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Subgenre Sampler

 
Mega Time SquadMega Time Squad (2018) Aro Favourite
Dir. Tim van Dammen
Feat. Anton Tennet, Jonathan Brugh, Milo Cawthorne
Ingenious low–budget sci–fi comedy set in the tiny North Island town of Thames, New Zealand in which a small–town criminal finds an…
SpaghettimanSpaghettiman (Spaghetti Man) (2016)
Dir. Mark Potts
Feat. Benjamin Crutcher, Winston Carter
An absurdist, no–budget superhero spoof centred around a cynical super–slacker whose microwave mishap inadvertently turns him into a man…
This Giant Papier-Mache Boulder Is Actually Really HeavyThis Giant Papier-Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy (This Giant Paper Mache Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy) (2016)
Dir. Christian Nicolson
Feat. Christian Nicolson, Daniel Pujol
Three nerds are inexplicably plunged into a B–grade sci–fi movie where they must comandeer a rickety old spaceship and find a way to…
Cheap ThrillsCheap Thrills (2013) Aro Favourite
Dir. E.L. Katz
Feat. Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton
A devilishly effective black comedy about a pair of old friends who enter into an increasingly bloody game of one–upmanship with a wealthy…
Computer ChessComputer Chess (2013) Recommended
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…
Magic MagicMagic Magic (2013)
Dir. Sebastián Silva
Feat. Juno Temple, Michael Cera, Emily Browning
This bizarre head trip from Chilean dir. Sebastián Silva (THE MAID) has its bewitching moments despite descending into madness. The film follows a…
Birdemic: Shock and TerrorBirdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
Dir. James Nguyen
Feat. Alan Bagh, Whitney Moore
Shoe–string trash homage to Hitchcock's THE BIRDS that follows a romantic couple whose small town that is attacked by birds.…
Mister LonelyMister 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…
Scanner Darkly, AScanner Darkly, A (2006) Recommended
Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jnr., Woody Harrelson
Richard Linklater’s latest ‘rotoscope’ animation adapts Philip K. Dick's sci–fi novel into a dystopian proxy for the near future, where…
9 Songs9 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…
KeaneKeane (2004) Recommended
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…
American SplendorAmerican 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, TheBrown 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…
Cowards Bend the KneeCowards Bend the Knee (2003)
Dir. Guy Maddin
A true original of contemporary cinema, dir. Guy Maddin here imparts the strange tale of a hockey player beset by monstrous desires, hinging in…
HaggardHaggard (2003)
Dir. Bam Margera
Feat. Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo
Spinoff feature from the creators of JACKASS mostly dispenses with the stuntwork and prankery, substituting plot and comic routines. Dunn is…
Masked and AnonymousMasked and Anonymous (2003)
Dir. Larry Charles
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, Bob Dylan
In a near–apocalyptic future America, a popular singer (Bob Dylan) sets out on a nationwide tour to revive his career before heading into a…
Zero DayZero Day (2003) Recommended
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…
SpunSpun (2002) Recommended
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…
American Astronaut, TheAmerican Astronaut, The (2001) Recommended
Dir. Cory McAbee
Feat. Cory McAbee
Wobbling unusually between satire, male angst and experimental derring–do, this slice of outer orbit cinema is set in a grungy future existence…
Waking LifeWaking Life (2001) Aro Favourite
Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Wiley Wiggins
A luminous, visually unique reprise of dir. Linklater’s SLACKER, whereby a lone protagonist (Wiley Wiggins) wanders the streets of Austin, Texas…
Believer, TheBeliever, The (2000) Recommended
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…
DogmaDogma (1999) Recommended
Dir. Kevin Smith
Feat. Kevin Smith, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck
Eccentric meditation on Roman Catholicism in a modern–day context from writer/director Kevin Smith (CHASING AMY), that's just as bizarre as it…
Acid House, TheAcid House, The (1998) Recommended
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…
Buffalo 66Buffalo 66 (1998) Recommended
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…
GummoGummo (1998) Recommended
Dir. Harmony Korine
Feat. Chloe Sevigny
The writer of KIDS turns the camera on his hometown, Xenia, Ohio, selectively seeking out the disenfranchised, the bored and the ugly to distinctive…
HappinessHappiness (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…
PiPi (1998) Aro Favourite
Dir. Darren Aronofsky
Feat. Sean Gullette
Super–inventive, grungy portrait of a maths genius who slides into a maelstrom of paranoia as he get closer to 'cracking the code' that may or…
FreewayFreeway (1996)
Dir. Matthew Bright
Feat. Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland
Grim white trash road–movie black comedy made of The Brothers' Grimm's "Little Red Riding Hood" sends young Reese Witherspoon on a lost highway…
God's Lonely ManGod's Lonely Man (1996) Recommended
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…
TrainspottingTrainspotting (1996) Recommended
Dir. Danny Boyle
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller
The creators of SHALLOW GRAVE reinvigorate the British film industry by transforming an obscure cult novel about heroine addicts into a…
Doom Generation, TheDoom Generation, The (1995)
Dir. Gregg Araki
Feat. James Duval, Rose McGowan, Johnathon Schaech
The boundaries of good taste are demolished in this white–trash road movie obsessed with teenage sex and scatology. The joke turns cruel in the…
KidsKids (1995) Recommended
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…
Boy Meets GirlBoy Meets Girl (1994)
Dir. Ray Brady
Feat. Tim Poole, Danielle Sanderson, Margot Steinberg
For many years banned in the UK on video at least, this abrasive, low–budget drama plays out the wilfully unpleasant scenario of a man who gets…
Clean, ShavenClean, Shaven (1993) Recommended
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…
Bad LieutenantBad Lieutenant (1992) Recommended
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…
CarefulCareful (1992)
Dir. Guy Maddin
Feat. Kyle McCulloch, Gosia Dobrowolska, Paul Cox
Iconoclast film–maker Guy Maddin’s dreamlike tale of repression and disorder, set in an alpine village where rigidly studious young men…
SlackerSlacker (1992) Recommended
Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Richard Linklater
A hugely original and influential film that virtually coined the phrase for young aimless academics of the 1990s. Essentially plotless, it is…
Adjuster, TheAdjuster, The (1991) Recommended
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…
Barton FinkBarton Fink (1991) Recommended
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.…
Johnny SuedeJohnny Suede (1991) Aro Favourite
Dir. Tom DiCillo
Feat. Brad Pitt, Nick Cave
Brad Pitt is priceless as a naive, super–quiffed romantic who dreams of basking in the limelight of rock idoldom. This small gem underscores…
Drugstore CowboyDrugstore Cowboy (1989) Aro Favourite
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…
RoadkillRoadkill (1989) Aro Favourite
Dir. Bruce McDonald
Feat. Valerie Buhagiar, Don McKellar
This first road movie from dir. Bruce McDonald (HIGHWAY 61) is possessed of a naive charm and raw energy that characterizes many of the best indie…
Tetsuo: The Iron ManTetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) Recommended
Dir. Shinya Tsukamoto
Feat. Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara
Mind–blowing cyberpunk tour–de–force that sandwiches enough visuals to fill three movies into its sweat–breaking 67 minutes.…
Down by LawDown by Law (1988) Recommended
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 SunlightHeat 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…
Bad TasteBad Taste (1987) Aro Favourite
Dir. Peter Jackson
Feat. Peter Jackson
New Zealand's entry into the splatter comedy genre, shot on consecutive Sundays over a four year period, is among the best ever made. Outrageously…
Henry: Portrait of a Serial KillerHenry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1987) Aro Favourite
Dir. John McNaughton
Feat. Michael Rooker, Tom Towles
Theatrically banned, this uncut version ranks as one of the more unsettling works ever committed to film. In short, a low–budget masterpiece…
River's EdgeRiver's Edge (1986) Recommended
Dir. Tim Hunter
Feat. Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye
Terrifying drama about a group of school friends who discover that one of them has murdered a classmate. Major cult film from the '80s with its lurid…
ScreamplayScreamplay (1986)
Dir. Rufus Butler Seder
Feat. George Kuchar, Katy Bolger
Tacky amusement can be found in this midnight flick about a splatter movie writer whose nightmare visions become frighteningly real!
Loveless, TheLoveless, The (1981) Recommended
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery
Feat. Willem Dafoe, Robert Gordon, Marin Kanter
A brooding, fetishised love–letter to the motorcycle movies of the 1950s (THE WILD ONE et al), with a bike gang having a troubled interlude in…
Madame Wang'sMadame Wang's (1981)
Dir. Paul Morrissey
Feat. Virginia Bruce
Latterday Morrissey/Warhol production set around the politico–erotic misadventures of a German lad who stows away to New York City. Features…
Falls, TheFalls, 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…
Desperate LivingDesperate Living (1977) Recommended
Dir. John Waters
Feat. Liz Renay, Mink Stole, Edith Massey
The third in John Waters' unholy trilogy again succeeds in his aim to simultaneously shock and incite hysterics. No Divine this time, but Liz Renay,…
Opening NightOpening 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, TheKilling of a Chinese Bookie, The (1976) Recommended
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…
Cars That Ate Paris, TheCars That Ate Paris, The (1974) Recommended
Dir. Peter Weir
Feat. Terry Camilleri, John Meillon
This no–budget wonder marked the auspicious debut of Peter Weir. It's a delirious black comedy in which an outback community ambush passing…
HeatHeat (1972) Aro Favourite
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…
Pink FlamingosPink Flamingos (1971) Aro Favourite
Dir. John Waters
Feat. Divine, Mink Stole, Edith Massey
John Waters' creative pinnacle (or nadir!) remains the ultimate statement in bad taste – a pure, unadulterated exercise in shock value!…
Women in RevoltWomen in Revolt (1971) Recommended
Dir. Paul Morrissey
Feat. Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn, Jackie Curtis
Aspiring 'stars' Candy Darling and Holly Woodlawn try their hand at breaking into Hollywood, but end up joining a womens' rights group. Warhol…
Hi Mom!Hi Mom! (1970)
Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Robert De Niro, Charles Durning, Allen Garfield
One of dir. De Palma's underrated early satires is loosely a sequel to 'Greetings', with Robert De Niro returning from the Vietnam War to try and…
Honeymoon Killers, TheHoneymoon Killers, The (1970) Aro Favourite
Dir. Leonard Kastle
Feat. Shirley Stoler, Tony Lo Bianco
Fascinating, tabloid tale of the 'lonely hearts' murderers of the 40's and 50's. Grimly realistic, ultimately tragic story of obsessive love and…
TrashTrash (1970) Recommended
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…
WandaWanda (1970) Aro Favourite
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…
Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 4Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 4 (1969-1980)
Dir. Kenneth Anger
Underground film–maker Kenneth Anger manifests his dark artistic vision in two shorts that almost defy description. "Lucifer Rising"…
Plot Against Harry, ThePlot Against Harry, The (1969) Aro Favourite
Dir. Michael Roemer
Feat. Harry Plotnik
Repentent racketeer Harry Plotnik is released from jail, but his plans to go legit in New York's Jewish community become inadvertently thwarted by…
Wedding Party, TheWedding Party, The (1969)
Dir. Cynthia Monroe, Brian De Palma, Wilford Leach
Feat. Jill Clayburgh, Robert De Niro
Brian De Palma collaborated with others to make this while still at college in 1963. Improvised film details the sparring between a couple before…
FacesFaces (1968) Aro Favourite
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…
FleshFlesh (1968)
Dir. Paul Morrissey
Feat. Joe Dallesandro
A product of the Andy Warhol factory in which trash icon Joe Dallesandro hustles his way through a series of (homo)sexual encounters.…
Color Me LuridColor Me Lurid (1966) Recommended
Dir. George Kuchar
A sampler of six of the kitschest and coolest short films from the weird mind of George Kuchar. Fans of John Waters' work will be delighted and…
Spider BabySpider Baby (1964) Recommended
Dir. Jack Hill
Feat. Lon Jr. Chaney
More of a twisted black comedy than a traditional horror flick – a threesome of child monsters and their ‘uncle’ rabidly protect their rural…
John Cassavetes Collection BoxsetJohn Cassavetes Collection Boxset (Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night) (1959-1977)
Dir. John Cassavetes
Five–film anthology of John Cassavetes' groundbreaking independent cinema. Includes Charles Kiselyak's lengthy documentary on Cassavetes, A…
ShadowsShadows (1959)
Dir. John Cassavetes
Feat. Lelia Goldoni
Cassavetes' influential debut explores inter–racial relationships with improvised dialogue, gitanes, ray–bans and Charlie Mingus…
Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 2Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 2 (1954)
Dir. Kenneth Anger
Features "Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome" (1954), a depiction of an imaginative world of gods invoked and controlled by the untamed desires of…
Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 3Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 3 (1949-1965) Recommended
Dir. Kenneth Anger
Three more shorts from Mssr. Anger, including "Kustom Kar Kommando" (1965), "Puce Moments" (1949), and his most famous and controversial work,…
Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 1Kenneth Anger's Magick Lantern Cycle Vol. 1 (1947-1953)
Dir. Kenneth Anger
The first of a four–part compendium of shorts from the American iconoclast: 'Fireworks' (1947), made at the tender age of 15, 'Rabbit's Moon'…

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