388 Best Quirky Movies to Watch (Page 20)

Staff & contributors

When the mildly weird and funny come together, great things happen—especially in film. Whether you’re up for some alternative comedies or romantic dramedies, here are the best quirky movies and show to stream now.

Aspiring writer-director Vita of My First Film is insufferable. When she starts out making her first feature, she’s pleasantly surprised by the people who came to help her, but the repetition of the shoot, the scene not matching the idea in her head, which she tries to put into image and word, but can’t quite make the vision clear, the anxiety and pressure to be a professional filmmaker blinding her from the concerns of her cast and crew all combine to an inevitable failure of her first feature, which also happens to inspired by Vita’s actual life. Vita is insufferable, but writer-director Zia Anger manages to make her real in an eclectic meta multimedia patchwork that won’t work for everyone, but uniquely depicts an experience filmmakers, aspiring or otherwise, haven’t wanted to talk about.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Cole Doman, Devon Ross, Eamon Farren, Eléonore Hendricks, Jane Wickline, Joanna Fang, Odessa Young, Philip Ettinger, Sage Ftacek, Zia Anger

Director: Zia Anger

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This is a slightly weird and not so slightly quirky movie to be avoided by anyone with a low tolerance to the weird or quirky. Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Frances Ha) and Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, also Frances Ha) write the story, while Gerwig plays a lead role. Two girls, one a New Yorker and the other having just arrived in New York for a writing program, get in touch because their parents will marry. The writer is fascinated by the personality of the New Yorker and follows her everywhere to understand her more, and eventually write about her. Mistress America is their journey through friendship and through New York. Stick around the first 40 minutes or so, because the second half of this 82-minute movie is hilarious.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Amy Warren, Andrea Chen, Charlie Gillette, Cindy Cheung, Clare Foley, Colin Stokes, Dean Wareham, Greta Gerwig, Heather Lind, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Jessie Austrian, Juliet Brett, Kathryn Erbe, Lola Kirke, Mary Beth Minthorn, Matthew Shear, Michael Chernus, Mickey Sumner, Morgan Lynch, Nat Baldwin, Noah Baumbach, Rebecca Henderson, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Seth Barrish, Shana Dowdeswell, Sharon Washington, Shoba Narayan

Director: Noah Baumbach

Rating: R

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What if the Deep State was real and every conspiracy theory you laughed off was true? There is such a thing as Area 51, John F. Kennedy was killed by the CIA, and somewhere out there, Tupac Shakur is still alive. If you added even more ridiculous theories like reptile people existing underground and Avril Lavigne being a clone, then you'd have Inside Job, a bonkers adult animated sitcom that hails from some of the people behind Gravity Falls and Bojack Horseman.

Inside Job is crazy and creative, with each episode delving into a different "theory," but it also has room for character introspection and development. Lizzy Caplan lends her voice to the lead Reagan Ridley, a scientist and manager who is ambitious but difficult, genius but always tired. The show does well to show her and her team's growth in a show otherwise jam-packed with (admittedly hilarious) insanity.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Science Fiction

Actor: Andrew Daly, Andy Daly, Bobby Lee, Brett Gelman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Christian Slater, Clark Duke, John DiMaggio, Lizzy Caplan, Suzy Nakamura, Timothy Simons, Tisha Campbell, Tisha Campbell-Martin

Director: Shion Takeuchi

Rating: TV-14

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It’s difficult to try to capture the truth of who a person really is, especially when there’s already preconceived notions or previous depictions about said person. Released a year after Capote (2005), Infamous inevitably drew comparisons to the biopic, especially with the stark difference between their tones. It starts off with a more gossipy, idle tone, introducing novelist Truman Capote first through documentary-like interviews, just before Toby Jones as Capote charms his way through droll chatter about some famous people. It seems much more vapid than Philip Seymour Hoffman’s depiction, but much more warm too, making Capote’s tendencies to gab and tell other people’s stories, in part due to fame, but also due to a certain joie de vivre of storytelling, once that inevitably breaks him when he finds the story of what his life could have been. Infamous might not be as acclaimed as its preceding Capote depiction, nor is it more truthful, but it’s certainly a fascinating portrayal of a fascinating man.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Brady Coleman, Brady Hender, Brent A. McCoy, Brett Brock, Brian Shoop, Daniel Craig, Dennis Letts, Gabriel Folse, Gail Cronauer, Grant James, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hope Davis, Isabella Rossellini, Jeff Daniels, Joey Basham, John Benjamin Hickey, Juliet Stevenson, Lee Pace, Lee Ritchey, Leticia Trejo, Libby Villari, Marco Perella, Michael Panes, Mitch Baker, Norman Bennett, Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Andrew Jones, Richard Dillard, Sandra Bullock, Sheila Bailey, Sigourney Weaver, Toby Jones, Turk Pipkin

Director: Douglas McGrath

Rating: R

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As much as we’d like to think everyone can be redeemed, there are terrible, awful people that do exist that make it hard to believe in change. Idiots and Angels takes one such person named Angel, and forces him through a highly unusual, creepy, and cynical redemption tale that involves a body transformation that’s less heavenly and more Kafkaesque. As he pulls feathers from his body, Angel’s miserable, terrible self has no choice but to act decently for once. It’s a unique transformation, one we wish our curmudgeonly acquaintances would have, and with no words spoken, Bill Plympton’s unique cross-hatched animation takes center stage. Idiots and Angels may not be the most perfect animated film out there, but it’s certainly one of its kind, something you’ve probably never seen before.

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Arielle Doneson, Carrie Keranen, Greg Sextro, Marc Diraison, Mike Juarez

Director: Bill Plympton

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Galaxy Quest may be a parody of the sci-fi franchise, but it’s also a huge fan of it. It forgoes cynical takes for smart odes to the genre, all while retaining an endearing sense of humor about it. It’s silly and self-aware, and it has a lot of fun letting us know that they’re in on the joke. You can watch for the interesting premise, but you'll stay for the laughs and the promise of a genuine thrill ride. Everyone is a blast to watch, but Sigourney Weaver and Sam Rockwell deserve special praise for being outright hilarious, elevating Galaxy Quest from B-movie to camp classic status. 

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction

Actor: Alan Rickman, Corbin Bleu, Daryl Mitchell, Dian Bachar, Enrico Colantoni, Heidi Swedberg, Isaac C. Singleton Jr., J.P. Manoux, Jed Rees, Jennifer Manley, Jeremy Howard, Jerry Penacoli, Joel McKinnon Miller, Jonathan Feyer, Justin Long, Kaitlin Cullum, Kevin McDonald, Marcio Rosario, Matt Winston, Missi Pyle, Morgan Rusler, Patrick Breen, Rainn Wilson, Robin Sachs, Sam Lloyd, Sam Rockwell, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Todd Giebenhain, Tony Shalhoub

Director: Dean Parisot

Rating: PG

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After the devastating Happy Old Year, we were excited to see the next of what Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit has to offer. Fast & Feel Love is a surprising one, purely because of how silly and unserious the entire film is. The satirical film follows a sport stacker whose passion to be the fastest blinds him to all the day-to-day tasks and life goals that have been pushed towards his girlfriend, and the film plays this basic conflict as dramatically as other action films would, with dynamic cinematography, an over-the-top soundtrack, and dramatic voice overs. The joke does get stretched a tad too long, but it humorously pokes fun at the infantile ways men in action films act, while still recognizing how this mindset is the way we cope in adulthood.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Anusara Korsamphan, Keetapat Pongruea, Napak Traicharoendetch, Nat Kitcharit, Urassaya Sperbund, Wipawee Patnasiri

Director: Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit

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Poker Face before it, it reveals the killer right at the start. And since the hook is knowing how the crime is solved, not who does it, Elsbeth is the perfect guide to take us through the end. She’s giddy but intelligent, wide-eyed but perceptive. Though the rest of the cast’s acting is just network TV-good, Preston herself and the many guest stars are consistently stellar and a blast to watch. The writing and overall acting could be better, but it’s worth watching for Elsbeth’s magnetic presence.

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Actor: Carra Patterson, Carrie Preston, Sullivan Jones, Wendell Pierce

Rating: TV-14

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