b) hang your lower jaw, and<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>c) force the words WTF out of your mouth.<\/em><\/p>\n There is a better word for Mind-Twister, in lines with the word that<\/em> just came out of your mouth, but etiquette insists I stick to Mind Twister. I wish there was some cool sounding German name for this like Bildungsroman<\/em> (psychological picture of the protagonist in novel\/film), or Schadenfreude<\/em> (my all time favourite phrase, being happy at other\u2019s misery). For the record, this is my favourite genre of films.<\/p>\n These are films that give you glassy eyes, hang your lower jaw<\/p><\/div>\n I classify Mind Twisters (or WTF films) as per the following criteria:<\/p>\n i.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The best aspect of this genre is the faith the film-makers place on the audience’s intelligence and wit. No unnecessary dumbing downs, a complex story more on psychological aspects and a frustratingly convoluted script. The dialogues are non-patronising and explanations are kept to a minimum.<\/p>\n ii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes the frames are not time-dependent. Our brains can perfectly see reason when events, however complex, unfold with passage of time. We can understand the psyche of the protagonists\/antagonists and as a result understand the film. But, if the scenes start to skip between time frames without giving any prior warning (like flashback or subtitles saying \u201cafter 7 years\u201d<\/em>, etc), the brain gets muddled up trying to fit the story in a single timeline, cannot do so because the actions make no sense and as a result we undergo actions a, b, and c described earlier.<\/p>\n iii.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are however, many films which purely play with your mind and rational thinking. Right vs Wrong, Truth vs Lie, Real vs Imaginary\u2026 Many times the lines get blurred and you are forced to THINK rather than SEE.<\/p>\n iv.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is another way of classifying Mind-Twisters. The number of times one has to watch the film to understand what the hell that was all about. For me, the watchability meter to classify a mind twister should not be less than 3.<\/p>\n So here are eight such Mind Twisters that I have watched till now and undergone the above actions a, b and c. I have watched many of them close to 4-5 times to really really understand the hell that was going on and enjoyed every minute of it.<\/p>\n This list is not exhaustive as the honorable mentions at the end will tell you. There are many more left that I have to watch and I request you to please help me add to my collection.<\/p>\n (2004<\/strong>)<\/p>\n Primer (2004) I thought this was some low budget action film considering the fact that primer is something one finds in a bullet. \u00a0But I was very mistaken. This is a film of two friends Abe and Aaron, who try to reduce the weight of an object. Although they succeed in their experiment, they find that the object travels to and fro in time for about 1300 times.<\/p>\n They decide to try it on themselves. They travel backward in time, after having checked the stock prices prior to the travel, invest in rising stocks and come out of the time travel, richer.<\/p>\n Now, the hitch is that both the versions of Abe\/Aaron, I will call them \u2018Prime\u2019 and \u2018Derivative 1\u2019, exist simultaneously at a certain point of time. Pretty clear till now?<\/p>\n Well, this is where the twisting starts. At some point, Aaron Derivative 1 incapacitates Aaron Prime and continues with the time travel experiment. They manipulate the stock market, their families\u2019 lives and start to unravel psychologically. By the end, there are three versions of Aaron (Prime, Der 1 and Der 2) and two versions of Abe (Prime and Der1) living and Aaron Der 2 has gone to another place to fabricate a time travel machine for more than 1 person.<\/p>\n Time travel method in Primer by Tom\u2013B The film is unapologetically intelligent. The dialogues are crisp and sometimes completely baffling (It actually took me some time before I realised that palladium found in catalytic converter is also used in superconductor experiments.)<\/p>\n The explanation of time travel was good, although the director did not bother to explain it too much (contrast this with a 5 minute monologue of Max on definition of Pi in \u2018Pi\u2019).<\/p>\n The film NEEDS to be watched with subtitles, because 15 minutes into it, you can get lost as ever. I actually watched it 5 times, understood zilch, then foraged the internet for blogs and forums on Primer<\/i> discussions. Looks like I was not the only whacked out viewer! There are tons of websites on the internet that explain (or try to) what all went on in the film.\u00a0 Here is a link that gives the timeline of the whole film.[The Primer Universe<\/a>]<\/p>\n The film was written, directed and acted by immensely talented Shane Carruth on a shoe string budget (7000 USD)[ Primer<\/i> (film)<\/a>]. As for the movie, a resounding 5\/5 and additional 2 pts for assuming (wrongly of course!) that I am an intelligent audience!<\/p>\n Number of views: 5, Points: 7\/5!!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Note: Similar storyline was adapted in Looper<\/i> (2012) starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (with bad kohl smeared eyes). As usual, being a Bruce Willis movie, it has more guns and fights than the real paradox of time travel. After watching Primer, Looper<\/i> felt like a baby toy.<\/p>\n Points: 1.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n (1950<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n Rashomon<\/a> (1950) Sometimes, when you watch a film, you are amazed by the intelligence and pathos of the director\/scriptwriter and his\/her attitude towards the audience. Rashomon<\/i> is one such film. I have always been a great admirer of Akira Kurosawa films (Drunken Angel, Seven Samurai<\/i>).<\/p>\n One can do a PhD research on his films, well, him and Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Shyam Benegal, Ritwik Ghatak, \u2026 the list of epic directors is too long.<\/p>\n Rashomon<\/i> is a film about an incident, a rape of a noble-woman and murder of a Samurai, which is explained in different and contradictory stories by four people involved in the incident namely the bandit, the woman, the Samurai\u2019s ghost and the villager. Although, the villager\u2019s version seems to be the most plausible one, still the ending is left open for personal interpretations of the viewer.<\/p>\n What I liked most about the film was the character and motivation of the Woman. She is, by far the strongest element of the whole film. The film is very engaging, in spite of the language barrier, Toshiro Mifune is amazing as the bandit.<\/span> The watchability of the film is high because one cannot understand the nuances and the gravity of the dialogues in just one viewing. I have seen the film more than 4 times and everytime, I find something new to think about.<\/p>\n Number of views: 5, Points: 5\/5!!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n (2000<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n Memento (2000) This film was made by another of my favourite directors, Christopher Nolan (Inception, Insomnia, The Dark Knight, The Prestige<\/i>).<\/p>\n The story is about an insurance investigator, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pierce) whose wife was raped while he was hit on his head and suffered from Retrograde Amnesia (short term memory loss).<\/p>\n Leonard creates a separate reality of himself and the world around him where he searches his wife\u2019s killer based on polaroids that he takes during his journey. There are may people around him who manipulate his condition.<\/p>\n However, at the end he realises he himself may have killed his wife (for a brief period only) and has already killed her rapist. But due to his condition, the cycle starts again.<\/p>\n I request all who still haven’t\u00a0seen “Ghajini<\/em>” yet to please see Memento first to appreciate intelligent\u00a0and engaging filmmaking. This film holds the maximum number of watches for me, 7 whopping times!!<\/p>\n Leonard creates a separate reality of himself and the world around him where he searches his wife\u2019s killer<\/p><\/div>\n There are two storylines of the same protagonist. The B\/W scenes move forward in time, while the coloured scenes move backward, both chronologically. The scenes are alternate, i.e. \u00a0B\/W(i) \u2013 Colour (n) \u2013 B\/W (i+1) \u2013 Colour(n-1) \u2013 B\/W (i+2) \u2013 Colour (n-2)\u2026 where i = Scene no. 1.<\/p>\n At one point where, B\/W(i+k) = Colour (n-k), the scene transitions from black and white into colour and becomes the prelude to the first scene of the movie. So basically, what you have been doing is watching the film backwards. Cool, huh? I bet it will take more than one viewing to get a hit at it.<\/p>\n Number of views: 7, Points: 5\/5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/i><\/b>(1991<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n Barton Fink (1991) The fact that this film is directed by the Coen Brothers (Blood Simple, Fargo, Burn<\/i> after reading, The Big Lebowski<\/i>\u2026 the list goes on) is enough to categorise it into Mind-twister genre. It\u2019s a \u201cnoir-comedy\u201d(<\/em>??) film of a famous theatre scriptwriter Barton Fink who experiences writer\u2019s block after being invited to Hollywood to write a boxing film.<\/p>\n He stays in a dilapidated Hotel (Earle), meets his mysterious yet friendly neighbour, Charlie Meadows, who keeps saying he has a story to tell and is \u2018definitely\u2019 not an insurance salesman. There is murder, detectives, an irritating mosquito, burning down of a hotel and a head in a box\u2026 or is there?<\/p>\n The film starts off comfortably, the scenes of Barton with the big shot Hollywood producer are awesome. Barton also meets other people like the writers, directors etc.<\/p>\n Suddenly, with the discovery of a dead body on his bed, the whole thing becomes frustratingly twisted. One is drawn into the mayhem and gradually reality and imagination get blurred.<\/p>\n John Turturro as Barton and John Goodman as Charlie are amazing. Again, the movie is left open ended. It is not clear what happens to Barton in the end and how\/why did he meet the girl in the poster? Was it all a dream, hallucination or something to do with his writer’s block? <\/span><\/p>\n Coen Brothers being Coen Brothers, they leave you to stew in your own brain juices\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Number of views: 3, Points : 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n (2001<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n Mulholland Drive (2001) I am not big fan of acclaimed director and surrealist David Lynch, after watching Eraserhead<\/i> (Couldn\u2019t stomach the film). So didn\u2019t expect much from Mulholland Drive<\/i> either.<\/p>\n But after 4 watches, the film immediately got classified into must watch Mind-Twister genre. Please do not read any spoiler alerts before watching the film. I assure you will be pleasantly befuddled and can live off the discussions in many dinners.<\/p>\n Betty Elms (Naomi Watts), an aspiring actress in LA takes in an unknown woman who calls herself Rita (Laura Harring). Rita is suffering from memory loss and has completely lost her bearings. Betty is extremely talented and becomes a favourite of many directors and producers. But an underworld boss controls the casting of heroines of films and pushes his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, replacing Betty.<\/p>\n Mulholland Drive Rita gradually starts to remember a few things, when there is a marked transition from the smooth and clear storyline to a totally unusual track.<\/p>\n Suddenly, reality and imagination collide and the audience is shocked awake into a new world of Betty, Rita and all other characters of the film.<\/p>\n Although, the film is not open ended and after a few viewings, one understands the whole story, but the journey towards the realisation is just too good.<\/p>\n Number of views: 4, Points: 4.5\/5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n (2000<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n You must be wondering by now what\u2019s wrong with this woman? She glorifies slasher and gore-fests claiming them to be intelligent! But once you watch this film, rather twice, you will understand what I mean.<\/p>\n American Psycho (Uncut Version) (2000) On the surface, this is a terribly violent R-rated film about a sick and severely disturbed 25-something banker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), who goes on a killing spree, completely loses it and at the end realises that it all might have been a dream. That\u2019s your first watch.<\/p>\n Later, you concentrate more on the monologues\/dialogues and the nuanced acting. The first scene where Patrick Bateman admires his body and lists out his moisturizer, shampoo, conditioner and his apparent disgust at low status people suggest a man not sure of his own sexuality. He has an apparently vast knowledge of hit records but they sound as if he remembered them by rote.\u00a0 He is disgusted at the yuppie culture while still struggling to be a part of it, he always tries the game of one-upmanship with his colleagues (the famous visiting card scene), he undergoes gradual decay of morality and finally spirals downward into complete chaos.<\/p>\n Of course, all the killings, hackings and gore-fest are in his head Of course, all the killings, hackings and gory stuff are in his head, but I think they are symbolic of the death (killing) of what we hold right and true.<\/p>\n At the end, he is indistinguishable from his colleague Paul Allen. Isn\u2019t it the same with all of us? Our ambitions, status seeking nature, moral dimensions, apathy make us all the same. I feel we all have a little bit of Patrick Bateman in us.<\/p>\n In the end, he says \u201cThis confession has meant nothing<\/em>\u201d. I found it a highly intelligent film, despite being R-rated.<\/p>\n Number of views: 4, Points: 4\/5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n (2004<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n This movie is essentially a love story. And a very beautiful one too. Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) fall in love. However, with time, they realise they are not suitable for each other and decide to part ways.<\/p>\n Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) Clementine gets her memories of Joel erased through some procedure. When Joel gets to know this, he also decides to erase all his memories of Clementine. However, during the procedure, he realises that he still has feelings for her and struggles to hold on to her memories.<\/p>\n The whole movie revolves around Joel\u2019s struggles to remember Clementine, in any way possible. He even tries to smuggle her into his childhood memories so that they are not erased. I wonder whether Christopher Nolan got inspired by this movie before making Inception.<\/i><\/p>\n At the end, although having forgotten each other, memory-wise, they still harbour unknown feelings for the other. As the film’s tagline says, “You can erase someone from your mind, getting them out of your heart is another story<\/em>“. I watched this film long back and needed one re-watch to make any sense out of it all. Still, this is one of those rare romantic Mind-Twister films.<\/p>\n Number of views: 3, Points: 4\/5<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n  :<\/p>\n (2007<\/strong>)<\/span><\/p>\n![\"These](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/surprised-2.jpg\")
Primer\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Primer](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/primer.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan
Directed by: Shane Carruth<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Time](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/Time_Travel_Method.png\")
<\/a>
Based on previous work by MJL
Source: derivative work – Tom-b (talk)<\/a>
under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License<\/p><\/div>\nRashomon<\/b><\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Rashomon](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/Rashomon.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Fumiko Homma
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa (Director)<\/p><\/div>\nMemento<\/b><\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Memento](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/memento-724x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano
Directed by: Christopher Nolan<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Leonard](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/memento-2-1024x684-1024x684.jpg\")
<\/a>Barton Fink<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Barton](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/barton-fink.jpg\")
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Starring: John Turturro, John Goodman
Directed by: Joel Coen<\/p><\/div>\nMulholland Drive<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Mulholland](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/Mulholland-Drive.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring
Directed by: David Lynch<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Mulholland](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/Mulholland-Drive-2.jpg\")
<\/a>
Pic: Amazon<\/p><\/div>\nAmerican Psycho<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"American](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/american-psycho.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux
Directed by: Mary Harron<\/p><\/div>\n![\"American](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/american-psycho2.jpg\")
<\/a>
Pic: Amazon<\/p><\/div>\nEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Eternal](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/Eternal-Sunshine-of-the-Spotless-Mind.jpg\")
<\/a>
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet
Directed by: Winslet Michel Gondry<\/p><\/div>\nThe Nines<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"http:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/04\/the-nines.jpg\")
<\/a>