I’m not necessarily recommending these movies to anyone, because most of them have a fair amount of disturbing or offensive material in them (something that I find intriguing, but that most others find…ya know…disturbing and offensive). I’m just listing these for the heck of it, and if you happen to have seen one of them (or more), feel free to discuss with me!
Everybody stay away from Nicolas Rapold of the New York Times, because he apparently finds hilarity in the most depraved places. I suppose there are some humorous parts to this movie, but mostly it’s just disturbing (but in a very interesting way). This movie is from the viewpoint of three young adult siblings who have been raised in a perverse world created entirely by their father (and to a lesser extent, their mother). They have never left their home, and have no concept or even awareness of a world outside of their compound. The story surrounds their growing distrust of the only life they’ve known, and their search for something outside of it.
This movie is about a teenage girl who discovers that she has a set of teeth in…a…sensitive…place…. There was a fair amount of shock-gore, but it actually had some interesting things to say about feminism, gender roles, and sexual power.
A guy has been held captive in a small apartment by his perverted mother for 35 years. Through a lucky turn of events, he is freed, and has some CRAZY experiences as he discovers the real world. He looks like a psychopath on the cover, but the character is actually pretty sweet. Crazy, but sweet.
This movie stars 3 actors in drag, playing 3 women trying to make it in Hollywood. The jokes are shamelessly offensive or just plain wacko, and the movie gets weirder and weirder as it goes on. There are lines in this movie that make me fear for my life because I’m laughing so hard that I can’t breathe. But it is weird.
This is one movie I would recommend to people (as long as you can handle a modicum of gruesomeness). This movie takes place inside a series of nondescript white rooms (cubes), where a handful of people have been trapped. The plot revolves around their attempts to escape and to understand just what this cube is and why they have been placed inside of it.
Are there any trolls in this movie? Not a one. Is this a sequel? Nope. And the weirdness has only just begun. This movie is infamous for its weirdness and its poor quality in all areas (acting, writing, direction, EVERYTHING), but eventually developed a cult following. It’s about a family that ends up in a small town full of people who may or may not actually be people and who may or may not be trying to kill them. But the plot isn’t really important. It’s not super disturbing or offensive, just super weird.
This movie is about two guys who build and use a time traveling device. It’s not the fun romp through history (“Wheee!!! Here we are in Ancient Greece!” “Oh look! There’s Napoleon!”) that other time travel movies are about. This is about the nitty gritty of time travel (the mechanics of it, the ethics of it, etc.). And apparently you have to watch it multiple times to even begin to follow it. I’ve only seen it once, and I wasn’t that confused, but that’s just because I’m not smart enough to have been confused. I knew early on that I was just going to have to go with the flow, and not try to figure out exactly what was happening and when. I think the smarter you are, the harder it is for you to understand this movie. It’s also notable because it was made by some independent dude (Shane Carruth) for $7000.
I can’t really remember if anything happened in this movie. All I can remember is being really weirded out and grossed out. And it almost ruined spaghetti for me.
I couldn’t leave this movie off of this list. This is probably the first really nutty movie I ever saw. I eventually figured out what I believe was happening in the movie, after reading others’ explanations online. But when I was watching it, I was losing my mind. At the time, I didn’t know that movies could be this weird. The basic description of this movie is that it follows the “adventures” of a woman trying to start an acting career in Hollywood. And then there’s a a cowboy? And a blue key? And tiny old people? And some horrifying swamp creature thing behind a diner? What?
And then of course there’s every Kubrik movie. Also, American Psycho, Caligula, Battle Royale, and Donnie Darko. All fairly out-there.
What am I missing? (I haven’t seen Oldboy or Audition yet, though I intend to.)
Wild Blue 