1) L.I.E. - Brian Cox should have earned an Oscar for this film. Incredible acting in the context of a disturbing and fascinating story. Who'da thunk a film revolving around the Long Island Expressway could be so nauseating and moving. I hope Michael Cuestra is able to continue directing films and not just tv (many Six Feet Under episodes).
2) Mysterious Skin - Like L.I.E., it deals with similar themes and has an amazing central performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. If this film had been seen by more people, this would have made him a huge star. Based on Scott Heim's challenging book, it is definitely Gregg Araki's most accomplished film.
3) Wet Hot American Summer - Just funny as hell and should have been found by more people. Hysterical homage to bad 80's camp and sex comedies that features an amazingly funny and well known cast. How did this only make 200K in the US?
4) Love & Human Remains - Starring Thomas Gibson before he became Dharma's Greg and Mia Kirshner before The L Word and The Black Dahlia, this is a gay serial killer dramedy from the amazing French Canadian director Denys Arcand who directed one of my favorite films of all time, Jesus Of Montreal. Unfortunately, JoM doesn't qualify for this list, but L&HR is a worthy replacement.
5) Chuck & Buck - Some people just don't get this film and I understand that, but I think it's awesome and has the best work of the Weitz Brothers and Mike White's careers before they started creating more commercial fare. Even if you don't like the film, the fabulous Lupe Ontiveros (Carlos's mother on Desperate Housewives) makes it worth seeing. My prediction: Director Miquel Arteta (The Good Girl) is eventually going to make a classic film that will be remembered by the world.
6) The Mother - Featuring the new James Bond, Daniel Craig, as a man sleeping with both a grieving mother (twice his age) and angry daughter, this is another film I don't think everyone appreciates. However, I love the open ended conclusion and the real look at unbridled lust, ageism and family betrayal. Everyone points to Craig being great in Layer Cake, but this is my favorite of his earlier roles.
7) Beautiful Thing - Gay themes aside, this is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen about the power of young love (God, I sound like a Hallmark Card). It's gritty and real, but also romantic and ultimately moving. It's not just about the love of the 2 boys, but also the about the unflinching love between a mother and her child. It breaks my heart everytime I see it.
8) Sordid Lives - Yeah, a silly over-the-top comedy starring Olivia Newton-John, Delta Burke, Beau Bridges, Bonnie Bedelia and Will & Grace's Leslie Jordan doesn't inspire much confidence when talking about great movies, but so what. It's damn funny - maybe not well written, acted or directed - but damn funny. And my favorite character actress of all time, Beth Grant, makes me howl everytime she grabs that rubber band. If you like to laugh, see it.
9) Urbania - Dan Futterman may have earned an Oscar nomination this year for writing Capote, but his best work as an actor is in this moving and disturbing film about grief, confusion and urban legends. I haven't done any research about director Jon Shear, but IMDB doesn't show him as having done any other work since directing this film 6 years ago, so I hope he's still around and working in Hollywood becuase this was an amazing debut.
10) Chain Of Desire - A film that many might think belongs on late night on Skinamax because of it's subject matter and the poster/video box, but it doesn't. A film of sexual vignettes that ultimately connect in the most odd ways featuring the amazing Linda Fiorentino, Malcolm McDowell, Seymor Cassel, Elias Koteas, Grace Zabriski and other interesting actors. It's sexy, sobering, funny, dramatic, real, fantastical and everything in between. Ultimately, it gives a true glimpse into just about all types of adult relationships with all the messy, passionate and overwelming emotions that comes with them.
11) Spanking The Monkey - Like Christopher Nolan's "Following", it's a first film made for virtually nothing by a director that was as self assured then as he is now making a big budget film. Like Nolan, Russell is also a film genius. Anyone who could make a comedy about incest for their first film and have it turn out so incredibly great that people had to pay attention to him, definitely deserves to make the list. If you haven't seen it, definitely check it out. It's awesome (just don't watch it with your Mom 'cause that could get really uncomfortable).
