Inception

2010, Rated PG-13, 148 minutes, Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan, Produced by Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, Cinematography by Wally Pfister, Original Music by Hans Zimmer

With: Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Ellen Page (Ariadne), Tom Hardy (Eames), Ken Watanabe (Saito), Dileep Rao (Yusuf), Cillian Murphy (Robert Fischer Jr.), Tom Berenger (Browning), Marion Cotillard (Mal)

My head was still reeling with excitement and wonderment as I exited the theater.  It had been a long time since I had so much tense energy built up  after a movie. I almost could not contain myself (I will say I was talking quiet loudly on the way out of the theater). Inception takes place in a world that we quite literally only dream of. Christopher Nolan finally got his chance to build a dream world onscreen and his tight direction and storytelling soared amidst the chaotic world of the dreaming human mind.

Splice

2010, Rated R, 104 minutes, Directed by Vincenzo Natali, Written by Vincenzon Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryand & Doug Taylor, Produced by Steven Hoban, Cinematography by Tetsuo Nagata, Original Music by Cyrille Aufort

With: Adrien Brody (Clive Nicoli), Sarah Polley (Elsa Kast), Delphine Chaneac (Dren), Brandon McGibbon (Gavin Nicoli), Simona Maicanescu (Joan Chorot), David Hewlett (William Barlow), Abigail Chu (Child Dren)

I believe that we are seeing a great resurgence of the science fiction genre. In 2009 we had many great sci-fi films: Star Trek, Moon, and District 9. The genre continues to be redefined by many of these movies. Splice is another wonderful addition to the genre and demonstrates continuing strength and originality. Splice manages to address issues of morality, science, family and commitment in a deep and intense way, and at the same time is an shockingly entertaining film.

$9.99

2008, Rated R, 78 minutes, Directed by Tatia Rosenthal, Written by Etgar Keret and Tatia Rosenthal based on short stories by Etgar Keret, produced by Amir Harel and Emile Sherman, Cinematography by Richard Bradshaw, James Lewis & Susan Stitt, Original Music by Christopher Bowen

With: Joel Edgergon (Ron), Leon Ford (Stanton), Claudia Karvan (Michelle), Anthony LaPaglia (Jim Peck), Ben Mendelsohn (Lenny Peck), and Geoffrey Rush (Angel)

$9.99 is a stop motion clay animated film about the residents of an apartment building in Sydney, Australia. Like a real life apartment building, the characters in the movie have their own lives and their own story. This of course makes perfect sense as the script is based on a series of short stories by Etgar Karat. The problem is that this makes the movie disjointed and jumpy.

Mulholland Dr

2001, Rated R, 147 minutes,  Directed and Written by david Lynch, Produced by Pierre Edelman, Cinematography by Peter Deming, Original Music by Angelo Badalamenti

With: Naomi Watts (Betty Elms/Diane Selwyn), Laura Harring (Rita), Ann Miller (Catherine ‘Coco’ Lenoix, Justin Theroux (Adam Kesher)

A limousine traverses down the winding and scenic Mulholland Dr. A beautiful woman (Laura Harring) waits to reach their destination only to find the car stopped and a gun pointed at her. Her time has come to an end until a car smashes head on into the limousine leaving everyone dead but the woman who only has a scratch. Dazed and confused she heads through the woods towards LA. 

And so you enter into the Lynch’s world where you will be scratching your head asking yourself constantly what just happened, who is that, where is this going? Many of these questions will remain unanswered but will be in your mind days after the final credits roll. The multiple stories in the movie will converge and diverge sometimes at the same time. Mulholland Dr will capture your imagination but at the same time leave you with a furrowed brow and a brain tied up in so many knots that even a seasoned sailor would have trouble getting them out.

Knife in the Water

1962, NR, 94 minutes, Directed by Roman Polanski, Written (in Polish with English subtitles) by Jakub Goldberg, Roman Polanski & Jery Skolimowski, Produced by Stanislaw Zylewicz, Cinematorgraphy by Jerzy Lipman, Music by Krzystztof Komeda 

With: Leon Niemczyk (Andrzej), Jolanta Umecka (Krystyna), Zygmunt Malanowicz (Young Boy)

It all started innocently enough. A older professor and his much younger wife decide to spend a day sailing on the lake. But that all changes when the professor decides to pick up a brash young hitchhiker and bring him along. With the addition of one man a day on the lake becomes a day of tension and competition, a male one upmanship. So is the story in Roman Polanski’s A Knife in the Water.