Movies that make your brain hurt!

[Nader Raider Tim]

I just got done watching the most frusterating movie, ever! Southland Tales. I've now watched it at least 10 times in the last 2 weeks and I am still totally lost, utterly and hopelessly lost. After watching the movie the first time I was kind of enthralled, it was visually a nice movie. It had elements of a movie I would absolutely love, so I began watching and rewatching the movie trying to piece the tangled mess of the story together but everytime I seem to tie up one loose end three more threads come untied. I can't give up yet, apparently there is a bunch of comics that are a prequel to the movie so I'll have to try and find them, so I can get this dang movie out of my life, once and for all. I can't believe how much I am obsessing over this movie.

What other movie out there are like this that confuse, yet intrigue you?

[BuckyTuba]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is amazing. I usually pick up on 1 or 2 more hints every time I watch it.

[Brian the Automator]

The Lost Highway .. I still don't get it. Maybe it just sucks.

[And That]

Either Eraserhead or Date Movie.

[Pedro]

The Big Sleep with Bogart and Bacall.

 

I've seen it numerous times, love it, but still am confused about who killed whom. Apparently, so were the people who worked on the movie.

[Menotti80]

Sleuth made me very frustrated

[bjkrautk]

The original post mentioned Southland Tales, but Robert (?) Kelly's prior movie made just about as much sense: "Donnie Darko."

[GoudaBrew]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is amazing. I usually pick up on 1 or 2 more hints every time I watch it.

That's immediately what came to mind for me too. A great movie.

[jazzytrav]

Donnie Darko is probably one of my most favorite movies ever, and I can't explain why.

 

The Lost Highway .. I still don't get it. Maybe it just sucks.

I often wonder this when I can't figure out a movie. I keep thinking that there seem to be these glaring holes in the plot, but there must be some strange reason to fill in those holes. Then I wonder if perhaps the writing was just so bad that these glaring holes never got noticed, and the movie really does suck. I hate that feeling.

[Schlitz001]

Donnie Darko. After it came out on DVD I borrowed it from some friends who raved about how good it was. I watched it and just didn't get it. I think movies with guys dressed in bunny costumes and discussions about hungry, hungry hippos should be easier to understand. Maybe I'm just thick headed.

[bthurley19]

The Ending to No Country for Old Men.

[Katuluu]

The Southland Tales comics have no bearing on the plot of the film. They won't answer any questions, in fact, they'll just bring up more questions.

[Katuluu]

Also, Mulholland Drive seems like an obvious film for this thread. Pretty much any Lynch project except The Straight Story is difficult to follow at best.

[Houlie24x]

Another vote for Donnie Darko. I was just completely clueless about the whole movie.

[danzig6767]

Stay had me confused, i had to watch the ending multiple times

[Raw Biz]

I thought Donnie Darko was pretty easy to follow when I watched it, although I haven't seen it in a few years. I did just watch Southland Tales last week. I really wanted to like it and I think I would have if I understood what was happening. From what I've heard, the prequel comics do actually add some information about what is going on. I'm not about to spend a bunch of money on them but there seems to be a good synopsis on wikipedia about them. I haven't gotten around to reading them yet but hopefully they'll help. Eternal Sunshine was amazing, one of my favorites of all-time.

[Katuluu]

I assure you, the graphic novels won't help. They are essentially expanded versions of the backstory talked about during Southland Tales and they don't offer up any details that will enhance the story, let alone clear up the muddled plot.

[homer]

I think I figured out Donnie Darko after I watched it again......of course, that was a few years ago so maybe if I watched it again I'd be all messed up once more.

 

The most confusing movie I've seen recently is Primer. It's about two dudes who create a time machine - so you have them in the present going back in time and seeing themselves in the past and then those guys go in the future and mess with the same guys in the present. See? Confusing. It was a good movie though.

[Fike85]

The Terminator is the first movie I thought of. Having Kyle Reese be the man sent back to protect John Connor AND his father seems both impossible and plausible. Thinking about it too much makes my brain hurt.

 

Taking the title of the thread literally, 'Armageddon' literally makes my brain hurt because there's a cut every 1.5 seconds.

[Time for a Miller]

Donnie Darko makes perfect sense to me. How to cope with death when it is an inevitability. A movie that has me all turned around right now is Barton Fink. Rosane's tv husband running down a hallway while flames erupt behind him carrying a shotgun shouting "I'll show you a life of the mind" has me scared of going to graduate school and I can't even explain why.

[InsomniacInkRoss]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

 

maybe I should have been on Ether, or read the book

[uwisfan]

I had no problems with Donnie Darko whatsoever..enjoyed it, but was pretty easy to figure out what was happening (from seeing a lot of movies with twisted plots I guess).

 

The movies I have had the toughest time catching up to was:

- Memento .. the ending really blew me away. Especially trying to understand that last image of him with the tattoo. Incredible movie.

 

Agreed on Mulholland Drive and also would add Twin Peaks

[bucks2281]

The Ending to No Country for Old Men.

I'll second that. It's simple a great movie, but I just don't understand the ending with Tommy Lee Jones. It should have ended earlier.

[saget]

The Ending to No Country for Old Men.

I'll second that. It's simple a great movie, but I just don't understand the ending with Tommy Lee Jones. It should have ended earlier.

Isn't that how it ended in the book? I liked how they did it.

I will 2nd Mulholland Drive. It is slightly confusing, but it is also one of the greatest films ever. Anything David Lynch pretty much qualifies for this thread. Blue Velvet.. Wild at Heart.. list goes on.

[Raw Biz]

I've heard a lot of people complain about No Country's ending. When I first saw it I didn't really get what happened either but then I watched it again and realized how awesome the whole movie is and what it's about. I think if you pay attention to what Tommy Lee Jones is talking about throughout the movie, you'll get it. That's probably the biggest reason people didn't "get it" was because they were too focused on the action and not enough on the dialogue. So when Tommy starts talking at the end, everyone kinda just tuned him out and waited for the next action scene but it just ended there. And yeah, that is how the book ends too so I like that they kept it the same.