Scott Tobias of the Onion's A-V Club started a series in 2008 he calls The New Cult Canon.

It's a good roundup of fims I have either seen or should at least consider seeing, and so I collect his efforts to date.

The A-V also pulled together this guide to The Old Cult Canon.

Here's a 2005 post that's relevant: TIFF - Cult movie experiences in theatres: Time to let go?

Reservoir Dogs - Clowns to the left. Jokers to the right. ("Yes I'm/Stuck in the middle with you ..." A brilliantly written, acted and directed film that shot Quentin Tarantino into the big time!)

Exotica - Nothing's quite what it first appears here, even the movie itself. (Saw it. A fine film from Canada's own Atom Egoyan)

Fallen Angels - Welcome to Wong Kar-Wai's Hong Kong, where there's always an internal monologue happening somewhere. (Haven't seen it)

The Devil's Rejects - Why this Rob Zombie film is one of the best movies ever made about 9/11. (No, seriously.) [Why don't I believe Mr. Tobias?]

Pulse - This 2001 Japanese thriller gave us more reasons to fear technology and jerky-limbed ghosts. (Didn't see it, but this dialogue snipped has me interested: "Ghosts won't kill people, because that would just make more ghosts. Instead they'll try to make people immortal, by quietly trapping them in their own loneliness")

Audition - Wanted: One nice, old-fashioned girl. (Piano wire optional.)  [A brilliant, harrowing film that truly is a work of horror. But if I had to go with a cult canon film from Japan's bad-boy auteur Takashi Miike, I'd go with Ichii The Killer).

Near Dark - None dare call them vampires. (Haven't seen it. A Kathryn Bigelow film, so might be worth it at some point)

Rounders - The poker craze might have happened without this movie. But it probably would have involved fewer suckers. (Gave it a skip and a miss at the time)

Office Space - The New Cult Canon has a case of the Mondays. (Have avoided it to this point. Slacker movies don't do much for me. However, this dialogue snippet interests me:

"So I was sitting in my cubicle today and I realized that ever since I started working, every day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."

"What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?"

"Yeah."

"That's messed up.")

Irreversible - Meet the stupefyingly vicious rape-revenge movie that emptied a Cannes theater and even shocked John Waters. (Avoided it. Thought it would be real violence, not the cinematic type. Part of the A-V Club's 24 Great Films Too Painful to Watch Twice)

Gerry - Men vs. wild. (Wild wins.) (Never heard of it, however, it is a Gus Van Sant film)

Oldboy - One divine hammer. (Saw it. One of the decade's best films)

Songs from the Second Floor - Could this Swedish film be the perfect accompaniment for today's economic meltdown? (Don't believe I've ever heard of it before)

Fight Club - We talk about Fight Club. (Saw it. Thought 90 per cent of it was brilliant, but the ending fell apart for me. However, I've always thought this was a great piece of film writing, spoken by the Tyler Durden character:

 "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war, our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.")

American Movie - He just wanted to make a film. (Saw it on video store shelves for years, but never felt inspired to actually rent it).

The Kingdom - There's something terribly, terribly wrong with this hospital. (Missed it. A Lars Von Trier film)

Gremlins 2 - They wanted a sequel to the 1984 hit Gremlins. This may not have been what they had in mind. (Missed it. The fact it had "Gremlins" in the title might have had something to do with it).

Sonatine - The most tragic movie about playful gangsters you'll ever see. (Saw it. Wasn't taken with it. But then again, I'm not a big Takeshi Kitano fan).

Sexy Beast - One of the best gangster films of this decade features an awful lot of angry conversations. (Saw it! Ben Kingsley is ferocious! Love the opening scene!)

Show Girls - Camp Month ends with a bang. And a lapdance. (I've never seen it, but the trailer gave me one of my favourite movie exchanges ever:

"You're a stripper!" "I'm a dancer!")

The Devil's Advocate - When you think about it, "Hoo-ah!" Al Pacino isn't all bad. (I believe I deliberately avoided it)

Manos: The Hands of Fate vs. The Troll 2 - What's worse than the worst? (Missed it)

Road House - Pain don't hurt. This movie might, just a little. (Missed it. Stars Patrick Swayze. Nuff said)

Wild Things - Is it so bad it's good or just good? A self-conscious erotic thriller kicks off Camp Month. (Missed it)

Punch-Drunk Love - Adam Sandler again plays a temperamental man-child, but this time it works. ("Was that arty enough for you?" asked the person I saw it with. It would be the last movie we would ever see together. Oh well. :) I've never revisited the film [or the individual in the anecdote], but how it was marketed and reviewed and what appeared on screen were two entirely different things. It may be the only Adam Sandler movie that I've directly paid money to see).

The Boondock Saints - He was the next big thing. Then he had to settle for DVD immortality. (Missed it)

Wet Hot American Summer - It's the last day of camp in the summer of 1981. Look out for Skylab. (Missed it. Don't think I'll ever see it)

Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch takes Johnny Depp on an Old West journey to death. (Saw it, a great film!)

Battle Royale - An underground Japanese hit makes regular high school look pretty easy. (Saw it. This is an amazing film!)

Fast, Cheap and Out of Control - Lions, robots, mole rats, and topiary animals have nothing in common. Or do they? (Missed it, but it's an Errol Morris film, and that means I should take a chance on it at some point)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Inside the twisty, bullet-riddled mind of Shane Black. (Saw it. Robert Downey Jr. gives a commendable performance)

The Rules of Attraction - Sleazeterpiece? (Missed it)

I am Cuba - Sumptuous Cuban propaganda, brought back to life by Martin Scorsese. (missed it)

The Blair Witch Project - Is that thing in the woods still scary after all these years? (Saw it, really liked it - especially how well it lent itself to parody!)

Pi - Cult On The Cheap Month continues with a low-budget movie about big ideas. (Missed it)

Primer - Just because a movie cost less than a new car to shoot doesn't mean it can't look great. (Saw it, interviewed the director at TIFF in 2004. It's a fine small sci-fi flick)

Clerks - Has this groundbreaking comedy passed its expiration date? (Saw it, found it over-rated, but I'm hard-pressed to find myself liking anything Kevin Smith has done)

They Live - All out of bubblegum. (Missed it)

Babe: Pig in the City - Before the current age of bland anthropomorphized animals, the director of The Road Warrior had something darker in mind. (Missed it)

Miami Blues - Cross Alec Baldwin and he will break your fingers. (Missed it)

Irma Vep - Is a catsuit reason enough to make a movie? (Missed it)

Morvern Callar - Have Walkman, dead boyfriend, and unpublished novel, will travel.  (Missed it)

Donnie Darko (Saw it, liked it)