30 Excellent Under-the-Radar Films (2005-Present)
This is a list I created of great films that you may have overlooked or let slip passed in the last 5 years. None of them have any superheros, transforming robots, or fancy CGI. If you're stuck one evening without a movie to watch, hopefully this list helps you pick one out.
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- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.A beautiful film, with great imagination. Shot in 28 countries over the course of 4 years; Uses no CGI.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsJared GilmanKara HaywardBruce WillisTwo 12-year-olds, who live on an island, fall in love with each other and elope into the wilderness. While people set out on a search mission, a violent storm approaching them catches their attention.Best film of 2012 so far...hands down
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellBrendan GleesonCiarán HindsAfter a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.Amazing. I am so angry this film gets overlooked so often. It defies classification. Its part comedy, thriller & crime-drama with traces of existentialism and atonement mixed in. Plus it was filmed in the beautiful medieval city of Bruges.
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.An animated film not made for young children? Hilarious in parts and extremely moving in others. It is a lot deeper than you originally think. I love Philip Seymour Hoffman as the voice of Max.
- DirectorWilson YipStarsDonnie YenSimon YamSiu-Wong FanDuring the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.The cover says it right: The best martial-arts movie ever made. I don't usually like martial-arts films. The fight choreography is incredible. The Story is surprisingly good. It is based on the true story of the war between Japan and China in the 1930s. So there is also a history lesson included.
- DirectorTodd FieldStarsKate WinsletJennifer ConnellyPatrick WilsonThe lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.Awesome film. I love the voice-over narration. Jackie Earle Haley is phenomenal in an Oscar nominated role. He plays a convicted pedophile recently released back into suburban life.
- DirectorRaymond De FelittaStarsAndy GarciaJulianna MarguliesSteven StraitPrison guard Vince tells Molly from acting class, that one inmate is his 24 y.o. love child. Vince takes him home to stay with his family - straight A son with fat girl fetish, college dropout/stripper daughter and cute wife.I have no idea why this film didn't make it to theaters? Andy Garcia's performance is great; the whole cast is great for that matter. It tells the all too common theme of a dysfunctional family with some creativity.
- DirectorAnna BodenRyan FleckStarsKeir GilchristZach GalifianakisEmma RobertsA clinically-depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.Not laugh-out-loud funny, but uplifting and heartfelt. Don't get me wrong, it is kind of funny as well.
- DirectorSimon CurtisStarsMichelle WilliamsEddie RedmayneKenneth BranaghColin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier, documents the tense interactions between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).
- DirectorDavid MichôdStarsJames FrechevilleGuy PearceJoel EdgertonA seventeen-year-old navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsWagner MouraIrandhir SantosAndré RamiroAfter a prison riot, former-Captain Nascimento, now a high ranking security officer in Rio de Janeiro, is swept into a bloody political dispute that involves government officials and paramilitary groups.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsAntonio BanderasElena AnayaJan CornetA brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.Not for the faint of heart. I would watch this one by yourself. Creepy beyond words. You'll be thinking about it for months after watching.
- DirectorMike MillsStarsEwan McGregorChristopher PlummerMélanie LaurentA young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer and that he has a young male lover.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsRhys IfansVanessa RedgraveDavid ThewlisThe theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsBelén RuedaFernando CayoRoger PríncepA woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.
- DirectorTom FordStarsColin FirthJulianne MooreMatthew GoodeAn English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
- DirectorJuan José CampanellaStarsRicardo DarínSoledad VillamilPablo RagoA retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
- DirectorScott FrankStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittJeff DanielsMatthew GoodeChris is a once promising high school athlete whose life is turned upside down following a tragic accident. As he tries to maintain a normal life, he takes a job as a janitor at a bank, where he ultimately finds himself caught up in a planned heist.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsTommy Lee JonesCharlize TheronJonathan TuckerA retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.
- DirectorStefan RuzowitzkyStarsKarl MarkovicsAugust DiehlDevid StriesowThe story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during World War II.
- 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.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.
- DirectorKirk JonesStarsRobert De NiroKate BeckinsaleSam RockwellA widower who realized his only connection to his family was through his wife sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.
- DirectorHenry JoostAriel SchulmanStarsNev SchulmanAriel SchulmanHenry JoostYoung filmmakers document their colleague's budding online friendship with a young woman and her family which leads to an unexpected series of discoveries.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsHelen MirrenSam WorthingtonTom WilkinsonIn 1965, three Mossad Agents cross into East Berlin to apprehend a notorious Nazi war criminal. Thirty years later, the secrets the Agents share come back to haunt them.
- DirectorDuncan JonesStarsSam RockwellKevin SpaceyDominique McElligottAstronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
- DirectorMax MayerStarsHugh DancyRose ByrnePeter GallagherAdam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsThomas JaneMarcia Gay HardenLaurie HoldenA freak storm unleashes a species of bloodthirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.
- DirectorRyûhei KitamuraStarsVinnie JonesBradley CooperLeslie BibbA photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
- DirectorDaniel NettheimStarsWillem DafoeSam NeillMorgan DaviesMartin, a mercenary, is sent from Europe by a mysterious biotech company to the Tasmanian wilderness on a hunt for the last Tasmanian tiger.