When I was in college, a friend of mine ran a movie rental business for students out of his dorm room. As far as I know, he’s the only person who watches more movies than me. While this means I end up renting a lot of terrible movies, there are a handful that I’ve come across that are absolutely amazing that just about nobody has seen. Being the nice guy that I am, I’m going to share some of them with you and make your life better…go and rent these movies today and your life will be better.

#1Equilibrium (2002)

Ok, you may have seen this one…it spent about eight seconds in the theater and went unnoticed for a couple years after that, but now every time I ask video store clerks for recommendations, this seems to always be the second movie they mention (first being American History X).

Set in the not-terribly-distant future, Equilibium is the story of a society where emotions have been banned after World War III, when the government realizes that World War IV would destroy all of humanity. Christian Bale (who you love after seeing The Dark Knight five times and who you were happy to find out would be playing John Connor in Terminator 4) stars oppposite Taye Diggs (and how can you not love a guy with Digg in his name?) in this brilliant sci-fi flick about a government that abuses its power to the point that they drug all of society to keep them from feeling and that promises summary execution of anyone who stops taking their pills.

#2 Swimming With Sharks (1994)

Anyone who’s ever seen The Usual Suspects or American Beauty knows that Kevin Spacey is a brilliant actor. If you were disappointed with 21 and want to see Kevin Spacey in an amazing movie, it’s time you see the first great movie he ever made.

Despite its title, this movie is nothing like Jaws. It features Spacey as a Hollywood big-shot who uses people and throws them away like Kleenex, until he pushes his assistant too far. Swimming With Sharks is intense and will have you wondering why you’ve never heard of it before now.

#3 Hard Candy (2005)

After Juno came out, everyone started talking about how great Ellen Page is. But her credibility as a great young actress was established when Hard Candy came out. Page plays a precocious 14-year-old girl named Hayley who meets a man on the Internet. The man, of course, turns out to be a predator who gets Hayley to come over to his house and asks to “take pictures of her.”

The movie takes a sudden turn when you realize Hayley knew what he was doing all along and she drugs and kidnaps her would-be predator. This movie will have you on the edge of your seat as it takes you through a scary psychological thrill-ride you won’t soon forget.

#4 Brick (2005)

While I’m on the note of young actors establishing their serious talent, I have to talk about Brick. There was a time when it looked like Joseph Gordon-Levitt was going to be known as the kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun for the rest of his life. But today, Gordon-Levitt is in-demand after a great perfomance in Lookout and his upcoming roles as Cobra Commander in the live-action G.I. Joe movie and starring opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in next-year’s Akira.

And it all started with Brick. Brick is a low-budget independent movie about a high school student named Brendan (Gordon-Levitt) who tries to help his ex-girlfriend get out of a dangerous situation after she gets involved with the local drug ring. After watching this, you’ll want to see every new movie Gordon-Levitt does…even if you’re worried that a G.I. Joe movie is as bad an idea as when they turned Doom from a classic game into a blockbuster piece of garbage.

#5 Dark City (1998)

Called “the best film of 1998″ by Roger Ebert, Dark City is about a man with amnesia who is being sought by police as a suspected serial killer. That becomes the least of his problems when he realizes that nothing is what it seems to be. Dark City is a cult-classic sci-fi movie that you want to accuse of stealing major plot points from the Matrix…but Dark City came out first.

Starring Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly, Dark City is as well-acted as it is written — that is to say, brilliantly. Go rent this (and the other 4 movies) right now.
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