about a man and woman separated by death and haunted by eternal loss and helplessness. Framed in the…
Adult Life Skills (2016): Dir. Rachel Tunnard
Feat. Jodie Whittaker, Ozzy Myers, Brett Goldstein…; Smart indie Brit–com with Jodie Whittaker as a women approaching 30 but caught a state of arrested adolescence, living reclusively in her mum's…
American Honey (2016): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough…; Esteemed British director Andrea Arnold changes pace in her American debut, taking a cast of mostly non–actors through a poetically…
Burn Country (The Fixer) (2016): Dir. Ian Olds
Feat. Dominic Rains, Melissa Leo, James Franco…; Iranian–American actor Dominic Rains gives an impessive performance in this topical crime drama as an exiled Afghan journalist who is given…
Carrie Pilby (2016): Dir. Susan Johnson
Feat. Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne…; Bel Powley (DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL) gives another excellent performance as a highly intelligent but isolated 19–year–old woman who is…
Certain Women (2016): Dir. Kelly Reichardt
Feat. Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern…; The lives of three women intersect in small–town America, where each is imperfectly blazing a trail. Another poignant, intimate drama…
Chronesthesia (2016): Dir. Hayden J. Weal
Feat. Hayden J. Weal, Michelle Ny, Cohen Holloway…; Indie rom–com with a curious time–shifting twist in which a socially isolated young man's burgeoning romance with a science student is…
Complete Unknown (2016): Dir. Joshua Marston
Feat. Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon; A shape–shifting tale of the perils and pleasures of self–reinvention in which a man is confronted by an old flame – a woman who…
Great Maiden's Blush, The (2016): Dir. Andrea Bosshard, Shane Loader
Feat. Miriama McDowell, Renee Lyons; A precarious friendship develops between two first–time single mothers – one a taxi–driver and girl racer, the other a pianist and…
Hollars, The (2016): Dir. John Krasinski
Feat. Margo Martindale, Sharlto Copley, Richard Jenkins…; Actor John Kasinski makes a commendable directing debut with this bittersweet indie as a New York artist who returns to his middle–American…
Lazy Eye (2016): Dir. Tim Kirkman
Feat. Lucas Near-Verbruggh, Aaron Costa Ganis, Michaela Watkins; A graphic designer in his 40's reconnects with a lost love over a weekend away in the Californian desert in this gay–themed romantic drama.…
Lovesong (2016): Dir. So Yong Kim
Feat. Jena Malone, Riley Keough, Brooklyn Decker…; An affecting character study of best friends and would–be lovers who embark on an impromptu road trip days before one of them gets married. By…
Manifesto (2016): Dir. Julian Rosefeldt
Feat. Cate Blanchett; Brilliantly conceived and executed homage to the tradition of artist manifestos, which poses intelligent questions about the role of the artist in…
Moonlight (2016): Dir. Barry Jenkins
Feat. Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Andre Holland…; Critically lauded and Oscar–awarded drama that chronicles two decades in the life of a black gay man growing up in a poor Miami neighbourhood.…
Ordinary World (2016): Dir. Lee Kirk
Feat. Billie Joe Armstrong, Selma Blair, Judy Greer…; Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong tries out his acting chops as a domesticated ex–rocker who throws an extravagant 40th birthday party…
Paterson (2016): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani; A profound ode to small–town life and the beauty found within everyday simplicity, director Jim Jarmusch here creates a masterful, carefully…
Asthma (2015): Dir. Jake Hoffman
Feat. Krysten Ritter, Benedict Samuel; Two New York slackers hit the road in a Rolls Royce after one of them hits rock bottom in his attempts to overcome heroin addiction. A melancholy ode…
End of the Tour, The (2015): Dir. James Ponsoldt
Feat. Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Anna Chlumsky…; Surprisingly engrossing account of the five–day interview between the late David Foster Wallace and reporter David Lipsky taking place shortly…
Frisky (2015): Dir. Claudia Pickering
Feat. Claudia Pickering, Monica Ammerman, Brandon Wardle; Directed by and starring the multi–talented Claudia Pickering, this fresh micro–budget indie follows two female college grads who leave…
I Smile Back (2015): Dir. Adam Salky
Feat. Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski…; Comedian Sarah Silverman demonstrates her impressive dramatic range portraying a middle–class suburban housewife suffering from depression,…
James White (2015): Dir. Josh Mond
Feat. Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi…; A sensitive adult drama that follows a self–destructive New Yorker struggling to control his behavior while his mother deteriorates from…
Krisha (2015): Dir. Trey Edward Schults
Feat. Krisha Fairchild, Trey Edward Schults; A penetrating micro–budget independent drama that follows an estranged middle–aged woman's efforts to reconnect with her family over…
People Places Things (2015): Dir. James C. Strouse
Feat. Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Jessica Williams; Bittersweet indie comedy distinguished by a romantic lead performance by Jemaine Clement as a newly single graphic novelist balancing parenting his…
Queen of Earth (2015): Dir. Alex Ross Perry
Feat. Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston, Patrick Fugit…; Expertly performed psychodrama with two women who grew up together discover they have drifted apart when they retreat to a lake house together.
Tangerine (2015): Dir. Sean Baker
Feat. Katana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, James Ransone; Energetic and frequently hilarious buddy comedy follows two transgender sex workers as they navigate the unforgiving streets of Los Angeles on…
Wildlike (2015): Dir. Frank Hall Green
Feat. Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Ella Purnell…; Quietly moving indie drama following a troubled teenage girl who runs away into the spectacular Alaskan wilderness.
99 Homes (2014): Dir. Ramin Bahrani
Feat. Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern…; Andrew Garfield turns in a muscular performance as a recently unemployed single father who struggles to regain his family home by working for the…
Comet (2014): Dir. Sam Esmail
Feat. Justin Long, Emmy Rossum, Kayla Servi…; Visually distinctive romantic drama set in a parallel universe that bounces back and forth over the course of an unlikely but perfectly paired…
Faults (2014): Dir. Riley Stearns
Feat. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Leland Orser; Commendable, darkly comic indie–drama set in the intiguing world of cult de–programming with excellent performances from Lealand Orser…
Five Star (2014): Dir. Keith Miller
Feat. James "Primo" Grant, John Diaz, Wanda Nobles Colon; A member of the notorious Brooklyn "Bloods" gang since he was 12 years old – both in the film and in real life – Primo takes John, the…
Frank (2014): Dir. Lenny Abrahamson
Feat. Domhnall Gleeson, Scoot McNairy, Maggie Gyllenhaal…; A lovable, off–beat indie rock satire in which Michael Fassbender plays the leader of a group of experimental musicians who lives permanently…
God Help the Girl (2014): Dir. Stuart Murdoch
Feat. Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, Hannah Murray…; Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch writes and directs this 60s–inspired musical set in Glasgow about an emotionally troubled young woman whose…
Hellion (2014): Dir. Kat Candler
Feat. Aaron Paul, Juliette Lewis, Josh Wiggins; Drama about a juvenile delinquent who becomes increasingly obsessed with winning a local motocross championship and getting his sibling out of foster…
In Your Eyes (2014): Dir. Brin Hill
Feat. Zoe Kazan, Michael Stahl-David, Nikki Reed…; Paranormal romance scripted by Joss Whedon about two unrelated people who establish a telepathic bond that enables them to see hear and feel the…
Laggies (2014): Dir. Lynn Shelton
Feat. Keira Knightley, Chloe Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell…; Indie comedy with Knightley as a woman in the throes of a quarter–life crisis brought on by her boyfriend's sudden proposal.
Obvious Child (2014): Dir. Gillian Robespierre
Feat. Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann…; A New York indie comedy of the "awkward girl" variety that focuses on how a comedienne's unplanned pregnancy forces her to confront the realities of…
Skeleton Twins, The (2014): Dir. Craig Johnson
Feat. Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson…; Piercing black comedy about two estranged twins, having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, struggling to mend their relationship.
White Bird in a Blizzard (2014): Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni…; Icy youth drama set follows a teenage girl's life as its thrown into chaos after the disappearance of her mother.
Adult World (2013): Dir. Scott Coffey
Feat. Emma Roberts, John Cusack, Evan Peters…; A struggling college graduate with aspirations of becoming a poet slums it at a small town sex shop in this dry indie comedy.
Afternoon Delight (2013): Dir. Jill Soloway
Feat. Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor…; A dissatisfied thirtysomething woman seeks "a cure for the common marriage" through her friendship with a young stripper in this serio–comic…
Computer Chess (2013): Dir. Andrew Bujalski
Feat. Kriss Schludermann, Tom Fletcher, Wiley Wiggins; Mumblecore maestro Andrew Bujalski directs this left–of–field mockumentary, shot on low–fi video, about a surreal chess tournament…
Kings of Summer, The (Toy's House) (2013): Dir. Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Feat. Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias…; A lyrical and sharp–witted coming–of–age drama about three teenage friends, who in the ultimate act of independence, decide to…
Night Moves (2013): Dir. Kelly Reichardt
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard…; Three radical environmentalists look to execute the protest of their lives: the explosion of a hydroelectric dam, in this thriller told in the…
Prince Avalanche (2013): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch; Two highway road workers pass the time in the Texas wilderness in this laconic return–to–form for indie darling David Gordon Green.
Short Term 12 (2013): Dir. Destin Cretton
Feat. Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr., Stephanie Beatriz…; A counselor at a foster–care facility for at–risk teenagers struggles with her own troubled past as a youngster in this tough but tender…
Spectacular Now, The (2013): Dir. James Ponsoldt
Feat. Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson…; This wistful teen romance, scripted and performed with a bracing naturalism, centres on a glibly charming high school senior whose casual dating of a…
Touchy Feely (2013): Dir. Lynn Shelton
Feat. Rosemarie DeWitt, Elliot Page, Scoot McNairy…; Rosemarie DeWitt returns for the dir. of YOUR SISTER'S SISTER in this drama about two siblings – one a succesful massage therapist, the other a…
Best Man Down (2012): Dir. Ted Koland
Feat. Justin Long, Jess Weixler, Tyler Labine…; In this heartfelt, soul–searching dramedy, a newly married couple cancels their honeymoon plans after the groom's hard–partying best man…
Compliance (2012): Dir. Craig Zobel
Feat. Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy; When a prank caller masquerading as a police officer convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no–one…
Electrick Children (2012): Dir. Rebecca Thomas
Feat. Julia Garner, Rory Culkin, Liam Aiken…; Luminous newcomer Julia Garner plays a 15–year–old Mormon girl who flees her Utah backwater for the downtown lights of Las Vegas after…
Frances Ha (2012): Dir. Noah Baumbach
Feat. Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver…; The whimsical exploits of a struggling dancer at the tail end of her adolescence are semi–improvised in this Manhattan indie rom–com,…
Free Samples (2012): Dir. Jay Gammill
Feat. Jess Weixler, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter…; A small–scale but deceptively smart and engaging "retail comedy" that spends a day in the life with a sarcastic LA law–school dropout who…
Hello I Must Be Going (2012): Dir. Todd Louiso
Feat. Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, John Rubinstein…; Melanie Lynskey is excellent as a wounded young divorcee forced to move back in with her parents, in this serio–comic character…
Hotel Noir (2012): Dir. Sebastian Guitierrez
Feat. Malin Akerman, Rosario Dawson, Danny De Vito…; Cult dir. Guitierrez tries his hand at film noir pastiche with this luscious ensemble piece about a detective whose encounters with various…
On the Road (2012): Dir. Walter Salles
Feat. Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart…; Handsomely mounted adaptation of Kerouac's counter–culture classic of a young writer whose life is profoundly shaken by the arrival of the…
Smashed (2012): Dir. James Ponsoldt
Feat. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Nick Offerman…; Riveting portrait, much acclaimed at Sundance, of a married couple mutually dependent on alcohol who attempt to start the long road to recovery.
Starlet (2012): Dir. Sean Baker
Feat. Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Stella Maeve; Understated indie drama from director trailblazing director Sean Baker (TANGERINE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT), about an unlikely friendship between an…
Two Jacks (2012): Dir. Bernard Rose
Feat. Danny Huston, Jacqueline Bisset, Jack Huston…; Danny Huston and dir. Bernard Rose reunite for another Hollywood–set riff on Tolstoy. Based on the story 'The Two Hussars', it tells the story…
Beginners (2011): Dir. Mike Mills
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent…; Semi–autobiographical tale from the dir. of THUMBSUCKER reconciles two relationships in the life of a 38–year–old graphic artist…
Dark Horse (2011): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Jordan Gelber, Selma Blair, Mia Farrow…; Todd Solondz's latest black comedy of discomfort, about a toy–obsessed thirty–something who enters into a relationship with a chronic…
Future, The (2011): Dir. Miranda July
Feat. Miranda July, Hamish Linklater, David Warshofsky…; Another arthouse treasure from the writer/director/actor behind ME AND YOU EVERYONE WE KNOW concerns an atypical 30–something LA couple who…
Hook, Line and Sinker (Hook, Line & Sinker) (2011): Dir. Andrea Bosshard, Shane Loader
Feat. Rangimoana Taylor, Carmel McGlone, Geraldine Brophy; A blue–collar truck driver struggles to cope with his failing eyesight, despite the love and support of his family, in this grassroots gem from…
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011): Dir. Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Feat. Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Susan Sarandon…; The Duplass brothers follow–up the formidable CYRUS with another deep–centred comedy about the crises of two stagnant adult siblings; one…
Jess + Moss (Jess and Moss) (2011): Dir. Clay Jeter
Feat. Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers, Haley Parker; Impressionistic portrait of two young teens spending one last summer wandering through the fields of Kentucky. Unconventional approach to narrative…
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011): Dir. Sean Durkin
Feat. Elizabeth Olsen, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy…; A damaged young woman struggles to re–assimilate with her sister after fleeing an abusive cult in this unnerving, suggestive psycho–drama…
Natural Selection (2011): Dir. Robbie Pickering
Feat. Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, John Diehl; A devout Christian locked in a sexless marriage forms an unlikely bond with a troubled man conceived from her husband's sperm donations in this…
Off Hours, The (2011): Dir. Megan Griffiths
Feat. Amy Seimetz, Ross Partridge, Scoot McNairy; Downbeat, deliberately–paced indie about a directionless waitress working the night shift at a roadside diner in a small, industrial town who…
Prince of Broadway (2011): Dir. Sean Baker
Feat. Prince Adu, Karren Karagulian; Terrific social–realist drama from independent filmmaker Sean Baker (FLORIDA PROJECT) set in New York City's Flatiron District, where illegal…
Take This Waltz (2011): Dir. Sarah Polley
Feat. Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Luke Kirby…; Sarah Polley (AWAY FROM HER) directs Michelle Williams in this soft–spoken indie about a happily married woman who falls for her next door…
Terri (2011): Dir. Azazel Jacobs
Feat. John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki, Creed Bratton; An overweight teenage outcast finds unlikely counsel and friendship in the intimidating vice principal of his high school in this…
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011): Dir. Lynne Ramsay
Feat. Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller; Tilda Swinton struggles to cope with the grief and guilt of mothering a deeply troubled child in Lynne Ramsay's unflinching, stylistic adaptation of…
Win Win (2011): Dir. Tom McCarthy
Feat. Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer, Amy Ryan…; Recession comedy starring midlife–crisis poster boy Paul Giamatti, who here entangles his professional life as a struggling lawyer with his…
Your Sister's Sister (2011): Dir. Lynn Shelton
Feat. Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass; A note–perfect indie drama from the dir. of HUMPDAY, this 'chick flick' may well appeal as much to male audiences with its engaging cast and…
Blue Valentine (2010): Dir. Derek Cianfrance
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams; An intense indie drama that brings gratifying detail to its portrait of a tainted relationship over several time frames, with superb performances…
Daydream Nation (2010): Dir. Michael Goldbach
Feat. Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell…; A daydreaming 17–year–old (Dennings) seduces a high school teacher for kicks, only to attract the attention of a lovesick stoner…
Desert (2010): Dir. Stephen Kang
Feat. Jane Kim, Andrew Han; An impressive independent feature from Korean–New Zealand dir. Stephen Kang, whose Auckland–set film observes the quiet desperation of a…
Get Low (2010): Dir. Aaron Schneider
Feat. Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek…; Folksy comic tale with mysterious hermit Duvall throwing the inhabitants of a small town into turmoil when he decides to host his own funeral party.
Greenberg (2010): Dir. Noah Baumbach
Feat. Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig, Rhys Ifans…; An off–key, serio–comic role for Ben Stiller, here playing a challenged 40–something whose stint crashing at his brother’s L.A.…
Happy Thank You More Please (2010): Dir. Josh Radnor
Feat. Josh Radnor, Malin Akerman, Zoe Kazan…; Genial indie comedy with a self involved writer and his friends struggling to adjust to adulthood. Directorial debut of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER star…
Kids Are All Right, The (2010): Dir. Lisa Cholodenko
Feat. Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo…; Feathers fly in this smart and insightful comedy–drama anchored by three terrific lead performances whose character's unique relationships are…
Lullaby (Lullaby for Pi) (2010): Dir. Benoît Philippon
Feat. Rupert Friend, Clemence Poesy, Forest Whitaker; A jazz–playing, Some Like it Hot–idolizing drifter mourning the death of his soul mate strikes love with an idiosyncratic woman with a…
Meet Monica Velour (2010): Dir. Keith Bearden
Feat. Kim Cattrall, Dustin Ingram, Brian Dennehy…; Kim Cattrall shines in this indie drama about a nerdy, movie–loving teen who lusts after a softcore actress and embarks on a road trip to see…
Myth of the American Sleepover, The (2010): Dir. David Robert Mitchell
Feat. Claire Soma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer…; A balmy summer night before the start of high school is the backdrop for this languid, moment–to–moment capsule of life as an idle…
Norman (2010): Dir. Jonathan Segal
Feat. Dan Byrd, Emily VanCamp, Richard Jenkins…; A melancholy high school 'indie' about a teenage loner who claims his father's terminal cancer as his own in order to make tracks with a pretty…
Please Give (2010): Dir. Nicole Holofcener
Feat. Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet…; Writer–director Nicole Holofcener secures her informal reputation as a "female Woody Allen" with this bittersweet New York story that again…
R U There (2010): Dir. David Verbeek
Feat. Stijn Koomen, Huan-Ru Ke, Tom De Hoog; Oddball story of a professional gamer who unexpectedly witnesses an accident that confronts him with his own mortality and makes him doubt the…
Sensation (2010): Dir. Tom Hall
Feat. Domhnall Gleeson, Luanne Gordon, Patrick Ryan; An intelligently written and thoroughly endearing sex comedy involving an introverted farmer's son and a Kiwi prostitute who form an unlikely…
Small Town Murder Songs (2010): Dir. Ed Gass-Donnelly
Feat. Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy, Martha Plimpton…; Simmering provincial redemption story stars Peter Stormare as a clammy police officer trying to escape his violent past in a small Mennonite…
Somewhere (2010): Dir. Sofia Coppola
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius; Sofia Coppola's dead–pan portrait of a roguish Hollywood actor whose routine of empty hedonism and naval–gazing is interrupted by an…
Tiny Furniture (2010): Dir. Lena Dunham
Feat. Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Alex Karpovsky…; A prototype for Lena Dunham's hugely successful HBO series GIRLS, this smart–funny indie finds the talented actress/director mining the…
Welcome to the Rileys (2010): Dir. Jake Scott
Feat. James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart, Melissa Leo…; A bereaved father (Gandolfini) takes comfort in the company of a wayward young prostitute (Stewart) in this mournful American indie. The premise…
William Vincent (Shadows and Lies) (2010): Dir. Jay Anania
Feat. James Franco, Martin Donovan, Josh Lucas…; A quiet criminal recounts the eccentric path that has brought him to New York – after four years in exile, to rescue the favourite call girl of…
Winter's Bone (2010): Dir. Debra Granik
Feat. Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt…; Celebrated art–house thriller set in the Ozark Mountains follows a teenage girl as she desperately searches for her drug–dealing father…
Adam (2009): Dir. Max Mayer
Feat. Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher…; Moon–faced Rose Byrne warms to her Asperger's–afflicted neighbour (Dancy) in this unlikely, heartfelt romance. Distracting subplots…
Adventureland (2009): Dir. Greg Mottola
Feat. Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds…; Low–key indie comedy set in 1987 where a virginal high–school grad gets a summer job at a local amusement park and finds unlikely…
Beeswax (2009): Dir. Andrew Bujalski
Feat. Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky; Another deft, soft–spoken indie from dir. Bujalski (MUTUAL APPRECIATION) concerns the comings and goings of 20–something twins: one, the…
Big Fan (2009): Dir. Robert D. Siegel
Feat. Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport…; The writer of THE WRESTLER makes an assured directing debut with this tragicomic look at the life of an obsessive fan of the New York Giants whose…
Breaking Upwards (2009): Dir. Daryl Wein
Feat. Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister Jones, Julie White…; Skittish romantic comedy in which a couple attempt to end their moribund relationship gradually, beginning with three days off each week. Drawing…
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009): Dir. John Krasinski
Feat. Julianne Nicholson, Ben Shenkman, Timothy Hutton…; A graduate student copes with a recent breakup by conducting interviews with various men. Ill–conceived and messy adaptation of David Foster…
City Island (2009): Dir. Raymond De Felitta
Feat. Andy Garcia, Julianne Margulies, Steven Strait…; Winning ensemble stars Andy Garcia as a would–be actor–cum–corrections officer who brings a young ex–con home from work, much…
Cold Souls (2009): Dir. Sophie Barthes
Feat. Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Lauren Ambrose…; A existentialist tragi–comedy in which Paul Giamatti plays himself, a New York actor in crisis, who literally has his soul extracted, only to…
Entre Nos (Between Us) (2009): Dir. Gloria La Morte, Paola Mendoza
Feat. Paola Mendoza, Sarita Choudhury, Anthony Chisholm…; Affecting drama reveals the inner life of an Colombian immigrant and her two children fending for themselves in New York City.
Girlfriend Experience, The (2009): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Sasha Grey, Chris Santos; Ex–pornstar Sasha Grey impresses as a high–end call girl offering much more than just sex for her Manhattan clientele, in this small…
Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, The (2009): Dir. David Russo
Feat. Marshall Allman, Vince Vieluf, Natasha Lyonne; Pleasingly off–kilter indie comedy bares witness to the spiritual crisis of an office clerk who joins a posse of bohemian night janitors who…
Life During Wartime (2009): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Shirley Henderson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Allison Janney…; Dir. Todd Solondz recasts his controversial 1998 indie hit, HAPPINESS, revisiting the dysfunctional characters and their future lives in this blackly…
Limits of Control, The (2009): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Isaach de Bankole, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton…; Indie King Jim Jarmusch directs this mysterious and moody crime thriller, in which a Lone Man wanders through Madrid and Seville on an undisclosed…
Mammoth (2009): Dir. Lukas Moodysson
Feat. Michelle Williams, Gael Garcia Bernal, Marife Necesito…; Ambitious social drama concerned with the corrosive effects of globalisation. Williams and Bernal play a well–heeled New York couple who…
Marc Pease Experience, The (2009): Dir. Todd Louiso
Feat. Jason Schwartzman, Ben Stiller, Anna Kendrick…; Remorseless comedy of the deluded with Schwartzman as a sad–sack limo driver desperate to relive his glory days as a high school music star.…
My Suicide (2009): Dir. David Lee Miller
Feat. Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine, Mariel Hemingway…; A disaffected teenager announces that he intends to document his impending suicide on camera in this heavy handed, if potent youth indie. Built on…
Plan B (2009): Dir. Marco Berger
Feat. Manuel Vignau, Lucas Ferraro, Mercedes Quinteros; Languid drama where a man's efforts to sabotage his ex–girlfriends new relationship – with a half baked plan of seducing her boyfriend,…
Precious (Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire) (2009): Dir. Lee Daniels
Feat. Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique , Paula Patton…; Heated ghetto drama puts a hopeful spin on the despair suffered by an illiterate, overweight teenager who prepares to give birth to her second child…
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The (2009): Dir. Rebecca Miller
Feat. Robin Wright, Blake Lively, Alan Arkin…; Drama boasting a formidable performance from Robin Wright Penn as the beautiful, middle–aged Pippa Lee, who finds herself living in a…
Shank (2009): Dir. Simon Pearce
Feat. Wayne Virgo, Marc Laurent, Alice Payne…; Harrowing coming–of–age drama which makes up for a few cliches with a lot of raw power. Set in Bristol, where a closeted gay youth…
Shrink (2009): Dir. Jonas Pate
Feat. Kevin Spacey, Mark Webber, Saffron Burrows; Kevin Spacey’s pot–smoking, chronically depressed psychiatrist is at the centre of this sprawling L.A. story, which attempts to unearth the…
Spread (2009): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Ashton Kutcher, Anne Heche, Margarita Levieva; The egos are big and hard in this glib L.A. story about a broke–ass hustler (Kutcher) who exchanges bed and board for sexual favours, in…
That Evening Sun (2009): Dir. Scott Teems
Feat. Hal Holbrook, Mia Wasikowska, Walton Goggins…; An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.
Uncertainty (2009): Dir. David Siegel, Scott McGehee
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lynn Collins, Assumpta Serna…; 'Uncertainty' is both the title and the key to enjoying this convention–defying thriller that interweaves two parallel stories that feature the…
Unmade Beds (2009): Dir. Alexis Dos Santos
Feat. Fernando Tielve, Deborah Francois, Michiel Huisman…; In parallel stories, a Spanish boy and a French girl try to find meaningful connection while squatting in a London hipster neighbourhood in this…
Vicious Kind, The (2009): Dir. Lee Toland Krieger
Feat. Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, J.K. Simmons…; Bilious familial drama stylistically indebted to Neil Labute features Adam Scott spitting misogynistic aphorisms at his brother's new girlfriend,…
Wah Do Dem (What They Do) (2009): Dir. Sam Fleischner, Ben Chace
Feat. Sean Bones, Carl Bradshaw, Norah Jones; A young indie musician suffers solo through a disaster–prone Caribbean holiday in this shaggy road movie with a sweetly comic sensibility.…
World's Greatest Dad (2009): Dir. Bobcat Goldthwait
Feat. Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Geoff Pierson…; Savage black comedy gifts Robin Williams his best role in years as a struggling writer and poetry teacher whose life is burdened by his insufferable…
Baghead (2008): Dir. Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
Feat. Steve Zissis, Greta Gerwig, Ross Partridge…; The Duplass Brothers deliver on the promise of their debut, THE PUFFY CHAIR, with another no–frills charmer that effortlessly marries assured…
Choke (2008): Dir. Clark Gregg
Feat. Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly MacDonald…; Mixed black comedy of support groups, self–loathing and anonymous sex, from the pen of FIGHT CLUB novelist Chuck Palahniuk. Fighting the…
Ciao (2008): Dir. Yen Tan
Feat. Adam Neal Smith, Alessandro Calza; Low–budget indie gem about two men who form a romantic bond over two days when their mutual friend dies in a car crash in Dallas, Texas.
Dakota Skye (2008): Dir. John Humber
Feat. Eileen April Boylan, Ian Nelson, J. B. Ghuman Jr…; Novel teen drama has a unique twist on the jaded teen archetype with the film's titular heroine cursed with the ability to see through lies. Pic's…
El Camino (2008): Dir. Erik S. Weigel
Feat. Leo Fitzpatrick, Elisabeth Moss, Christopher Denham…; Affecting road–movie with three strangers travelling across America with their friend's ashes.
Frozen River (2008): Dir. Courtney Hunt
Feat. Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott; A fraught, unexpected thriller within indie drama specs, this engrossing premise concerns two single mothers who find themselves smuggling immigrants…
Gigantic (2008): Dir. Matt Aselton
Feat. Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel, Edward Asner…; Whimsical, self–conscious indie comedy about a mattress salesman (Paul Dano) whose plan to adopt a baby from China is interrupted when a women…
Good Dick (2008): Dir. Marianna Palka
Feat. Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, Martin Starr…; A romantic–comedy fraught with emotional damage, this unique American indie follows the strange yet touching relationship between a troubled,…
How To Be (2008): Dir. Oliver Irving
Feat. Robert Pattinson, Rebecca Pidgeon, Powell Jones; Another delayed release for eager Robert Pattinson fans sees the heartthrob play a listless musician living in London who enlists the help of a…
Jinx Sister (2008): Dir. Athina Tsoulis
Feat. Sara Wiseman, Jarod Rawiri, William Wallace…; Tidy homeland drama finds Americanized ex–pat Wiseman returning to New Zealand to reconcile with her elder sister (Nash), seemingly happily…
Last Word, The (2008): Dir. Geoffrey Haley
Feat. Wes Bentley, Winona Ryder, Ray Romano; Quirky black comedy centered on a man who makes a living writing suicide notes for the depressed, and has his life is turned upside down when he…
Love Live Long (2008): Dir. Mike Figgis
Feat. Daniel Lapaine, Sophie Winkleman; Devised/improvised feature from late–blooming experimenter Mike Figgis that hits the road with a well–to–do amateur rally driver as…
Lymelife (2008): Dir. Derick Martini
Feat. Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Jill Hennessy…; Indie drama of the downbeat, domestic variety is well–acted and polished, but the "lyme disease" quirk notwithstanding, this otherwise hits the…
Mister Lonely (2008): Dir. Harmony Korine
Feat. Samantha Morton, Diego Luna, Werner Herzog; Surreal drama from the king of skewed cinema Harmony Korine (GUMMO) following two parallel plots about identity: a couple of celeb impersonators…
Momma's Man (2008): Dir. Azazel Jacobs
Feat. Matt Boren, Ken Jacobs, Richard Edson…; A grown man in a state of arrested adolescence stays with his parents whilst on a business trip, and then concocts a series of excuses as to why he…
Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist (2008): Dir. Peter Sollett
Feat. Michael Cera, Kat Dennings, Aaron Yoo; "Geeky Dreamboat" Michael Cera is typecast again in this pleasing but trifle indie flick centred around two high school seniors who bond over music…
Only (2008): Dir. Ingrid Veninger
Feat. Jacob Switzer, Elena Hudgins Lyle; Delicate Canadian coming–of–age drama focused around the relationship between two 12–year–olds who get to know one another…
Poker House, The (2008): Dir. Lori Petty
Feat. Jennifer Lawrence, Selma Blair, Bokeem Woodbine…; Tough autobiographical drama set in the 1970s concerns three siblings forced to fend for themselves in the face of a neglectful mother. Well made…
Quid Pro Quo (2008): Dir. Carlos Brooks
Feat. Nick Stahl, Vera Farmiga; Offbeat indie thriller focused on a wheelchair–bound radio reporter sent to investigate the emerging trend of people paying doctors to remove…
Second-Hand Wedding (Secondhand Wedding) (2008): Dir. Paul Murphy
Feat. Holly Shanahan, Geraldine Brophy, Patrick Wilson…; Sweet–natured Kiwi suburban rom–com that was a surprise hit at the local box office, with large audiences responding to a highly…
Wackness, The (2008): Dir. Jonathan Levine
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby…; Smitten with nostalgia for a bygone early–90's New York, this coming–of–age drama follows a listless, pot–dealing teenager as…
Weirdsville (2008): Dir. Allan Moyle
Feat. Taryn Manning, Wes Bentley, Scott Speedman; Delightfully referential black comedy spins a feverishly–paced, zigzagging yarn about a bizarre night in the life of two junkies who mistakenly…
Wendy and Lucy (2008): Dir. Kelly Reichardt
Feat. Michelle Williams, Will Patton, Will Oldham; Michelle Williams is superb as the distraught owner of a missing dog in this unsentimental yet compassionate tale of financial hardship in Middle…
Yellow Handkerchief, The (2008): Dir. Udayan Prasad
Feat. William Hurt, Maria Bello, Kristen Stewart…; Set in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, this delicately shaded road movie has two itinerant teens forming an unlikely bond with a man fresh out of…
Acting Out (2007): Dir. Danny Merton
Feat. Lara Cox; Girl–centric Australian 'indie' in which a high–schooler grapples with various issues of intimacy and relationships. Suspended from…
Babysitters, The (2007): Dir. David Ross
Feat. Cynthia Nixon, John Leguizamo, Andy Comeau; Inky black indie dramedy centred on an entrepreneurial teenage babysitter that starts up a call–girl service for married men after getting paid…
Broken English (2007): Dir. Zoe Cassavetes
Feat. Parker Posey, Drea De Matteo, Melvil Poupaud…; The usually zany Parker Posey searches for love in this supple, melancholic romantic comedy, here playing a Manhattan thirty–something as yet…
Cake Eaters, The (2007): Dir. Mary Stuart Masterson
Feat. Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern…; Heartfelt drama follows the fortunes of two families intertwining in rural America, both affected by the terminal illness of a teenager (Kristen…
Darjeeling Limited, The (2007): Dir. Wes Anderson
Feat. Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman…; Idiosyncratic comedy from the dir. of THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS combines a dusty, nostalgic sub–continental adventure–quest with a whimsical…
Day Zero (2007): Dir. Bryan Gunnar Cole
Feat. Elijah Wood, Jon Bernthal, Chris Klein…; A 'what if scenario' study of three New Yorkers facing the draft in an alternate post–9/11 reality. There's embattled Ivy Leaguer Chris…
Elvis And Annabelle (2007): Dir. Will Geiger
Feat. Max Minghella, Blake Lively, Joe Mantegna…; Oddball indie romance sees a beauty queen (Lively) die in an accident, only to share an unlikely romance with a young man when she is unexpectedly…
Garage (2007): Dir. Lenny Abrahamson
Feat. Pat Shortt, Anne-Marie Duff, Conor Ryan; Studious Irish tragi–comedy centred on an ostracised small–town petrol station owner who attempts to open up to those around him with…
Go-Getter, The (2007): Dir. Martin Hynes
Feat. Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone; Coming–of–age road trip drama situated around an inquisitive teen (THUMBSUCKER's Pucci) who throws caution to the wind after a painful…
Hallam Foe (Mister Foe) (2007): Dir. David Mackenzie
Feat. Jamie Bell, Sophia Myles, Ciaran Hinds…; Jamie Bell plays the film's titular voyeur, a compulsive rooftop snoop in pursuit of justice and love, in this breezy, twisted romance. Fleeing…
Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007): Dir. Joe Swanberg
Feat. Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, Andrew Bujalski…; Indistinct mumblecore entry chronicles the restless relations between a trio of post–graduates working in a Chicago production…
In Search Of A Midnight Kiss (2007): Dir. Alex Holdridge
Feat. Scoot McNairy, Sara Simmonds, Brian McGuire; Restoring our faith in the unreliable indie rom–com genre, this terrific example takes place on New Years Eve in Los Angeles, where two…
Juno (2007): Dir. Jason Reitman
Feat. Elliot Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner…; Upstart indie comedy that broke wide into the mainstream, this packages up Gen–Y angst and 'riot–grrl' attitude into a commercially…
Kissy Kissy (2007): Dir. Alexander Greenhough, Elric Kane
Feat. Daniel Northcott, Dick Whyte, Tania Nolan…; Aro Valley–made DV drama concerns the intersecting lives of a cast and crew on a low budget movie, and the all–too–familiar…
Lars and the Real Girl (2007): Dir. Craig Gillespie
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer…; Ryan Gosling plays an awkward loner who enters into a courtship with a life–size, anatomically–correct sex doll in this…
Look (2007): Dir. Adam Rifkin
Feat. Rhys Coiro, Hayes MacArthur, Giuseppe Andrews; Grungy, thought–provoking examination of our voyeuristic and paranoid modern culture told through several interweaving stories entirely…
My Winnipeg (2007): Dir. Guy Maddin
Feat. Darcey Fehr, Ann Savage, Amy Stewart…; Jolly fantasy–autobiography concerning the sleepy whirlpool of director Guy Maddin’s birthplace Winnipeg, his love/hate relationship with the…
Normal (2007): Dir. Carl Bessai
Feat. Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie; Multi–character drama links the seemingly unrelated stories of three strangers whose lives are altered overnight after a tragic car…
Paranoid Park (2007): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Taylor Momsen; Gus Van Sant shoots Blake Nelson’s coming–of–age novella, about a young skateboarder’s complicity in the death of a security guard,…
Poor Boy's Game (2007): Dir. Clement Virgo
Feat. Rossif Sutherland, Danny Glover, Flex Alexander…; Quietly powerful boxing drama follows a paroled pugilist as he struggles with life on the outside. At times dir. Virgo's customary visual panache…
Rocket Science (2007): Dir. Jeffrey Blitz
Feat. Reece Thompson, Anna Kendrick, Denis O'Hare…; Pointy–headed comedy from the dir. of the documentary SPELLBOUND that switches the subject to high–school debating, and the travails of…
Shotgun Stories (2007): Dir. Jeff Nichols
Feat. Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, Barlow Jacobs…; Sturdy, atmospheric independent drama detailing the simmering rivalry between two sets of half–brothers which boils over after the death of…
Slipstream (Slipstream Dream) (2007): Dir. Anthony Hopkins
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Christian Slater, Camryn Manheim…; Anthony Hopkins cartwheels into the director's chair and attempts to channel David Lynch for this befuddling ensemble fantasy in which a screenwriter…
Snow Angels (2007): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Michael Angarano…; Grimly rewarding relationship drama set in smalltown '70s New England, based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan, in which a group of ordinary townsfolk…
Starting Out in the Evening (2007): Dir. Andrew Wagner
Feat. Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Lili Taylor…; An aging, all–but–forgotten author (Langella) finds himself the object of an eager grad student’s attention when she decides to make…
Tracey Fragments, The (2007): Dir. Bruce McDonald
Feat. Elliot Page, Julian Richings; Experimentally inclined coming–of–age drama follows a troubled teen (JUNO’s Elliot Page) searching for her little brother after he goes…
Unfinished Sky (2007): Dir. Peter Duncan
Feat. William McInnes, Monic Hendrickx; Cross–cultural Australian romantic drama, in which a widowed farmer discovers a distressed Afghani refugee on his property, who he lets into…
Weapons (2007): Dir. Adam Bhala Lough
Feat. Nick Cannon, Paul Dano, Mark Webber…; Nihilistic thriller revolves around the intersecting lives of gun–toting teenagers and the circumstances surrounding a murder filled…
Year of the Dog (2007): Dir. Mike White
Feat. Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King…; This sensitive comedy–drama about a woman whose life falls to pieces when her pet beagle dies, is the directorial debut of Mike White, writer…
2:37 (2006): Dir. Murali K. Thalluri; Topical and wrenching youth drama links six Australian teenagers to an unspeakable tragedy, unraveling with assured and precocious confidence their…
Art School Confidential (2006): Dir. Terry Zwigoff
Feat. Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich…; CRUMB dir. Terry Zwigoff and comic book icon Daniel Clowes (GHOST WORLD) re–team for this darkly set, though often hilarious stakeout of the…
Brand Upon the Brain! (2006): Dir. Guy Maddin
Feat. Gretchen Krich, Andrew Loviska, Maya Lawson; Further autobiographical adventures from Canada’s silent movie alchemist, delving into Maddin's repressed childhood past: a delirious, Gothic…
Choking Man (2006): Dir. Steve Barron
Feat. Octavio Gómez Berríos, Eugenia Yuan, Aaron Paul…; A gloomy Ecuadorian dishwasher pines after his co–worker and relieves boredom with outrageous fantasies in this humdrum, if occasionally…
Court of Lonely Royals (2006): Dir. Rohan Michael Hoole
Feat. Damon Gameau, Samantha Noble, Leah De Neise…; Atypical Aussie indie in which a group of twisted teen mercenaries kill for the cops, using their targets’ weaknesses against them, in an urban…
Dance Party USA (2006): Dir. Aaron Katz
Feat. Cole Pensinger, Anna Kavan; At the cruder end of the Mumblecore movement, two idle teenagers share a fleeting connection at a dance party in this talky, micro–budgeted…
Don't Worry, I'm Fine (Je Vais Bien, Ne T'en Fais Pas) (2006): Dir. Philippe Lioret
Feat. Mélanie Laurent; Understated French drama centres on a distraught young woman's search for her twin brother after being told he has run away from the family…
Footy Legends (2006): Dir. Khoa Do
Feat. Anh Do; Sydney 'burbs–set feel–good sporting flick about an unemployed Asian rugga fanatic with an ambition to win a local competition with the…
Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, A (2006): Dir. Dito Montiel
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri…; A ‘Mean Streets’ memoir of growing up rough in the eighties, this accomplished feature debut evokes its boys–in–the–hood…
Half Nelson (2006): Dir. Ryan Fleck
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Omar Epps; Ryan Gosling proves serious acting chops in this subtle yet prickly drama about a teacher with a crack habit and the student – his dealer's…
Halo Effect, The (2006): Dir. Lance Daly
Feat. Stephen Rea; Half–baked Irish jig delivers an enjoyable performance from Stephen Rea, but little else in its story of a downtrodden takeaway worker whose…
Ira & Abby (2006): Dir. Robert Cary
Feat. Chris Messina, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jason Alexander…; Jittery romantic comedy concerns the ramifications of a hasty marriage between a neurotic therapy patient and a flighty saleswoman. New York…
Kidulthood (2006): Dir. Menhaj Huda; Authentic and bleak slice of West London street life in which a group of jive–talking teenagers plot their moves in the 48 hours after a…
Kiss Me Again (2006): Dir. William Tyler Smith
Feat. Jeremy London, Katheryn Winnick, Mirelly Taylor; Interesting results ensue when a college professor contrives a threesome between himself, his wife and an attractive female student. An ambitious…
LOL (2006): Dir. Joe Swanberg
Feat. Joe Swanberg, Kevin Bewersdorf, C. Mason Wells…; Humble "mumblecore" rom–com about relationships and technology, written, directed, produced and starring Joe Swanberg, the artist who is…
Night of the White Pants, The (2006): Dir. Amy Talkington
Feat. Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Selma Blair; Intriguing comedy–drama in which middle–aged businessman Tom Wilkinson is thrown out of his house (and marriage) with only the clothes…
Old Joy (2006): Dir. Kelly Reichardt
Feat. Will Oldham, Daniel London; Downbeat naturalism is the tramping ground for this meditative, softly spoken indie of two distanced friends who reunite for a weekend camping trip…
Once (2006): Dir. John Carney
Feat. Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, Hugh Walsh; A gorgeous, understated paean to the transformative power of music, this unique, Irish independent follows the burgeoning relationship between a…
Quinceañera (2006): Dir. Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer
Feat. Emily Rios, Jesse Garcia, Chalo Gonzalez; Accessible indie about a Mexican–American teen approaching her Quinceañera ( "sweet 15"), who is forced to seek refuge with her great uncle…
Red Road (2006): Dir. Andrea Arnold
Feat. Kate Dickie, Tony Curran, Martin Compston…; Absorbing, unbearably tense drama of undisclosed motivations, which follows a lonely surveillance operator and her pursuit of a man throughout the…
Running with Scissors (2006): Dir. Ryan Murphy
Feat. Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes…; Star–studded adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’ humourous yet hard–hitting memoir of a childhood locked between distanced and abusive…
Sherrybaby (2006): Dir. Laurie Collyer
Feat. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Danny Trejo, Giancarlo Esposito…; Overfamiliar but sincere portrait of a recovering addict, with a warts–and–all Maggie Gyllenhaal fresh out of jail and determined to go…
Special (2006): Dir. Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore
Feat. Michael Rapaport, Josh Peck, Paul Blackthorne…; Michael Rappaport plays a lonely parking warden who enrolls in a program for an experimental anti–depressant that has the unusual side effect…
Stephanie Daley (2006): Dir. Hilary Brougher
Feat. Amber Tamblyn, Tilda Swinton, Halley Feiffer…; A closely–observed, cogent indie drama about a teenager’s concealed pregnancy and the suspicious death of her baby. The truth surrounding…
Suburban Mayhem (2006): Dir. Paul Goldman
Feat. Emily Barclay, Michael Dorman, Anthony Hayes…; NZ's Emily Barclay crashes this trailer–trash satire of murderous alpha–males and vindictive females set in the god–awful 'burbs of…
What the Bleep!? - Down the Rabbit Hole (2006): Dir. William Arntz, Betsy Chasse
Feat. Marlee Matlin; A sequel–recut of WHAT THE BLEEP? which again presents an New Age spread of provocative comparisons between the theories of quantum physics and…
Actress, The (2005): Dir. Zak Hilditch
Feat. Matt Hardie, Catlin Higgins, Steve Mccall…; An observational black comedy centering on a Perth household of three sex–starved 20–somethings who invite a seductive actress to be…
Aurora Borealis (2005): Dir. James C.E. Burke
Feat. Joshua Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Juliette Lewis; A drifting twenty–something is torn between embarking on a burgeoning new romance, and caring for his Alzheimer’s–stricken…
Blacktown (2005): Dir. Kriv Stenders
Feat. Niki Owen, Tony Ryan; Rough–edged but rewarding human drama interested in the relationship between a disenchanted married woman and a charismatic Aboriginal man in…
Broken Flowers (2005): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Bill Murray, Julie Delpy, Frances Conroy…; A beguiling middle–age lament starring Bill Murray, unfurled in typical low gear by the world's 'coolest' director, Jim Jarmusch. Playing an…
Brothers of the Head (2005): Dir. Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe
Feat. Harry Treadaway, Luke Treadaway; Believably real mockumentary centres around the carnivalesque (mis)fortunes of Siamese twins who get manufactured into punk rock sensations.…
Bubble (2005): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Debbie Doebereiner, Dustin Ashley, Misty Wilkins; Steven Soderbergh's creepy, independent sojourn (made between OCEAN'S 12 and 13) casts an uneasy eye on a midwestern doll factory, where the…
Chumscrubber, The (2005): Dir. Arie Posin
Feat. Jamie Bell, Camilla Belle, Glenn Close…; A sadsack teenager (Bell) living in a sterile new suburb in Southern California discovers his best friend has committed suicide, an event which seems…
Conversations with Other Women (2005): Dir. Hans Canosa
Feat. Aaron Eckhart, Helena Bonham Carter; An innovative, bittersweet romantic two–hander that uses split screen for its entire running time to explore the contrasting…
Crash (2005): Dir. Paul Haggis
Feat. Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon…; A thoughtful dramatic meditation on race and fate in modern–day America, in which a group of urbanites in Los Angeles find their lives…
Don't Come Knocking (2005): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Sam Shepard, Jessica Lange, Tim Roth…; Desultry tale of a washed–out actor who goes missing from a film production and, with the insurance company on his tail, ends up uncovering…
Down in the Valley (2005): Dir. David Jacobson
Feat. Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse…; Slow–burn yet layered and intense drama has Edward Norton in fine form as a delusional 'cowboy' who charms his way into trouble via the heart…
Duane Hopwood (2005): Dir. Matt Mulhern
Feat. David Schwimmer, Janeane Garofalo; Low–key slice–of–life indie film that mixes comedy and drama to subtly get its point across that alcoholism can affect anyone.…
Factotum (2005): Dir. Bent Hamer
Feat. Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, Marisa Tomei…; The most droll and tender adaptation of Charles Bukowski's fiction to date has a stocky Matt Dillon chronicle the meandering adventures of 'Hank…
Great New Wonderful, The (2005): Dir. Danny Leiner
Feat. Olympia Dukakis, Jim Gaffigan, Judy Greer…; New York City drama centered around five interweaving stories all of which exhibit a distinctive characteristic of a changing society post–911.…
Havoc (2005): Dir. Barbara Kopple
Feat. Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Freddy Rodríguez…; Two pretty teenage girls in Los Angeles (Hathaway, Phillips) become impatient with the wannabe–gangsta antics of their high–school…
Jewboy (2005): Dir. Tony Krawitz
Feat. Ewen Leslie; A young Rabbi–in–training struggles with the oppression of the strict Hasidic–Jewish faith, tail–spinning into a world of…
Junebug (2005): Dir. Phil Morrison
Feat. Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams…; An enchanting indie gem about an art–dealer whose pursuit of an 'outsider artist' in backwoods North Carolina prompts various life crises,…
Last Days (2005): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento; A questionable meditation on a besieged, drug–addled rock–star, clearly modelled on Kurt Cobain, as he inhabits a remote, decaying…
Lie With Me (2005): Dir. Clement Virgo
Feat. Lauren Lee Smith, Eric Balfour; Honest, if ultimately limited, study of sexual connection and consummation between two emotionally–confused twentysomethings in…
Lonesome Jim (2005): Dir. Steve Buscemi
Feat. Liv Tyler, Casey Affleck, Seymour Cassel…; Another droll indie gem from actor–turned–director Buscemi (TREES LOUNGE), here charting the apathetic trajectory of a listless…
Love (2005): Dir. Vladen Nikolic; Little–known but extremely worthwhile drama lays out several major storylines, but centres on the struggles of a former Serbian soldier trying…
Manderlay (2005): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Bryce Dallas Howard, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe…; Part two of Lars von Trier’s ‘USA’ trilogy reemploys DOGVILLE’s Brechtian framework of stage outlines and minimal props in the odyssey of…
Mozart And The Whale (2005): Dir. Petter Naess
Feat. Josh Hartnett, Radha Mitchell, Gary Cole; An earnestly–conceived dramatic romance in which two Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism) sufferers – a preoccupied taxi–driver…
Mutual Appreciation (2005): Dir. Andrew Bujalski
Feat. Justin Rice, Andrew Bujalski, Kate Dollenmayer…; An authentically amusing, perfectly observed capsule of post–graduate blues from the idiosyncratic dir. of FUNNY HA HA, praised almost…
Puppy (2005): Dir. Kieran Galvin
Feat. Bernard Curry, Nadia Townsend; A self–funded meditation on obsession and love, set in Victoria's pretty Yarra Valley, in which a free spirit is rescued by a delusional…
Room (2005): Dir. Kyle Henry
Feat. Cyndi Williams; Inner visions of a mysterious, expansive "room" begin to afflict a dejected, struggling–class woman (Williams), and, after a near car accident,…
Squid and the Whale, The (2005): Dir. Noah Baumbach
Feat. Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg…; Two brothers negotiate the ebb and flow of adolescence following their parents' divorce in a 'family dysfunction' drama of special distinction,…
Steal Me (2005): Dir. Melissa Painter
Feat. Danny Alexander, Hunter Parrish, Paz de la Huerta; Sensitive rumination on encroaching adulthood, about a 15–year–old kleptomaniac whose friendship with a drifter precipitates…
Trouble With Sex, The (2005): Dir. Fintan Connolly; An impressionistic love story set in rain–clouded Dublin, where two young people – a barman and a lawyer respectively – find solace…
Twelve and Holding (12 and Holding) (2005): Dir. Michael Cuesta
Feat. Jeremy Renner, Zoe Weizenbaum, Conor Donovan…; A dark yet heart–rending coming–of–age indie drama concerning a group of pre–teens coping with life in the aftermath of a…
Wassup Rockers (2005): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Jonathan Velasquez, Francisco Pedrasa, Milton Velasquez; Teen–centric misanthropist Larry Clark offers a shockingly enthusiastic view of contemporary youth in this story of Latino…
9 Songs (Nine Songs) (2004): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Margo Stilley, Kieran O'Brien; A controversially explicit sex'n'rock'n' roll drama about two stray souls – an American student and a British bloke – who over a year…
Assassination of Richard Nixon, The (2004): Dir. Niels Mueller
Feat. Sean Penn, Don Cheadle, Naomi Watts…; The ghost of 'Travis Bickle' (TAXI DRIVER) pervades this accomplished diatribe on the contentious era of Richard Nixon's administration – a…
Before Sunset (2004): Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy; Taking up some nine years after their characters met in BEFORE SUNRISE, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, now in their mid–thirties, reacquaint…
Bullet Boy (2004): Dir. Saul Dibb
Feat. Ashley Walters; Tough expose of London's violent East End tracks the spiralling events and dire consequences which follow the release of a young black man (Walters)…
Coffee and Cigarettes (2004): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Roberto Benigni, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop…; A compendium of whimsical b&w shorts from lapsidaisical indie auteur Jim Jarmusch, set around various celebrity encounters over nicotine and…
Down to the Bone (2004): Dir. Debra Granik
Feat. Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan…; A mother–of–two in wintery upstate New York grapples with cocaine addiction and checks into rehab, only to discover unexpected fissures…
Ellie Parker (2004): Dir. Scott Coffey
Feat. Naomi Watts, Scott Coffey, Chevy Chase; Curiously fascinating Hollywood DV drama in which Naomi Watts plays a aspiring actress in Los Angeles, born out of 2001 short film made before Watts…
Everyday People (2004): Dir. Jim McKay
Feat. Billoah Greene, Reg E. Cathey, Bridget Barker; Ensemble piece in the true spirit of workshopped drama, this telemovie centres on the possible closure of a diner in a working class Brooklyn…
Forty Shades of Blue (2004): Dir. Ira Sachs
Feat. Rip Torn, Dina Korzun; Languid, deep focus Memphis melodrama, in which a Russian trophy wife (Korzun) oscillates between the false love of a wealthy music producer (Torn),…
Garden State (2004): Dir. Zach Braff
Feat. Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm…; Sitcom actor Zach Braff compliments his career in "Scrubs" as the ambitious writer, director and star of this personal, melancholy comedy that became…
Heights (2004): Dir. Chris Terrio
Feat. Glenn Close, James Marsden, Jesse Bradford; The collective aspirations and angst of a group of attractive New Yorkers, all loosely connected to the theatre and art world, collide in showers of…
Keane (2004): Dir. Lodge Kerrigan
Feat. Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan; A powerful and unnerving feat of ‘mental’ endurance, dir. Kerrigan’s follow–up to the equally unsettling CLEAN, SHAVEN plunges the viewer…
Land of Plenty (2004): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Michelle Williams, John Diehl; There's good intentions aplenty in dir. Wenders latest dramatic meditation on the state of post–9/11 America, set mainly around the…
My Summer of Love (2004): Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Feat. Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine; A sunlit teenage escapade, set around two girls who develop an unlikely relationship amid the unpretty but impressive Yorkshire Dales. The…
Mysterious Skin (2004): Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elisabeth Shue, Michelle Trachtenberg…; An acclaimed realisation of 'New Queer Cinema' dir. Araki's early promise, with an uncompromising fable based around a teenage hustler who is…
Palindromes (2004): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Ellen Barkin, Jennifer Jason Leigh; A queasy fairytale about a suburban teenage girl who quests to fall pregnant, does so, but is then forced by her mother (Barkin) to have an abortion,…
Prozac Nation (2004): Dir. Erik Skjoldbjaerg
Feat. Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche…; Rites–of–passage drama distinguished by an intense performance by Christina Ricci, as a young woman struggling through her first year at…
Pure (2004): Dir. Jim Donovan
Feat. Giancarlo Caltabiano, Robert Crooks, Laura Jordan; Boasting one of the hottest music scenes in recent years, Montreal takes centre stage in this character–driven piece involving a girl torn…
She Hate Me (2004): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin…; Another well–packed 'joint' from Spike Lee, has a corporate whistle–blower (Mackie) fired from his job and recruited to impregnate…
Sucker Free City (2004): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Ken Leung, Ben Crowley, Anthony Mackie; Originally a pilot, Spike Lee’s little–known excursion into the realm of Cable TV is an ethnically diverse gang drama converging black,…
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004): Dir. John Curran
Feat. Naomi Watts, Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern…; Toughly gritty and unfairly–overlooked drama about two marriages knotted together in dual adultery, career–crises, and personal cynicism,…
What the Bleep do we Know!? (What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?) (2004): Dir. William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, Mark Vicente
Feat. Marlee Matlin; A unique and certainly popular piece of 'New Age intellectualism", this follows the travails of a deaf photographer (Matlin) through life and…
Whore (Yo Puta / The Life) (2004): Dir. Maria Lidon
Feat. Daryl Hannah, Denise Richards, Joaquim De Almeida; A quasi–documentary about prostitution, which weaves together genuine interviews from Europe with a storyline in which a writer (Richards)…
Wilby Wonderful (2004): Dir. Daniel MacIvor
Feat. Elliot Page, Sandra Oh; Slice–of–life indie drama about the residents of the small island of Wilby and the ups and downs they experience during a typical day.…
All the Real Girls (2003): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Patricia Clarkson, Zooey Deschanel, Paul Schneider; Wistful, nuanced tale set in a tiny North Carolina town, where the town stud must prove himself in a romance with his best friend's…
American Splendor (2003): Dir. Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Feat. Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis; An ambitious celebration of the life of cult US comic–writer Harvey Pekar, told in a quilt–work of monologue, biopic, autobiography and…
Brown Bunny, The (2003): Dir. Vincent Gallo
Feat. Vincent Gallo, Chloe Sevigny; Notoriously egocentric gem from Vincent Gallo, who stars, directs, writes, shoots, edits and produces an intriguingly desultry road–trip across…
Casa de los Babys (2003): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden…; Another quality ensemble drama from dir. John Sayles, that this time brings together six American women waiting to start a family through a Mexican…
Dallas 362 (2003): Dir. Scott Caan
Feat. Scott Caan, Jeff Goldblum, Shawn Hatosy…; Minor but admirable drama about a young man seeking to break away from his stifling life in Los Angeles with the encouragement of his stoner…
Dogville (2003): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall…; This fierce parable of hypocrisy, exploitation and revenge set on a “soundstage” version of 1930s America is a brilliant conception of dir. Lars…
Easy (2003): Dir. Jane Weinstock
Feat. Marguerite Moreau, Brian F O'Byrne, Naveen Andrews…; A nicely–judged indie riff on some of the perennial dilemmas of modern romance, as experienced by two sisters on the quest to find their…
Elephant (2003): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, Timothy Bottoms…; A smoothly crafted, but troubling depiction of the Columbine High School massacre in which two disaffected teenagers planned and staged the multiple…
Japanese Story (2003): Dir. Sue Brooks
Feat. Toni Collette; Winner of 8 AFI–awards, this laconic, but emotionally rich drama makes a brilliant most of its slender road–trip scenario. Colette…
Kiss of Life (2003): Dir. Emily Young
Feat. Peter Mullan, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, David Warner; While an aid–worker (Mullan) cut adrift in wartorn Eastern Europe tries to make his way home to London, his waiting family seem lost in a limbo…
Levity (2003): Dir. Ed Solomon
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter…; A bleak study of the post–prison world of paroled killer Billy Bob Thornten, who is haunted by the spectre of his teenage victim as he attempts…
Lost in Translation (2003): Dir. Sofia Coppola
Feat. Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi; A coolly romantic and engaging tale of a “brief encounter” between two Americans stranded in Tokyo – a movie–star in midlife crisis…
Mean Creek (2003): Dir. Jacob Aaron Estes
Feat. Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelly; Skillful 'delinquent thriller' about a group of highschool kids who plot to humiliate the overweight school bully on a boating daytrip. Though the…
Murmurs (2003): Dir. Alexander Greenhough, Elric Kane
Feat. James Ashcroft, Daniel Northcott, Kristin Smith…; The daily movements of a Mt Victoria flat are wryly observed in this sophomore DV feature from the directors of KISSY KISSY. Ensconced in a…
My Life Without Me (2003): Dir. Isabel Coixet
Feat. Sarah Polley, Mark Ruffalo, Deborah Harry…; This award–winning vignette concerns a young woman (Polley), told by her doctor she has only a short time to live, who strives to secretly…
Northfork (2003): Dir. Michael Polish
Feat. Nick Nolte, James Woods, Daryl Hannah…; Eerie, heavily–stylized independent film with a prestige cast and exquisite design and photography that serve less of a storyline than its…
Owning Mahowny (2003): Dir. Richard Kwietniowski
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, John Hurt…; Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars in this fact–based story of a Toronto bank manager who became legendary for gambling away millions of his…
Party Monster (2003): Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
Feat. Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green, Chloe Sevigny; A dramatization of the rise and fall of dandy NY nightclub promoter Michael Alig, who murdered one of his acolytes in the late 1980s, this depicts…
Pieces of April (2003): Dir. Peter Hedges
Feat. Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson, Derek Luke…; The uncomfortably comic family reunion done in the DAYTRIPPERS mold, with a tattooed Katie Holmes as the spacey black sheep of the clan, who invites…
Rage in Placid Lake, The (2003): Dir. Tony McNamara
Feat. Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson…; Tale of an eccentric bullied teenager, this mordant comedy executes its satire of abnormality without mercy. The titular Lake (Ben Lee)…
Real Women Have Curves (2003): Dir. Patricia Cardoso
Feat. America Ferrera; A natural antidote to Hollywood silicone, this tells the charming coming–of–age story of an ‘ordinary’ Mexican–American…
Secret Lives of Dentists, The (2003): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Campbell Scott, Denis Leary, Hope Davis…; Typically quirky adult fare from dir. Alan Rudolph about two dentists who find cavities in their marriage, this takes imaginative yet distracting…
Station Agent, The (2003): Dir. Tom McCarthy
Feat. Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale; As laid back as its rural New Jersey hamlet setting, this award–winning, small–scale film truthfully captures the worldview of a dwarf.…
Thirteen (2003): Dir. Catherine Hardwicke
Feat. Holly Hunter, Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed; Startling depiction of a young teenager who spins out of control as she falls in with the wrong crowd and beyond the reach of her struggling…
This Girl's Life (2003): Dir. Ash
Feat. Juliette Marquis, James Woods, Michael Rapaport…; A fictionalised 'slice of life' which portrays the experiences of an international porn star (Marquis) and her ailing father (Woods). Aiming to…
Tiptoes (Tiny Tiptoes) (2003): Dir. Matthew Bright
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Gary Oldman, Kate Beckinsale…; Safely quirky indie has Kate Beckinsale and Matthew McConaughey's relationship heading for the rough waters when she discovers his family almost…
United States of Leland, The (2003): Dir. Matthew Ryan Hoge
Feat. Don Cheadle, Ryan Gosling, Chris Klein…; Solid indie drama that plumbs the soul of a youthful murderer (Gosling) and his web of life–connections after he stabs a retarded boy to…
Zero Day (2003): Dir. Ben Coccio
Feat. Andre Keuck, Calvin Robertson; A confronting, fictionalized insight into the nihilistic mind–set of two alienated students who plotted and carried out a violent massacre at…
25th Hour (2002): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Edward Norton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Pepper…; Slowburning drama that revolves around the personal tensions of drug–dealer Edward Norton, whose 8–year prison term begins the next…
Ararat (2002): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Arsinee Khanjian, Charles Aznavour, Christopher Plummer…; A challenging dramatic meditation on the 'forgotten' genocide of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkey during WWI, moulded into an epic of history and…
Better Luck Tomorrow (2002): Dir. Justin Lin
Feat. Perry Shen, Jason J. Tobin, Sung Kang…; Spinning a novel twist on a few cliches, this parable concerns a group of bored Asian–American high schoolers in Orange County, California who…
Blue Car (2002): Dir. Karen Moncrieff
Feat. Agnes Bruckner, David Strathairn; A rites–of–passage drama of distinction, this is realistic and affecting in its account of a high–school student whose flair for…
Bomb the System (2002): Dir. Adam Bhala Lough
Feat. Mark Webber; A tale of alienated youth in New York City, set around a teenager's (Webber) nocturnal activities spraying graffiti around the city streets with a…
Drumline (2002): Dir. Charles Stone III
Feat. Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones; Depicting the journey of a talented street drummer from Harlem into the world of big–time stadium marching bands, this is short on story moves,…
Face (2002): Dir. Bertha Bay-Sa Pan
Feat. Ling Bai, Will Yun Lee, Kirsty Wu…; Chinese–American drama that deals commendably with familiar themes of relationships, marriage and cultural identity. Alternating its…
Far From Heaven (2002): Dir. Todd Haynes
Feat. Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert; An exquisitely designed pastiche of 50s soap opera that mimics the look and acting style of vintage–movie melodrama but cleverly deviates by…
Full Frontal (2002): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. Julia Roberts, Catherine Keener, David Duchovny…; Director Stephen Soderbergh calls on the favours of famous friends for a makeshift, semi–improvised poke at the film industry that only a…
Funny Ha Ha (2002): Dir. Andrew Bujalski
Feat. Kate Dollenmayer; Less 'funny ha ha' than funny peculiar drama about a young woman's desultry efforts to move on in life after completing her university degree. Its…
Gerry (2002): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Casey Affleck, Matt Damon; A stark return to experimentalism for dir. Van Sant, in the form of a narrative about two friends, both named Gerry (Damon and Affleck), whose hiking…
Good Girl, The (2002): Dir. Miguel Arteta
Feat. Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly…; Quirky, downbeat comedy about people stuck with dead end lives in small–town America adds a string to the bow of acting challenges for starlet…
Igby Goes Down (2002): Dir. Burr Steers
Feat. Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum…; More than meets the eye in this indie New York satire about an over–educated ‘slacker’ experiencing growing pains amid upper…
Invincible (2002): Dir. Werner Herzog
Feat. Tim Roth, Udo Kier; An interesting treatment of the lives of the (secretly) Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbart and nightclub impressario Erik Jan Hanussen (Roth), who…
Laurel Canyon (2002): Dir. Lisa Cholodenko
Feat. Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale…; Dropping in on the LA music scene, the writer–director of HIGH ART returns to her pet theme of conservatism yielding to a bohemianism, but…
Leo (2002): Dir. Mehdi Norowzian
Feat. Elisabeth Shue, Joseph Fiennes, Dennis Hopper…; A murderer freshly released from prison attempts to get his life back to an orderly state while assisting a friend to deal with an alcohol dependent…
Love Liza (2002): Dir. Todd Louiso
Feat. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates; Freshly widowed after his wife’s suicide, Phillip Seymour Hoffman staggers through and downward in an endearingly wacky yet affecting portrait of…
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002): Dir. Shane Meadows
Feat. Robert Carlyle, Kathy Burke, Ricky Tomlinson…; The bittersweet dramatics of dir. Meadows (ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS) get a fresh telling in this Nottingham drama, with the added spin of some ironic…
Personal Velocity (2002): Dir. Rebecca Miller
Feat. Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, Fairuza Balk; Daughter of playwright Arthur Miller, Rebecca, announces herself as a talent worthy of her famous father on evidence of her second feature – a…
Pumpkin (2002): Dir. Adam Larson Broder, Tony R Abrams
Feat. Christina Ricci, Hank Harris, Brenda Blethyn; Politically–confused blackly comic satire that follows the progress of Christina Ricci's 'inappropriate' romantic fixation with a disabled…
Raising Victor Vargas (2002): Dir. Peter Sollett
Feat. Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte; A sensitive, appealing urban coming of age story set in a Hispanic New York subculture that rewardingly favours low–key incident over…
Relative Evil (Ball in the House) (2002): Dir. Tanya Wexler
Feat. Jonathan Tucker, Jennifer Tilly, David Strathairn…; Deceptively marketed as a kind of "wicked stepmother" thriller, this is instead a well–constructed, paranoid black comedy about a teenage…
Roger Dodger (2002): Dir. Dylan Kidd
Feat. Campbell Scott, Jesse Eisenberg, Jennifer Beals…; Dodging expectations all–round, this devastating black comedy has a standout script and performances, especially Campbell Scott as the callous…
Secretary (2002): Dir. Steven Shainberg
Feat. James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies…; A spanking good black comedy detailing the bizarre relationship between a peculiar, ill–tempered lawyer and the meek secretary he…
Skins (2002): Dir. Chris Eyre
Feat. Graham Greene; An unglamorous and brutal depiction of life on a Native American reservation, this articulates the rage of a group of people relegated to the fringes…
Slaughter Rule, The (2002): Dir. Alex Smith, Andrew J Smith
Feat. David Morse, Ryan Gosling, Clea Duvall…; Mounted on the icy prairies of Montana, this feted ‘indie’ drama sensitively portrays the balance of friendship between a troubled teenager and…
Spun (2002): Dir. Jonas Akerlund
Feat. Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo…; A cinematically exhilarating depiction of existence among a group of methamphetamine (P) addicts in Los Angeles, that is sure to divide audiences as…
Sunshine State (2002): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Angela Bassett, Jane Alexander, Edie Falco…; Thoughtful, tightly woven ensemble drama from renowned indie filmmaker Sayles, surveys the native populous of a small Florida island community as…
Teknolust (2002): Dir. Lynn Hershman-Leeson
Feat. Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Davies, Karen Black; Human and artificial frontiers overlap to intriguing effect in this independent feature propelled by Tilda Swinton in four incarnations – a…
Anniversary Party, The (2001): Dir. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Cumming
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Alan Cumming, Kevin Kline…; A wedding anniversary celebration sets the scene for a riveting expose of Hollywood private lives who play host to a large ensemble playing…
Business of Strangers, The (2001): Dir. Patrick Stettner
Feat. Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles, Frederick Weller; In what amounts to a gender–flip of “In the Company of Men”, Stocking Channing and Julia Stiles are business women polarized by money,…
Donnie Darko (2001): Dir. Richard Kelly
Feat. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore…; Admired by critics and an ardent fanbase for its originality and eclecticism, this quirky teen fantasy is arguably a slick patchwork of other movie…
Down and Out With the Dolls (2001): Dir. Kurt Voss; Based around the rise and fall of an all–grrl goth–rock band in early 1990s Portland, Oregon, this packs enough scene authenticity to…
Fast Food Fast Women (2001): Dir. Amos Ollek
Feat. Anna Thomson; Set within a New York diner and the coming–and–going of customers and staff, this gentle indie–drama serves up some charming comedy…
Festival in Cannes (2001): Dir. Henry Jaglom
Feat. Anouk Aimee, Greta Scacchi, Maximilian Schell…; Not a documentary, but just as ‘real’ in the hands of veteran independent director Henry Jaglom, who fashions a delightfully candid…
Four Days (2001): Dir. Curtis Wehrfritz
Feat. Colm Meaney, Lolita Davidovich, Kevin Zegers…; This accomplished 'existential thriller', based on 60s crime novel by John Buell, fuses genre conventions with weightier concerns about loneliness…
Ghost World (2001): Dir. Terry Zwigoff
Feat. Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi…; Nothing to do with the paranormal, but everything to do with the anti–normal, this independent gem is a surprisingly endearing tale of two…
Guinevere (2001): Dir. Audrey Wells
Feat. Sarah Polley, Stephen Rea; Sarah Polley (GO) headlines in this Sundance–winning indie, as a directionless Harvard graduate who falls under the spell of…
In the Bedroom (2001): Dir. Todd Field
Feat. Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl…; Both deservingly nominated for Oscars, Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson hardly miss a beat as the middle–aged couple forced to deal with the…
Jackpot (2001): Dir. Michael Polish
Feat. Garrett Morris, Adam Baldwin, Anthony Edwards…; An aspiring country–singer abandons his family and attempts to 'hit the jackpot' on the small–time karaoke circuit of the…
Julie Johnson (2001): Dir. Bob Gosse
Feat. Lili Taylor, Courtney Love, Mischa Barton…; Lily Taylor makes good fist of a wannabe scientist in this empowering story of a downtrodden housewife in pursuit of knowledge and…
Late Night Shopping (2001): Dir. Saul Metzstein
Feat. James Lance; Amiable comedy set in the oddball world of late night shift–workers, stacking shelves in contemporary England. Set around a group of four…
Love the Hard Way (2001): Dir. Peter Sehr
Feat. Adrien Brody, Pam Grier; Big–city fable with Brody playing a snakeskin–jacketed thief with some polished one–liners, who nurses a secret ambition to be a…
Lovely and Amazing (2001): Dir. Nicole Holofcener
Feat. Catherine Keener, Brenda Blethyn, Jake Gyllenhaal…; Rewarding indie drama – seasoned with touches of painful comedy – that observes the troubles between three sisters waiting for their…
Navigators, The (2001): Dir. Ken Loach
Feat. Thomas Craig, Dean Andrews, Andy Swallow; Following British Rail’s privatisation in the mid–90s, a group of railway workers must steer their way through the rough times in this…
On_Line (OnLine) (2001): Dir. Jed Weintrob
Feat. Josh Hamilton, Harold Perrineau, Jr., Isabel Gillies…; Modest ‘indie’ effort that explores the relationships of six people who connect via the chat room of a sex–based website run by two of the…
Safety of Objects, The (2001): Dir. Rose Troche
Feat. Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Patricia Clarkson…; A multi–stranded drama set in a quietly unusual version of American suburbia where seamy dysfunction co–exists with surreal…
Tape (2001): Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard; Three school friends reunite for an evening of reminiscence and recrimination, in this tense, coiled drama filmed in ‘fly on the wall’ style by…
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001): Dir. Jill Sprecher
Feat. Matthew McConaughey, Alan Arkin, John Turturro…; Not just chit–chat, but drama with its philosophical head screwed on, the various lives of middle–class Bostonians (a hot–shot…
This is Not a Love Story (2001): Dir. Keith Hill
Feat. Stephen Lovatt, Sarah Smuts-Kennedy; Exploring the dynamics of a love–triangle between a soap–opera actor and two women, this local 'DV drama' from debuting dir. Hill catches…
Animal Factory (2000): Dir. Steve Buscemi
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Tom Arnold…; Retaining the indie principles that distinguished TREES LOUNGE, dir. Buscemi crafts unflashy, insightful drama out of ex–con Edward…
Believer, The (2000): Dir. Henry Bean
Feat. Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix, Theresa Russell…; The darker side of Jewish identity is examined in this risky, provocative drama about a disillusioned young man who tries to reconcile his repressed…
Brooklyn Babylon (2000): Dir. Marc Levin
Feat. Tariq Trotter, Karen Goberman; ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is transposed to the back alleys of Brooklyn in this volatile clash of cultures, centered on a forbidden romance between a…
Chuck and Buck (2000): Dir. Miguel Arteta
Feat. Chris Weitz, Mike White, Paul Weitz…; Squirmingly funny independent film that makes exemplary use of its small budget with a sustained, original script and handsome digital videography.…
Everything Put Together (2000): Dir. Marc Forster
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Megan Mullally; Terse, psychologically demanding chamber piece that unravels the inner and domestic turmoil of a suburban mother whose newborn baby dies tragically…
George Washington (2000): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Candace Evanofski, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee; With impressionistic widescreen photography, this low–key coming–of–age film frames its North Carolinan setting as the key player…
Girlfight (2000): Dir. Karyn Kusama
Feat. Michelle Rodriguez; A teenage girl breaks out of her working–class rut by training as a boxer, an arena that presents sexual prejudice as her chief opponent.…
Groove (2000): Dir. Greg Harrison
Feat. Mackenzie Firgens, Lola Glaudini, Denny Kirkwood; A night out at a San Francisco rave, evoking with dope–fuelled delirium the chaos as various party–goers either groove, burnout, get lost…
Ivans xtc (2000): Dir. Bernard Rose
Feat. Danny Huston, Peter Weller; Not just another Hollywood–insider morality tale, this micro–budget wonder about the last days of hot–shot talent agent emerges as…
Pledge, The (2000): Dir. Sean Penn
Feat. Jack Nicholson, Robin Wright, Helen Mirren…; Sean Penn as director's pledge to the stuff of raw drama pays off with a thriller/parable centred round a powerhouse turn from Jack Nicholson. As…
Series 7: The Contenders (2000): Dir. Daniel Minahan
Feat. Brooke Smith, Marylouise Burke; The scourge of ‘reality–TV’ gets its comeuppance (or homage?) in this ultraviolent satire. We’re in the near–future,…
Shirt, The (2000): Dir. John Laing
Feat. Brian Sargent, Kirsty King-Turner, Jeff Szusterman…; Chiefly the creation of Wellingtonian writer/producer Ross Bevan, this hits hard as a raw study of three career–junkies ‘led’ by a…
Urbania (2000): Dir. Jon Shear
Feat. Dan Futterman, Alan Cumming, Matt Keesler; Edgy indie hit following the insomniac wanderings of a dashing yuppie who is coping with the death of his partner. A hit at the 2000 Sundance Film…
Virgin Suicides, The (2000): Dir. Sofia Coppola
Feat. Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, James Woods…; An aptly seductive adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’ acclaimed romantic tragedy set in a sleepy Michigan community in the mid–70s. Kirsten…
Waiting Place, The (2000): Dir. Cristobal Araus Lobos; A carefully made 'DV–feature' about two unstable prison–escapers who traverse an overgrown rural landscape towards a rendezvous at an…
You Can Count On Me (2000): Dir. Kenneth Lonergan
Feat. Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Kieran Culkin…; Winner of Best Picture at Sundance 2000, this bittersweet comedy, woven around the smalltown reunion of long–separated siblings Laura Linney…
Adventures of Sebastian Cole, The (1999): Dir. Tod Williams
Feat. Adrian Genier; A Sundance nominee of 1999, this small, unusual drama turns back the clock to the early 1980s as a family fragments when Dad announces he's having a…
Black and White (1999): Dir. James Toback
Feat. Robert Downey Jnr., Brooke Shields, Wu Tang Clan…; Risk–taking ensemble drama from the maverick dir. of TWO GUYS AND A GIRL and FINGERS, set in a Manhattan where rich white kids clash with the…
Body Shots (1999): Dir. Michael Cristofer
Feat. Sean Patrick Flannery, Amanda Peet, Tara Reid…; Flashy tale of eight twentysomethings shares its style, setting and cultural niche with GO, dividing neatly into four typically smug boys and four…
Boys Don't Cry (1999): Dir. Kimberly Peirce
Feat. Hilary Swank, Chloe Sevigny, Brendon Sexton III; Widely touted dramatisation of the true–life 'Brandon Teena' tragedy set in the grim badlands of America's Midwest, where a teenage girl…
Daddy and Them (1999): Dir. Billy Bob Thornton
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, Laura Dern, Kelly Preston…; Low–key, quirky and casually paced, dir. Thornton's tribute to his roots unfolds as an Arkansas clan draw together to support their imprisoned…
Don's Plum (1999): Dir. RD Robb
Feat. Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marissa Ribisis…; A B&W nocturnal drama that gathers around 4 young couples who mingle in a night–club over cocktails to banter, discuss their sex–lives…
Elephant Juice (1999): Dir. Sam Miller
Feat. Emmanuelle Beart, Sean Gallagher, Daniel Lapaine; The makers of the cult late–night TV–series ‘This Life’, extract a similar blend of drama, ennui and pathos from the lives of…
Entropy (1999): Dir. Phil Joanou
Feat. Stephen Dorff; A rock–video director for U2, Stephen Dorff talks/confesses to his own camcorder about how he came to New York, hung out and fell in love with…
Feeling Sexy (1999): Dir. Davida Allen
Feat. Susie Porter, Tamblyn Lord; Short and sweet indie deals with young suburban housewife's desires for sexual and creative fulfilment in the face of claustrophobic domesticity.…
Go (1999): Dir. Doug Liman
Feat. Sarah Polley, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr…; The director of SWINGERS switches focus to the reckless chic of LA's twentysomething rave scene, brandishing a slew of racy taboos, an impossibly…
L.A. Without a Map (1999): Dir. Mika Kaurismaki
Feat. David Tennant, Vincent Gallo, Julie Delpy…; A young Scottish undertaker (Tennant) follows an aspiring American actress back to La–la land, where he competes with the shallow excesses and…
Playing by Heart (1999): Dir. Willard Carroll
Feat. Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Gillian Anderson…; Ambitious multi–character film along the lines of SHORT CUTS, likewise set in the varying social strata of Los Angeles, but infused with…
Pornographer, The (1999): Dir. Doug Aitchison
Feat. Craig Wasson; A despairing young loner finds self–esteem and success as a pornographer, but quickly finds himself on the receiving end of exploitation. Rises…
Summer of Sam (1999): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino…; Getting some distance from his usual street–scene, Spike Lee lets off a real firecracker of a film, set during the heatwave summer of 1977,…
Sunburn (1999): Dir. Nelson Hume
Feat. Paloma Baeza, Cillian Murphy, Barry Ward…; Minor–key indie with Paloma Baeza as an Irish drifter who takes the easy path of a summer’s slacking in Long Island, USA. Music by The High…
Sunset Strip (1999): Dir. Adam Collis
Feat. Jared Leto, Tommy Flanagan, Adam Goldberg…; Not the BOOGIE–NIGHTS–retread it appears, this intimate, reflective tribute to Los Angeles' hedonistic club…
Twin Falls Idaho (1999): Dir. Michael Polish
Feat. Michael Polish, Mark Polish; Unique film on the subject of Siamese twins has an extra spin – the identical twin writer–director team also play the lead roles.…
Acid House, The (1998): Dir. Paul McGuigan
Feat. Stephen McCole, Maurice Roeves, Garry Sweeney; Those with a taste for undiluted Irvine Welsh (author of TRAINSPOTTING) will find warts–and–all satisfaction in this portmanteau of three…
Afterglow (1998): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Lara Flynn Boyle…; At times precious but ultimately wise drama of multiple adulteries sees disjointed couple Nick Nolte (plumber) and Julie Christie (ex–horror…
Another Day in Paradise (1998): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Melanie Griffiths, Vincent Kartheiser, Natasha Gregson Wagner…; The director of KIDS injects his trademark 'heroin chic' into the lowlife crime genre, though the effect by now seems passe and unshocking.…
Basil (1998): Dir. Radha Bharadwaj
Feat. Jared Leto, Christian Slater, Derek Jacobi…; Novel–based Victorian–era romance starring a veritable feast of eye candy in the form of Leto, Slater and Forlani as the beautiful young…
Book of Life (1998): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Martin Donovan, Polly Jean Harvey, Thomas Jay Ryan; The return of Jesus Christ in the hours prior to Armageddon, December 31, 1999, is told in a series of wry, amusing and thoughtful scenes by indie…
Brave, The (1998): Dir. Johnny Depp
Feat. Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando; Johnny Depp's much–derided directorial debut is an over–ambitious epic look at a desperate character who sells himself into snuff movies.…
Buffalo 66 (1998): Dir. Vincent Gallo
Feat. Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara…; Released from prison after doing someone else's time, an embittered yet benign loner sets about evening the score, but not before kidnapping a sweet…
Fishing Trip, The (1998): Dir. Amnon Buchbinder
Feat. Jhene Erwin, Melissa Hood, Anna Henry; Independent drama made when director Amnon Buchbinder was a student at the Candian Film Centre, telling a story of two sisters who confront their…
Happiness (1998): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Lara Flynn Boyle, Dylan Baker, Philip Seymour Hoffman…; Controversial is the byword for this disturbing trawl through the sad–case lives of various American suburbanites and their families (Lara…
Henry Fool (1998): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Thomas Jay Ryan, Parker Posey, James Urbaniak…; Hal Hartley gathers several unlikely narrative threads concerning a bottled–up trashman composing an epic poem while under the spell of…
High Art (1998): Dir. Lisa Cholodenko
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy; Accepted into the fold of her washed–up, drug–addled neighbours, a curious young photojournalist (Rahda Mitchell) finds professional and…
Last Days of Disco (1998): Dir. Whit Stillman
Feat. Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale; Not so much a nostalgia trip as a literate comedy of manners a la 1980s Manhattan, dissecting the sashays on the social dancefloor among a troupe of…
Love And Rage (1998): Dir. Cathal Black
Feat. Greta Scacchi, Daniel Craig, Stephen Dillane; Tantalising Irish melodrama starring Greta Scacchi as an English aristocrat who hires Daniel Craig as manager for her sumptuous estate and ends up…
Lulu On the Bridge (1998): Dir. Paul Auster
Feat. Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, Willem Dafoe; A baffling series of events beset jazz–saxophonist Harvey Keitel after a near–death experience in this hard–to–summarise,…
Men with Guns (1998): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Frederico Luppi; Criminally denied a theatrical release, this masterful study of Third World realities is arguably prolific indie dir. John Sayles most accomplished…
Miss Monday (1998): Dir. Benson Lee
Feat. James Hicks, Andrea Hart; An improving indie thriller sets its improbable but well–realised story around a struggling screenwriter, who sneaks into a woman's apartment…
Price Above Rubies, A (1998): Dir. Boaz Yakin
Feat. Renee Zellweger, Christopher Eccleston, Julianne Margulies…; Sincere though meddlesome attempt to depict life in the closed society of Hasidic Judaism, finds it hard to measure up to dir. Boaz Yakin's…
Slam (1998): Dir. Marc Levin; Tight, impassioned street–drama that won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance in 1998, following the travails of a petty drug–dealer whose…
Smoke Signals (1998): Dir. Chris Eyre
Feat. Adam Beach, Evan Adams, Irene Bedard; Entirely made and funded by Native American Indians, this is both a fresh, palpably authentic portrait of a minority culture and an engrossing…
Whatever (1998): Dir. Susan Skoog
Feat. Lisa Weil; Beset by apathy, uncertainty and her indulgent best friend, a teenage girl falls victim to her own adolescence while trying to complete her final…
Your Friends and Neighbours (1998): Dir. Neil LaBute
Feat. Jason Patric, Amy Brenneman, Nastassja Kinski…; Both elegant and caustic, this dark, dark comedy from Neil LaBute mingles with a pack of handsome, sexually carnivorous and frustrated urbanites…
Affliction (1997): Dir. Paul Schrader
Feat. Nick Nolte, James Coburn, Sissy Spacek…; A murder–mystery obscured in a snowbound landscape of wrecked relationships and alcoholic longings, this gets right under the skin of its…
All Over Me (1997): Dir. Alex Sichel
Feat. Alison Folland, Tara Subkoff, Cole Hauser…; A lesbian festival hit that has 'crossover' hit written all over it, as it persuasively pinpoints some of the universal, intense emotions of…
Apostle, The (1997): Dir. Robert Duvall
Feat. Robert Duvall, Miranda Richardson, Billy Bob Thornton; Labour of love – in the best possible sense – for Robert Duvall (as Actor/Writer/Director), raising hellfire as a repentant…
Bastard Out of Carolina (1997): Dir. Anjelica Huston
Feat. Anjelica Huston, Jena Malone, Jennifer Jason Leigh…; In her directing debut, Anjelica Huston boldly renders the indelicacies of a grim coming–of–age story, but its success is thanks largely…
Blackout, The (1997): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Matthew Modine, Claudia Schiffer; Dir. Abel Ferrara spills more lurid behaviour all over the screen just like he did in BAD LIEUTENANT. Matthew Modine does the honours for this spin…
Boogie Nights (1997): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds…; LA's San Fernando Valley, the late '70s. Mark Wahlberg is Eddie Adams, an anatomically gifted innocent who finds his niche in the cradle of a…
Clockwatchers (1997): Dir. Jill Sprecher
Feat. Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow…; Four office temps band together in an oppressive (and outdated?) corporate environment – too bad they're caricatures: Toni Collette is…
Dream with the Fishes (1997): Dir. Finn Taylor
Feat. David Arquette, Brad Hunt; Its 'indie' Americana revisited – two mismatched loners on the ultra–hip road to oblivion or redemption – whichever comes first. …
Female Perversions (1997): Dir. Susan Streitfeld
Feat. Tilda Swinton; Based on the Freudian texts of noted psychoanalyst Louise Kaplan, this serious–minded, erotically charged and stylish film probes several…
House of Yes, The (1997): Dir. Mark Waters
Feat. Parker Posey, Josh Hamilton, Tori Spelling…; In supremely malicious mode, Parker Posey plays an obsessive, spoiled brat who threatens to topple over the brink of sanity when her beloved twin…
Hurricane Streets (1997): Dir. Morgan J. Freeman
Feat. Brendon Sexton III, Antoine McLean; The excellent Brendan Sexton III (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE) does a sympathetic about–turn for this unflashy take on teenage delinquency. It…
In the Company of Men (1997): Dir. Neil LaBute
Feat. Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards; The year's most–discussed filmic skirmish in the war of the sexes is also one of its more outrageous black comedies. Two corporate exec's on…
Last Time I Committed Suicide, The (1997): Dir. Stephen T. Kay
Feat. Thomas Jane, Keanu Reeves, Adrien Brody…; Free–spirited odyssey inspired by a letter from the pen of beatnik hedonist Neal Cassady. See Keanu Reeves smoke, drink and shoot pool in…
Lawn Dogs (1997): Dir. John Duigan
Feat. Sam Rockwell, Mischa Barton; The Australian director of THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE applies a lightly–stylised Antipodean touch to this American tale of a friendship between a…
Myth of Fingerprints, The (1997): Dir. Bart Freundlich
Feat. Roy Scheider, Julianne Moore; A bittersweet backhander across the cheek of that American family institution: Thanksgiving Dinner, in this case not the venue for amicable…
Niagara Niagara (1997): Dir. Bob Gosse
Feat. Robin Tunney, Henry Thomas, Michael Parks…; If you have the stamina to hit the road again with another pair of white–trash, gun–crazy young lovers (who meet while shoplifting), this…
Quiet Room, The (1997): Dir. Rolf De Heer
Feat. Celine O'Leary, Paul Blackwell; Low budget, almost experimental film from the dir. of BAD BOY BUBBY, who organically developed the script around his real–life daughters.…
She's So Lovely (1997): Dir. Nick Cassavetes
Feat. Robin Wright, Sean Penn, John Travolta; As a low–life couple whose romantic intensity borders on madness, married double–act Robin Wright and Sean Penn off–handedly…
Sling Blade (1997): Dir. Billy Bob Thornton
Feat. Billy Bob Thornton, John Ritter, Dwight Yoakam; Billy Bob Thornton performs a truly impressive writer–director–actor hat–trick for his remarkable tale about an asylum inmate…
Suburbia (1997): Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Giovanni Ribisi, Parker Posey, Steve Zahn…; Dir. Linklater returns to his favourite milieu – the teen angst movie – only this time working from someone else's material, a play by…
Ulee's Gold (1997): Dir. Victor Nunez
Feat. Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Jessica Biel; Peter Fonda gives good grace as an ageing, emotionally reticent beekeeper who is much less at ease with what's going on in his family's hive, a unit…
Under the Skin (1997): Dir. Carine Adler
Feat. Samantha Morton, Claire Rushbrook, Rita Tushingham; After her mother's untimely death, a young woman bereaves through a series of casual sexual, and increasingly masochistic, encounters. Samantha…
Basquiat (1996): Dir. Julian Schnabel
Feat. Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Gary Oldman…; The director sends a post–mortem loveletter to his friend and contemporary, Jean–Michel Basquiat, a celebrated but fragile New York black…
Breaking the Waves (1996): Dir. Lars Von Trier
Feat. Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge…; Significant art–house hit about obsessive faith and self–sacrifice, set in a puritanical village on the Scottish coast. A naive young…
Dogs (Dogs: The Rise and Fall of an All-Girl Bookie Joint) (1996): Dir. Eve Annenburg
Feat. Pam Columbus, Pam Gray, Melody Beal…; Four Brooklyn women opt for a life of running an illegal bookie joint, over the dead–end, unemployed lifestyle of the local area. In her debut,…
Driftwood (1996): Dir. Ronan O'Leary
Feat. James Spader; A washed–up, amnesiac James Spader is beachcombed in remote Ireland by borderline obsessive Anne Brochet, who gets rather possessive when he…
Feeling Minnesota (1996): Dir. Steve Baigelman
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Vincent D'Onofrio…; Another in a line of sorry tales of violence, aimlessness and broken dreams, this represents everything that was bad about independent (American)…
Get On the Bus (1996): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Danny Glover, Will Smith, Wesley Snipes; A highly combustible mixed–bag of black men journey by bus to the Million Man March in Washington DC, a march of affirmation for a troubled…
Girls Town (1996): Dir. Jim McKay
Feat. Lili Taylor, Idina Harris, Anna Grace; Winner of both the Filmmaker's Trophy and the Special Jury prize at Sundance, this little seen film was one of genuine highlights of the 1997 NZ Film…
God's Lonely Man (1996): Dir. Francis Von Zerneck
Feat. Michael Wyle, Jamie Walters; The story of St. Francis of Assisi is loosely transposed to the underbelly of modern LA – a redemption–seeking nervous loner befriends a…
Grace of My Heart (1996): Dir. Allison Anders
Feat. John Turturro, Eric Stoltz, Matt Dillon…; Inspired by the career path of Carole King, this episodic tale charts the mixed fortunes of a female singer/songwriter in the thick of the…
Hard Eight (Sydney) (1996): Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Feat. Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Cucumber–cool first feature set in the thick of Reno's casino culture, boasts four superb character–based performances and extended…
I Shot Andy Warhol (1996): Dir. Mary Harron
Feat. Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, Martha Plimpton; Both an absorbing time capsule of Warhol's 'factory' ultra–decadence and a gutsy portrait of extremism and delusion. Lili Taylor is a dynamo of…
Jason's Lyric (1996): Dir. Doug McHenry
Feat. Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Forest Whitaker…; If you can't get enough boys in the 'hood, there's plenty of bloodshed and moral penance to be found in this tale of doomed lovers struggling to…
Keeper, The (1996): Dir. Joe Brewster
Feat. Giancarlo Esposito, Isaach de Bankole, Regina Taylor…; An idealistic black corrections officer bails out and offers shelter to a Haitian immigrant unjustly accused of rape, a gesture that will profoundly…
Kissed (1996): Dir. Lynne Stopkewich
Feat. Molly Parker, Peter Outerbridge; A woman develops an unusual fascination with dead rodents that becomes a desire for embalming humans and blossoms into full–blown, ahem,…
Loaded (1996): Dir. Anna Campion
Feat. Oliver Milburn, Dearbhla Molloy, Danny Cunningham…; Fans of Trainspotting will connect with this compelling snapshot of the E–generation – an acid–inflected psychodrama that unfolds…
Lowball (1996): Dir. Demian Lichenstein
Feat. Peter Greene; Grimy, low–budget drama pursues NY cop Peter Greene through the mire of his deep cover assignment, as the various temptations of the scumbag…
No Way Home (1996): Dir. Buddy Giovinazzo
Feat. Tim Roth, James Russo, Deborah Kara Unger; A recently paroled Tim Roth finds his hopes for a new life threatened by his brothers involvement with drugs. Though the introduction of a thriller…
Safe (1996): Dir. Todd Haynes
Feat. Julianne Moore, Peter Friedman, Xander Berkeley…; This subtly gripping and rewarding portrait of neurosis stars Julianne Moore as a fragile '80s LA housewife who takes refuge at a health compound in…
Trees Lounge (1996): Dir. Steve Buscemi
Feat. Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Anthony LaPaglia…; Lovelorn, unemployed mechanic Steve Buscemi drags himself downstairs each day to the local watering hole of the title for bouts of…
Unhook the Stars (1996): Dir. Nick Cassavetes
Feat. Gena Rowlands, Marisa Tomei, Gerard Depardieu; Ageing widow Gena Rowlands forms an unlikely bond with a seven–year old neighbour and his abrasive mother in this absorbing drama, directed…
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996): Dir. Todd Solondz
Feat. Heather Matarazzo, Victoria Davis; Winner of the grand prize at Sundance '96, this is a blackly comic portrait of a dreaded kind of coming–of–age. Teenage persecution and…
Amateur (1995): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Isabelle Huppert, Martin Donovan, Elina Lowensohn; Hal Hartley approaches the conventions of a thriller in further probing his fixation with dysfunctional romance and relationships, and thus checks in…
Basketball Diaries, The (1995): Dir. Scott Calvert
Feat. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Juliette Lewis…; Leonardo DiCaprio excels as a young Jim Carroll, an infamous New York poet/musician/junkie who maintained a personal journal through a…
Before Sunrise (1995): Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy; Young tourists American Ethan Hawke and French Julie Delpy, meet by chance on a train in Europe and spend the following twelve hours…
Brothers in Trouble (1995): Dir. Udayan Prasad
Feat. Om Puri, Angeline Ball; A Pakistani illegal–immigrant family struggle to maintain an income and dignity in a grim '60s Midland town. Bittersweet tragicomedy.
Brothers Mcmullen, The (1995): Dir. Edward Burns
Feat. Edward Burns; Filmed on weekends over two years at his family home, Ed Burns' DIY romantic comedy went on to win the Grand Prize at the 1995 Sundance Festival.…
Dead Man (1995): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Johnny Depp, Iggy Pop, Lance Henriksen; A unique meditation on the mystique of the Wild West, branded with the distinctive marks of dir. Jarmusch's dilatory tempo and playful eccentricity.…
Delinquent (1995): Dir. Peter Hall
Feat. Desmond Devenish, Shawn Batten, Jeff Paul; The dysfunctional initiation into adulthood of a 15–year–old in a rural East Coast backwater. Atmospheric, with a groovy soundtrack by…
Flirt (1995): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Parker Posey, Martin Donovan; Moderately successful filmic experiment from Hal Hartley, peddling his usual studied ironies in a story told three times over, in New York, Berlin…
Fresh (1995): Dir. Boaz Yakin
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson; The best, and dare we say it, freshest, of the Black–American street fables to emerge in recent years, a fascinating story evolves from a young…
Heavy (1995): Dir. James Mangold
Feat. Pruitt Taylor Vince, Liv Tyler, Deborah Harry…; Pruitt Taylor Vince leads a terrific cult cast for this intimate, almost despairing, portrait of sexual longing. Imagine ERASERHEAD steeped in the…
Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love (1995): Dir. Maria Maggenti
Feat. Laurel Holloman, Nicole Parker; A giddy celebration of first love, that just happens to be between a lesbian outcast and a affluent African–American beauty. Low–budget…
Kicking and Screaming (1995): Dir. Noah Baumbach
Feat. Josh Hamilton, Eric Stoltz, Elliott Gould…; Several college grads flounder in love and with prospects of the future. Dialogue–intensive comedy borrows its philosophical vantage and acting…
Kids (1995): Dir. Larry Clark
Feat. Leo Fitzpatrick, Sarah Henderson, Justin Pierce…; Cult photographer Larry Clark's debut, 24hrs of New York streetkid life, attracted immediate controversy. The unblinking depictions of sex, drugs and…
Low Life, The (1995): Dir. George Hickenlooper
Feat. Rory Cochrane, Sean Astin, Kyra Sedgwick; Amiable, intelligent US independent about a young writer who moves to L.A. to find a struggle in the simplest things, let alone his hopes of taking…
Rude (1995): Dir. Clement Virgo
Feat. Maurice Dean Wint, Rachael Crawford, Clark Johnson; Three separate stories focus on personal crises in the housing projects of Toronto. A Canadian take on the ghetto drama, that is a refreshingly…
S.F.W. (1995): Dir. Jefery Levy
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Reese Witherspoon; Based on a significant Gen–X novel, Stephen Dorff plays Cliff Spab, a teenage loser who garners a major cult following as a hostage in a…
Barcelona (1994): Dir. Whit Stillman
Feat. Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman, Mira Sorvino; The director's METROPOLITAN was an acquired taste with its esoteric subject and unusual tone, and this will just as likely delight or infuriate.…
Crooklyn (1994): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo; Spike Lee fondly (and not so fondly) remembers some of the sights and sounds of '70s Brooklyn that shaped his distinctive outlook. A labour of love…
Exotica (1994): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Elias Koteas, Don McKellar, Mia Kirshner; Canadian dir. Atom Egoyan consummates his voyeuristic obsessions to a creative zenith with a critical masterpiece that aims straight at the most…
Fun (1994): Dir. Rafal Zielinski
Feat. Renee Humphrey, Alicia Witt; Two teenage girls just want to have fun, but their obsessive pursuit of it leads them to murder an old lady for no other reason. This remarkable…
Girls in Prison (1994): Dir. John McNaughton
Feat. Ione Skye, Anne Heche, Jon Polito…; An aspiring rock singer is framed for murder and thrown into jail with birds eager to engage in alot more than a friendly round of…
Glass Shield, The (1994): Dir. Charles Burnett
Feat. Ice-Cube, Lori Petty; A black police officer is divided by loyalties to his race and to his fellow officers when a black street punk (Ice Cube) is accused of murdering a…
Higher Learning (1994): Dir. John Singleton
Feat. Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson; There's never a dull moment on this college campus, in between the black militants and neo–nazis, Jew and gay bashing, date rapes,…
Little Odessa (1994): Dir. James Gray
Feat. Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Vanessa Redgrave…; Fugutive assassin Tim Roth returns home to the Russian quarter of New York, where personal problems compound the stresses of the job. Portrait of a…
Love and Human Remains (1994): Dir. Denys Arcand
Feat. Thomas Gibson, Ruth Marshall, Cameron Bancroft…; A fascinating hybrid of twentysomething romantic comedy, cynical social satire and mystery thriller, adapted from an accomplished stageplay by the…
My Crazy Life (Mi Vida Loca) (1994): Dir. Allison Anders
Feat. Angel Aviles, Seidy Lopez, Jacob Vargas; Latino, girl–centic spin on BOYZ 'N THE HOOD from the director of GAS, FOOD, LODGING derives its script from anecdotes from real gang girls and…
New Age, The (1994): Dir. Michael Tolkin
Feat. Peter Weller, Judy Davis; Peter Weller and Judy Davis are a restless, avaricious L.A. couple who seek fortune and/or meaning in their lives. Another icy, cynical hybrid of…
Pret-a-Porter (1994): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Sophia Loren…; Director Altman's take on the Paris fashion industry hasn't the edgy sarcasm or the incisiveness of his THE PLAYER and SHORT CUTS, but is…
Sleep with Me (1994): Dir. Rory Kelly
Feat. Meg Tilly, Eric Stoltz, Craig Sheffer…; Playfully intelligent 'Gen X' drama in which Meg Tilly is the object of desire of both her fiancee and his best friend. Quentin Tarantino cameos as a…
Somebody to Love (1994): Dir. Alexandre Rockwell
Feat. Harvey Keitel, Rosie Perez, Quentin Tarantino; Harvey Keitel and Rosie Perez match–up as a screwball couple frequenting scuzzy clubs in a murky continuum of unrequited dreams. Dir. Rockwell…
Spanking the Monkey (1994): Dir. David O. Russell
Feat. Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Newett, Benjamin Hendrickson…; The awkwardness of youth is brilliantly captured in this provocative tragi–comedy, another maverick success story from the US indie scene. A…
Wife, The (1994): Dir. Tom Noonan
Feat. Julie Hagerty, Tom Noonan, Wallace Shawn…; An adult drama to be savoured – director Tom Noonan adapts his own stageplay for the screen, matching the wit and intelligence of his text with…
Bad Behaviour (1993): Dir. Les Blair
Feat. Stephen Rea, Sinead Cusack, Phil Daniels…; Middle life and class are sliced from the Leigh/Loach mould, but with more improvisation and less cynicism. Stephen Rea plays a town planner at the…
Bodies Rest and Motion (1993): Dir. Michael Steinberg
Feat. Tim Roth, Bridget Fonda, Phoebe Cates…; Suburban aimlessness underlies this entertaining, stylish 'gen–X' romancer with an appealing twentysomething quartet.
Calendar (1993): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Atom Egoyan, Arsinee Khanjian; Dir. Atom Egoyan and his real–life wife Arsinee Khanjian play a romantic–professional couple whose photographic calendar assignment in…
Clean, Shaven (1993): Dir. Lodge Kerrigan
Feat. Peter Greene; Cult actor Peter Green followed his great work in LAWS OF GRAVITY with this difficult but startling independent feature as a violent schizophrenic…
Combination Platter (1993): Dir. Tony Chan
Feat. Jeffrey Lau, Colleen OBrien, Lester Chit-Man Chan…; A drama exploring the life of a young undocumented Chinese immigrant in Flushing, Queens, New York. Working at a Szechuan restaurant for low pay, he…
From the Island (As an Eilean) (1993): Dir. Mike Alexander
Feat. Ken Hutchison, Iain MacLeod; A teenager comes to terms with the parochial and insular way of life in his village on a remote Scottish island. A vivid sense of landscape and local…
Go Fish (1993): Dir. Rose Troche
Feat. Guinevere Turner, V.S Brodie; A free–wheeling and revealing study of things lesbian with all its inherent prejudices and dilemmas. Not a 'coming–out' movie, but rather…
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1993): Dir. Leslie Harris
Feat. Ariyan Johnson; This cautionary tale from the Brooklyn streets lacks technical polish, but its heart–felt enthusiasm paints a geniune picture of what it is to…
Malcolm X (1993): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Denzel Washington; Epic bio of the black–American minister and human rights activist from his beginnings as a Harlem crook to his 1965 assassination. Breezes…
Music of Chance, The (1993): Dir. Philip Haas
Feat. James Spader, Mandy Patinkin, Charles Durning…; Impressively cast against type, James Spader's slimy card shark entices broken family man Mandy Patinkin to accept a poker challenge by two eccentric…
Short Cuts (1993): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Waits…; Tim Robbins, Jennifer Jason–Leigh, Tom Waits and Jack Lemmon lead 18 other stars in this extraordinary observation of the ordinary. Several of…
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993): Dir. Lasse Hallstrom
Feat. Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio…; An off–beat delight that's quirky take on tin–pot America is never at the expense of its truthfulness or poignancy. The ballad of the…
American Heart (1992): Dir. Mertin Bell
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Edward Furlong; Fate deals a rough hand to ex–con Jeff Bridges, who attempts to rebuild his life and relationship with estranged son Edward Furlong.…
Bad Lieutenant (1992): Dir. Abel Ferrara
Feat. Harvey Keitel; Deeply disturbing character study of a bent cop that Harvey Keitel goes off the method deep–end to authenticate. An addiction to smack and…
Blackfellas (Day of the Dog) (1992): Dir. James Ricketson
Feat. John J. Moore, David Ngoombujarra, Jack Charles; The first feature to be made within the Aboriginal community paints an unglamorous picture of a displaced culture in telling its tragic tale of a…
Crossing the Bridge (1992): Dir. Mike Binder
Feat. Stephen Baldwin, Josh Charles; A drug smuggling venture across the Canadian border tests the wits and friendship of three long–time pals about to confront adulthood in the…
Fly by Night (1992): Dir. Steve Gomer
Feat. Jeffrey D. Sams, Ron Brice; An unheralded black youth melodrama that brings with it a fresh perspective, an intelligent script and direction that doesn't impose (too much)…
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris…; Gripping transposition of David Mamet's savage stageplay about ruthless real estate salesmen who reel under a do–or–die sales ultimatum.…
In the Soup (1992): Dir. Alexandre Rockwell
Feat. Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassel, Jennifer Beals…; Steve Buscemi lends his bug–eyed innocence as a wannabee film–maker who becomes involved with a charismatic hood who promises to raise…
Juice (1992): Dir. Ernest Dickerson
Feat. Omar Epps, Samuel L. Jackson, Tupac Shakur…; Innocence is lost and tragedy strikes as it does in these tales of black male youths in lethal conflict with rival peers and…
Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992): Dir. Jeff Stanzler
Feat. Tim Roth, Alexis Arquette; Tim Roth and Alexis Arquette both give knock–out performances in this powerful drama about a violent man trying to clean–up his…
Laws of Gravity (1992): Dir. Nick Gomez
Feat. Peter Greene, Edie Falco, Adam Trese…; Remarkably authentic Brooklyn street story follows a couple of aimless pals, their girlfriends and a volitile circle of hoods. The four leads are…
Mississippi Masala (1992): Dir. Mira Nair
Feat. Denzel Washington, Roshan Seth, Sarita Choudhury; A poignant gem about a tabooed romance between a beautiful Indian girl and a black carpet cleaner (Denzel Washington) in the deep South.
Player, The (1992): Dir. Robert Altman
Feat. Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Whoopi Goldberg…; A glittering Tinseltown satire that manages to be an intricate, clever, surprising and entertaining thriller all at the same time, with a cast of…
Rush (1992): Dir. Lili Fini Zanuck
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jason Patric; This sordid but engaging parable posits Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric as narcotics cops who slip into a drug–addicted mire whilst…
Simple Men (1992): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Robert Burke, Bill Sage, Martin Donovan…; Hartley's third feature re–visits his deadpan, sexy and intellectual world in which two brothers set off to find their estranged father.
Waterdance, The (1992): Dir. Neal Jimenez, Michael Steinberg
Feat. Eric Stoltz, Wesley Snipes; A wheel–chair bound Eric Stoltz shares a rehab unit with others whom he has nothing else in common. Based on writer Neal Jimenez's experience,…
Where the Day Takes You (1992): Dir. Mark Rocco
Feat. Dermot Mulroney, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ricki Lake…; Dermot Mulroney, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ricky Lake, Will Smith, and others elucidate the harsh realities of life on the streets of L.A. Somewhat dominated…
Zebrahead (1992): Dir. Anthony Drazan
Feat. Michael Rapaport, Kevin Corrigan; A white Jewish boy ignites long–simmering racial tension when he starts dating his best friend's black cousin. Gritty urban drama coasts along…
Adjuster, The (1991): Dir. Atom Egoyan
Feat. Elias Koteas, Arsinee Khanjian, Maury Chaykin; Eliptical and seductive fifth feature from one of cinema's most original talents. Two 'adjusters' – an insurance assessor, and his wife, a film…
Arizona Dream (1991): Dir. Emir Kusturica
Feat. Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor; A young Inuit dreamer is called to Arizona for his uncle's wedding, where he is bewitched by a neurotic mother–daughter team. An eccentric…
Barton Fink (1991): Dir. Joel Coen
Feat. John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis; The Coen Bros' striking if enigmatic account of a brilliant scribe hampered with writer's block and a strange hotel companion in mid 1940s Hollywood.…
Boyz N the Hood (1991): Dir. John Singleton
Feat. Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Jr. Gooding, Ice-Cube; Sincere and authentic street gang fable focuses on a group of friends living in a black, working–class neighbourhood in South Central L.A. A…
Daughters of the Dust (1991): Dir. Julie Dash
Feat. Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers; Turn–of–the–century tale of the Gullah, descendants of slaves living on islands near South Carolina who maintained their West…
Dogfight (1991): Dir. Nancy Savoca
Feat. River Phoenix, Lili Taylor; Satisfying romantic comedy about a U.S. marine who surrenders his machismo for one night to have an unlikely and sensitive affair with an 'ugly…
Gas, Food, Lodging (1991): Dir. Allison Anders
Feat. Brooke Adams, Ione Skye, Fairuza Balk; Delectable romantic tale of life in a truck–stop town for mom and two teenage daughters adds up to much more than the sum of its incidental…
Indian Runner, The (1991): Dir. Sean Penn
Feat. David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Dennis Hopper…; Sean Penn's interesting directing debut is a sly throwback to '70s road movies, even using a Springsteen ditty as the basis for its plot.
Jungle Fever (1991): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Annabella Sciorra, Wesley Snipes; Slick account of an inter–racial affair and its affect on family and friends. Annabella Sciorra and Wesley Snipes star with Spike himself, who…
Night On Earth (1991): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Winona Ryder, Beatrice Dalle, Roberto Benigni; An exotic excursion through five cities in five taxis; Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Rome and Helsinki. The clever blend of pathos, humour and…
Paris Trout (1991): Dir. Stephen Gyllenhaal
Feat. Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey; In 1949, crazed hick Dennis Hopper manifests his full–blooded rascism when he murders the young sister of a negro who has renegged on his car…
Queens Logic (1991): Dir. Steve Rash
Feat. Joe Mantegna, Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich; Joe Mantegna, Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich and others gather for a friend's wedding, but are each encumbered with personal crises. Strong ensemble…
Rapture, The (1991): Dir. Michael Tolkin
Feat. Mimi Rogers; Mimi Rogers, in a tour–de–force performance, trades in her lurid sex romps for spiritual ecstasy. Her rocky road from sin to redemption…
Surviving Desire (Hal Hartley Shorts) (1991): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Martin Donovan; The hour–long 'Surviving Desire' is an earlier Hartley work that focuses on Hartley's world of the 'college–educated slacker' whose…
Horseplayer (1990): Dir. Kurt Voss
Feat. Brad Dourif, Sammi Davis, Max Perlich; Interesting item stars the incomparably strange Brad Dourif as a loner being manipulated by bored neighbours. Unfortunately for them, Brad turns out…
Julia Has Two Lovers (1990): Dir. Bashar Shbib
Feat. Daphna Kastner, David Duchovny; A simple wrong number turns into a marathon phone conversation and 'relationship' between a doubtful bride–to–be (Daphna Kastner) and a…
To Sleep With Anger (1990): Dir. Charles Burnett
Feat. Danny Glover, Mary Alice, Carl Lumbly…; Accomplished style–piece about African–American life in a Los Angeles suburb, where family calm is disturbed by the arrival of a…
Trust (1990): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Adrienne Shelly, Martin Donovan, Edie Falco…; A blackly comic examination of suburban neuroses with Adrienne Shelly returning for the director as a college drop–out who befriends an equally…
Do the Right Thing (1989): Dir. Spike Lee
Feat. Danny Aiello, Spike Lee, Ossie Davis…; Spike Lee's tour–de–force of racial friction and personal politics, forged his status as the most important black director in history.…
Drugstore Cowboy (1989): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham…; A stylised yet vivid journey into the lives of a group of sympathetic, drug–addicted youths in the early '70s. A high point in the career…
Eight Men Out (1989): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. John Cusack, Michael Rooker, Christopher Lloyd…; True story of the Chicago White Sox baseball team who conspired with gamblers to lose the World Series in 1919. Finely detailed topical drama with an…
Hush-A-Bye-Baby (1989): Dir. Margo Harkin
Feat. Seamus Ball, Rosina Brown, Sean Carlin…; Excellent portrayal, using 'workshop' methods, of the tribulations of four teenage girls in Northern Ireland, as they negotiate the local facts of…
In Fading Light (1989): Dir. Amber Film Collective
Feat. Joe Caffrey, Maureen Harold; Amber collective's admirable film focuses on the plight of a fishing town on the English north coast, in the face of Thatcherite corporate investment.
Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989): Dir. Uli Edel
Feat. Jennifer Jason Leigh; A harrowingly realistic adaptation of a contentious novel about civil unrest during the New York dock workers strike in the 1950s. Jennifer Jason…
Metropolitan (1989): Dir. Whit Stillman
Feat. Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Chris Eigeman; Sundance–winning arthouse hit focuses on the disappearing Manhattan debutante scene. An unknown ensemble play upper–class adolescents who…
Mystery Train (1989): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Joe Strummer, Screamin' Jay Hawkins; Three consecutive stories that take place at the same time and place; one night in a seedy Memphis hotel. Quirky and thought–provoking with…
Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989): Dir. Steven Soderbergh
Feat. James Spader, Peter Gallagher, Andie MacDowell…; Palm d'or winning exploration of modern sexuality concerns an enigmatic drifter who affects the dysfunctional lives of an old college pal, his wife…
Unbelievable Truth, The (1989): Dir. Hal Hartley
Feat. Adrienne Shelly, Robert Burke, Chris Cooke…; The folk of a backward American town get a mite nervous when a mechanic returns after spending 15 years in prison for murdering his father and…
Down by Law (1988): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Tom Waits, Roberto Benigni, John Lurie; Three disparate misfits become friends after sharing an escape from a crummy Southern jail. Art and humour rarely mix better than in this eccentric…
Heat and Sunlight (1988): Dir. Rob Nilsson
Feat. Rob Nilsson, Consuela Faust; This film documents the final, agonising hours of a love affair between a man and his exotic dancer girlfirend. An intriguing, erotic oddity with…
Living On Tokyo Time (1987): Dir. Stephen Okazaki
Feat. Minako Ohashi, Ken Nakagawa, Mitzi Abe; Amusing independent film about a Japanese–American couple living in a marriage–of–convenience in San Fransisco.
Matewan (1987): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell…; In 1920s Virginia, miners unite against their strong–arm company who resort to 'scab' minority labour in response to strike action. Costly…
Someone to Love (1987): Dir. Henry Jaglom
Feat. Orson Welles; Typically loose and naturalistic drama from independent stalwart Henry Jaglom, who pretty much plays himself – a jaded divorcee filmmaker in search…
Parting Glances (1986): Dir. Bill Sherwood
Feat. Steve Buscemi, Richard Ganoung; A gay classic and pioneering film of the independent movement, this is widely enjoyed as a truthful picture of gay life and relationships and also as…
Mala Noche (1985): Dir. Gus Van Sant; Low–budget granular drama and the first film made by the eclectic Mr Van Sant near the start of his influential career.It tells the tale of a…
Dim Sum (A Little Bit of Heart) (1984): Dir. Wayne Wang
Feat. Laureen Chew, Kim Chew, Victor Wong; Endearing, warm–hearted tale of Chinese–Americans living in San Fransisco. Distinctly Chinese but the themes and the humour are universal.
Love Streams (1984): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel; Rarely–seen film by indie iconoclast John Cassavetes, described by some as he at his self–indugent worst, but praised in other quarters…
Paris, Texas (1984): Dir. Wim Wenders
Feat. Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski; The German director takes his enigmatic, dilatory style Stateside for this intoxicating work about a mysterious mute loner in search of his missing…
Stranger than Paradise (1984): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. John Lurie; Jarmusch's breakthrough and best film is the shaggy dog tale of three deadbeats, a slavic grandmother and one endless trip to Florida. The style is…
Where the Green Ants Dream (1984): Dir. Werner Herzog
Feat. Bruce Spence, Ray Barrett; Dir. Herzog’s usually compelling obsessions – myths, nature, primitive experience – come a cropper in this uneven depiction of a land rights…
Baby, It's You (1983): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Rosanna Arquette, Vincent Spano; High–school sweethearts Rosanna Arquette and Vincent Spano undergo the trials of the late 60s counter–culture America. Characters and…
Lianna (1983): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Linda Griffiths, Jane Hallaren, Jon DeVries; A mother–of–two breaks out of her cold marriage by way of an affair with a senior lecturer in this defining lesbian film of the 1980s,…
My Brother's Wedding (1983): Dir. Charles Burnett
Feat. Everett Silas; Crude but affecting follow–up to KILLER OF SHEEP concerns a South Central LA resident torn between attending the funeral of his best friend, or…
Smithereens (1982): Dir. Susan Seidelman
Feat. Richard Hell; Hanging out on the lower rung of the gritty New York music scene in the early 80s, a flaky adolescent girl struggles to make her mark or find…
Falls, The (1980): Dir. Peter Greenaway
Feat. Peter Westley, Aad Wirtz, Michael Murray; One of dir. Greenaway's more trenchantly avant–garde works (think 'A Walk Though H' crossed with DROWNING BY NUMBERS), expanding his riddling…
Permanent Vacation (1980): Dir. Jim Jarmusch
Feat. Chris Parker, John Lurie; Directorial debut feature for future icon Jim Jarmusch, who made this on the cusp of graduating from film school. Set around the wanderings of a…
Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Bruce MacDonald, Maggie Renzi, Adam LeFevre…; In his feature debut, writer–director John Sayles demonstrates a wisdom way beyond his years with this ‘do–it–yourself’…
Killer of Sheep (1977): Dir. Charles Burnett
Feat. Henry Sanders; A recently exhumed landmark of African–American cinema, dir. Burnett’s long–lost thesis film observes the daily hardships of an…
Opening Night (1977): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara; Intermittently fascinating, semi–improvised opus from Cassavetes (who also stars), about an aging actress (Gena Rowlands) who suffers a…
Killing of a Chinese Bookie, The (1976): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. Ben Gazzara; Cassavetes' most personal film concerns a strip–club owner (Ben Gazzara) who becomes indebted to the mob. An acquired taste for this one as…
Welcome to L.A. (1976): Dir. Alan Rudolph
Feat. Keith Carradine; A discouraged rock composer finds solace in a number of one–night stands. An arresting, provocative tale of life at the mercy of the…
Woman Under the Influence, A (1974): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. Peter Falk, Gena Rowlands; Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands pull out the stops as a dysfunctional working– class couple. Though the drama (and running time) are left…
Heat (1972): Dir. Paul Morrissey
Feat. Sylvia Miles, Joe Dallesandro; A great trash drama, this is the most polished production of all the Warhol–esqe features, with a bravura performance from Sylvia Miles. It's…
Trash (1970): Dir. Paul Morrissey
Feat. Joe Dallesandro, Holly Woodlawn; Only the inimitable Joe Dallesandro could play a drug–addicted loser with a sex problem and still come off cool. Holly Woodlawn and other…
Wanda (1970): Dir. Barbara Loden
Feat. Barbara Loden, Michael Higgins; The sole writing/directing credit of Barbara Loden, whose command of verite storytelling is matched by her own astonishing performance as a feckless…
Faces (1968): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. John Marley, Gena Rowlands, Lynn Carlin; A marriage in crisis lurches into a downward spiral of drunkeness and desperate affairs. The dishevelled honesty and stark camerawork may not suit…
Exiles, The (1961): Dir. Kent MacKenzie
Feat. Yvonne Williams, Homer Nish, Tommy Reynolds…; Independent drama from great unsung American director Kent MacKenzie. The plot follows a group of Native Americans in the 1950's who have left…
Shadows (1959): Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. Lelia Goldoni; Cassavetes' influential debut explores inter–racial relationships with improvised dialogue, gitanes, ray–bans and Charlie Mingus…

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