10 Enjoyable, Accessible, Independent Films--Introduction to Art House Cinema

There is a world of enjoyable cinema outside of mainstream production studios and well-known producers and actors. However, it can be really difficult and intimidating to find an accessible, enjoyable independent or art house film to start with and to move on from to more challenging, less accessible film. Here's a list of 10 movies to get you started on the road to cinema appreciation (in no particular order):

1. In the Mood for Love: A moody, emotional, and atmospheric story directed by Wong Kar Wai about romance and unrequited love. Understandable, linear story-line with much emphasis on movement and color set in 1960's Hong Kong. If you enjoy movies like Moulin Rouge and movies with intense color and feeling, this is a good one to see.

2. Volver: A Pedro Almodóvar film about the challenges and complications between family and mothers and daughters in particular. Comedic but also a serious drama with mature themes.

3. Pan's Labyrinth: Billed as an adult fairytale, Pan's Labyrinth is visually spectacular and immensely engrossing. The closest thing to it is the David Bowie movie Labyrinth in its weirdness and demand that you suspend your disbelief while you're watching the movie. Very sad and at times graphic for a movie where the central character is a young girl during the Spanish Civil War.

4. Muholland Drive: A David Lynch film. Perhaps that says it all. I am not a fan of all Lynch films--and to be honest, I can't say I understand many of them. This movie was not well received by many critics and viewers because mid-way, it gets very odd and seems to not make any sense at all. Even if you don't get it the first run--as I didn't---the movie is worth thinking about because the fact that it doesn't make any sense and is in a sense, another movie within the original movie, makes it worth watching.

5. Salaam Bombay!: Mira Nair's (who directed Vanity Fair) early movie about street children in Bombay. Deeply moving and more documentary than fiction about the lives of Indian street children and the harsh realities of being poor in the quickly industrializing world. Not in English but with sub-titles. A MUST SEE!

6. Lovely and Amazing: A serious comedy about three women--a mother, and her two daughters. Very similar to the Diane Keaton type mom/daughter movies about self-esteem and insecurity--except a lot better. Manages to say a great deal about how we're never really quite sure of ourselves without hitting you in the face with it.

7. Dogville: Don't let the set-less movie sound stage fool you, it's really a good movie. Nicole Kidman stars as a woman on the run who ends up in the small American town of Dogville where they take her in. The movie has been called anti-American. Apart from the political commentary, this is a good movie with some great acting. At its core, the representational choices and barebones nature of the set makes you think about how we watch movies and whether all the special effects really matter in making a great film.

8. Maria Full of Grace: A surprising movie about desperation and the choices that we make. Set against the drug trade between Colombia and the United States, this is a really good one.

9. Dead Ringers: A David Cronenberg thriller with amazing acting from Jeremy Irons playing two identical twins. Disturbing and absorbing.

10. Rashomon: Akira's Kurosawa's story of points of view. A great movie about storytelling and perspective and essentially created this genre of storytelling.