Subversive, Strange, or Campy Movies
You know who you are . . .
This is a diverse list (roughly sorted by decade), but all the movies below have that indefinable something that makes them stick with you. I can watch most of them over and over again. Many are controversial, and I suspect misunderstood.
I've tried to focus on the more obscure, lesser-known movies, because I'm sure the well-known ones show up on many lists. That said, some of the movies below, although well-known, are just too good to leave off.
My favorite movie genre is satire or black comedy, but there's no denying I'm a sucker for campy movies with good music and cool houses. That's not to say I don't like thrillers, drama, documentaries, or movies based on true stories, but that's another list.
This is a diverse list (roughly sorted by decade), but all the movies below have that indefinable something that makes them stick with you. I can watch most of them over and over again. Many are controversial, and I suspect misunderstood.
I've tried to focus on the more obscure, lesser-known movies, because I'm sure the well-known ones show up on many lists. That said, some of the movies below, although well-known, are just too good to leave off.
My favorite movie genre is satire or black comedy, but there's no denying I'm a sucker for campy movies with good music and cool houses. That's not to say I don't like thrillers, drama, documentaries, or movies based on true stories, but that's another list.
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- DirectorNick GutheStarsAlec BaldwinNikki ReedCarrie-Anne MossA rebellious girl hooks up with an escort agency, where her stepfather is a client.
- DirectorMary HarronStarsChristian BaleJustin TherouxJosh LucasA wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
- DirectorNima NourizadehStarsThomas MannOliver CooperJonathan Daniel BrownThree high-school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.
- DirectorLuke GreenfieldStarsEmile HirschNicholas DownsElisha CuthbertA teenager's dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love.
- DirectorLarry CharlesStarsBill MaherTal BachmanJonathan BouldenBill Maher's take on the current state of world religion.
- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsAaron EckhartCameron BrightMaria BelloSatirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco's chief spokesman, Nick Naylor, who spins on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a role model for his 12-year-old son.
- DirectorEric LiebmanJonathan SchellStarsBaba DezKamalaDeviMaya YonikaHeartbroken after his beloved leaves due to his polyamorous lifestyle, Baba Dez, a sacred sexual healer, manifests her back by doing Sex Magic with other women.
- DirectorSpencer SusserStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittDevin BrochuNatalie PortmanA young boy has lost his mother and is losing touch with his father and the world around him. Then he meets Hesher who manages to make his life even more chaotic.
- DirectorZach BraffStarsZach BraffPeter SarsgaardNatalie PortmanA quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.
- DirectorJonathan CravenStarsJennifer BealsKeri Lynn PrattMolly HaganA rock diva (Jennifer Beals) with a lengthy and often turbulent career hires a new assistant (Keri Lynn Pratt) whose sweet, helpful demeanor masks ulterior motives.
- DirectorDerrick BorteStarsDemi MooreDavid DuchovnyAmber HeardA seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsEminemBrittany MurphyKim BasingerFollows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life; he wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsLindsay LohanJames DeenNolan Gerard FunkWhen Christian, an LA trust-fund kid with casual ties to Hollywood, learns of a secret affair between Tara and the lead of his film project, Ryan, he spirals out of control, and his cruel mind games escalate into an act of bloody violence.
- DirectorDavid SladeStarsPatrick WilsonElliot PageSandra OhHayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsVanessa HudgensSelena GomezAshley BensonFour college girls hold up a restaurant in order to fund their spring break vacation. While partying, drinking, and taking drugs, they are arrested, only to be bailed out by a drug and arms dealer.
- DirectorLawrence SilversteinStarsSam AotakiCatherine Hyein KimMinnie ScarletAfter four Asian schoolgirls are drugged and gangraped by members of a crime syndicate, they train to hunt them down and exact revenge.
- DirectorA. Dean BellStarsEmily GraceJudith IveyBill RaymondA young woman looking to escape her life is rescued on the highway by a friendly couple in an RV. But as the miles pass the couple's motives come into question and a strange mother/daughter relationship evolves.
- DirectorNate TaylorStarsChristopher DenhamLindsay BeamishElizabeth RiceHaunted by a traumatic history, photographer Kevin Wolfe (Christopher Denham) struggles to systematically forget all his bad memories, but erasing his past threatens to consume his future. Kevin is obsessed with finding a girl who can help him forget his unpleasant past. However, all his encounters with the opposite sex inevitably go afoul, creating more awkward experiences than he can cope with. As the rejections mount, Kevin's futile search for happiness and love becomes overwhelmingly turbulent, forcing him to take desperate measures. Shot in a variety of NYC locales, from Hell's Kitchen to Greenpoint, Forgetting the Girl is a gritty vision of the city and its denizens. The tightly-woven drama blends recollections with reality to craft an intense character study of the psychologically-scarred protagonist. As beautiful as it is dark, the tense narrative slowly boils under the surface until it unleashes an unsettling climax that will not be easily forgotten.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead son, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsHarvey KeitelGeorge ClooneyJuliette LewisTwo criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
- DirectorDominic SenaStarsBrad PittJuliette LewisKathy LarsonA journalist duo goes on a tour of serial-killer murder sites with two companions, unaware that one of them is a serial killer himself.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorJulien TempleStarsPatsy KensitEddie O'ConnellDavid BowieIn London in 1958, a young photographer seeks media stardom to keep the love of a beautiful, aspiring fashion designer.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsGary OldmanChloe WebbDavid HaymanThe relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.