Clerks (1994) WITH its DIY aesthetic and chatty, all-round-to-mine style, Kevin Smith’s black-and-white slacker comedy loses nothing on the small screen. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine how such a modest work got a cinema release in the first place, let alone became one of the key works of the 1990s American indie movement. The plot follows convenience store clerk Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson), an employee at the video store next door, through a day in their lives, emphasizing the boredom and repetition of the service industry — something we can all get behind right now. The film’s strength lies in Smith’s funny, free-ranging dialogue, which takes the characters on flights of fancy that are completely at odds with their straitened circumstances. Ju-on: The Grudge (2002) TAKASHI SHIMIZU’S “Ju-on” series was originally a straight-to-video concern, until this third entry was released in cinemas and began an international phenomenon that continues to this day. Yet it’s even more effective when watched from the (dis)comfort of your own home. The film concerns a curse brought about by a man murdering his wife Kayako (Takako Fuji) and son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki), which consumes everyone who enters their house and then spirals outwards. Set mostly in an ordinary residence in Tokyo’s Nerima district, the film makes effective use of everyday locations which, though bland, still manage to be scary. Everyday (2012) RELEASED before Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” (2014) snaffled all the glory, Michael Winterbottom’s filigree drama uses the same concept to tell the story of a divided family. Shot over five years, a few weeks at a time, the film follows Karen (Shirley Henderson) and her four kids (played by real-life siblings) as they struggle to cope while their father Ian (John Simm) serves a prison sentence. Although Michael Nyman’s score and the often handheld cinematography are beautiful, the magic comes from watching the four children grow before your eyes. (SD-Agencies) | 