Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real GirlImage via MGM Distribution Co.
By
Robert Lee III
Published 2 hours ago
Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years.
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One of the great strengths of film as a medium is the wide variety of different styles and tones that it can accomplish under different visions and techniques. While these films are rarely the most successful, there will always be an audience for projects that go off the beaten path to be outwardly quirky and eccentric. From highly beloved Wes Anderson gems like The Royal Tenenbaums to peculiar comedy classics like Raising Arizona, these films utilize their quirks to make for highly engaging cinematic experiences.
However, part of the very nature of going against the grain with an unconventional filmmaking style leads to many films that, despite their classic status among quirky films, still feel massively overlooked and underseen by audiences. Many of these films live and die by word of mouth, so while they've certainly achieved dedicated audiences who are quick to sing their praises, they are far from the instantly recognizable icons of quirky filmmaking that they deserve to be. One can only hope that, as more time passes and the good graces of these films are spread, they can become much more recognized and appreciated by wider audiences.
8 'Breakfast on Pluto' (2005)
Image via Pathé Distribution
While Cillian Murphy is widely celebrated nowadays for prominent movies like Oppenheimer and The Dark Knight Trilogy, one of his underrated and impressive performances comes from the quirky comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto. The film sees Murphy as a young transgender woman named "Kitten" living in 1970s Ireland, deciding to leave her small town for the bustling city of London in search of love and acceptance from her long-lost mother.
With the film now being just over 20 years old, it's easy to assume that its content would be poorly aged. Yet, the respect it has for its lead character, combined with its signature tone and wit, has made it a cult classic fan-favorite for many audiences. Still, the film has been massively overlooked over the years, not even being the most prominent and celebrated Cillian Murphy film of 2005, as Red Eye was released just a few months prior. Breakfast on Pluto still stands as one of the most unique performances in Murphy's entire career, as it deserves much more praise and recognition.
7 'Smiley Face' (2007)
Anna Faris sat on a ferris wheel in Smiley Face.Image via First Look International
Gregg Araki has consistently proven himself to be one of the quirkiest and non-traditional filmmakers out there, with each of his films garnering a cult reputation for their knack for absurdity and madness. Even his most commercially approachable and crowd-pleasing experience, Smiley Face, manages to add distinct charms and twists to a classic stoner comedy premise. The plot is about as basic as a stoner movie can get, following a struggling young actress who accidentally gets way too high before her busy day, resulting in all sorts of shenanigans and misadventures across Los Angeles.
While many other stoner comedies of the 2000s would be more focused on raunchy, risqué humor to supplement the controversial nature of marijuana usage, Smiley Face leans more into the elated feelings of melancholy that being high provides. Anna Faris gives an exceptional leading comedic performance, inviting the audience along in its nonsensical journey of absurdist whimsy. However, Smiley Face remains massively underappreciated among stoner comedies of the 2000s, only truly being recognized and appreciated by those who were already fans of Araki's quirky filmmaking style.
6 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' (2005)
Miranda July as Christine Jesperson in "Me and You and Everyone we Know"Image via IFC Films
One of the most tonally distinct and abstract comedy dramas the 2000s has to offer, the wide variety of distinct characters and editing flourishes in Me and You and Everyone We Know have made it a fan favorite ever since its release. The hidden gem comedy follows the unlikely bond that blossoms between single dad Richard (John Hawkes) and starving artist Christine (Miranda July). While their attempts at forming a relationship prove to be as awkward as it gets, the various people in their lives also find themselves getting up to all sorts of nonsensical shenanigans.
Me and You and Everyone We Know places much less focus upon the finer details of its story and more on the overarching energy and tonal balancing in its comedy and drama. It blends genuine emotion with its strange yet endearingly real characters, almost feeling like a time capsule to a bygone era that cannot be returned to. Its overwhelming strangeness has made it an insightful and effective film for those who have seen it, yet word of mouth has not elevated it past its stature and legacy as a quirky cult classic.
5 'Ghost World' (2001)
Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson in Ghost WorldImage via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Adapted from the goofy, similarly quirky comic book of the same name, Ghost World is about as strange and non-traditional as a coming-of-age movie can get, massively sticking out in the era where this style of film wasn't particularly popular. Especially compared to films like 10 Things I Hate About You and Legally Blonde, Ghost World's awkward characters and quirky demeanor helped it stick out as the eccentric alternative to many mainstream teen movies. It tackles more complex and layered themes, though, making them more approachable with its signature charm.
While the film is certainly more recognizable than many of the other quirky classics on this list, it still pales in comparison to the impact and legacy that many other late '90s and early 2000s teen movies have had. To many, Ghost World simply stands as an awkward footnote for the genre, as well as one of the early roles that helped transform and evolve Scarlett Johansson's career beyond being a cutesy child actress. Still, there's a lot of passion and brilliance to Ghost World that is certainly deserving of being in the same conversation as the all-time coming-of-age greats.
4 'A Town Called Panic' (2009)
A brilliantly crafted claymation film that embraces a sense of cartoon whimsy and eccentricity with each passing scene, A Town Called Panic is about as wild and unpredictable as an animated comedy can get. The French film has a distinct approach to its storytelling and comedy that doesn't adhere to any traditional rules or structure, constantly one-upping its own madness for the sake of pure comedy. Whether it be its characters accidentally ordering too many bricks online or having to steal their house back from underwater thieves, there is no dull moment in the short yet sweet animated joyride.
Although certainly beloved and appreciated by those who have seen it, its prospects as an international animated film have limited its impact and recognition among American and worldwide audiences. Still, A Town Called Panic is an experience that every fan of goofy, off-the-wall comedy and stop-motion animation should seek out, as it constantly pleasantly surprises and utilizes its quirky comedy to near perfection. There simply isn't any other animated film quite like the consistent levels of madness and entertaining absurdity present within A Town Called Panic.
3 'Lars and the Real Girl' (2007)
Ryan Gosling as Lars sitting next to Bianca, the doll, in Lars and the Real Girl.Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
While the initial premise of Lars and the Real Girl makes it seem like yet another brash comedy of the 2000s, its heartfelt tone and sense of humanity make it an icon of quirky, idiosyncratic filmmaking. The film sees Ryan Gosling as Lars, an extremely shy man who finds it impossible to socialize or make friends, worrying his sister and brother-in-law. However, Lars manages to make an unexpected breakthrough when he has a new girlfriend, a life-size plastic doll. In following the recommendations of a doctor, Lars's family and the rest of the town decide to go along with his delusion, hoping to finally break him out of his shell.
It's certainly easy to imagine this film frequently making Lars the punchline to many jokes, mocking his awkward demeanor and his delusions of being in a relationship with a literal plastic doll. Instead, Lars and the Real Girl has a deep love and understanding for the loneliness that he faces, still managing to be hilarious, but never belittling the lonely nature of Lars. It gives the film an unexpected heart and emotional core that, on top of amplifying the quirkiness of the proceedings, has made it a cult classic comedy of the era.
2 'Hundreds of Beavers' (2024)
Jean Kayak, played by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, holds out a hand in Hundreds of Beavers.Image via Cineverse
Despite its relatively recent release, Hundreds of Beavers has quickly risen through the ranks of other independent comedies thanks to its overwhelming quirkiness, becoming the definitive cult classic comedy of the 2020s. The manic slapstick love letter about a drunken applejack salesman turned tur trapper getting into all sorts of shenanigans has been unanimously praised by critics and audiences alike since its release. It has stood as one of the biggest word-of-mouth hits of the 2020s so far, yet in the digital era, word of mouth can only take a film so far in terms of recognition and notoriety.
Its comedy is about as pitch-perfect and hilarious as it gets, paying tribute to comedy legends of old while distinctly adding a modern flair and quirkiness to its proceedings. From the goofy, unrealistic mascot costumes that every animal wears to the over-the-top methods that go into trapping and capturing the various animals, the film is an unpredictable blast from beginning to end. One can easily imagine it becoming a defining quirky comedy classic for the modern generation, yet it has a long way to go before it is widely recognized as one of the decade's best.
1 'What's Up, Doc?' (1972)
Image via Warner Bros.
Peter Bogdanovich has lent his talents to several of the most celebrated and recognizable '70s films, with Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show both often appearing on the greatest films of all time lists. However, the screwball comedy that he directed in between these masterpieces, What's Up, Doc?, is massively overlooked and underappreciated amidst Bogdanovich's legendary filmography. The film is about as wild and distinctly quirky as all great screwball comedies should be, feeling like a non-stop snowball effect of madness and chaos until it reaches a hilarious breaking point of comedic brilliance.
A lot of the overwhelming quirkiness of the film comes from Barbra Streisand, who gives a great comedic performance as a proto-manic pixie dream girl who constantly amplifies the chaos of everything that is happening. The film certainly gets hard to follow after a bit, with so many different plots and characters intersecting with one another, yet it thrives on this sense of confusion as it wears the audience down to being susceptible to laughing at the madness of it all. In a just world, What's Up, Doc? would be in the same conversation as Bogdanovich's other classics, as well as recognized as one of the best comedies of the '70s.
What's Up, Doc?
G
Comedy
Romance
Release Date
March 9, 1972
Runtime
94 Minutes
Director
Peter Bogdanovich
Cast
Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Michael Murphy, Philip Roth, Sorrell Booke, Stefan Gierasch, Mabel Albertson, Liam Dunn, John Hillerman, George Morfogen, Graham Jarvis, Randy Quaid, M. Emmet Walsh, Kevin O'Neal, Eleanor Zee, Paul Condylis, Fred Scheiwiller
Writers
Peter Bogdanovich, Buck Henry, Robert Benton, David Newman
Genres
Comedy, Romance
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