Final (2001)
Jan 22, 2002Psychiatric Patient/Reality Bender
Indie SF film where Denis Leary wakes up as patient in a psychiatric institution while he insists he has been awoken from cryogenic suspension in a future where he is awaiting execution
Hope Davis
Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
Sep 29, 2001Clairvoyance/Stephen King Adaptation
Another in the spate of serious Stephen King adaptations that seeks to avoid the horror label. Although psychic powers do feature, this is more of a wistful 1960s Coming of Age story
The Nines (2007)
Jul 17, 2009Reality Bender
Fascinating directorial debut from screenwriter John August that tells three stories about Ryan Reynolds who gradually makes mind-boggling discoveries about the nature of reality
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Apr 4, 2009Meta-Fiction and Surrealism
Mind-bending Charlie Kaufman meta-fiction in which Philip Seymour Hoffman creates a vast theatre project that drags on for years and starts to merge into his own life
The Lodger (2009)
Dec 13, 2010Modern-Day Jack the Ripper Killings
Fourth version of the tale about a family who believe their boarder might be Jack the Ripper. This is updated to the present and abandons most of the story for a mind-bending pretzel of identity speculations
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
May 14, 2016War Between Comic-Book Superheroes
Less Captain America 3 than The Avengers 3 – the entire film has been conceived as a massive superheroic punch-up. The results move with an exhilarating pace, but the Russo Brothers haven't yet mastered Joss Whedon's hand with character humour
Greenland (2020)
Feb 19, 2021Disaster Movie/Comet on a Collision Course with the Earth
There seems something redundant in 2021 with the world in the grip of a very real apocalypse about watching an old-fashioned mass destruction disaster movie about an oncoming comet impact
Asteroid City (2023)
Jul 21, 2023Retro 1950s Comedy/Alien Visitor
Wes Anderson’s quirky individualistic films can be an acquired taste. This is set in a stunningly designed retro 1950s town as various oddball characters intersect in between the appearance of an alien visitor