24 Most Puzzling Movies (from RT)
A list published by Rotten Tomatoes on Jan 27, 2015. This contains some of my favs, some wanna sees, and a few "so what"s. A few directors have more than one entry on the list.
List activity
933 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
24 titles
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsDelphine SeyrigGiorgio AlbertazziSacha PitoëffIn a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.D: Alain Renais, For, France. The ultimate unknowable. Ah, and the formal garden scence: you know there's something weird going on when people have shadows but the trees/shrubs and artifacts don't.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.D: Christopher Nolan. Since this is about dreams, all bets are off. It's certainly trippy with tons of action.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNaomi WattsLaura HarringJustin TherouxAfter a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.D: David Lynch. You explain this to me and you get an A.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJack NicholsonShelley DuvallDanny LloydA family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.D: Stanley Kubrick. Nutsy Nicholson takes care of a hotel/resort during a winter of horror.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.D: Stanley Kubrick. A lot of people have asked: What's the point?
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsHugh JackmanRachel WeiszSean Patrick ThomasAs a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.D: Darren Aronofsky. After I saw this the third time, I didn't think it was so unfathomable. Maybe I should look at it a fourth time and get confused all over again.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsSean GulletteMark MargolisBen ShenkmanA paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.D: Darren Aronofsky. Not seen. (btw, it's really the math symbol, not the written word.) A guy sees the world as a math problem, but he's got other problems, too.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.D: Christopher Nolan. This film is told backwards. If that doesn't confuse, then look at the movie. I thought I understood this after one viewing, but the site Greatest Movie Plot Twists says wait a minute.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsGabriele FerzettiMonica VittiLea MassariA woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.D: Michelangelo Antonioni. For, Italy. A group goes off for a picnic and a day on a very small island. One woman disappears. Then, two picnickers hook up and have a tryst. (Meanwhile, the mystery about the disappearing woman is forgotten about.) The tryst is an empty affair. That's about it in this boring show. At Cannes, it was shown twice in 1960. The first time it was (rightfully) booed/catcalled/whistled. Then, near the end of the festival, it was shown again, was applauded and won the big prize at Cannes. Over the years, this movie grows ever larger in respect and evaluations of greatest cinema of all time. I'm with the first group at the first showing at Cannes.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.D: Ridley Scott. The replicants are here! The replicants are here! It's dark, it's murky, it's noirish. It's also obscure.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.D: Richard Kelly. Donnie sees a talking rabbit, sorta like Harvey. There's lots more strange stuff to come
The rest of this list are unseen. Comments are generated from the gist of stuff garnered from looking around. A movie listed after this and which has a rating was seen after this list was created. - DirectorLars von TrierStarsWillem DafoeCharlotte GainsbourgStorm Acheche SahlstrømA grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.D: Lars Van Trier. Chaos reigns for He and She.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAlisa FreyndlikhAleksandr KaydanovskiyAnatoliy SolonitsynA guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.D: Andrei Tarkovsky. For, Russia. This movie follows three men, a scientist, a writer and the stalker in the Zone.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.D: Shane Carruth. Four computer whiz guys time travel when they discover their work has added value.
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsNathaniel BrownPaz de la HuertaCyril RoyAn American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.D: Gaspar Noe. The director's from France, but the movie is in English and set in Japan. A drug deal goes wrong and the protagonist seeks resurrection in the neon club scene going on in Tokyo.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsJohn TurturroDeborah Kara UngerStephen Eric McIntyreWhen his wife is killed in a seemingly random incident Harry (Turturro), prompted by mysterious visions, journeys to discover the true circumstances surrounding her murder.D: Nicholas Winding Refn. (He's Danish doing his first English language film.) John Tuturro's wife is murdured and he travels from Wisc to Mont to find the killer.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.D: David Cronenberg. James Woods looks for something new for his TV network that features sexual themes. How about snuff films?
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.D: Terrence Malik. What's life? What's faith? Does Malik really provide any answers?
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerSharon StoneMichael IronsideWhen a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?D: Paul Verhoeven. Arnold operates with an implanted chip that provides memory. But Arnold finds out and journeys to Mars to find out what's what.
- DirectorCharlie KaufmanStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanSamantha MortonMichelle WilliamsA theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.D: Charlie Kaufman. Philip Seymour Hoffman wins a MacArthur grant. Then he decides to put on a whole play about his life.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFernando ReyCarole BouquetÁngela MolinaRecounted in flashback are the romantic perils of Mathieu, a middle-aged French sophisticate as he falls for his nineteen-year-old former chambermaid Conchita.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsDenis LavantEdith ScobEva MendesA man boards a limousine to be driven to his day's work: nine mysterious "appointments."
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyHoracio SalinasZamira SaundersIn a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.