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Counterculture

Unconventional appearance, music, drugs, communitarian experiments, and sexual liberation were hallmarks of the sixties counterculture, most of whose members were white, middle-class young Americans. To some Americans, these attributes reflected American ideals of free speech, equality, and pursuit of happiness. Other people saw the counterculture as self-indulgent, pointlessly rebellious, unpatriotic, and destructive of America's moral order. Authorities banned the psychedelic drug LSD, restricted political gatherings, and tried to enforce bans on what they considered obscenity in books, music, theatre, and other media. Parents argued with their children and worried about their safety. Some adults accepted elements of the counterculture, while others became estranged from sons and daughters.

Naked Lunch (1991)

7.1/10
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Roy Scheider

William S. Burroughs' 1959 free-form, underground classic is brought to the screen weaving elements of the author's life with the fictional material.... Read more

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

7.7/10
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey, Johnn...

Helmsman Terry Gilliam, with a script co-written by Alex Cox, conjures up this adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 cult novel, which defined the c... Read more

Harold and Maude (1971)

8/10
Director: Hal Ashby
Starring: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Cyril Cusack, Vivian Pickles

With the idiosyncratic American fable "Harold and Maude", countercultural director Hal Ashby fashioned what would become the cult classic of its era.... Read more

SLC Punk (1999)

7.5/10
Director: James Merendino
Starring: Matthew Lillard, Michael Goorjian, Annabeth Gish, Jennifer Lien

In this energetic comedy set in 1985 Salt Lake City, college-age best buddies Stevo (Matthew Lillard) and Heroin Bob (Michael Goorjian) try spiked hai... Read more

Timothy Leary's Last Trip (1996)

6.5/10
Director: A J Catoline, O B Babbs
Starring: Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, The Merry Pranksters

This behind-the-scenes look at Dr. Timothy Leary, pioneer in psychology and consciousness raising of the 60's, documents the life of the man who led a... Read more

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)

6.2/10
Director: Russ Meyer
Starring: Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom

Russ Meyer's outrageous chronicles of an all-girl rock group's rise to fame and their eventual seduction by sex, drugs and rock and roll was co-writte... Read more

The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

Director: Milos Forman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton

Woody Harrelson plays the 'Hustler' publisher whose porn empire caused no end of offence in 1970's America before a sniper's bullet landed him in a wh... Read more

Trainspotting (1995)

8.2/10
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Ewen Bremner, Robert Carlyle, Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Kel...

A gritty, graphically painful and, at times, blackly funny look at a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh, Scotland focusing on one young man as he re... Read more

I Shot Andy Warhol (1995)

6.6/10
Director: Mary Harron
Starring: Lili Taylor, Stephen Dorff, Jared Harris, Lothaire Bluteau, Martha Plimpton, Ann...

Lili Taylor is eerily convincing as Valerie Solanas, Factory fringe figure, founder and only member of SCUM (Society for Cutting up Men) and the woman... Read more

Basquiat (1996)

6.9/10
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Claire Forlani, Willem...

Jeffrey Wright is mesmerising in this true story as Jean-Michel Basquiat, a poor Haitian-American graffiti artist who rapidly ascends New York's raref... Read more