12 Indie Films You'll Absolutely Love

I know, I know...You saw the words 'Indie Films' and screamed (why are you still here then?... You're obviously not Alt. enough...LOL!). But listen a sec, k? The films I'm suggesting are actually really really good, and have cool, funny messages about life and such things.

1. Napoleon Dynamite.

Became hugely successful to the point of mainstream acceptance... Its based around the life of one Napoleon Dynamite as he gurns his way through life very awkwardly. FUNNY. It's critical and commercial success kinda takes the sheen off of the whole 'Indie' title, but it's whole aesthetic, the performances, the humour all scream cooooolll (Vote For Pedro). PLUS it'll give you a whole new appreciation for Jamiroquai!

Classic lines:

"Napoleon, don’t be jealous ’cause I’ve been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I’m training to become a cage fighter." (If you saw the guy who says this... You'll die!)

"Nunchuck skills… bowhunting skills… computer hacking skills… Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!"

"A 'Liger'...It’s pretty much my favourite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed… bred for its skills in magic." (What?! Hahaha!)

2. Beasts Of The Southern Wild.

Featuring a stand-out, colossus performance from young new-comer Quvenzhane Wallis, 'Beasts...' is an exercise in displacement in the world; trying to find a place to fit in. Wallis steamrolls as 'Hushpuppy', a young girl growing up in an imagined back-water community called 'The Bathtub', who has to contend with imagined mythical monsters and an alcoholic, wild father.

Classic Lines:

"I see that I am a little piece of a big, big universe, and that makes it right."

"When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me lying around in invisible pieces. When I look too hard, it goes away. And when it all goes quiet, I see they are right here."

3. Before Sunrise.

A true snapshot of young love, and the heart wrenching possibilities of it's future. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy take the lead roles of these two young sweethearts who meet by chance on a train heading to Vienna. Hawke, playing 'Jessie', senses a bond between the two and asks 'Céline' to spend just one day in Vienna with him before he boards a plane back to America. What follows is the all-too familiar pull that inexplicably brings two people together in a way that doesn't require familiarity. The beginning of love. Director Richard Linklater gives us one the most purest example of young love to be put down on celluloid.

Classic Lines:

"Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?"

"You know what's the worst thing about somebody breaking up with you? It's when you remember how little you thought about the people you broke up with and you realise that is how little they're thinking of you. You know, you'd like to think you're both in all this pain but they're just like "Hey, I'm glad you're gone"."

4. Lost In Translation.

It has Bill Murray in it... Seriously, that's all I'm writing here. Well, that and: WATCH IT NOW.

Classic Lines:

"Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organise a prison break. I'm looking for, like, an accomplice. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out?"

"You're probably just having a mid-life crisis. Did you buy a Porsche yet?"

5. The Royal Tenenbaums.

Wes Anderson's perfectly judged triumph of twee and heartfelt sentiment. It follows the story of a father ('Royal' Tenenbaum) estranged from his family, and his attempts to worm his way back into their hearts when he announces he is terminally ill. Gorgeous performances all-round from his familiar casting choices. Plus BILL FUCKING MURRAY IS IN THIS ONE AS WELL!

Classic Lines:

"I think we're just gonna to have to be secretly in love with each other and leave it at that, Richie."

"I'm very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman."

6. Juno.

Ellen Page gives us a deliciously understated performance as Juno, a young girl who becomes pregnant unexpectedly. Michael Cera stars as the 'guy', and does so with his trademark goofy cuteness. So 'Indie', so 'Alt', just so cool.

Classic Lines:

"I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?"

"You're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know..."

7. Mean Streets.

Martin Scorsese's pictorial debut. And Robert DeNiro's. And the first time The Rolling Stones' music was used on film. A lot of firsts: firsts which would go one on to define cinema globally... and all from the mean streets of New York.

Classic Lines:

"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it."

"You know what the Queen said? If I had balls, I'd be King."

8. 500 Days Of Summer.

What happens when love just changes like the seasons? Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom, who falls in love with a girl who just doesn't believe in the idea of love; her name's Summer, duh! Seriously though, it's a beautiful film, with a very solid soundtrack.

Classic Lines:

"The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch."

"I love how she makes me feel, like anything's possible, or like life is worth it."

9. Little Miss Sunshine.

Abigail Breslin takes the main role here of a young girl who embarks on a cross-country trip with the help of her family to compete in the finals of a beauty pageant in a beat-up VW bus. Happy, feel-good moments here you guys!

Classic Lines:

"You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work... Fuck that."

"I wish I could just sleep until I was eighteen and skip all this crap-high school and everything-just skip it."

10. Withnail And I.

An absolute classic! Many students will relate to these nitwits' horrible way-of-living, but hopefully not to the same extent! Richard E. Grant's and Paul McGann's most defining roles of their careers. It's a pure joy to behold their drunken escapades!

Classic Lines:

"We want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!"

"I feel like a pig shat in my head."

"Right, you fucker, I'm going to do the washing up!"

11. City Of God.

A magnificently and brutally raw film about Rio's inner-city slum's gang-warfare. Uncompromising, bolstered by unbelievable star turns from local non-actors.

Classic Lines:

"Where do you want to take the shot? In the hand or in the foot?"

"It was like a message from God: "Honesty doesn't pay, sucker.""

12. Run Lola Run.

Off-kilter, exciting filmmaking from Germany?!... Wait! Come back!

Listen to this plot-line. Superb: Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. Lola has 20 min to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.

So basically she's running against time to save her love. It's pure alternative genius!

Classic Lines: