Directed by Jem Cohen | 106 mins | 2012
The collection of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum sparks conversation and fosters a bond between a Canadian visitor (played by beloved singer Mary Margaret O’Hara) and a security guard (Bobby Sommer) in this contemplative, intimate film—a rare fiction fea...

Directed by Andrew Lampert | 7 mins | 2011
This short by artist, archivist, and curator Lampert captures vivid documentary snippets of Yuletide cheer: the office holiday party, the spirited efforts of amateur ice skaters, a soliloquizing subway Santa—but the underlying subject is performativity, ...

Directed by Lawrence Lau | 94 mins | 2000
Set in the massive, crumbling urban developments in Hong Kong’s New Territories with a combination of trained actors and nonprofessionals, Spacked Out depicts a few tumultuous days in the lives of four schoolgirls, filled with desultory mall outings, clas...

Directed by Michael Winner | 99 mins | 1978
The second screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel transposes the notably labyrinthine plot to 1970s London, with a deliciously weathered Robert Mitchum reprising the iconic role he’d recently assumed in "Farewell, My Lovely" (1975): Detectiv...

Directed by Georges Méliès | 4 mins | 1901
The night before Christmas, as only the original purveyor of “movie magic” could envision it. Made as Méliès was approaching the peak of his popularity, this mini-fantasia presents an array of still-captivating tableaux: while children sleep, dolls pranc...

Directed by John Dahl | 110 mins | 1994
Skipping town on her husband Clay (Bill Pullman), Bridget Gregory (Linda Fiorentino) sets about seducing a series of men into abetting her lethal money-making schemes. The fact that this erotic thriller played initially on TV meant that Fiorentino was ineli...

Directed by Alan Rudolph | 111 mins | 1985
Alan Rudolph’s underseen noir oddity soaks in the grimy ambiance of Rain City, where Hawk (Kris Kristofferson)—a former cop, more recently a convict—is readjusting to the straight world and struggling young father Coop (Keith Carradine) is being drawn in...

Directed by Amos Poe | 70 mins | 1976
Jean-Paul Belmondo’s character in "Breathless" (1960) thought he was Humphrey Bogart; Duncan Hannah’s character in this proto-No Wave work—a restless poseur slash photographer named Rico—thinks he’s Jean-Paul Belmondo. Released the same year as Poe’s "Blank G...

Directed by Ryan Trecartin | 7 mins | 2001
A Valentine’s Day-obsessed girl is gagged, bound, and subjected to a crazed, tinsel-strewn celebration of Christmas—a rival holiday!—in this gleefully frenetic early short from visionary video artist Trecartin, which stars his long-time collaborator Lizz...

Directed by George Kuchar | 13 mins | 1987
George recovers from his depression and experiences a "little joy" during a New Year's Eve of champagne cork-popping. A tree, a carrot cake, a fire in the hearth, and a spin at "The Wheel of Fortune"—it’s all here for the viewing.