Favorite Lesser Known Films
This list is a work in progress. Not all of these films will end up on my final list. I would also like to add my own personal synopsis on each film before I am done. I am still in the process of researching my film notebooks and choosing films that might be interesting to people if they learned about them.
I am now in the process of editing out films with more than 10,000 votes. Some films aren't as "lesser known" as I originally thought.
I am now in the process of editing out films with more than 10,000 votes. Some films aren't as "lesser known" as I originally thought.
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- DirectorMike FlanaganStarsKatie ParkerCourtney BellDave LevineA woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.
- DirectorJames FoleyStarsJason PatricRachel WardBruce DernAfter he escapes from a mental hospital, a former boxer works for a widow. When she asks him to get involved in a kidnapping, he has second thoughts.
- DirectorPhilip HaasStarsMark RylanceKristin Scott ThomasPatsy KensitIn the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British country gentry.
- DirectorJeremy ThomasStarsJohn HurtChristian BaleDaniel BenzaliBobby Platt is a mentally slow young man who escapes an abusive, hateful stepfather who has killed his pets one by one. To save himself, Bobby runs away and meets a strange old man who wanders the highways to bury roadkill animals. Bobby becomes the old man's apprentice and learns to see the world of nature in a strange idyllic way. But soon the shadow of his stepfather catches up to him and Bobby's world explodes into a grotesque nightmare.
- DirectorRobert DuvallStarsRobert DuvallTodd AllenPaul BaggetAfter his happy life spins out of control, a preacher from Texas changes his name, goes to Louisiana and starts preaching on the radio.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGreg KinnearWillem DafoeMaria BelloThe life of TV star Bob Crane and his strange friendship with electronics expert John Henry Carpenter.
- DirectorRolf de HeerStarsNicholas HopeClaire BenitoRalph CotterillBubby has spent thirty years trapped in the same small room, tricked by his mother. One day, he manages to escape and, deranged and naive in equal measures, his adventure into a modern and nihilistic life begins.
- DirectorMaggie GreenwaldStarsSuzy AmisBo HopkinsIan McKellenAfter being thrown out of her home, a young woman decides to disguise herself as a man to survive the ruthless Wild West.
- DirectorBertrand BlierStarsPatrick DewaereAriel BesseMaurice RonetAfter her mother dies, fourteen-year-old Marion falls in love with her stepfather, Remy.
- DirectorCaroline LinkStarsSylvie TestudTatjana TriebHowie SeagoSince the earliest days in her childhood Lara has had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice versa when her parents want to communicate with other people. Getting older and more mature she becomes interested in music and starts to play clarinet very successfully. However her parents are deaf, they cannot share Lara's musical career. The day comes when Lara has to decide between her parents and her own ambitions.
- DirectorCampbell ScottStanley TucciStarsTony ShalhoubStanley TucciMarc AnthonyNew Jersey, 1950s. Two brothers run an Italian restaurant. Business is not going well as a rival Italian restaurant is out-competing them. In a final effort to save the restaurant, the brothers plan to put on an evening of incredible food.
- DirectorChris BellStarsChris BellMike BellMark BellAn examination of America's win-at-all-cost culture from the perspective of bodybuilding and performance enhancing drugs, as it focuses on a pair of siblings chasing their dream.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsRichard PryorHarvey KeitelYaphet KottoWhen three automotive factory workers who're struggling financially try to steal from their own labor union, they discover corruption, and reluctantly decide to use this information for blackmail.
- DirectorTaika WaititiStarsJames RollestonTe Aho Eketone-WhituTaika WaititiBoy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
- DirectorJohn N. SmithStarsHenry CzernyJohnny MorinaBrian DooleyThe true story of boys being sexually abused at their orphanage ran by a religious community in Newfoundland.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsJoe MortonDaryl EdwardsRosanna CarterA mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsUlrich ThomsenNikolaj Lie KaasConnie NielsenTwo brothers must negotiate changing roles and shifting family dynamics when one is sent to war in Afghanistan.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsDebbie DoebereinerOmar CowanDustin James AshleySet against the backdrop of a decaying Midwestern town, a murder becomes the focal point of three people who work in a doll factory.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsWendy HughesRobyn NevinNicholas GledhillHis mother dead, PS lives in Sydney with working-class Aunt Lila and Uncle George. When he's six or eight, his posh Aunt Vanessa descends from England. Named a co-guardian by PS's feckless, absent father, she asserts her rights and convinces Lila to have PS live with her weekdays. PS is happy at Lila's, playing with children, running about, speaking up. At Vanessa's, there's a regimen of private school, round vowels, piano and riding lessons, and lonely indoor play with fancy toys. He's miserable and when he objects, she sues for complete custody. Will anyone listen to him? And will he take on Vanessa's challenges to find out who he is and to love someone?
- DirectorMike van DiemStarsPavlik Jansen op de HaarJan DecleirFedja van HuêtJacob Katadreuffe lives mute with his mother, has no contact with his father who only works against him and wants to become a lawyer, at all costs.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsGeneviève BujoldKeith CarradineLesley Ann WarrenLove doctor radio host Nancy, bar owner Eve, Pearl, drifter Mickey et al meet in LA.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsRobert ArkinsMichael AherneAngeline BallJimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsCherKaren BlackSandy DennisA fan club of die-hard James Dean fans meet on the 20th anniversary of his death and reconnect, opening old wounds and facing new ones.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsTimothy HuttonMandy PatinkinLindsay CrouseDaniel Isaacson attempts to determine the true complicity of his parents Paul and Rochelle Isaacson, who were executed for espionage in the 1950s.
- DirectorTerence DaviesStarsPete PostlethwaiteFreda DowieAngela WalshThe lives of an English working-class family are told out of order in a free-associative manner. The first part, "Distant Voices", focuses on the father's role in the family. The second part, "Still Lives", focuses on his children.