American Eccentric Cinema is a

mode Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...

of contemporary American filmmaking that emerged in what has been termed the metamodern or

New Sincerity New Sincerity (closely related to and sometimes described as synonymous with post-postmodernism) is a trend in music, aesthetics, literary fiction, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy that generally describes creative works ...

. Its attachment to indie cinema has led some to consider it a movement and genre of cinema in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its key filmmakers, including

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

Charlie Kaufman Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films ''Being John Malkovich'' (1999), ''Adaptation'' (2002), and ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial de ...

, and

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

, are at times referred to as "The American Eccentrics". It occurred during the 1990s and 2000s, when

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

directors sought to create films that diverted from the style and content of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

franchise films. American Eccentric Cinema came in opposition to the mainstream ideas of formulaic narratives and the digitisation within films and new technologies that came about during the time period. American eccentric cinema is marked by films that are “deeply concerned with ethics and morality, the obligations of the individual, the effects of family breakdown, and social alienation."

Background

American Eccentric Cinema is critically conceived in response to traditional Hollywood and films of popular culture which often had clear, predictable characters and narratives. American Eccentric Cinema has been framed as influenced by the

New Hollywood The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence. They influenced the types o ...

era. Both traditions have similar themes and narratives of existentialism and the need for human interaction. New Hollywood focuses on the darker elements of humanity and society within the context of the American Dream in the mid-1960s to the early 1980s. with themes that were reflective of sociocultural issues and were centered around the potential meaninglessness of pursuing the American Dream as generation upon generation motivated to possess it. In comparison, American Eccentric Cinema does not have a distinct context, its films show characters who are very individual and their concerns are very distinctive to their own personalities. American Eccentric cinema is considered a shift in contemporary American cinema in the 1990s and 2000s driven by metamodern philosophical and moral beliefs. ''

Far Out Magazine ''Far Out'' is a British online culture magazine, headquartered in London and founded in 2010. ''Far Out'' focuses on independent and alternative culture, reviewing music, films and the arts along with relative interviews and curated playlists. ...

'' critic, Swapnil Dhruv Bose, writes that "As a response to the suffocating excesses of the mainstream, many directors sought to examine the alienation imposed by modernity through fresh perspectives and unconventional methods. Although the creative consciousnesses of the artists vary to a great extent, their works have been collectively labelled as the ‘American Eccentric Cinema’ movement".10 essential films from the 'American Eccentric Cinema' movement, Far Out Magazine
/ref> American Eccentric Cinema is also known as "American Smart Cinema",American Smart Cinema - Claire Elizabeth Perkins - Google Books
/ref> a tradition delineated by Jeffrey Sconce and Claire Perkins. Both film traditions consist mostly of American indie films from the 1990s and 2000s and have similar aesthetic strategies, particularly the focus on irony. However, as Kim Wilkins notes, despite the crossovers between the two forms of cinema, American eccentricity "uses irony not primarily for its tonal qualities but, rather, for dramatic and thematic functions." At a period of American history where postwar communities were growing older, many ideals were being re-evaluated and looked at critically in American Eccentric Cinema. The genre's films look at emotions and where they come from as well as expectations for what a happy life should be. American Eccentric Cinema sees happiness as not necessarily being in a domestic life; in a marriage or family. The filmmakers of the genre were influenced by their own lives where their perception of the domestic world could include feelings and emotions of "abandonment, alienation and frustration." The film tradition also takes influences from

Postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

through the movement's attitudes of irony and sensations of "detachment" to society. But whilst filmmakers of American Eccentric Cinema position themselves in a critical manner, they also strive to create significant and unique art forms through various techniques and film features employed. Films of American Eccentric cinema are also made around the before, during and after phases of the September 11 attacks where social desires were primarily concerned with being safe and secure. At this time the rights and principles of

American liberalism Liberalism in the United States is a political and moral philosophy based on concepts of unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the separation of chu ...

were being challenged and ideas of existentialism were common within art.

Characteristics

While American eccentric cinema films have distinct individual and stylistic visions, they share common themes and textual practices. American Eccentric Cinema are concerned around an individual's internal dilemmas and existentialism as a human being, regardless of the context. The film techniques of the genre use aspects of mainstream cinema but alter the mainstream conventions slightly through characterisation, tone and style. American Eccentric cinema is also known for its use of inter-textual references, quotations and irony. By doing this, an audience's expectation of what may happen is subverted. Filmmakers go into the depth of a protagonist's journey finding their sense of self as the narrative. American Eccentric Cinema falls within '

Independent Cinema Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

' culture . Independent Cinema are types of films whose conventions oppose to Hollywood mainstream films with characteristics such as no "forwardmoving narrative drive" where the structure is not as ordered or bound by a sense of needed fast pace. Characters in Eccentric cinema divert from those in Mainstream Hollywood of being comprehensible with journeys having a distinct beginning, complicated middle and happy ending. 'Indie' characters, as well as American Eccentric Cinema characters, do not necessarily have goals to achieve in the films, or feel defined by them, and a sense of strength of morality may not be as present. This type of cinema has been called "quirky", "cute" and "smart". There are many alternate methods of exploring romantic

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

within American Eccentric Cinema. The films explore gender roles as changing and often take a

postfeminist The term postfeminism (alternatively rendered as post-feminism) is used to describe reactions against contradictions and absences in feminism, especially second-wave feminism and third-wave feminism. The term ''postfeminism'' is sometimes confuse ...

stance. Characters often challenge and explore the expectations of marriage prior to the 1990s within the narrative as well as the complexities of sex and how society views it. Most characters are heterosexual and the complications of love are dealt with from the man-woman relationship perspective. However, director

Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...

, whom Swapnil Dhruv Bose labels a pioneer of the American Eccentric movement, comes as an exception as he explores

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

relationships, with films that were part of the beginning of the

New Queer Cinema "New Queer Cinema" is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in ''Sight & Sound'' magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s. It is also referred to as the "Queer New W ...

movement.''''

Race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

is not explored as prevalently within American Eccentric films. According to Jesse Fox Mayshark portrayals of characters of a different race, that is not white, are categorised within a "comic ethnic type". Mayshark perceives lack of diversity as a direct correlation within the genre's directors being primarily white Americans who may think of "other races and cultures" as only outsiders, alien in their comedic nature. Kim Wilkins states that to date the politics and style of American Eccentric Cinema has been informed by the overwhelmingly white male middle-upper demographic of its key filmmakers. She writes "The focus in American eccentric films (like those in the “smart” tendency) on “white male urban sophisticates” situates them as a form of “men’s cinema,” in Stella Bruzzi’s terms. While neither existential anxiety nor irony is, in reality, the sovereign domain of white men, their cinematic articulation in the key films of the American eccentric mode, such as P.T. Anderson’s ''Magnolia'' or ''Punch Drunk Love'', David O. Russell’s ''I Heart Huckabees'' or films by Wes Anderson or Charlie Kaufman, has largely evolved as a form “grounded in the relationship between, masculinity—its ideology as well as its representation—and aesthetics.” Indeed, many of these films position masculinity as bound to the inability to directly articulate anxiety. Thus, the use of irony in these films—both by characters and through aesthetic and formal strategies—is conveyed as a particularly masculine strategy; a means by which “ugly” feelings can be repackaged as intellectual gameplay while simultaneously begging to be recognized for what it truly is." She goes on to note that the focus on white, urban, heterosexual men in American Eccentric Cinema adds to its relationship with neoliberalism: "It cannot be ignored that the protagonists of American eccentric films are not only male but, on the whole, tend come from socioeconomically privileged backgrounds. The socioeconomic (and gendered) status of these characters situates them as those most likely to succeed within capitalist systems. Unlike indie films within realist modes, such as the neorealist works of

Kelly Reichardt Kelly Reichardt (; born March 3, 1964) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is known for her minimalist films closely associated with slow cinema, many of which deal with working-class characters in small, rural communities. Reich ...

or Sean Baker, American Eccentric Cinema does not tend to portray characters at crossroads where decisions made or changing circumstances have the capacity to fundamentally affect their livelihoods, safety, or personal agency. Often the absurd narrative goals of characters are only possible within these films because these characters are not beholden to the financial imperatives that drive more naturalistic characters toward what may be considered more realistic goals."

Politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

is explored within the films, through the characters and their journeys. Rather than preaching political messages and creating controversial debates about political issues, they create subtle means to explore politics. Major events such as the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

meant that the sense of American uncertainty that was pervading the national was reflected in themes such as self-doubt and insecurity within the characters.

Interpretations on defining the genre

Scholars Kim Wilkins and Jesse Fox Mayshark have written extensively on American Eccentric Cinema and its place within film genre in their books: ''American Eccentric Cinema'' and ''Post-Pop Cinema: The Search for Meaning in New American Film''. Kim Wilkins, a film scholar at the University of Oslo, maintains that American eccentricity is a mode rather than a genre. She demarcates five criteria for the American eccentric mode: "1: The presence of allusion, parody, and intertextuality formally (in terms of genre and meta-cinematic depiction) and playfulness/cinephilia; 2: Sincere thematic underpinnings that are presented at a distance due to the film’s perceived “quirkiness,” amusing occurrences, and/or absurd aesthetic; 3: A form of ironic expression that is both reflexive and sincere; 4: Characters and cinematic worlds that are designed to encourage audience alignment despite being clearly constructed; and, above all, 5: Effective and intellectual engagement with an experience of existential anxiety". Wilkins analyses these textual tactics through four analytic lens—genre (with a focus on the road film), characterization, hyper-dialogue, and eccentric worlds. Although Wilkins states that American eccentricity is not an auteurist demarcation, she pays particular attention to the films of Spike Jonze and Wes Anderson. Wilkins explains that there is a distinct relationship between

Neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

and American Eccentric Cinema. Neoliberalism is a set of principles proposing "that human well-being can be best advanced by liberating entrepreneurial freedoms and skills". In a neoliberal world, the person will constantly be shifting and altering facets of their life such as expertise and abilities and even their own sense of self to keep up with what is happening within the economy. Within American Eccentric films, this idea of neoliberalism aligns to the films' desire to portray individuals as their own selves rather than purely "national or community citizens". Wilkins states that because of this, and individuals not belonging in a community, it provides a foundation for many existential tensions and anxieties that are explored in the films. Thus, she concludes that American Eccentric cinema responds to neoliberalism, as well as the existential concerns that were present during the

era through means that are presented as ahistoric and primarily concerned with the characters' own experiences rather than broader socio-cultural or political concerns. Jesse Fox Mayshark, an editor at the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

,'' writes on American Eccentric Cinema filmmakers and analyses specific films within the genre. Mayshark says that the group of filmmakers were not explicitly categorised within any genre at the beginning of the movement because their films were extremely niche and individual, with vary styles and conventions. Their work defied convention and saw a new-found exploration of dark human themes through being idiosyncratic and individual. They wanted the audience to feel like they were a part of the stories and have a "transcendent connection." As technologies emerge so to have discussions surrounding the expansion of the Independent Cinema genre and subsequently, American Eccentric Cinema. In a 1999 keynote address at the Independent Spirit Awards in California, screenwriter and film producer, James Schamus "voiced the common concern that" commercial and major studios' "empires would ultimately threaten the existence" of Independent Cinema. "In Schmaus' evaluation, independent film is...in decline" however, other commentators see evolution and cultural "transition...to give way to new and different possibilities."

List of notable films

List of notable figures

Filmmakers

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

Richard Linklater Richard Stuart Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies '' ...

David O. Russell David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American filmmaker. His early directing career includes the comedy films ''Spanking the Monkey'' (1994), '' Flirting with Disaster'' (1996), ''Three Kings'' (1999), and ''I Heart Huckabees'' (200 ...

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

* Richard Kelly *

Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best-known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Fi ...

Todd Solondz Todd Solondz (; born October 15, 1959) is an American filmmaker and playwright known for his style of dark, socially conscious satire. Solondz's work has received critical acclaim for its commentary on the "dark underbelly of middle class America ...

Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach () (born September 3, 1969) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is known for making witty and intellectual comedies set in New York City and has often been compared to writer-directors such as Woody Allen and Whit Sti ...

Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (; born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for the films ''Citizen Ruth'' (1996), ''Election'' (1999), ''About Schmidt'' (2002), ''Sideways'' (2004), ''The Desc ...

Peter Berg Peter Berg (born March 11, 1964) is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. His directorial film works include the black comedy ''Very Bad Things'' (1998), the action comedy ''The Rundown'' (2003), the sports drama '' Friday Night Lig ...

Hal Hartley Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

John Herzfeld John Herzfeld (born April 15, 1947) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, actor and producer. His feature film directing credits include '' Two of a Kind'' (1983), ''2 Days in the Valley'' (1996), ''15 Minutes'' (2001) and ' ...

Whit Stillman John Whitney Stillman (born January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director and actor known for his 1990 film '' Metropolitan'', which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his other f ...

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...

Kim. American Eccentric Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2019 (pg.39)
*

Greta Gerwig Greta Celeste Gerwig (; born August 4, 1983) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She first garnered attention after working on and appearing in several mumblecore films. Between 2006 and 2009, she appeared in a number of films b ...

Alex Ross Perry Alex Ross Perry (born July 14, 1984) is an American filmmaker and actor. Early life Perry was born to a Jewish family in 1984 and raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he worked on a local television news program during high school.Renninger, ...

Wilkins, Kim. American Eccentric Cinema. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2019 (pg.182). *

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

Jared Hess Jared Lawrence Hess (born July 18, 1979) and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess ( Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American filmmakers best known for their work on ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004), ''Nacho Libre'' (2006) and ''Gentlemen Broncos' ...

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian-American actor and filmmaker, best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno'' (2007), '' Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young Adult'' (2011), and '' Ghostbusters: ...

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

Actors

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...

Mark Wahlberg Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is particularly known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent films, a ...

Jason Schwartzman Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: ''The Darjeeling Limited'' (20 ...

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''The Royal ...

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor known for his roles in films such as '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), ''My Dog Skip'' (2000), ''Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' (2001), ''Id ...

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Elliot Page, various accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award nomination, tw ...

Frances McDormand Frances Louise McDormand (born Cynthia Ann Smith; June 23, 1957) is an American actress and producer. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, McDormand has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, two Primetime Em ...

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

Legacy

'' Rushmore'', ''

Slacker A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term ''slacker'' dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early t ...

'' and ''

Clerks A clerk is someone who works in an office. A retail clerk works in a store. Office holder Clerk(s) may also refer to a person who holds an office, most commonly in a local unit of government, or a court. *Barristers' clerk, a manager and administ ...

'' were each inducted into the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

. Three films of

(''Grand Budapest Hotel'', ''Royal Tenenbaums'' and ''Moonrise Kingdom'') alongside ''Before Sunset'', ''Lost in Translation'', ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'', ''Far From Heaven'' and ''Synecdoche, New York'' were listed on the

BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century The 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century is a list compiled in August 2016 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), chosen by a voting poll of 177 film critics from around the world. It was compiled by collating the top ten films submitte ...

.Are These the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century?, Vanity Fair
/ref>