Post date: Nov 17, 2011 4:17:11 AM
Get out of the way, lame romcoms, slapstick comedy, and all-brawns-no-brains action movies! Now is the age of "intelligent" movies that actually makes you think and continues to make you rack your brains after you walk out of the cinema. And if you're like me, you may also go back and search online for the movie plot to make sense of what happened and why certain things happened in the movie. Movies with awesome CG effects are a dime a dozen these days. But those with clever, intricate plots and with a unexpected twist at the end are seriously hard to come by. Below is a list of my favourite intelligent movies, in no order of preference because I just love them all so much!
1. Inception
This movie perfectly epitomizes sci-fi thrillers with an incredibly clever plot and ingenious idea - about being in a dream within a dream within a dream. It's not just about the incredible layered dream idea. The whole plot just ties together so well that you have to watch the movie a few times to discover things that you missed out the first time. One of my fave elements is the use of "totems" to test if you're in a dream or in reality. I guess most people's "totems" would be to pinch themselves to see if it hurts. My "totem" is to run. Because I realize that in my dreams, I have difficulty running fast. It feels as if I'm running in water. Does anyone else have this experience too? Anyway, the idea of being in a dream within a dream within a dream is also superbly fascinating. Who knows, our so-called reality could likely be a dream in truth. Maybe we're all projections of another entity. Yes, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about - making you think and imagine yourself in a situation where the concept is real.
2. Limitless
This is actually a pretty straightforward movie. Not much intricacies. But it's the whole idea of consuming a drug that makes you a hundred times smarter that is so fascinating. Man I would love to take this pill! I wish to be a hundred times smarter, even just for a day! Imagine being able to speak intelligently anytime, anywhere, and being able to master a new language within a few days. There would be so many things that I could accomplish!
3. Source Code
This movie's about accessing your brain to relive the last 8 minutes of your life before you die. Something like that. And you can keep going back and alter your actions to get different results. But the thing is, you can't change reality. What you do only alters the reality in your subconscious. (Though that notion is challenged towards the end) It's pretty fun to see Jake keep going back to the scene in the train to identify the bomb and the bomber. He becomes so familiar with the series of occurrences that he could easily anticipate what's going to happen and who's going to say what. But it's kinda painful to watch him keep getting bombed and killed in various ways each time. And he still has time to fall in love with a girl within the multiple 8-minutes "dreams" he went through.
So which "intelligent" movies do you like? :)