Explainer: Free your mind: 5 best mind-trip movies
-
Everett Collection / Ronald Grant
"Inception" is about dreams, and dreams within dreams. It's about plundering the subconscious for secrets and, perhaps, planting a few ideas there, as well.
But writer-director Christopher Nolan has done so much more than just recreate the sensation of what happens when we fall asleep. He's built a complete and complicated world, one that constantly shakes you up and makes you work — makes you stop every once in a while to find your bearings. In a good way.
It's the most superbly crafted mind trip, and it follows a great tradition of challenging, innovative films.
-
'The Matrix' (1999)
Warner Bros.
The first one, that is, and not the inferior, back-to-back sequels. This clearly influenced Nolan, with its depiction of an alternate reality in which characters can drop in together and interact with each other — a place where the usual rules of time and space don't apply. This futuristic action thriller was just hugely cool and, in retrospect, so influential, from the "bullet time" effect to the bold, S&M-style wardrobe aesthetic. Despite drawing from various religious and mystical sources, the Wachowski Brothers truly created their own original world here.
-
'Mulholland Dr.' (2001)
AP
It could all be a dream. That's one way to interpret it. David Lynch will never tell you what his movie is about, of course, and that's what makes him — and his work — simultaneously intriguing and maddening. Disarming visuals, shocking imagery, cryptic proclamations — they're all there, and they require repeated viewing, and even then "Mulholland Dr." may not make sense. Here's what's certain: Naomi Watts gave a star-making performance in two different roles in this Hollywood mystery, and a haunting feeling will linger with you long afterward.
-
'2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)
Everett Collection
Vintage Stanley Kubrick: visually striking, mentally baffling, artistically unlike anything else. The questions it raises may never be answered, and that's part of the film's beauty. This much we know: There's a monolith, and HAL 9000 won't open the pod bay doors for Dave, but he will sing "Daisy." Still, it's duly one of the most influential sci-fi movies ever made — at once enormous and intimate, balletic and even melancholy. As a bold piece of filmmaking, it's very much of its time, yet it still grabs hold of its audience just as ferociously as ever today.
-
'Being John Malkovich' (1999)
MELISSA MOSELEY / AP
Really, you could list any movie Charlie Kaufman's written here. Many would choose the wistful "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," with its vivid, dreamlike imagery. Others love the sprawling, existential "Synecdoche, New York." But this was Kaufman's first, and it's my favorite of his. Merely the idea of entering a portal that takes you inside Malkovich's mind is inspired in itself. It's where Kaufman and director Spike Jonze go with this concept — an absurd exploration of love and identity — that makes this movie so irresistible and strangely sweet.
-
'Memento' (2000)
Summit Entertainment
And now we're back to Nolan again, and the movie that put him on the map. With its screenplay-in-reverse (which Nolan co-wrote with brother Jonathan), this was an early indicator of the kind of intricate, intelligent puzzle-building that would become one of Nolan's trademarks. Like "Inception," "Memento" makes you work. But watching it unfold is a thrill as Guy Pearce pieces together his past through notes and tattoos to hunt down his wife's killer. You could analyze it to death to see if it holds together (it does) or you could just go with it and enjoy having him toy with you.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
More on TODAY.com
-
Retired cop: I know Zodiac Killer’s name
video A former California highway patrolman has written a book in which he claims a 91-year-old man who died this year was the famed Zodiac Killer, who killed at least five people in the San Francisco area in the 1960s. NBC’s Mike Taibbi reports.
-
Biographer says prince scarred by parent’s marriage
video The author of a new book about the life of Prince William says that the royal most likely to ascend to the throne was scarred by his parent’s marital problems, and long-believed he might not ever settle down. NBC’s Duncan Golestani reports.
-
Stuntman falls 2,400 feet without chute
video TODAY’s Jenna Wolfe speaks with stuntman Gary Connery, the first person to drop out of a helicopter wearing a “wing suit” and land without deploying a parachute.
-
Is suspect in Etan Patz murder sane?
video A lawyer for a 51-year-old New Jersey man accused of killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City 33 years ago says his client has mental health problems that may come into play during his prosecution. Former FBI profiler Clint van Zandt discusses the case.
“ ”