Office Space, written and directed by Mike Judge. Jennifer Aniston is in it, but don't let that put you off.

Anything by Paul Thomas Anderson, but if you're looking for something 'minor', then his Hard Eight starring John C Reilly. Gwyneth Paltrow is in it, but don't let that etc, etc.

Swingers, the Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn movie it's ok to like.

Room For Romeo Brass, Shane Meadows' best film, with an amazing unhinged performance by Paddy Considine.

And a feature documentary, American Movie, about a trailer-trash amateur filmmaker, full of unforgettable characters.

and at the risk of stirring up further conflict. We enjoyed Old Joy a year or so ago.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468526/
It's got bonnie prince billy/ willy oldham or whatever he's called this week. It's set in the pacific northwest and covers in minutes a 72 hour camping trip that two old but astranged friends make. It's got a off centtre feel and I'm sure people will say not much happens but it rang true about male friendship and soem ehart to it, like I say we enjoyed it.

I would certainly add the TV series Firefly if you haven't see in it- it's a hoot.

Some of my recommendations:

The Visitor : Tom McCarthy
The Wackness: Jonathan Levine
Pretty Persuasion: Marcos Siega
Belleville Rendez-vous : Sylvain Chomet
Smart People: Noam Murro
Inventing The Abbotts : Pat O'Connor

Hope that helps.

That kind of fit your thing. You may have seen them, they're not very obscure.

Grosse Point Blank - my favourite film of all time. John Cusack as a jaded assassin going to his high school reunion. Great dialogue, great story, performances, soundtrack everything.

Secretary. Yup, the film about an S&M relationship; but beautifully shot, beautifully written, actually kind of low key and sweet.

Amelie. I love this film, again beautiful to look at and a lovely well written story.

The Royal Tennenbaums. Fantastic story and acting, and a beautiful soundtrack.

I highly recommend "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." I was initially put off by the presence of Jim Carrey but he's not playing a typical Jim Carrey character.

If you like that, you might also like "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation."

by Rian Johnson is very good and very odd
and It´s a Free World by Ken Loach is fantastic

Lantana - An australian film from a few years back. A sort of crime thriller, but basically about the relationships of various middle-aged couples going belly-up. Brilliant, but not a happy watch.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Sidney Lumet. From las year I think. Lots of Hollywood luminaries but very un-Hollywood. Crime-thriller cum family tragedy. Awe-inspiringly depressing but genuinely great.

Juno - thought I'd hate it but genuinely touching and funny and not too 'quirky and whacky'. Absolutely brilliant performance from whoever it was who was Juno.

Open Range - Kevin Costner (gulp). I know it was a huge budgeted would-be blockbuster, I know it's directed by and stars the frankly unbearable, but hardly unknown, Kevin Costner. But this was a huge flop on release and noone seems to have heard of it. And is one of the best westerns made in years. Just wonderful in a classic hollywood western kind of way. Quite thought-provoking too.

Best film I've seen in weeks. Subtitled as in Swedish but just excellent. Is a "vampire" film in the loosest sense of the word but don't let that put you off (if it otherwise would).

Or In the Loop - very funny but runs out of steam in the last act. Very high F-word count but first rate as a damning indictment of the spin culture on government.

Finally The Damned United - excellent film about Brian Clough and his 42 day tenure as manager of Leeds United in the early 1970s. Even the football phobic Mrs Diz enjoyed this one!

Not sure this is 'unknown' enough but Little Miss Sunshine is a belter. Juno was great, this is better. Also, three quid in Sainsburys.

Going further back, someone mentioned Ken Loach - Raining Stones is brilliant.

3 French films I would recommend

1. Tell No One - this is a great thriller, which will keep you guessing until the end.

2. I've Loved You So Long - Kristin Scott Thomas stands out in this drama about a woman released from prison and trying to reconnect with her sister.

3. Cache - slow moving but has a certain something to it

Some Non-French

1. Blindness - stars Julianne Moore...enough said.

2. The Band's Visit - an Israeli film about an Egyptian police band who get stuck in an Israeli town....trust me, its good.

3. Young @ Heart - a documentary about a septugenarian group of singers....you will get a lump in your throat...and hear versions of James Brown and Sonic Youth that you never thought you would hear.

There's plenty more but thats a good start

Starring Glen Hansard of The Frames(AKA Outspan from The Committments) and Markéta Irglová.

A beautifully-observed intimate love story with some great music (the OST is well worth the cash).

Check out Some Voices, from about 10 years ago. Craig plays a schizophrenic man recently released from a psychiatric hospital and trying to rebuild a life. Great performances from Craig, David Morrissey and Kelly MacDonald.

Then there's the completely forgotten Zero Effect, starring Bill Pullman as a brilliant private detective, who also happens to be a complete misfit, incapable of interacting with people, and who uses Ben Stiller as his representative in the real world. Very funny in places, smartly written, with Pullman and Stiller at their best, and the lovely Kim Dickens in a supporting role.

And here's one that's far from obscure, but is hardly ever talked about when appraising Robert De Niro: Midnight Run. It's the one where he plays a bounty hunter, trying to find Charles Grodin and bring him back to claim his prize, while protecting him from the mob. It's just a wonderful film, the last great thing De Niro did as far as I'm concerned. A great mismatched-buddy story, very funny in places, exciting in others, full of great character actors (Dennis Farina, Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Philip Baker Hall). Does anyone else love this movie?

For anyone who enjoyed the excellent American Movie, recommended earlier in this thread, can I also big up King of Kong? Its a documentary about two men competing to register the world record score on Donkey Kong and proves more compelling than many fictional films.

... check out "JCVD" starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as himself, a has-been action hero actor who gets involved in a Belgian post office heist. Very clever, very "indie" in attitude, very funny in parts, and you'll be surprised at how good an actor JCVD himself is...

Not a big fan of yer man Colin Farrell but this was a great little film with some fantastic dialogue. Good appearance from Ralph Fiennes as a mobster,although he has obviously based his character on the performance by Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, and that was a good film too.

...probably because of it's very low budget, was 'Primer'. It was made for about $8000, and has no special effects at all, which is unusual for a time-travel film. It's quite an unsettling film, but will set your mind into overdrive thinking 'what the hell'?

...to 'Primer' is about to be released in early May. It's a Spanish film called 'Timecrimes' and it's high on my list of one's to watch. I've seen a few favourable reviews so expect it to be a half decent film.

Another excellent Spanish film of recent years is 'The Orphanage'. It's well worth checking out.

Vincenzo Natali's Cube
Vincenzo Natali's Cypher
Florian von Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others
David Cronenberg's A History of Violence
Paul Thomas Anderson's There will be Blood

First two are wonderful sci-fi/horror headscratchers. The third is a very moving film set in 1980's East Germany. The Cronenberg pic is his most mainstream and very tense. There will Be Blood is Daniel Day Lewis doing his John Huston impression and very good it is too. Maybe a couple of those are not that minor.

Some more suggestions.

The Devil's Backbone - Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, similarly themed to Pan's Labyrinth

The Mist - Stephen King adaptation directed by Frank Darabont of The Shawshank Redemption fame. Beware of very bleak ending!

Son Of Rambow - wonderful British film directed by the guys who recently made the Hitchhiker's Guide movie, but don't let that put you off.

Gone Baby Gone - gritty thriller directed by first timer Ben Affleck. Yes, THAT Ben Affleck.

The Squid & The Whale - A few years old, but an acid-funny look at a family falling apart. Reminded me of my childhood, but I'll keep that for the therapist.

The Escapist - starring Brian Cox, which was enough for me but it's a damn good film too.

Set in New Mexico, about a family of ex-hippies living on the land and 'off the map' who one day get a visit from a tax inspector. The cast includes Jim True-Frost as the IRS agent with artistic talents, Sam Elliott as a depressed iconoclast, and the sublime Joan Allen as his wife, a radiant hippie-goddess of tolerance. I think Ms. Allen can do no wrong and I almost feel ashamed to upsell the movie on this point, but she does get her kit off momentarily. A gentle gem from 2003 directed by Campbell Scott..

I watched this sort-of-documentary this morning and was moved almost to tears. Funny (there's gags in Latin!)and beautiful, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Try a South African film called 'Stander' directed by Bronwen Hughes. It's the true story of the youngest ever Captain in the Johannesburg police force (Andre Stander) who got bored and also sickened by apartheid. He became South Africa's most notorious bank robber - whilst still in service. It's an incredible and little known story. Google him and see for yourself and then seek out the DVD.

...Election,About Schmidt,and Sideways.
Also The Castle and The Dish both by Rob Sitch,Alan Taylor's Palookaville,and Ghost World by Tery Zwigoff.

what does it matter? Will certainly agree with some recommendations above: Try "Cronos", more Mexican, and made by Del Toro well before The Devil's Backbone". PTA's films always have an interesting cast, at the very least - good music too.

"The Unbelievable Truth" - Hal Hartley. His others are a bit wackier("Amateur", "Henry Fool" etc).

Mixed bag - if not seen before, "Ghost World", or perhaps "Broken Flowers" and "Ghost Dog - the Way of the Samurai". "Jackie Brown" - Tarantino for grown-ups.

David Lynch's film for people who don't like his films - "The Straight Story". The only road movie featuring a sit-on mower...and it's positively charming.

The Counterfeiters - German, largely set in a concentration camp but not over-mythologised or glossed (as in "Schindler's List").

"Black Book" - Paul Verhoeven ,in Dutch (OK - pretty lurid though not Hollywood), the frantic double-crossing trust-no-one action in late WW2 Holland fits his style very well. "Soldier of Orange" had similar themes 20 years before.

"Drop Dead Fred" or

"Guest House Paradiso"

Layer Cake - Daniel Craig prior to Casino Royale in Matthew Vaughn's London gangster film. Don't worry. It's *not* Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels. It's a lot more interesting, stylish and has an excellent soundtrack to boot.

Brick - A film noir with snappy dialogue and an investigator hunting down his former girlfriend's killer. Except it's set in an American high school.

Not subtle, no, and donkeys old now so holds little surprise but nonetheless it is aging very well.

Mirren holds the attention more than any other among the very strong cast as the faithful wife trying to contain Harold Shand's animal revenge instincts.

Made in a London just on the brink of the huge physical change into what it now is.

Excellent

Normally, any sentence containing the words "British gangster movie" or "Jason Statham" would have me running for the hills - but The Bank Job is good. There I've said it.

I saw this fine film at the Leeds film fest but have heard nothing of it since. It's got John Malkovich as some oddball loner who kept up the pretense that he was Stanley Kubrick for years. As Koobs (as I'm sure he'd have hated being called) was famously reclusive and had never been seen or photographed for years, few people doubted him and he enjoyed various trappings of his fake fame. It's a dead good British indie film which, unbelievably, also stars Jim Davidson playing a low-brow Northern celeb (rumoured to be Joe Longthorne) and, as much as I hate JD, he's actually pretty good in it. Check it out!

"The Indian Runner"
"The Crossing Guard"
"The Pledge"

All three are intelligent and engrossing.

The Truman Show
Peter Weir film that looked like science fiction ten years ago now the premise would fit snuggly in any TV schedule.
WARNING! It stars Jim Carey! Well worth watching though.

The King of Comedy
Is a lesser known Martin Scorsese/Robert DeNiro film. It was panned when it first came out but seeing it now I realise the writer was frigging psychic! The script is fantastic. It now feels like a true story that never actually happened. It's got a blink and you'll miss it cameo by The Clash! It could hardly be more "Word" ANOTHER WARNING! This one stars Jerry Lewis! Despite his presence it's jaw-droppingly good.

Many recent(ish) Australian movies fit your needs beautifully. Only 'Lantana', and 'The Dish' have been mentioned but try some o fthe recent Australian Film Industry award winners and you won't be disappoointed. 'The Black Balloon', 'Somersault'. 'Look Both Ways', Proof', Japanese Story', 'Malcolm', 'The Interview', 'Kiss Or Kill', Romulus, My Father', Bliss', ;The Piano', 'Rabbit Proof Fence' have all deservedly won best film AFI gongs. Others worth investigating - 'Noise', 'Suburban Mayhem', 'Bad Boy Bubby', 'Alexandra's Project', 'The Home Song Stories', 'Little Fish', 'Spotswood', 'Death In Brunswick','Muriel's Wedding', 'Doing Time For Patsy Cline'. 'Love Serenade', 'Romper Stomper', 'The Boys', 'Kenny', Two Hands', 'The Castle', 'Cosi', 'The Year My Voice Broke', 'Flirting', 'Three Dollars', 'Australian Rules'...something to suit all moods, tastes and styles!

2 movies made in the '90's by Peter Chelsom.

Both set in modern times but dressed in the period atmosphere of the late '40's and '50's.

Hear My Song is a fiction around the late Irish tenor Josef Locke being tempted to return from tax exile to perform in a northern nightclub. Ned Beatty and (whisper it) James Nesbitt are a delight.

Funny Bones is dark comedy. Lee Evans plays a comedic savant, and illegitmate child of a mainstream American comedy legend played by Jerry Lewis. There is a pointless sub-plot revolving around a drug-smuggling mishap and Oliver Platt is excellent in another lead role. The auditions scene is priceless.

Both worth a look.

All the talk of Aussie movies has reminded me of "The Last Wave".It's been years since I last saw it,probably back when the Beeb used to show good stuff in the 9.25pm slot on week nights.
I remember it as nicely creepy and unsettling.Haven't checked whether it's currently available on DVD but I would like to see it again.

Nothing to do with Iraq, but CCH Pounder running a mystical diner in the middle of the Arizona desert, with Marianne Sagebrecht as a dumped tourist who changes all their lives.

The Bad Seed - horrid little girl is responsible for many deaths. Or is she?

Blind Terror - Mia Farrow's family are murdered and she's the blind one alone in the house...

The Subject Was Roses - with a very young Martin Sheen

Days Of Wine and Roses - Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick are a nice couple who like a drink...

Across The Universe - I thought I'd hate this Beatles musical with it's clunky character names (Jude, Sadie, etc), but there was something about it that quite captivated me.

Dead Man's Shoes - another dark turn by Paddy Considine, who's also fantastic in In America.

London To Brighton - girls on the run from a nasty bit of work who of course catches up with them.

And then there's two of my favourites and the best rock films ever made That'll Be The Day and Stardust, both starring David Essex. Anyone thinking of joining a band and hoping to hit the big time should be made to watch these.

Powerful and harrowing WW2 film. Russian film and set in the Belarus. It is quite hard going at times, but very good. Certainly stays with you long after its finished.

Jim Jarmusch - can be a bit hit and miss - but Ghost Dog is good.

another French film - Jean Jacques Beineix - great escapist stuff.

"Jar City" - Icelandic thriller whose complex plot is both unusual and plausible.

"13 (Tzameti)" - Taut, tense French game-of-chance thriller, currently being *yawn* remade by Hollywood.

"Harry, He's Here To Help" - surreal, at times darkly funny tale of a put-upon family man and his chance encounter with an old school friend who proves himself more than willing to help him out in increasingly bizarre, extreme ways.

You mentioned "The Beat That My Heart Skipped" (which I agree is fantastic, though let's be honest, I'd happily watch Romain Duris in just about anything), but another French piano-themed thriller worth checking out is "The Page Turner", an elegant, icily-executed piece in which a young woman seeks revenge on the piano teacher who unthinkingly ruined her childhood dreams of pursuing a musical career.

"Lovers of the Arctic Circle" - a quirky, philosophical romance which I'm sure Michel Gondry must have seen before he made "Eternal Sunshine...". Though similarly-themed, it has a sharpness which may appeal if you find "Amelie" too cloying.

There's loads more which I've probably forgotten, but will report back if they spring to mind...

This one had escaped me.

A filum that could easily be macho tosh about the courting process turns out to be life affirming , Shock!

I found this mesmerising , great performances from Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt and Nick Cave playing a bar-room busker towards the end.

I know that a largely black and white animated film about growing up during the Iranian revolution doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs, but it's great - give it a go.

...to let a fellow cinephile go without, so here's a few more.

A Scanner Darkly (Rotoscoped Linklater Phil K. Dick adaptation)
Buffalo 66 (Vincent Gallo's indulgence)
Buffalo Soldiers (Joaquin Phoenix in MASH for the noughties)
Children Of Men (where's the kids gone, honey?)
Dark City (my home town!)
The Edukators (anti-Capitalist treatise disguised as kidnap movie)
Fallen (Denzel Washington messes with the devil)
Following (Christopher Nolan's first)
The Fountain (pre-Wrestler Aronovsky)
Frailty (Matthew McConaughey in decent film-shocker)
Identity (John Cusack loses it)
The Jacket (Adrien Brody loses it)
Pi (pre-Wrestler, pre-The Fountain, pre-anything Aronovsky)
The Prestige (another Bale-starring Nolan film)
Savior (Bosnia-set Oliver Stone produced movie. VERY good)
Stranger Than Fiction (Will Ferrell in good movie-shocker!)
Summer Of Sam (70's set, Moltisanti, er, I mean Imperioli scripted Son Of Sam flick)
Sunshine (pre-Slumdog Boyle)
Thank You For Smoking (pre-Dark Knight Eckhart/pre-Juno Reitman)

Pretty much any film with him in it is a good un..*

*warning: may contain French dialogue with subtitles.

Other top films... Dans Paris (French existentialism [no really] first 30 min annoying though), Elephant ( Gus van Sant's take on Columbine), Spun ( featuring a crazy crank dealing Mickey Rourke )

and as mentioned earlier Once and The Beat my Heart Skipped

... to check if these had been suggested, but:

- Central Station: unlikely friendship between sour old lady and little kid in S America, very sweet film
- Y Tu Mama Tambien: two teenage boys on road trip with sexy older woman (played by the gorgeous Maribel Verdu). Lovely, funny film, sombre ending that adds a sharp counterpoint to the preceding events
- A Very Long Engagement: a sort of "Amelie Part Deux" (very roughly speaking). By the same director I think (Jeunet?), lovely gentle romance with a slightly surreal undertow
- Black Cat, White Cat: basically a caper movie transplanted to Serbia and set among the gypsies. Very funny, life-affirming, chaotically alive, makes you feel slightly drunk after watching
- Snakes On A Plane: a moving, bittersweet experience; almost unbearably poignant, finely-nuanced perfomances and.. oh ok, I'm sorry. I'll be off then.

'Box of Moonlight'. I've only spoken to one other person who's seen it, and I don't even know how readily available it is. Understated, rather wonderful, and very engaging (and it has Catherine Keener in it, which should be enough for anyone, quite frankly).

Coupe de Ville is pretty charming as well.

But also:

Tampopo - "a Japanese Western for foodies"

Local Hero - charming

Land And Freedom - Ken Loach's story of a Liverpool lad in the Spanish Civil War

Crossroads - yes, it's got Ralph "Karate Kid" Macchio in it but the relationship between the young guitarist and the old Blues-man is well played and the Steve Vai guitar playing is superb.

Good in almost everything but 'Cutters Way' is absolutely fantastic and very few people have seen it.

of films I've personally enjoyed: some of these probably don't fit the original criteria.

"Days of Glory/Indigenes" - North Africans in the Free French army help to liberate "La Patrie" in 1944/5 (with all the contradictions that implies). Marketed to English-speaking audiences purely as a war film but rather more to it than that. Unusually, this helped to do something in the real world - after its release surviving veterans got the military pension they'd been previously denied.

"Days of Heaven" Mainstream but quality, 1950s in setting and realisation, Julianne Moore stars (always worth seeing for her acting,in my opinion). Perhaps would appeal to "Mad Men" fans?

"Tony Takitani" - Japanese, a high quirkiness count(the only film adaptation of any Haruki Murakami story). Gorgeous piano-based soundtrack by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Conventional plot it hasn't got but beautifully atmospheric.

Many Pedro Almodovar films are worth a look, and there are certainly plenty to choose from. Plotlines and characters can be distinctly wacky.

For fans of slow-burners on a large scale (box-set ahoy), Edgar Reitz's "Zweite Heimat" - more film than TV series. You need to be able to tolerate subtitled German, mixed b&w/colour, some seriousness, classical and 60s avant-garde music... and 26 hours of viewing. Not everybody's cup of tea by any means, but a big personal favourite of mine.

You forget about the Swedish and the subtitles from the off. Would rate as my all-time favourite film. Funny, sad, thought-provoking ....and, though it may sound like faint praise, please trust me: the BEST use of an Abba song in cinematic history.

All the films I recognise from the above list are well worth your time, but I jump up and down like an ADD-afflicted swot in a classroom, desperate to please teacher, wanting to scream that The Answer to your question is this film. Find it!

But the Anglo-Russian made for TV version - Excellent!

Robert Downey Jnr is brilliant in this.

I know, I know its got Val Kilmer as well but he is honestly terrific in it too.

even though I've just gone through this thread - so many great films mentioned.

Anyway, some personal favourites of mine.

- Battle Royale: Big Brother meets a Japanese game show on a desert island
- Mystery Train: still my favourite Jim Jarmusch film - disparate stories all connected by the same hotel in Memphis
- Clerks: too well known? Kevin Smith's debut set in a local drugstore
- Spanking The Monkey: David O Russell's early movie from mid-90s about a dubious mother/daughter relationship
- Door In The Floor: Jeff Bridges - say no more
- Miami Blues: 1990 cop movie starring Alec Baldwin and JJ Leigh - very funny and black
- Harold & Maude: possibly one of my favourite films ever - mid 70s classic that's too often overlooked, about the relationship between a 70-year-old woman and a teenage boy
- Tadpole: coming of age movie starring Sigourney Weaver and the other Caulkin brother

Hope that might give you a few ideas.

...this very weekend I watched an absolute jem of a movie that fits the minor movie tag. "Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself ". Started watching it on the strength of the title and loved it. Story of two lonely brothers struggling with a shabby bookshop in Edinburgh. Wilbur , the younger of the two is depressed...ah well, you can guess the rest. It´s comic, dark, charming and moving and features great performances from the cast and Julia Davis steals every scene she´s in.