What are the 5 "best" "alternative" films of the last 20 years?

[JanMichael]

Beats me, but there are some that come to mind...

"Europa, Europa"

Any Hal Hartley flick; other than that commercial one that sucked

Something by Ken Loach

The Double Lives of Veronica; One of the "Three Colors" movies

"Oranges aren't the only Fruit"


Eh? Did I say 5? Oh well, give me some more, what non-mega-monopolistic-commercial film rocks?

[reorg]

1. Night on Earth

by Jim Jarmusch, featuring Roberto Benigni, of course.

The most hilarious film sequence ever is when Roberto confesses to his passenger, the "bishop", all his sins.

[JanMichael]

2. I've heard of it, thanks for the recommendation!

:-)

[frylock]

10. i'll back you up on that film..

especially the cabbie in Roma scene. baaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh

[reorg]

12. exactly, the cabbie is Roberto :-)

[tigereye]

36. I have never laughed so hard as the first time I saw that!

[dolo amber]

3. Clerks

"Try not to suck any dick on the way to the parking lot."

:D

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. In a row?

[Liberal Veteran]

7. Clerks is the best!

I loved that movie (was a convenience store manager at the time it came out).

[CanuckAmok]

27. "I don't appreciate your ruse, ma'am"

"My ruse?"

"Yes, you know, your cunning attempt to trick me"

[Chovexani]

39. I used to work in a 7-11

That movie was therapy for me.

I'm definitely a female Randal. Except when I'm surrounded by other Randals, in which case I tend to be more of a Dante. :P

[Tom Kitten]

5. I cannot say they're the best....

but they struck a chord and I spent a few days thinking about them...

Dead Man
The Rapture
Citizen Ruth
Cube
Like Water for Chocolate

[JanMichael]

8. That "Cube" thing has eluded me. I first noticed it at a theatre in Poland

but I missed it. Then it was shown on SciFi and I missed it. I went to rent it once, they didn't ave it.

Does it really exist?

[Tom Kitten]

15. Yes it exists

It's a Canadian film, it played here in town briefly at an art-house theatre...I have it on video...

All I can say about it is it's different...some might say boring but not me...it manages to be different, intriguing, pedestrian, and eye-openingly allegorical all at the same time...my roommates and their out-of-town friends also watched it and wanted to talk about it too...

I'd say it's worth watching at least once however I don't know if it stands up after repeated viewings....It's rather bleak after all...

Avoid the made for cable sequel, by the way...to me it's a good movie all by itself.

[chelsea0011]

6. Repo Man and Re-Animator

[JanMichael]

9. I dig Repo Man.

It's certainly a Top 5 soundtrack.

[frylock]

11. not necessarily in this order..

Drugstore Cowboy
Repo Man
Bottle Rocket
Ed Wood
Ghost World

[fishwax]

21. Bottle Rocket!

Excellent choice (and a sign of great things to come from Anderson/Wilson)

[HEyHEY]

13. Lock Stock and two smoking barrels

[Guy Fawkes]

16. If you liked that...

you should see "Snatch"

[HEyHEY]

18. Own that one!

[fishwax]

19. I loved both of them

too bad he followed up with Swept Away :P

[jonnyblitz]

14. I liked all three of the color movies!

yes, Europa Europa was good, too. I liked Ma Vie En Rose (my life in pink). It's a french movie about a little boy who wishes he were a girl.

[smirkymonkey]

22. I loved "Ma Vie En Rose"!

and Europa, Europa (Julie Delpy as a young nazi) as well as the Red, White, Blue trilogy (and I liked them from most to least in that order). Also, many of the Decalogue films and Double Life of Veronique.

Others:
Together
Monty Python Films
Gosford Park
The Piano Teacher
Impromptu
The Usual Suspects
Saving Grace
Elizabeth

Sorry, that's more than 5 - couldn't really narrow it down, too sleepy.

[jukes]

17. only five?

"the deceivers"
"deadman"
"once were warriors"
"bound"
"oh brother, where art thou?"

[fishwax]

20. Five that come to mind

Men with Guns -- yeah John Sayles!
The Search for One-Eyed Jimmy -- Am I the only one who's seen this?
Powwow Highway -- anything with Gary Farmer is worth seeing
Rubin and Ed == My cat can eat a whole watermelon! (no it can't)
The Impostors -- some kind of big names (oliver platt, stanley tucci), but still often flies beneath the radar

Oh, and also, since I can't pick just five ...

trainspotting
lock, stock and two smoking barrels/snatch
4 little girls (spike lee doc about birmingham church bombing)

[Warren DeMontague]

28. My Cat Can Eat A Whole Watermelon!

Man, I thought I was the only person in the world who ever used that line.

Crispin Glover.. a truly underappreciated genius/kook.

Second you on Pow Wow Highway. Almost no one has seen that one.

Someone of your tastes also might like "Roadside Prophets"... John Doe from X, one of them Beastie Boys boys, Nice Tim Leary Cameo, Arlo Guthrie, and John "Free Food For The Poor!" Cusack..

[fishwax]

34. Right on on Roadside Prophets

The Motel 9's ... :) Been a while since I've seen it, though.

I'm surprised when someone has seen either of Powwow Highway or Rubin and Ed, let alone both of them. :) Incidentally, Pow wow Highway (which is actually coming on dvd this fall) was partially filmed in my old hometown of Sheridan Wyoming (the scene where they try to buy the car stereo, and then break the glass in the storefront)

[Warren DeMontague]

42. I spent almost a decade as the company inventory manager

for a small, indie chain of anti-corporate "un-blockbuster" video stores. So weird movies are something I know more than a little bit about.

...Not to mention porn. :7

[AntiCoup2K4]

48. PowWow Highway is a great movie!

Unfortunately, it will probably get a DVD release about the same time Hell gets a ski lodge :(

[miss_kitty]

23. Here's a few

Cheap, Fast and Out of Control
Office Killer
Office Space
Slacker
Once Were Warriors
Clerks
Miller’s Crossing
The Unbelievable Truth
Ballroom Dancing
Muriel's Wedding
Simple Men

and hey! what about that little Michael Moore Documentary That Disney Would Not Distribute? That was too bad-it nearly disappeared, any Moore stuff really...do documentaries count here?

sorry i could go on for a while

[neverborn]

24. Five.

Identity
May
Memento
Requiem For A Dream
The Rules Of Attraction

[SmileyBoy]

25. Crooklyn, Trainspotting, Kentucky Fried Movie, UHF, CB4.

[AntiCoup2K4]

49. Is CB4 out on DVD yet?

I tried watching it on Comedy Central today, and the edited version was just incoherently unwatchable :puke:

[FDRrocks]

26. does the movie "KIDS" count?

by Harmony? That was a great film!

[Warren DeMontague]

29. Terry Gilliam's "Brazil"

Far and Away The 'Citizen Kane' of the 2nd Half of the 20th Century.

Also:

•Living in Oblivion
•Roadside Prophets
•Slacker
•Bob Roberts (A *POLITICAL* MUST!)

More than Honorable Mentions go to:

•UHF
•Repo Man
•Clerks
•Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones as the drunken, abusive, racist ex-baseball legend is truly an excercise in black, black humor)
•Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as well as Where the Buffalo Roam- The "other" Hunter S. Thompson Movie- starring Bill Murray
•CB4
•Half Baked
•Beavis and Butthead Do America (A Guilty Pleasure if there ever was one)
•Drugstore Cowboy
•PCU
•Better off Dead & One Crazy Summer (Savage Steve Holland, where are ye now...)

[NashVegas]

30. Here Be Some

A Room With a View
Wings of Desire
Reservior Dogs
Fight Club
Dead Man

[IronLionZion]

31. City of God

What are "alternative" films? are they just rare and independent ones?

[JanMichael]

32. It's pretty subjective.

Independent films with non-standard subject matter, something unusual, obscure but good, like I said, it's pretty subjective.

[midnight armadillo]

33. "Pi" and "The Butcher Boy"

Gawd, I love those films!

[Mara Steele]

35. "The Station Agent" & "Monsieur Ibrahim"

- both indie films, if that's what you mean.

[tigereye]

37. American Splendor

Repo Man
Blade Runner ( or is that more that 20?)
Being John Malkovich
Ed Wood

Smoke Signals - in case Blade Runner is over 20 :)

[Mara Steele]

38. Smoke Signals was great

really sad and funny, too.

[tigereye]

44. he is a very good writer

excellent essays and short stories.

Hi Mara!

[AngryAmish]

40. Easy

Godfather III
Pearl Harbor
The Passion of the Christ
Superman II
Godzilla (the one with M. Broderick)

[Magrittes Pipe]

41. The line between "alternative" and "mainstream indie" has blurred of late.

Still, I submit my top 5 from the last decade or so:

5) The Celebration
4) Pi
3) Exotica*
2) Delicatessen
1) Suture


*The Sweet Hereafter, also directed by Atom Egoyan, was probably a better film than Exotica. That said, Hereafter was nominated for Academy Awards, rendering it somewhat less "alternative."

[porkrind]

43. "Equilibrium"

Great dystopian flick starring Christian Bale. Anyone ever see it?

[politicat]

45. Slums of Beverly Hills and Welcome to the Dollhouse.

You have to like weird angsty slices of life, though.

Also, "But I'm a Cheerleader!" and the Freeway series (modern reinterpretations of fairy tales - there's a Natasha Lyonne and a Reese Whitherspoon that are incredible)

I suppose it depends on your definition of alternative - for me, it includes everything with a budget under $10 M, not released by a major studio, or only distributed by a major after a film festival success. So Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility and Cruel Intentions and The Contender all count.

I happen to like dark comedy.

Pcat

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

46. Yeah Dollhouse and Pow Wow Highway!

[ilovenicepeople]

47. Hmmmmm let's see

Delicatessen,Gummo,Vulgar,Duct tape Forever,Leolo:hurts:

[Kire]

50. But I'm a Cheerleader

[Beware the Beast Man]

51. Boondock Saints is sorely missing from this thread.

Other faves:
Clerks
Swingers
The Bad Lieutenant (so bad it's good)
True Romance

[Kire]

52. I agree