Subgenre Sampler

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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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)…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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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Subgenre Sampler