123 lesser-known movies from 1976-2016 that are worth watching.

I decided to divide these up according to year:

1976:

Mikey and Nicky - In Philadelphia, a small-time bookie who stole mob money is in hiding and he begs a childhood friend to help him evade the hit-man who's on his trail.

The Front - In 1953, a cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

The Shootist - A dying gunfighter spends his last days looking for a way to die with a minimum of pain and a maximum of dignity.

1977:

Sorcerer - Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous South American jungle.

The Duellists - A small feud between two Napoleonic officers evolves into a decades-long series of duels.

The Late Show - A grumpy semi-retired private investigator partners with a quirky female client to catch the people who murdered his partner.

1978:

Big Wednesday - The lives of some California surfers from the early 1960s to the 1970s.

The Driver - A getaway driver becomes the latest assignment for a tenancious detective.

The Silent Partner - A timid bank teller anticipates a bank robbery and steals the money himself before the crook arrives.

1979:

Return of the Secaucus Seven - Seven former college friends, along with a few new friends, gather for a weekend reunion at a summer house in New Hampshire to reminisce about the good old days, when they got arrested on the way to a protest in Washington, DC.

The China Syndrome - A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.

The Wanderers - In 1963 New York, an Italian gang called the Wanderers attempt to defend their honor and turf against rival gangs.

1980:

Breaker Morant - Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.

Lion of the Desert - The story of the Libyan resistance leader, Omar Mukhtar, who led the Libyan resistance against the Italian opressors from 1911-1931.

The Long Riders - The origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of revenge.

1981:

American Pop - The story of four generations of a Russian Jewish immigrant family of musicians whose careers parallel the history of American popular music in the 20th century.

My Dinner with Andre - Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.

Ragtime - A young black pianist becomes embroiled in the lives of an upper-class white family set among the racial tensions, infidelity, violence, and other events in early 1900s New York City.

1982:

Diner - A group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.

The Plague Dogs - Two dogs escape from a laboratory and are hunted as possible carriers of the bubonic plague.

The Year of Living Dangerously - A young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.

1983:

Local Hero - An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery, but things don't go as expected.

Testament - The life of a suburban American family is scarred after a nuclear attack.

Under Fire - Three journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somozoa regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.

1984:

Another Country - Based on the life of the young Guy Burgess, who would become better known as one of the Cambridge Spies.

Broadway Danny Rose - In his attempts to reconcile a lounge singer with his mistress, a hapless talent agent is mistaken as her lover by a jealous gangster.

Where the Green Ants Dream - A geologist employed by an Australian mining company finds himself disputing the rights of some aborigines who believe their land to be sacred.

1985:

The Adventures of Mark Twain - Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn join Mark Twain on his airship to meet Halley's Comet.

The Journey of Natty Gann - In the 1930s, a tomboyish girl runs away from her guardian to join her single father who is 2,000 miles away, because there was work there.

To Live and Die in L.A. - A fearless Secret Service agent will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter who killed his partner.

1986:

Malcolm - After getting fired for building his own tram, Malcolm gets Frank, who has just been released from jail, to move in to help pay the bills.

Salvador - An American photojournalist gets caught in a political struggle at El Salvador in 1980.

True Stories - A small but growing Texas town, filled with strange and musical characters, celebrates its sesquicentennial and converge on a local parade and talent show.

1987:

Bagdad Cafe - A lonely German woman ends up in the most desolate motel on Earth and decides to make it brighter.

Matewan - A labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.

Some Kind of Wonderful - When Keith goes out with Amanda, the girl of his dreams, Keith's best friend, tomboy Watts, realizes she has feelings for Keith.

1988:

Bird - The troubled life and career of the jazz musician, Charlie "Bird" Parker.

Gorillas in the Mist - The story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.

Miracle Mile - A young man hears a chance phone call telling him that a nuclear war has started and missiles will hit his city in 70 minutes.

1989:

Henry V - In the midst of the Hundred Years War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.

Lean on Me - The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school and he is determined to improve by any and all means.

The Unbelievable Truth - A man returns to his home town after serving a prison sentence for homicide, and finds that the details of the crime have been forgotten and replaced with local legends and rumors.

1990:

Hidden Agenda - When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.

State of Grace - A New York cop is recruited to return to his hometown and infiltrate the mob ran by his best friend's brother.

The Field - "Bull" McCabe's family has farmed a field for generations, sacrificing endlessly for the sake of the land, and when the widow, who owns the field, decides to sell the field in a public auction, McCabe knows that he must own it, but runs into trouble with another bidder that wants the field to build a highway.

1991:

Europa - Just after W.W.II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.

Riff-Raff - The story of a construction worker named Stevie and his unemployed pop singer girlfriend, which serves to show the living conditions of the British poor class.

The Indian Runner - A Vietnam vet comes home to his small town and finds himself in conflict with rules that his brother has vowed to uphold.

1992:

American Me - A Mexican-American Mafia kingpin is released from prison, falls in love for the first time, and grows introspective about his gangster lifestyle.

One False Move - A small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.

The Long Day Closes - The story of an 11-year-old named Bud, a sad and lonely boy who struggles through his days, with the movies that play at the local movie-house serving as his main source of solace.

1993:

Fearless - A man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.

The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb - A boy born the size of a small doll is kidnapped by a genetic lab, and meets a variety of strange creatures while finding a way back to his father.

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould - A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.

1994:

Fresh - Death and violence anger a 12-year-old drug courier, who sets his employers against each other.

Vanya on 42nd Street - New York actors rehearse Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" in a dilapidated theatre.

War of the Buttons - Rival gangs of young Irish kids enjoin in constantly escalating battles that ultimately entails the removal of the buttons from the clothes of captured losers.

1995:

Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream That One Calls Human Life - In a dreamlike and surreal world, a school for servants is visited by a young man whose presence impacts the people there, and possibly even the school itself.

Land and Freedom - David is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists.

Living in Oblivion - A film about filmmaking, which takes place during one day on the set of a low-budget movie.

1996:

Lone Star - When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.

Small Faces - Lex, a self-assured prankster in 1968 Glasgow, begins a downward spiral after he accidentally shoots the leader of his brother's gang, but Lex's cockiness and immaturity unfortunately prevent him from understanding the effect his subsequent crimes will have on both himself, and on those around him.

Some Mother's Son - Focuses on the mothers that struggle to save the lives of their sons that are involved in the 1981 hunger strike in a British prison, in which IRA prisoner Bobby Sands led a protest against the treatment of IRA prisoners as criminals rather than as prisoners of war.

1997:

Gridlock'd - After a friend overdoses, Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program, but their efforts are hampered by seemingly endless red tape, as they are shuffled from one office to another while being chased by drug dealers and the police.

Kundun - From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.

Niagara, Niagara - An outsider and a young woman plagued by Tourette's syndrome meet and together journey to Canada.

1998:

Jinnah - The story of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

My Name Is Joe - Two thirtysomethings, unemployed former alcoholic Joe and community health worker Sarah, start a romantic relationship in the one of the toughest Glasgow neighbourhoods.

This Is My Father - A middle-aged teacher discovers photos from his mother's past that convinces him that she has not told the truth about his real father.

1999:

Sunshine - The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.

Titus - Titus returns victorious from war, only to plant the seeds of future turmoil for himself and his family.

Wonderland - Members of a working-class family each deal with their own relationship issues over the course of a long November weekend.

2000:

Bread and Roses - Two Latina sisters work as cleaners in a downtown office building, and fight for the right to unionize.

George Washington - A group of children, in a depressed small town, band together to cover up a tragic mistake one summer.

Pollock - A film about the life and career of Jackson Pollock, an American painter struggling with drinking, insecurity, and stress.

2001:

Manic - Lyle Jensen is subject to sudden and violent outbursts, and he is committed to the juvenile wing of the Northwood Mental Institution, where several other youths are there with a variety of serious problems.

Tape - Three old high school friends meet in a Michigan motel room to dissect painful memories from their past.

The Zookeeper - In the midst of a civil war in an Eastern European country, a disillusioned ex-Communist is left behind to take care of the animals in the capital's zoological gardens until a U.N. rescue force arrives.

2002:

Bloody Sunday - A dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.

Sweet Sixteen - Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

The Dancer Upstairs - A police detective in a South American country is dedicated to hunting down a revolutionary guerilla leader.

2003:

Baadasssss! - Mario Van Peebles' half-documentary/half-homage to his father Melvin Van Peebles' movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.

Pieces of April - A wayward daughter invites her dying mother and the rest of her estranged family to her apartment for Thanksgiving dinner.

Wondrous Oblivion - 11-year-old David Wiseman and his family run into problems after David befriends their new neighbors.

2004:

Ae Fond Kiss... - Sparks fly in Glasgow's south side when a young Asian man enters into a relationship with a Caucasian woman.

In My Father's Den - A disillusioned war journalist's return home is blighted when he becomes implicated in the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl he has befriended.

Mickybo and Me - Two boys, whom share an obsession with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, also share an ambition of running away to Australia.

2005:

Beyond the Gates - An exhausted Catholic priest and a young idealistic English teacher find themselves caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Man Push Cart - A night in the life of a former Pakistani rock star who now sells coffee from his push cart on the streets of Manhattan.

Parzania - A parsi family struggles to find their son during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

2006:

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - As his friends end up dead, on drugs, or in prison, a boy growing up in Astoria, New York during the 1980s comes to believe he has been saved from their fates by various so-called saints.

Just Like the Son - A petty thief's mentoring of an apparent orphan takes a profound turn when he kidnaps the boy from a foster home and drives him cross-country to his sister's house in Texas.

Kenny - The daily life of Kenny Smyth, a portable toilet deliverer.

2007:

California Dreamin' - A railway chief delays a NATO train transporting military equipment during the war in Kosovo in 1999.

Chop Shop - Alejandro, a resourceful street orphan on the verge of adolescence, lives and works in an auto-body repair shop in a sprawling junkyard on the outskirts of Queens, New York.

Shotgun Stories - In Southeast Arkansas, a feud erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father.

2008:

Ballast - In the Mississippi delta, one man's suicide affects three people's lives.

Kisses - Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home at Christmas and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.

The Black Balloon - The complicated relationship between Thomas and his autistic brother, Charlie.

2009:

Balibo - War correspondent Roger East and the young Jose Ramos-Horta travel to East Timor to investigate the murders of the Balibo Five in 1975.

Ink - A mysterious creature, known as Ink, steals a child's soul in hopes of using it as a bargaining chip to join the Incubi, the group of supernatural beings responsible for creating nightmares.

Looking for Eric - Eric, a football fanatic postman whose life is descending into crisis, receives some life coaching from the famously philosophical Eric Cantona.

2010:

Beneath Hill 60 - In 1916, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company is tunneling beneath German fortifications and bunkers to detonate massive explosive charges.

Boy - Set on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

The First Grader - An 84-year-old Kenyan villager and ex Mau Mau veteran fights for his right to go to school for the first time to get the education he could never afford.

2011:

Death of a Superhero - A 15-year-old boy draws stories of an invincible superhero as he struggles with his mortality.

The Lady - The story of Aung San Suu Kyi's involvement in Burma's democracy movement, and her relationship with her husband, writer Michael Aris.

Wild Bill - Out on parole after 8 years inside, Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15-year-old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves.

2012:

Good Vibrations - A chronicle of Terri Hooley's life, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast's punk-rock scene.

It's Such a Beautiful Day - Bill struggles to put together his shattered psyche.

Ship of Theseus - Explores questions of identity, justice, beauty, meaning and death through an experimental photographer, an ailing monk, and a young stockbroker.

2013:

Josh - Fatima, a committed schoolteacher living the cosmopolitan high life in Karachi, has her life shattered when her nanny, Nusrat, inexplicably disappears.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete - Two inner city boys are left to fend for themselves over the summer after their mothers are taken away by the authorities.

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet - A ten-year-old scientist secretly leaves his family's ranch in Montana where he lives with his cowboy father and scientist mother, and travels across the country aboard a freight train to receive an award at the Smithsonian Institute.

2014:

Before I Disappear - At the lowest point of his life, Richie gets a call from his estranged sister, asking him to look after his eleven-year old niece, Sophia, for a few hours.

The Prophet - Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter.

Wheels - Two suicidal paraplegic junkies hustle their way through the city streets trying to find a reason to live.

2015:

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero - Over a thousand years ago, one boy with a dream of becoming a great warrior is abducted with his sister and taken to a land far away from home.

James White - James, a twenty-something New Yorker, struggles to take control of his self-destructive behavior in the face of momentous family challenges.

The End of the Tour - A five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace, which takes place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking epic novel, 'Infinite Jest.'

2016:

20th Century Women - The story of a teenage boy, his mother, and two other women who help raise him among the love and freedom of Southern California of 1979.

Away - Set in the north English seaside town of Blackpool and centered on the interactions between two kindred spirits.

Ethel & Ernest - The life and times of two ordinary Londoners living through extraordinary events.

Thanks to IMDb for help with descriptions.

Submitted November 05, 2017 at 10:52AM by electricmastro http://ift.tt/2A7F28W