Lovers of mind bending movies like 12 Monkeys, The Fountain and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have something to look forward to. Inception is another thriller based in the surreal landscape of dreams and uses some rather impressive effects and a wee bit of psychology to create a consistently entertaining journey. The movie has had such incredible reviews that talk of a backlash has been surfacing before it’s even opened.
Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio the movie has a 9.3 rating on IMDB which will push it right in to the top spot by a clear lead if voting continues this way. The movie is released today across the UK. You’re all welcome to leave your favourite mental movies in the comments and we’ll make a list.
Saw it yesterday. Really awesome film. Best I’ve seen this year
I saw this yesterday and it was fantastic. I recommend the 6-part TV programme Jekyll (written by Steven Moffat) for some psychological thrilling.
I’m going to see this next Friday, can’t wait looks awesome !! One movie that stands out in my mind is memento.. Also directed by Christopher Nolan.. Excellent movie
Saw it last night.
Brilliant.
Yet another Nolan masterpiece.
As a kid I loved Dreamscape, which had basically the same premise as Inception and, if I remember it right, a plot to kill the US President. Brainstorm also fascinated me. It was about a team who had invented a way to record a person’s full sensory perception of an event. The person playing the recording back felt as though they were having the experience. The highlights: a roller coaster ride, sexy times, and death.
I particularly like Brazil, Memento (also from Christopher Nolan), Waking Life and Being John Malkovich. I saw Inception yesterday (be not afraid, I will not enclose spoilers) and was blown away by it. Nolan’s ability to take such a complex structural piece and make it relatively easy to follow, and also enjoyable astounds me. I urge people to see it, most interesting film I’ve seen at a cinema in a long time.
- I love Brazil, incredible movie! – Phillis
The film is absolutely amazing. Saw it last night and was blown away by the complexity of the storyline. It was very refreshing to see.
This list could be a very long one!! Here’s a few to get started!
Dead Man’s Shoes
Shutter Island
Jacob’s Ladder
Seven
Pulp Fiction
No Man’s Land
The Usual Suspects
Reservoir Dogs
and more and more………………..
Identity (2003) with John Cusak is a fabulous film. Oh, and Memento (2000) with Guy Pearce. 12 Monkeys is one of my all time favourites though!
so….how do I get a picture in to the little box by my name…don’t wanna be a sillhouette!
- read the FAQ section
– Phillis
For me its got to be La Jette (the inspiration for 12 Monkeys) and Primer. La Jette is incredible to behold. No-one since IMO has communicated so beautifully with stills alone
Memento obviously, also the old classic Vertigo, and basically any David Lynch movie
And, to keep with the theme of the blog : The Prestige and the Illusionist too
And… omg, forgot one of my absolute faves Michael Haneke’s Cache (Hidden). It’s brilliant and always freaks me out. Funny Games (non US version) is also good.
Ok, I’ll stop spamming now….;)
I hope to see Inception on Sunday, I also hope it lives up to all the hype.
With regard to “Mental” movies I would put at the top one of my all time favorites One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest as it highlighted societies often arbitary (fasionable and political) definition of “Normal”.
The idea that society can force someone to conform and be “Normal” is still sadly with us. In some countries there are natural human behaviours that seem perfectly acceptable to us (in the UK) but that carry penalties of imprisonment and even death.
Oddly as the definition of metal illness expands every year it is clear that almost no one is actually “Normal” !
@Maura Dreamscape was one of my fav films from years gone buy, must have watched it hundreds of times over!! Can’t beat a good film that gets you thinking. Usual Suspects was alright first time round but the amazing twist isn’t so amazing second time round. Shawshank is also a great film that gets you thinking. Fight club is also an excellent film with some great twists. and Identity.
i like “shock corridor”…which maybe s/b called “schlock corridor”?
Brazil
Pi
Existenz (corny but fun)
Naked Lunch
I really enjoyed The Fountain, but I agree that it is overblown and slightly pretentious. My wife hated the ending. I loved the ending.
Being John Malkovich was fun, mostly.
I am looking forward to seeing Inception.
Did I mention Brazil?
A real favourite of mine, saw it when I was very young and have never been the same since.
Is it me, or has there been a lack of really good films this year? Prince of Persia was good, but other than that, the most raved about films I’ve heard of are Toy Story 3 (unfortunately don’t have a child to use as an excuse to go and see it,) Shrek 4 (same as Toy Story 3,) and Get Him to the Greek (no f*cking way!)
Inception is the only really great looking film I’ve seen. Wanted to see it the second I saw the trailor! (Okay, DiCaprio’s in it, but I’m sure we can get around that.
)
P.s. I agree with Ellika, Jekyll’s brilliant. Would also like to put a good word out for E. Elias Merhige’s Shadow of the Vampire…Funny and chilling at the same time…
Masterpiece.
I saw the film yesterday also.
I think it is Christopher Nolan getting better and better, really enjoyed it and really hope it gets the respect and accolades it deserves.
I would say ‘Inland Empire’ directed by David Lynch is probably the most mind bending film I have seen.
Ah, I can’t wait to see Inception! I’m really looking forward to it!<3
As for other ‘mental’ movies I like, well, I could go on forever, but off the top of my head: Shutter Island was fantastic, as was The Sixth Sense. I also quite liked Identity, and The Butterfly Effect. Oh! And “Next” – whilst not being strictly psychological, I did think there was a neat twist in there, and it’s worth a watch (Orphan is the same in this respect… Not completely psychological, but fantastic nonetheless). As for any others, well, I can’t remember :b.
One of my favourite films of this genre has to be ‘The Prestige’. Watched it at least 10 times and still gets me thinking.
This is going to be a truely amazing film and will make a massive impact into the way the world thinks.
Here’s a few mental films/series that may have not been listed, in no particular order:
The Second Coming (2003 Russel T. Davies Miniseries)
Serial Experiments: Lain (1998 Anime Series)
Perfect Blue (1997 Anime Movie)
Paprika (2006 Anime Movie)
Noein (2005 Anime Series)
Waking Life (2001 Movie)
Mental (2009 TV Series)
eXistenZ (1999 Movie)
Exam (2009 Movie)
~688 Psychological Thriller Films @ Wikipedia
Category:Psychological_thriller_films
Southland Tales
Lost Highway
Inland Empire
Lars Von Treirs ‘Riget’ also known as ‘The Kingdom’ (remade by Stephen King as ‘kingdom hospital)
and weirdo cartoon Paranoia Agent
Going to take my son to see it for his birthday. looks good
Two movies I love that are a little mind bending are “Strange Days” (1995) and “Time Crimes” (2007) I won’t leave any spoilers but if you like films that compel you to watch and really make your brain work then these are for you! And P.S. don’t read the blurbs on the dvds as they give WAAAY too much away…
You guys have good taste, some of my favourites have been listed already but I’m going to list some of them again anyway:
Memento
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Being John Malkovich
eXistenZ
And more others I can’t see listed yet:
Manhunter & Silence of the Lambs, before everyone started churning out derivative crap about serial killers
Avalon (in the vein of The Matrix and eXistenZ, arguably more pleasant than watching Keanu Reeves try to act)
The Others
The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (Terry Gilliam directs Heath Ledger’s last movie)
Altered States
Dark City (Alex Proyas, creator of The Crow)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam directs again, hmm)
From Hell
Sleepy Hollow
Beetlejuice
The Science of Sleep
What Dreams May Come
Eye of the Beholder
The Vanishing (1988) also known as Spoorloos which is a very creepy psychological thriller.
Primer (2004) is an excellent thriller to do with time travel, one critic said it’s like Donnie Darko for grown ups, that’s definitely worth a watch.
And Synecodoche New York (2008) is brilliant.
All of Michael Haneke’s movies are incredible, I’d recommend The White Ribbon (2009).
Riget/The Kingdom (1994)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
The Machinist (2004)
Oh and Moon (2009) it’s more mystery than a thriller but it’s really good and directed by David Bowie’s son so…
I’m looking forward to Inception as I loved Memento and The Prestige.
Primer is probably the most mindbending movie I’ve seen. It takes many viewings to even begin to understand how all the pieces fit togther.
Can’t wait to see this film. Just been reading the film lists, and can’t wait to watch some of these too. I really enjoy watching any film that makes you think, is intriguing and keeps you going till the very end. Personal favourites are:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hitchcock’s The Birds
The Shining
The Sixth Sense, (even though not too keen on Bruce Willis)
Rosemary’s Baby
The Talented Mr Ripley
Brazil
The Exorcist
The Bone Collector
Donnie Darko
Flatliners
The Hand (scary film from when I was a nipper, gave me nightmares)
I am Right At Your Door playing Funny Games so you can Let The Right One In to Pans Labyrinth. Looking forward to another cinema treat with this new film.
Re-watching The Sculptress just now, I remember liking it first time round years ago.
Saw Inception tonight & almost cried at it’s brilliance. What I love most is that you cannot spoil this film. Sure, there are specific plot points you could spoil, but it seems pointless; the film functions as a fluid whole in a way that no movie has done in a while. I agree with the person above who mentioned Fight Club, although I think this might just have beaten my long time favourite movie. It is simply outstanding.
Memento was great but my cinema viewing was slightly spoiled by the couple behind trying to work out what was happening at every scene change – obviously not smart enough to just think about it inside their heads and discuss it after the film – grrr!
Being John Malcovich was great, love Brazil and 12 Monkeys. Identity was okay and 1408 showed promise but I was ultimatley a little disappointed (though a film with John Cusack in it can never be bad IMHO as he’s just yum).
Science of Sleep was just totally weird in a good way but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a bit more accessible.
it also stars joseph gordon-levitt, one the finest young actors around.
check out ‘brick’.
and ’500 days of summer’.
Oh and how could I forget:
The Holy Mountain (1973)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
If you plan to see either of these, avoid spoilers as much as is humanly possible. I saw the premiere of Heavenly Creatures here in New Zealand introduced by Peter Jackson himself.
I had no idea what to expect, I wandered into this thinking I was going to see another splatter comedy like Braindead, but was completely seduced by the story and profoundly shocked by the ending.
flick took some pretty heavy concepts and delivered them in an incredibly easy to digest fashion, the simpleton in me appreciates the fuck outta that
reminded of :
Solaris(both versions even)
Memento
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
the Game
Final Cut(Robin Williams gets down)
Dark City
In Bruges
Total Recall
12 Monkeys
Strange Days
I would also say Brazil is my favourite movie of all time, and I never miss a Gilliam film.
Mind you, if we’re talking about mindbending movies, when I saw the trailer for “Inception” with it’s bendy streets and mysterious mind-meddling agents I was reminded of “Dark City”.
[Spoiler alert]
It’s a sci-fi mystery thriller where an advanced alien race disguised in Magritte-style bowler hats and black coats has abducted human guineapigs to an artificially constructed city in space. It’s a social experiment in which their memories are wiped every 8 hours and replaced with elaborately tailored backstories without their knowledge.
It’s wonderfully moody and sinister.
I’m going to see Inception today. Hopefully it is as complex as everyone keeps saying…
I highly recommend Ink (2009), directed by relatively unknown Jamin Winans, filmed on a budget of $250,000 Canadian – practically nothing. It deals with the relationship between a father and daughter through the realm of dreams and time. Very beautiful.
Most already mentioned, but must get my votes in…
Mulholland Drive & Lost Highway – David Lynch (a real mind-bending master)
2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Michel Gondry (written by Charlie Kaufman)
Twelve Monkeys – Terry Gilliam
Barton Fink – The Coen Brothers
These are my favourites that fit this category.
As for Inception, yes very good – not quite on a par with these, but highly imaginative and masterfully realised (just a bit too clever-clever).
Even though it isn’t quite this kind of film, I have to mention Apocalypse Now – my all-time Number 1 favourite. An absolute masterpiece on every cinematic level.
Went to see this yesterday, it was EPIC to say the least. Although i think i’ll have to watch it around 10 more times…i didn’t quite catch everything…
It was so good to see a film like this, something that actually makes you think and something interesting, and unique also.
A film that comes to mind for me is Donnie Darko. I would reccomend everyone to watch it at least once. It’s brilliant. Really thought provoking.
I had no idea Inception was that kind of film, I suddenly have more interest in it! I shouldnt judge so much, but since I really didnt like Batman I saw the Inception trailer and figured it was going to be another boring action film, but maybe not?
These have all been said before I think, but…
Perfect Blue
Muholland Drive (or any David Lynch film?)
The Science of Sleep (another Micheal Gondry)
Brazil
Vanilla Sky
One that probably hasn’t been said, but is an amazing but unheard of film:
Solaris (Russian version!)
I think ppl see the crappy US version and assume the russian version is the same, but its very very different! It was made in the 70s, is like a work of art, its mind boggling, subtle and thoughtful, but also so very emotional and real.
Excellent suggestions from Francis Scully, and I’d like to back up rob’s mention of Satoshi Kon’s “Paranoia Agent”. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433722/ Utterly amazing for those of you who can stomach animation. His film “Paprika” rightly deserves to be near the top of this list.
Got back from seeing Inception a couple of hours ago. Incredible in every way. As my friend Alex said, nice to see a blockbuster that doesn’t patronise you too.
I am glad that so many love Brazil. I have been banging my drum about it since I was a young teen.
I showed it to a friend who is a ‘film buff’ (his words) and he said, at the end, laughing: “That is the worst film I have ever seen”. He then explained to me that he liked action films. Oh dear. I thought it had quite a lot of action!
Anything by Gilliam is wonderful.
Also Dark City – my wife doesn’t understand why I like it so much.
Both Solaris films, for different reasons.
Really happy to see no mention of The Matrix. I would rather read a William Gibson novel, although I enjoyed the films as eye-candy.
For an old classic – The Phantom of Liberty by Louis Bunuel is a surrealist masterpiece. It messes with your head. (And your dining table)
….many already mentioned, so i’ll just add:
El Topo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067866/
Grey Gardens http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073076/
Alice http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095715/
I’ve recently been ploughing through the insanity of Takashi Miike.
…most mental one?
Izo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377079/
…most awesome (and mental) one?
Ichi the Killer http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296042/
…most fucked up and disturbing (and mental) one (difficult to narrow that down!):
Visitor Q http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290329/
Another dreamish film is Mirrormask. The fairly weak script (by the usually wonderful Neil Gaiman) is completely outweighed by the stunning visuals and direction by Dave McKean.
Also Girl Interrupted, Awakenings and A Scanner Darkly.
Brazil was decent, but it hasn’t aged well
similar to the way Star Wars feels dated
came back to list Dangerous Liaisons
some dirty digging through the subconscious went down in that
Mr. Nobody (2009 Movie) wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Nobody_%28film%29
Just watched this movie a couple days ago and loved it. I didn’t think the official trailer did its justice, so I put one together and uploaded it to: youtube.com/watch?v=brCu_ifpE28
In case you wanted the official trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=2yEwVQdCl74
The Fall by Tarsem Singh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_%282008_film%29) a wonderful move. Better than The Cell (which was reasonably enjoyable and also by him, also entering people’s minds)
have anybody came across the movie Resurrection (1990), directed by Russell Mulcahy and a Christopher Lambert’s movie. Should catch that movie on. My all time favourite besides Seven.
I find it hard to agree with the common consensus that this film is so wonderful. The concepts are amazing, and I thought the layering and detail in the movie were also excellent, but it lacked something for me. It was all mind-games and no….how do I put it?….finesse? As a movie I feel it lacked style, it seemed as though it relied too heavily on it’s depth of plot to win the audience over.
That having been said, I may not have been in the right mind set to watch it.