This is a documentary about filmmaker Mark Borchardt and the making of his movies, Coven and Northwestern. It is totally hilarious and very heartwarming. Mark is as determined as anyone can be. He forges ahead through never-ending obstacles. His dream is to make a movie called Northwestern, but to get the money he decides he has to finish his 35-minute black and white horror film, Coven, which he has been trying to finish for years. There is more than a little irony in the fact that the makers of American Movie achieved great success with their film about Mark who has been trying so hard for so long to get any success at all. Good luck to Mark! (Letterman fans have been treated to at least 4 appearances by Mark on the Late Show). Purely for entertainment - not an educational film!

Official American Movie Site        IMDB        Mark's Northwest Productions

Amazon

No dialog, but there is a message in this collection of sights from the natural and the civilized worlds. See also Koyanisqaatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Nagoyqatsi.

IMDB        Amazon

Humorous documentary about corporate downsizing in America. From the director of Roger and Me, based on the book out for Downsize This!

Official website        IMDB        Amazon

Documentary on Mardi Gras, tattoos, piercings, and mainly Fakir Musafar and the Sun Dance ritual. Its actually about Charles Gatewood and his work on those subjects. Rereleased on DVD in 2004 after being out of print for many years.

Official Site - www.dancesfilm.com

Fakir's Home Page - www.bodyplay.com

IMDB

Awesome documentary about guns and fear in America. This is one of the most important and most interesting films ever. Won Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2002. The title comes from the fact that the two students who did the shooting at Columbine went to their bowling class earlier that morning. The 2-hour film covers a lot of territory and the Columbine shootings are really just a jumping off point. There is actually quite a bit to the Columbine story which is not covered in this film. (For more info on Columbine, see CRTF Forum). As in Moore's other docu's (Roger and Me, The Big One), serious subject matter is presented in a humorous and entertaining way. Though things get a bit heavy with the security cam footage from the shooting and with the story of a 6-year-old shooting another 6-year-old in Flint, Michigan. Tons of cool stuff is woven into the film, including a hilarious bit from Chris Rock ("We don't need no gun control, we need BULLET control!") and an interesting interview with Marilyn Manson. I thought he was a bit unfair in his treatment of James Nichols (who in fact is suing Moore over this). I doubt that Moore has looked deeply into the story of the OKC bombing (check this out.) Lots of very interesting insights about the culture of fear in America. He interviews Barry Glassner, author of Culture of Fear, which which could be consulted for more info on this topic. Check out this film if you have not seen it. Or see it again (I've watched it over 10 times).

Amazon        IMDB

BowlingForColumbine.com        Michael Moore's Home Page

I was very happy to discover this top-class documentary. Accomplishes a lot in 48 minutes. Incredibly funny and also a scary story of another man-made ecological disaster.

Read about it or order it from Amazon.

IMDB

Review from FilmVault.

And here's tons of links for more info about Cane Toads.

Very important and interesting film. What are corporations, how did they get to be so large, powerful and destructive, and what should be done about it. The DVD includes an extra disc with over 5 hours of additional interview footage.

Read about it or order it from Amazon.

IMDB

Official site: TheCorporation.com

This is a documentary about a guy named Timothy "Speed" Levitch, filmed while he was working as a tour guide in New York City. You'll learn a lot about the history of the city watching this but it's mainly a close look at Levitch, who is quite an unusual and interesting character. Many may be put off by his odd voice and mannerisms, but those who can see beyond such superficialities will be amazed at this guy and his outlook on life. Also, the director shot all of the footage by himself. Resist the anti-cruise!

See also Live From Shiva's Dance Floor (DVD 2003), Speedology (book 2002). Levitch also appears in Waking Life and Scotland, PA.

As of March, 2004, The Cruise appears to be out of print on VHS and not released on DVD so far. It goes for up to $50 on eBay. Also the video is copy-protected. So if you find this one, snap it up.

IMDB        Amazon

RoughCut Interview with Timothy Speed Levitch

RoughCut Interview with Bennet Miller

Artilce in Horizon Magazine        Indiewire Interview (Miller and Levitch)

Rich documentary about counter-culture comic artist Robert Crumb. Wide-ranging biography covering his whole life, including bizarre upbringing. His two interesting brothers are featured as part of the story. Includes tons of his art. One of the coolest documentaries ever.

IMDB        Official Website        Amazon

Super-cool documentary about the origins of skateboarding. It is a very lucky thing that this scene was documented as it ocurred in the 70's. A group of young surfers in the Venice, California area started a new way of skating including riding low with bent knees and riding the walls of pools. This predates the days of plywood half-pipes, which were later made to simulate riding pools. These guys became the first super-stars of skateboarding, in the era prior to Tony Hawk. Very well-done film with lots of historical footage and cool music.

Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (***)

IMDB

Maybe its a documentary, maybe its four documentaries in one, maybe its an art film. Skips around between four different stories: an animal trainer, a topiary gardener, a robot scientist, and a guy who studies mole rats. Are these stories related? Connections between them seem to surface, some perhaps intended, some probably not. I think the intended theme here is that these are all people who are totally into what they do. Very interesting. From the director of Gates of Heaven and Thin Blue Line.

IMDB        Amazon

Super-cool film covers the history of breakdancing and features tons of dance footage and interviews. I watch this film with amazement. The DVD is PHAT - with lots of extra stuff.

Official site: www.thefreshestkids.com

Interview with Israel: www.evilmonito.com/013/kids/freshest.html

Amazon (totally stacked with 5-star reviews)

IMDB

Hilarious and strangely sad documentary about pet cemetaries. Roger Ebert says its in his top ten of all time. Mine, too. Video has been out of print for a while but should be on DVD soon (see Amazon link). Everything by Errol Morris is top-class!

IMDB

Amazon

Documentary about the late Bill Hicks - the greatest comedian who ever lived! This was very much unavailable for many years, released only as a British PAL format VHS tape called Totally Bill Hicks which includes the It's Just a Ride documentary plus a live performance. I didn't know about Bill Hicks until I saw a bootleg copy of a copy of a copy. Finally, in 2004, Rykodisc has released a DVD containing 3 live performances plus It's Just a Ride. The DVD is called Bill Hicks Live.

Amazon

IMDB

Here's a website about him: www.billhicks.com

See also: www.sacredcow.com

This is a documentary about Gypsies making music. There is no dialog and no story line. Just lots of different Gypsies in different countries singing and making music on all kinds of instruments. Very magical. Released on video in 1996.

James Berardinelli Review        Siren Entertainment        Amazon

IMDB

This is a documentary about Noam Chomsky, who is one heavy-duty cat. He has been called "the most important intellectual alive". I had heard of him for many years but did not know much about him. He is a professor of linguistics at M.I.T. and is known as the father of modern linguistics. He has also been an outspoken political activist for several decades. This film is both a general introduction to Chomsky and a detailed look at some of his ideas about the media and democracy. The film is in 2 parts and is about two-and-a-half hours long.

Chomsky Archives

Amazon

IMDB

Awesome documentary about Flint, Michigan - very funny and very sad. One of the best documentaries ever made. Moore's first film. See also The Big One and Bowling for Columbine.

Official website        Amazon

IMDB

Morgan eats 3 meals a day at McDonalds for 30 days! Very entertaining film explores the obesity epidemic in America, school lunch programs, and corporate responsibility. A deleted scene included on the DVD reveals that his 30 days at McDonalds generated 13 bags of garbage. The amount of garbage generated by the 30,000 McDonalds each day is enough to fill the Empire State building.

Official Site - supersizeme.com        Amazon

IMDB

The Anderson Platoon (1966) (Black and White) Peter Schoendorffer. Award-winning French documentary about a platoon of 33 Americans early in the Viet Nam war. Intense (and very real) footage from the frontline. Amazon
IMDB

Andy Warhol (1988) Kim Evans
Excellent documentary.

Beyond the Mat (2000) Barry W. Blaustein. Documentary about pro wrestling. Amazon

Brothers Keeper (1993) Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky. Amazon

Burdon of Dreams (1982) Les Blank documentary about the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo in the Amazon jungle. Info from Les Blank's website.

Bus 174 (2002) 120min Jose Padilha - Documentary about a bus hijacking that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2000. Amazon

The Creek Runs Red (2005) Bradley Beasley, James Payne, Julianna Brannum
www.thecreekrunsred.com

Dark Days (2000) Marc Singer.
Amazing and award-winning documentary about homeless people living in train tunnels underneath Penn Station in New York City. DVD includes documentary about the making of the film. Music by DJ Shadow.
Amazon     Official Site - DarkDays.com
There is another documentary on this subject which I have not seen, In Search of the Mole People Amazon
And there's also a couple of books on this subject:
The Mole People by Jennifer Toth (1993) Amazon
The Tunnel by Margaret Morton (1996) Amazon

Decline of Western Civilization (1981) Penelope Spheeris. Very interesting classic documentary on punk rock in L.A. Long out of print - supposedly to be released on DVD soon.
Official Site: www.declinemovies.com
Interview with Spheeris from Onion AV Club: www.theavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=3509&f=1
IMDB

Decline of Western Civilization - Part II - The Metal Years (1988) Penelope Spheeris. IMDB

Decline of Western Civilization - Part III (1998) Penelope Spheeris. IMDB

End of the Century - The Story of the Ramones Amazon

The Eyes of Tammy Faye Documentary about Tammy Faye Bakker.

Fed Up! wholesomegoodness.org

Fetishes (1997) Nick Broomfield documentary about S&M, filmed at Pandora's Box in NYC. Roger Ebert Review

Fierce GraceWide-ranging documentary about Ram Dass.

Fog of War Errol Morris docu about Robert Macnamarra.

Genghis Blues (1999) Roko Belic
Its about blind bluesman Paul Pena and his journey into Tuvan throatsinging. Amazon

The Gleaners and I (2000) Agnes Varda
Amazon

Hands on a Hardbody (1999) Documentary about a contest at a Longview, Texas dealership to win a new truck by seeing who can keep their hands on it the longest.

Hearts of Darkness (1991) Documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. Shot by Coppolas's wife. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (***1/2)

The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) Academy Award best documentary, about insects. Out of print. Microcosmos, (see below) is similar and better.

Jesco - Dancing Outlaw (1991) Jacob Young
Jesco White Fan Club

Juliette of the Herbs (1998) Tish Streeten
JulietteoftheHerbs.com

Keep the River on Your Right - A Modern Cannibal Tale (2000) David Shapiro, Laurie Shapiro. Documentary about Tobias Schneebaum, who spent a year in the Peruvian jungle living with a tribe of cannibals. Explores other apsects of his interesting life. Amazon

Koyaanisqatsi - Life Out of Balance (1982) Godfrey Reggio
See also Powaqqatsi. Amazon

Kurt and Courtney (1998) Controversial Nick Broomfield documentary about death of Kurt Cobain.    Amazon    Uncut article    Uncut review    Roger Ebert Review (***)

Louie Bluie (1985) Documentary by Terry Zwigoff (director of Crumb) about Howard Armstrong, a 75-year old bluesman who seems younger than most 30-year-olds. Out of print.
Roger Ebert Review (***1/2)

The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists (1994) Les Blank documentary about a guy who quit his job to make art - lots of art. Since he does not sell his art, he has been completely neglected by the art world. Very inspirational film.
From Les Blank's site

Written in the Rocks - 10 Revelations from the Book of Art

Johnny Westurn's Maestro's Website

Microcosmos (1996) Awesome documentary about insects - better than Hellstrom Chronicle, partly due to video technology that is 25 years newer. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Mr. Death Errol Morris

Naqoyqatsi (2002) Godfrey Reggio
See also Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, the earlier films of the trilogy, and the similar Baraka. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (***)

Nanook of the North (1922) (black & white, silent) Robert J. Flaherty. Maybe the first documentary. Fascinating footage of an Eskimo family living happily in very harsh conditions. Amazon

Okie Noodling Bradley Beesley www.okienoodling.com
Amazon

The Plutonium Circus George Ratliff. Documentary on PANTEX nuclear weapons plant. Actually more about interesting people in Amarillo, Texas. Amazon

Powaqqatsi - Life in Transformation - (1988) Godfrey Reggio
See also Koyaanisqatsi, Nagoyqatsi, and Baraka. Amazon

Rat (1997) Mark Lewis (director of Cane Toads). Documentary about rats in NYC. Amazon

Rhyme & Reason (1997) Peter Spirer documentary about rap music and hip-hop culture. Amazon

Sherman's March (1986) Ross McElwee. Humorous autobiographical documentary about southern women. Amazon

Streetwise

The Thin Blue Line (1988) Errol Morris documentary about a murder in Texas (out-of-print).    Roger Ebert Review

Timothy Leary's Dead

Unmade Beds Nicholas Barker
Semi-documentary looks at four New Yorkers and their experiences with personal ads. Very funny. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Vernon, Florida (1981) Errol Morris Documentary featuring lots of odd people in Vernon, Florida. Amazon

The Yogis of Tibet theyogisoftibet.com
Amazon

Vietnam War epic based on the classic Joseph Conrad "short" story, Heart of Darkness. A masterpiece. Starring Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Dennis Hopper.

Apocalypse Now Tribute Page

Roger Ebert Review        Recent (1999) Roger Ebert Review        Amazon

Starring Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci, both perfectly cast for thier odd characters. A friend of mine started to watch this and said "This looks too independent for me." It is quite different. I think I watched it twice within a day or two and enjoyed it both times.

Roger Ebert Review (***)        Amazon

Made in Australia by a Yugoslavian director. Starring Eric Roberts, Greta Scacchi, Bill Kerr. Colorful characters. Interesting story - the Coca Cola company stamps out the little guy. Some cool music by Tim Finn. A special favorite of mine.

Amazon

Roger Ebert Review (***)

My favorite Spike Lee film. Excellent cast, including Spike and his sister, Joie, Ossie Davis, Danny Aeillo, John Tuturo, Rosie Perez. Takes place on a hot summer day in Bedford-Stuyvesant, NYC. A look at racial tension.

Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Starring Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni (his first role, I think). Ellen Barkin has a small part. My favorite Jarmusch film. All of his are good.

Roger Ebert Review        Amazon

Peter Sellers plays three parts. Very funny, a superclassic.

James Berardinelli Review      Page from Kubrick Multimedia Film Guide        Amazon

60's superclassic starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson. May not be the ultimate look at the 60's and is a bit dated, but a very unusual "road trip" movie and one of the original independent films.

A fan's site        Related resources        Amazon

For now I'll just say - Wow.

Official Site - Atanarjuat.com

IMDB        Amazon

One of a kind. Very special - everyone loves it, even kids. This has to be in my top ten recommendations for everyone - check it out! There is also a Gods Must Be Crazy II, similarly delightful but not quite as good and with much recycling of ideas. After being out of print for a long time, both films are now available on one DVD!

Amazon

Not for everyone. I mean it, you were warned. This film is shocking and disturbing as well as hated and controversial. Some may also find it interesting and funny. From the director of Welcome to the Dollhouse.

Official Site        Amazon        Roger Ebert Review (****)

Info from Fear and Anxiety site        More Links

3 hours worth of interlocking stories that take place on one day in LA. We would probably have to call it a masterpiece. This guy knows how to make a movie. The excellent cast includes a lot of his regulars from Boogie Nights and Hard Eight.

cigarettes and coffee - the definitive p.t. anderson resource

Amazon        Roger Ebert Review (****)

Starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton. VERY original. One of the coolest and funniest "cult classics". Super-cool soundtrack.

Amazon

Repo Man Links Page

I think the friend I first watched this with had the same impression as I did: We were riveted to our seats and totally fascinated and amazed but when it was over we said we would maybe never want to watch it again. It gets disturbing! This is the next film from the director of Pi. That film had kind of an edgy, panicked feel to it and this one takes that to an extreme. Ellen Burstin has a great part. There is a refrigerator that will make you jump out of your seat. You could see this as a strong anti-drug movie and if you have thought about dabbling with heroin, you may change your mind. Totally interesting film but not really a pleasant experience.

Amazon

A horror spoof musical with a very colorful cast, including a transvestite mad scientist vampire (Dr. Frank N. Furter) played by Tim Curry, his hunch-backed butler, Riff-Raff (Richard O'Brien, songwriter and one of the screenplay writers), Riff-Raff's sister Magenta (Patricia Quinn), the stranded couple, Brad and Janet (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon), the monster (Peter Hinwood), Dr. Scott (Jonathan Adams), Columbia (Little Nell) and Meatloaf as Eddie. The ultimate cult film, Rocky Horror has played at midnight on weekends for over 20 years in theaters all over the world with audiences performing an elaborate participation ritual including dressing up as film characters, singing along with songs, dancing in the aisles or even on stage, reciting dialog in unison with the film, inserting additional shouted dialog, and throwing things (such as rice during wedding scene). I think I saw it about seven times in the theater long ago. I didn't dress up or anything but it was very fun to be around the whole spectacle. I remember someone commenting that they thought the film was very colorful. It is definitley quite visually interesting throughout, with lots of vivid color. Unique, interesting, and lots of fun.

Amazon    Official Site    Official Fan Site

The Frankenstein Place    Webring

Don't Dream It, Be It - The Subculture of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader are perfectly cast in this very original film. Newcomer Maggie is sure to be a superstar and this is one of Spader's best roles. A very interesting, sympathetic, and darkly comic treatment of an S&M relationship. Just kind of a very different type of "love story". Very sexy.

Roger Ebert Review (***)        Amazon

A very special favorite. Has to be the best food movie. The main story involves a noodle shop and a woman named Tampopo. Many stories involving food are intertwined. MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Was out of print for awhile but now available on DVD.

Roger Ebert Review (****)        Amazon

Hilarious fake documentary ("rockumentary, if you will") about a metal band called Spinal Tap. Cult classic.

Rob Townsend Review        Internet Movie Database        Amazon

Starring James Woods and Debbie Harry. Lots of interesting ideas. Very original Sci-Fi - or I guess they call it Sci-Fi Horror.

Trash City Review

Amazon

Review at notcoming.com

Wow! Now this is one original film. Uses a new type of animation (rotoscope) that is done on top of regular film. The main character is stuck in a dream, which consists of a series of encounters with various characters, who all have a lot to say. Lots of very interesting ideas are presented. A lot of it has to do with dreams and the concept of "lucid dreaming" (being conscious in your dreams). Timothy Speed Levitch gets a few minutes (see "The Cruise" above). My favorite character is Alex Jones. He's the guy in the car with the speakers on top. I had not heard of him before, but he is a conspiracy theorist who is heard daily on the radio. (Check out his website: www.infowars.com). This is definitely one of the most interesting films ever. I watched it over and over.

Tons of info on Waking Life

Amazon

Starring Heather Matarazzo and Brendan Sexton, Jr. Totally hilarious - I laughed so much I cried.

James Berardinelli Review        Roger Ebert Review (****)        Amazon

Info from Fear and Anxiety site

12 Monkeys (1995) Terry Gilliam. Starring Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt. Very interesting sci-fi. Amazon

16 Years of Alcohol (2003) Written and directed by Richard Jobson. Starring Kevin McKidd, Susan Lynch, Laura Fraser. Set in Edinburgh. Lots of comparisons to Trainspotting and Clockwork Orange. A psychological study of alchoholism, violence, hope and hopelessness. Not an uplifting film.
Amazon IMDB

2 Days in the Valley (1996) John Herzfeld. Danny Aiello, Jeff Daniels, James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Charlize Theron, Teri Hatcher. Crime caper with lots of interlocking stories.
Amazon IMDB

2001: A Space Oddity (1968) Stanley Kubrick. A classic masterpeice. Costars a computer named HAL. Amazon

8 Mile (2002) Curtis Hanson. Starring Eminem, Brittany Murphy, Kim Basinger, Mehki Phiefer.
Amazon

A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick. A classic masterpiece. Controversial upon its release for its depictions of violence. Amazon    A Clockwork Webpage

A Day Without A Mexican (2004) Sergio Arau
Amazon
IMDB adaywithoutamexican.com

Adaptation (2003) Spike Jonze. Starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman. Very original film. Highly recommended. Amazon

After Hours (1985) Martin Scorsese comedy. Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr. Extremely funny. Amazon

Akira (2001) Katsuhiro Otomo. I'm not a big fan of anime, but someone loaned this to me and I was really impressed. The art of cel animation is taken to a new level, perhaps not equalled since. Lots of action crammed in here, I was confused at first, but a very interesting sci-fi story and lots of really trippy animation. Amazon

Altered States (1980) Ken Russel. Starring William Hurt, Blair Brown. Very interesting subject matter (isolation tanks). Amazon

American Beauty (1999) Sam Mendez. Starring Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening.
Roger Ebert Review Amazon

American History X (1998) Tony Kaye. Stars Edward Norton, Edward Furlong. Amazon
Roger Ebert Review

American Splendor (2003) Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman. Very original film about comic artist Harvey Pekar. Amazon
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Andy Warhol's Bad (1977) Jed Johnson. (out of print)
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Andy Warhol's Dracula (Blood for Dracula) (1974) Paul Morrissey, starring Joe Dallesandro. Amazon

Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (Flesh for Frankenstein) (1974) Paul Morrissey, starring Joe Dallesandro. Amazon

Angel Heart (1987) Alan Parker. Starring Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Robert Deniro, Charlotte Rampling. Occult voodoo thriller based on William Hjortsberg's novel, Falling Angel. Takes place in Harlem and New Orleans. Amazon
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Annie Hall (1977) Woody Allen. One of his funniest and most classic films. Stars Woody Allen and Dianne Keaton. Amazon
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Being John Malkovich (1999) Spike Jonze. Written by Charlie Kaufman. Starring John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, John Malkovich. Very funny and one of the most original films ever - that's for sure. Roger Ebert Review (****)
IMDB

Being There (1979) Hal Ashby. Starring Peter Sellers. Amazon

Big Night (1996) Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci. Starring Stanley Tucci, Tony Shaloub. Excellent food movie, probably second best after Tampopo. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Blood Simple (1984) Coen brothers debut. Amazon

Blue Velvet (1986) David Lynch - probably my favorite of his. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Blues Brothers (1980) John Landis. John Belushi, Dan Akroyd. My favorite scene is John Lee Hooker's foot when he's playing guitar on the streets of Chicago. Amazon

Boogie nights (1997) Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring Mark Wahlberg.     Amazon

Bound (1996) Wachowski brothers. Starring Gena Gershon, Jennifer Tilly.
Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Brazil (1985) Terry Gilliam. Amazon

The Breakfast Club (1985) John Hughes. Amazon

Bringing Out the Dead (1999) Martin Scorcese. Starring Nicholas Cage as an EMT in NYC. Official Site    Roger Ebert Review (****)

Caddyshack (1980) Harold Ramis. Stupid but very funny - Bill Murray and Chevy Chase at their best. Amazon

Carandiru (2003) Hector Babenco. Based on true sotry of Brazilian prison massacre. Amazon
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City of God (2002) Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund. Amazon
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Clockers (1995) Spike Lee. Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Mekhi Phifer. Amazon
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Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) Jim Jarmusch. A series of eleven vignettes in which people sit at tables, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, usually having kind of difficult interactions. To me it is hilarious, but I'm sure that many people won't find it that entertaining. Amazon
IMDB

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Cruising (1980) William Friedkin. Starring Al Pacino. out of print.

Dances with Wolves (1990) Kevin Costner stars and directs. I always assumed it was about wolves. Its about Native Americans. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (****)

The Daytrippers (1997) Greg Mottola. Starring Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Parker Posey. Amazon

Dead Man (1995) Jim Jarmusch. Starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Donnie Darko (2001) Richard Kelly. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Amazon

El Mariachi (1992) Robert Rodriguez supposedly spent only $7000 on this film. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (***)

Elephant Man (1980 - Black and White) David Lynch. Starring John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins. True story of John Merrick. Lynch's most "serious" film. Out of print.

The Emerald Forest

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Michel Gondry. The screenplay is by Charlie Kaufman. Stars Jim Carey, Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Last film from Stanley Kubrick. Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Masterpiece.
Amazon Roger Ebert Review
Review by Tim Kreider
Review by Adam Gorightly

Fargo (1996) Coen Brothers. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Fight Club (1999) David Fincher. Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter. Awesome.....

fightclub.com    Roger Ebert Review (**)
   Amazon

review at notcoming.com

Freaks (1932) (B&W) Tod Browning. Classic scary movie starring actual circus freaks. Unique and unforgettable. Yes, you MUST SEE it. Amazon

Full Metal Jacket (1987) Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam war movie. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Gandhi (1982) Richard Attenborough. Starring Ben Kingsley
Amazon

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Jim Jarmusch. Starring Forest Whitaker. Amazon

Ghost World (2001) Terry Zwigoff. Starring Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi, Scarlet Johansson Amazon

Go (1999) Doug Liman Roger Ebert Review (***)
Amazon

The Graduate (1967) Mike Nichols, Buck Henry. 60's classic starring Dustin Hoffman. Amazon

Gummo    (1997) dir. Harmony Korine
Not for everyone. If you don't have a really open mind and a taste for the strange and unusual, don't even think about it. The unspeakably weird scenes are woven around the lives of a couple of glue-sniffing, cat-killing kids. Mixes various video formats and techniques - including film, video, home movies, found footage, scripted and unscripted scenes.
Official site        Amazon

Hairspray (1988) First mainstream John Waters film (all of his are good). Starring Divine and Rikki Lake.    Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

The Healer (2002) Agnieszka Holland

IMDB

Heavy (1994) James Mangold. Starring Liv Tyler, Pruitt Taylor Vince. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

High Fidelity Jack Black is hilarious.

Holy Smoke (1993) Jane Campion. Starring Harvey Keitel, Kate Winslet.

Human Nature (2002) Michel Gondry. Starring Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans. Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (also wrote Being John Malcovich and Adaptation). Very funny. Civilization, sexuality and table manners. Lots of people may not appreciate it, those who have read Ishmael will get it. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (***)

I (Heart) Huckabees (2004) David O. Russell. Dustin Hoffman and Lilly Tomlin are "existential detectives" who are hired by Jason Schwartzman to solve his mystery. Very funny. Amazon

Instinct (1999) Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding. Really not that great of a movie but it does have some ideas from the book Ishmael and it does have Anthony Hopkins. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (*1/2)

Into the Night (1985) John Landis. Starring Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfieffer. Amazon

The Killing Fields (1984) Roland Joffe. Sam Waterston, Haing S. Ngor. Deals with the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia. Amazon

The King of Comedy (1982) Hilarious Martin Scorcese comedy starring Robert Deniro, Sandra Bernhardt and Jerry Lewis. Amazon

Lenny (1974) (B&W 111min) Bob Fosse. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine. Biography of late comedian Lenny Bruce. Earned Hoffman an Oscar. Amazon

Life is Beautiful (1997) Roberto Benigni. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (*** 1/2)

Lost in America (1985) Albert Brooks comedy. Amazon

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) Nicolas Roeg. Starring David Bowie. Amazon

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) John Frankenheimer. Starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury. Very interesting classic film explores the possibility of brainwashed, mind-controlled sleeper agents used as political assassins. Perhaps sheds some light on mysterious cases such as Timothy McVeigh and the DC Snipers. Amazon

The Manchurian Candidate (2004) (129min) Jonathan Demme. Starring Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber. Excellent updated remake. Amazon

The Matrix (1999) dir. Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski Starring Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburn, Carrie-Anne Moss. Heavy-duty sci-fi. It may possibly be a little longer than it needs to be (including several lengthy gun battles). Lawrence Fishburn is excellent. (I didn't care for Matrix Reloaded) Amazon   

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) Miranda July. Very unique. review at notcoming.com

Midnight Express (1978) True story of an American who was caught smuggling drugs and sent to a Turkish prison. Heavy duty stuff, not a happy story (for the most part). Amazon

Modern Romance (1981) Albert Brooks comedy. Amazon

Mystery Train (1989) Jim Jarmusch. Three different stories take place in Memphis in the same 24-hour period. A particularly good film. Great cast. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review

Natural Born Killers (1994) Oliver Stone. Starring Woody Harrelson, Juliet Lewis. Amazon

Night on Earth (1991) Jim Jarmusch. Five different cab rides in five different cities at the same time. Amazon

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Milos Forman. Classic masterpiece starring Jack Nicholson. Amazon

Over the Edge (1979) Jonathan Kaplan. Late seventies tale of disturbed alienated suburban highschool kids. Matt Dillon's first role. Cool soundtrack including the Cars, Cheap Trick, Hendrix, and the Ramones. Amazon

Pecker (1998) Wonderful John Waters film starring Edward Furlong. Amazon     Official Site

Pi (1998) Darren Aronofsky. Brilliant low-budget, black-and-white sci-fi about the number pi. Very interesting. Amazon

Platoon (1986) Oliver Stone's Vietnam movie. Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe (out-of-print). Amazon

Polyester (1981) John Waters Starring Divine. Very funny. Amazon

Pootie Tang (2001) Louis C. K. Starring Lance Crouther, Chris Rock. Extremely funny - this one should make you laugh for sure! Yeah, wa da tah, my damey. Sa da tay! Amazon

Potluck Amazon

Pulp Fiction (1994) Quentin Tarrantino. Starring John Travolta, Samuel Jackson, Uma Thurman. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (****)

Punch Drunk Love (2002) P.T. Anderson. Starring Adam Sandler, Emily Watson
Took me awhile to get to this one. I didn't realize it was a P.T Anderson film. Rented it immediately after discovering that. Awesome as expected. Very original.
Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (***1/2)

Rabbitproof Fence (2002) Phillip Noyce Amazon

Real Life (1979) Albert Brooks comedy. Amazon

Rock and Roll High School (1979) Alan Arkush. Classic rock and roll movie - starring the RAMONES! Amazon

Rocky (1976) John Avilson. Starring Sylvester Stallone. A super-classic film. Very inspirational. Amazon

Romeo is Bleeding (1993) Peter Medak. Starring Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra. Very original contemporary film noir. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (**)

The Ruling Class (1972) Peter Medak. Starring Peter O'Toole. Amazon

Runaway Train (1985) Andrei Konchalovsky. Starring John Voight and Eric Roberts. Amazon

The Rutles - All You Need is Cash (1978) Eric Idle, Gary Weis. Overlooked parody of Beatles documentary with lots of Monty Python and Saturday Night Live people. Very funny. Amazon

Seven (1995) David Fincher. Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (***1/2)

sex, lies, and videotape (1989) Steven Soderbergh. Starring James Spader. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (***1/2)

The Shining (1980) Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece. Based on Stephen King book. Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall. Amazon

Slacker (1991) Richard Linklater (not to be confused with Slackers)     A review by Phil Bacharach from OKC's Gazzette 10/20/04: "In 1991, a budding filmmaker named Richard Linklater got a bunch of Austin, Texas pals together to make "Slacker", a 16mm celebration of their hometown's eccentric charms. Costing a meager $23,000, the movie encapsulated a generation's aimlessness and provided a label for all over-educated roustabouts with an aversion to work and an affinity for flannel. "Slacker" is finally on DVD, and your reaction to it largely depends on your indulgence for the verbose. There are only vignettes, as Linklater's camera meanders through an assemblage of oddballs, weirdoes, and cranks who love to talk about anything: the nostalgia of anarchy, the Smurfs as Krishna propaganda, Madonna papa smears, you name it. The conversations are funny, thought-provoking, poignant, and yes, ultimately exhausting. The Criterion Collection works its magic in this terrific 2-disc package that includes multiple commentaries, audition videos and some earlier Linklater films that probably didn't need to see the light of day. No matter. "Slacker" remains an offbeat, if uneven, cultural touchstone for the early Nineties."

Smoke Signals (1998) Chris Eyre. A modern Native-American tale. A very special and overlooked film. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (***)

Something Wild (1986) Jonathan Demme. Starring Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta. Starts out fun, gets scary when Liotta appears. Amazon

Spun (2002) Jonas Akerlund. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Britany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke, Patrick Fugit, Chloe Hunter, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts.
Amazon

Star Wars (1977) George Lucas. Amazon

Storytelling (2001) Todd Solondz Amazon

The Straight Story (1999) David Lynch.
A very beautiful film. None of the weirdness you would be expecting from David Lynch. Based on the true story of an old man who travels 300 miles on a riding lawn mower to see his sick brother. Starring Richard Farnsworth.
Roger Ebert (****)

Stripes (1981) Ivan Reitman. Starring Bill Murray, John Candy, Howard Ramis, Warren Oates. Stupid but very funny. Amazon

Swimming Pool (2000) Francois Ozon. Starring Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier. Amazon    Roger Ebert Review (***)

The Terminator (1984) James Cameron. Classic Sci-fi, starring Arnold Schwartzeneggar (as the ultimate cyborg) and Linda Hamilton. Amazon

The Thin Red Line (1998) Terrence Mallick. Long, philosophical, meditative look at bloody battle on Guadalcanal Island in Pacific in WW2. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Thirteen (2003)

This Girl's Life

Three Kings (1999) David O. Russell. Starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze, Ice Cube. A very modern war movie. Amazon Roger Ebert Review

Trash (1970) Paul Morrissey/Andy Warhol film starring Joe Dallesandro and Holly Woodlawn.
Amazon

Tweeked (2001) Beth Dewey
Amazon twwkedthemovie.com IMDB

Twin Falls Idaho (1999) Mark and Michael Polish
Roger Ebert Review (****)     Amazon

U-Turn (1997) Oliver Stone. Starring Sean Penn. Billy Bob Thornton has a great role as a psycho mechanic "When I work on a car, I work on a car."
Roger Ebert Review

Untamed Heart (1993) Tony Bill. Starring Marisa Tomei, Christian Slater. They call it a "three-hankie weeper". You might want to watch it alone. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review

Vanilla Sky () Cameron Crowe. Starring Tom Cruise, Penelpoe Cruize, Cameron Diaz     Amazon

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) Lasse Hallstrom. Starring Johnny Depp, Leonardo DeCaprio, Juliet Lewis.     Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (****)

Wild at Heart (1990) Another weird one from David Lynch. Starring Nicholas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe. Amazon     Roger Ebert Review (**1/2)

Wild Things Starring Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Matt Dillon. Very well-made and tricky thriller.

Yellow Submarine (1968) Animated Beatles film. Dr. Bob Heironimus has lots to say about it.     Amazon

Zelig (1983) Woody Allen. My favorite of his many films, all of which are great. Amazon

Zoolander (2001) Ben Stiller. Starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Totally HILARIOUS! Amazon