My Favorite Non-Mainstream Movies
by pete06492 | created - 28 Jun 2015 | updated - 19 Sep 2015 | PublicJust a list of my favorite indie, student, or otherwise non-mainstream movies. In no particular order.
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1. Being John Malkovich (1999)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Votes: 353,516 | Gross: $22.86M
2. Wendy and Lucy (2008)
R | 80 min | Drama
Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Lucy, David Koppell, Max Clement
Votes: 19,765 | Gross: $0.86M
3. Song One (2014)
PG-13 | 86 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young woman strikes up a relationship with her ailing brother's favorite musician.
Director: Kate Barker-Froyland | Stars: Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, Ben Rosenfield, Faiza Mouha Abbazi
Votes: 10,280 | Gross: $0.03M
4. American Splendor (2003)
R | 101 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini | Stars: Paul Giamatti, Shari Springer Berman, Harvey Pekar, Chris Ambrose
Votes: 52,390 | Gross: $6.00M
5. Sunshine Cleaning (2008)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business -- a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service -- with her unreliable sister.
Director: Christine Jeffs | Stars: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack
Votes: 74,157 | Gross: $12.06M
6. Please Give (2010)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.
Director: Nicole Holofcener | Stars: Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Elizabeth Keener
Votes: 11,586 | Gross: $4.03M
7. The Savages (2007)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama
A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.
Director: Tamara Jenkins | Stars: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman
Votes: 38,642 | Gross: $6.61M
8. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama
Follows two young boys dealing with their parents' divorce in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
Director: Noah Baumbach | Stars: Owen Kline, Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg
Votes: 90,487 | Gross: $7.36M
9. Without Mercy (2005)
113 min | Horror
After terrorizing the people of Nodaway County and repeatedly escaping justice for years, the town bully finally meets his demise at the hands of the townspeople of Skidmore, Missouri. ... See full summary »
Director: Ralph Server | Stars: Bob Burghardt, Coleen Callahan, Elize Caraballo, Sara Fineran
Votes: 52
10. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,284 | Gross: $3.08M
11. Living in Oblivion (1995)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama
This ultimate tribute to all independent filmmakers takes place during one day on the set of a non-budget movie.
Director: Tom DiCillo | Stars: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck
Votes: 20,173 | Gross: $1.15M
12. Ed and His Dead Mother (1993)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy, Horror
A mourning son makes a deal to reanimate his mother one year after her death, but things take an unexpected turn.
Director: Jonathan Wacks | Stars: Eric Christmas, Steve Buscemi, Harper Roisman, Sam Sorbo
Votes: 2,386 | Gross: $0.00M
13. Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious graduate student convinces a writer that her thesis can resurrect his career.
Director: Andrew Wagner | Stars: Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Patti Perkins, Lili Taylor
Votes: 3,347 | Gross: $0.90M
14. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (2009)
Not Rated | 80 min | Comedy, Drama
A graduate student (Nicholson) copes with a recent breakup by conducting interviews with various men.
Director: John Krasinski | Stars: Julianne Nicholson, Ben Shenkman, Timothy Hutton, Michael Cerveris
Votes: 3,657 | Gross: $0.03M
15. Away We Go (2009)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A couple expecting their first child travels the U.S. seeking the perfect "family home." They have misadventures and find fresh connections with relatives and old friends who help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Carmen Ejogo
Votes: 55,094 | Gross: $9.45M
16. Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
R | 105 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
This down-and-dirty musical set in the world of working-class New York tells the story of a husband's journey into infidelity and redemption when he must choose between his seductive mistress and his beleaguered wife.
Director: John Turturro | Stars: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi
Votes: 12,841 | Gross: $0.54M
17. The Visitor (I) (2007)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass
Votes: 44,538 | Gross: $9.42M
18. Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, a group of counselors try to complete their unfinished business before the day ends.
Director: David Wain | Stars: Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau
Votes: 60,551 | Gross: $0.29M
19. Winter's Bone (2010)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.
Director: Debra Granik | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt, Isaiah Stone
Votes: 150,608 | Gross: $6.53M
20. The Station Agent (2003)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale, Paul Benjamin
Votes: 73,469 | Gross: $5.74M
21. Love Is Strange (2014)
R | 94 min | Drama, Romance
After Ben and George get married, George is fired from his teaching post, forcing them to stay with friends separately while they sell their place and look for cheaper housing -- a situation that weighs heavily on all involved.
Director: Ira Sachs | Stars: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Charlie Tahan
Votes: 13,307 | Gross: $2.25M
22. Twenty Bucks (1993)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Drama
A story about the life of a twenty dollar bill as it weaves in and out of the various lives of several people.
Director: Keva Rosenfeld | Stars: Linda Hunt, Brendan Fraser, Elisabeth Shue, David Rasche
Votes: 4,179
23. Sticky Fingers (1988)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
Two classical musician girls in NYC are short on money for rent etc. when a drug dealer stores a bag with them. It turns out to contain USD900,000. At first they panic.
Director: Catlin Adams | Stars: Helen Slater, Melanie Mayron, Adam Shaw, Danitra Vance
Votes: 511 | Gross: $0.21M
24. Vibes (1988)
PG | 99 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Two psychics are hired to find the location of a lost Incan city Located somewhere in the Ecuadorian mountains, that is said to hide a great treasure.
Director: Ken Kwapis | Stars: Cyndi Lauper, Jeff Goldblum, Ramon Bieri, Michael Lerner
Votes: 5,189 | Gross: $1.88M
25. Storytelling (2001)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.
Director: Todd Solondz | Stars: Selma Blair, Leo Fitzpatrick, Robert Wisdom, Maria Thayer
Votes: 18,338 | Gross: $0.91M
26. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
R | 96 min | Comedy
Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stephanie Roth Haberle
Votes: 47,844 | Gross: $10.69M
27. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller
Votes: 313,369 | Gross: $52.36M
28. Swedish Auto (2006)
97 min | Drama
SWEDISH AUTO is the dramatic story of a small-town mechanic who voyeuristically observes life from the shadows. When he discovers that a young woman is similarly watching him, he is compelled to confront a world that he has always avoided.
Director: Derek Sieg | Stars: Lukas Haas, January Jones, Gordon Bass, Anne Brown
Votes: 615
29. Away We Go (2009)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A couple expecting their first child travels the U.S. seeking the perfect "family home." They have misadventures and find fresh connections with relatives and old friends who help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Carmen Ejogo
Votes: 55,094 | Gross: $9.45M
30. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama
A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | Stars: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin
Votes: 518,463 | Gross: $59.89M
31. The Ice Storm (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
In suburban New Canaan, Connecticut, 1973, middle-class families experimenting with casual sex and substance abuse find their lives beyond their control.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny
Votes: 59,993 | Gross: $7.84M
32. The Dead Girl (2006)
R | 85 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The clues to a young woman's death come together as the lives of seemingly unrelated people begin to intersect.
Director: Karen Moncrieff | Stars: Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy, Marcia Gay Harden, Piper Laurie
Votes: 16,203 | Gross: $0.02M
33. Adult World (2013)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive college graduate, Amy, who believes she's destined to be a great poet, begrudgingly accepts a job in a shop while she pursues a mentorship with reclusive writer Rat Billings.
Director: Scott Coffey | Stars: Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, John Cusack, Cloris Leachman
Votes: 18,691 | Gross: $0.02M
34. Pizza (I) (2005)
80 min | Comedy
A pizza deliveryman develops a bond with a girl nearly half his age.
Director: Mark Christopher | Stars: Ethan Embry, Kylie Sparks, Julie Hagerty, Martin Campetta
Votes: 1,144 | Gross: $0.00M
35. Are You Here (2013)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Drama
Two childhood best friends, one a superficial womanizer and the other a barely functioning bipolar, embark on a road trip back to their hometown after one of them learns his estranged father has died.
Director: Matthew Weiner | Stars: Owen Wilson, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Poehler, Laura Ramsey
Votes: 16,693
36. Cherish (2002)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
After a martini-induced rampage, a fantasy-prone young woman is placed under house arrest.
Director: Finn Taylor | Stars: Robin Tunney, Tim Blake Nelson, Brad Hunt, Liz Phair
Votes: 2,943 | Gross: $0.18M
37. Maps to the Stars (2014)
R | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, John Cusack
Votes: 42,887 | Gross: $0.35M
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