Anyone who frequents the treat-studded DVD/video section at the Nashville Public Library’s main branch has probably come to rely on William Chamberlain. A steady presence on the library’s Popmatic podcasts, where he’s interviewed everyone from Joe Dante to Brian De Palma’s former producer George Litto, Chamberlain has a Yoda-like reputation among hardcore Music City cinephiles. He’s also a fixture behind the Popular Materials desk downstairs when folks come by seeking movies.

The library’s free DVD/video checkout has long been a kind of secret handshake among Music City cult-movie aficionados, who know it as the only game in town if you want to find the likes of Samuel Fuller’s all-caps gangster thriller Underworld, U.S.A., Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Forough Farrokhzad’s 1962 short “The House Is Black,” or Jacques Demy’s gorgeous musical The Young Girls of Rochefort. With that in mind, Country Life asked Chamberlain to tip us to some of his favorites hidden among the stacks:

NIGHT MOVES (1975) “The tagline to this movie says it all: ‘Maybe he would find the girl, maybe he would find himself.’ Gene Hackman has one of his best roles as private eye Harry Moseby in this sadly neglected thriller. It starts as a simple case of a runaway teenager (played by Melanie Griffith in her film debut) but Moseby finds himself caught up in a world of lies and deceit. The climax is both suspenseful and tragic. This was the last great movie by director Arthur Penn (Bonnie and Clyde).”

THE ANDERSON TAPES (1971) “Sidney Lumet directed this fast-paced caper yarn based on Lawrence Sanders’ bestselling novel. It mixes government agencies’ incompetence, electronic surveillance, organized crime, and the heist of a New York City apartment building. The movie stars Sean Connery, Dyan Cannon, and in his first film, Christopher Walken. It also features an inventive score by Quincy Jones. Sidney Lumet once said the theme of The Anderson Tapes is the machines are winning, and even though this movie was made in 1971, every passing year proves him right.”

THE LOVED ONE (1965) “Fresh off his box office success on the Academy Award-winning Tom Jones, director Tony Richardson had enough clout to direct this version of the novel by Evelyn Waugh, adapted by Terry Southern and Christopher Isherwood. It has been said The Loved One is really the first John Waters movie. This dark satire deals with the strange burial rituals of both humans and pets in Southern California, and it has an all-star cast which features Robert Morse, John Gielgud, Liberace, Jonathan Winters, and Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy. You’ve got to see it to believe it.”

THE LAST DETAIL (1973) “is probably Jack Nicholson’s finest performance that nobody seems to know about. This road movie has Nicholson portraying ‘Badass’ Buddusky, a U.S. Navy sailor who along with his partner Mulhall (Otis Young) escorts a baby-faced kid (Randy Quaid) to a naval prison for a petty crime. Buddusky decides to show the kid a good time, and Hal Ashby directs a tale that is truly funny but has a tragic tone at the end. The movie is known for its profanity, but as screenwriter Robert Towne pointed out, ‘This is the way people talk when they’re powerless to act.’ ”

EDMOND (2005) “written by David Mamet based on his play is a profoundly disturbing movie that I highly recommend. William H. Macy portrays Edmond, a businessman who after an argument with his wife takes a stroll through the urban landscape. He encounters fortune tellers, con men, pawnshop owners and other creatures of the night. The movie is directed by Stuart Gordon, who has directed such horror movies as Re-Animator and From Beyond — not to mention Jeffrey Combs’ performance as Edgar Allan Poe back in January at the library — but Edmond could be his scariest movie. It shows how close we all walk on the razor’s edge.”