U.S. Regions: 10. Enemy - HBO Max 9. Synecdoche, New York 8. Snowpiercer 7. American Psycho - HBO Max 6. Donnie Darko - HBO Max 5. Inception 4. Stalker - HBO Max 3. Brazil 2. Mulholland Drive 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - HBO Max CANADA Regions: ( 10. Enemy - NETFLIX, STARZ, Prime Video *I couldn’t find any others in Canada right now. Try using a VPN to access these in the other countries listed. www.cyberghostvpn.com/FlickConnection U.K. Regions: 10. Enemy - Mubi 9. Synecdoche, New York 8. Snowpiercer - STARZ, Sky Go 7. American Psycho - STARZ 6. Donnie Darko - FreeVee 5. Inception - Sky Go 4. Stalker - BFI Player 3. Brazil - Disney+ 2. Mulholland Drive - STUDIOCANAL 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - HBO Max AUSTRALIA Regions: 10. Enemy - Stan. 9. Synecdoche, New York 8. Snowpiercer - Stan., SHUDDER, AMC+ 7. American Psycho - STARZ 6. Donnie Darko - Stan. 5. Inception - NETFLIX, Paramount+, Stan. 4. Stalker - BFI Player 3. Brazil - Disney+ 2. Mulholland Drive - BiNGE 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey - SBS On Demand Go to buyraycon.com/flickconnection for 15% off your order! Brought to you by Raycon.

I’d add to this list, Dark City, and The Man Who Fell to Earth.

Love all those movies but in my opinion Jacob's Ladder and Memento have to be on the list

I’d add The Empty Man to this as well. It goes from Folk horror, to detective drama, to cosmic horror. Its such an underrated but well executed movie.

I’m surprised I’m not seeing anyone mention this one, but Satoshi Kon’s 1997 psych/horror/thriller, Perfect Blue, would be a great addition. Please please watch this if you haven’t already!

As soon as I heard “the director kind of messed up adapting this from the original book” I knew it was American Psycho. I don’t mind the movie but the book is something else, it was an absolute rollercoaster to read. I loved how the book kept continuously hinting at both possibilities (whether he actually murdered anyone or not), it was brilliant because either one would make sense. I felt like it didn’t matter which one was true, the main point was that Patrick just didn’t know who he was because he was trapped constantly trying to fit into a vapid, vain culture comprised of self absorbed yuppies who couldn’t even recall his name, let alone notice his strange behaviour. And it was just brilliant how the author would quickly switch from a provocative, graphic murder scene to a chapter where Patrick drones on about Whitney Houston’s music, it was jarring and intended to just mess with the reader. I found it really effective. Anyway, I could go on about the book all day. I think my favourite thing about the movie was the actors. I just felt like the movie shoehorned in some stuff from the book but missed the point of it at times. I think the thing that really disappointed me was when his secretary found his deranged scribbling because it appeared to be suggesting that it was all in his head. The book didn’t have that scene and I felt it was more ambiguous. I also feel like the chase scene with the police was too fantastical in the movie to believe, it was fantastical in the book too but we can just assume that’s due to Patricks’ unreliable narration. It can be very difficult to translate unreliable narration into a film, it often just doesn’t really work in the same way

I can't believe you left out the Australian movie Predestination, starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. That is the ultimate (I'll keep it clean.) mind warp movie. It is based on a Heinlein short story. It is one of the few movies that improve on the original written story. Don't watch any previews, just watch the movie. Then be prepared to watch it twice or three times to make sure you got everything.

Mulholland Drive still one of my all time favorites.

Nice compilation, Darren. I'd just like to add a note on 2001: A Space Odyssey - the screenplay and the book were actually written in tandem, and in a strange twist, Kubrick completed and released the movie even before Clarke had finished the novel. However, if you read the novel (which IS a great read!) and then rewatch the movie, that last sequence makes a LOT more sense.

Kubrick did such a good job adapting 2001 into a movie, but the ending of the book is so complex and so intricately written that it’s hard to put into film. In order to truly understand the end of the film you need to read the book. I personally consider it my favorite book and I’ve read it a handful of times. It also explains a lot more about the monolith and its purpose in “the dawn of man“. Arthur C Clarke definitely created an absolute masterpiece with 2001.

I would add; - Primer. To this day, a time travel movie I cannot wrap my head around. Makes Donnie Darko look like a connect-the-dots (though I still love Donnie Darko). - The Invitation. A “slow burn” thriller. Not to be confused with another movie that’s recently come out with the same title…this one is about a guy and his new girlfriend being invited to his ex wife’s (and her new beau) house gathering. - The Endless. This and the Resolution (and a third) are movies that are a kind of rabbit hole you NEED to go down. - Mr Nobody. Scifi time travel-esque. - Fight Club. Don’t talk about it. - 12 Monkeys. I’d check out all those movies as well.

I was hoping Naked Lunch would have been mentioned. They interviewed the author when it was released and I remember him saying, "I was told when they published my book it would never be made into a movie. I'm still not sure it has."

I was happy to see Brazil on the list, but wished you mentioned there are two versions, ending very differently. Terry Gilliam fought hard to keep the original ending. Also worth noting is Robert De Niro as Harry Tuttle, a man “consumed” by paperwork. I have the DVD and will re-watch it so the song will be stuck in my head all during the work week, with a smile on my face like Sam Lowry.

I’m glad Mulholland Drive is up there. It’s a pet peeve that people often think it’s all about vibes and “weird for the sake of weird”. It follows a coherent, tight plot if you appreciate what is going on with the structure of the movie.

The fountain, Eraserhead, primer, predestination and memento should be definitely on the list. Although the ten movies were confusing and puzzling I believe I could understand them. But The fountain, Eraserhead, primer, predestination and memento were really shocking for me and i had to watch them again and I am still not sure if I understood them right

My #1 movie-as-puzzle is Primer by Shane Carruth. You never know which timeline or which version of a character you're watching, they could have gone back in time and altered it 100 times by the time we're watching it

Older fave was 90s "City of Lost Children" with Ron Perlman

Stalker is based on the novel “Roadside Picnic” by Arcady and Boris Strugatsky and has actually been available for quite a while on the Criterion Channel.

Just found your channel and love what you're doing. You sent me way back to myself and three other friends watching 'Brazil' in the theatre. All of us were gob-smacked into silence as we walked the 15 minutes to our favourite bar. Complete silence-there was no way to process in words what we had just seen. And I'm not talking about just the ending.

I think Tenet from Christopher Nolan fits this list well too. I've rewatched it several times and still pick out things planted in the film. It's very confusing until you see it all start to unravel halfway through the film.

I'm surprised you didnt also include David Lynch's "Lost Highway". I watched that movie so many times and still watch it again yearly. I liked Mulholland Drive but not as much as Lost Highway. Probably one of my all time favorite movies along with American Psycho and Natural Born Killers.

Great List I would like to see a part 2 this could be the tip of the iceberg. I love movies that make you think also besides movies some TV series are wonderfully complex and thought provoking ie The Prisoner

Excellent list and the top 2 are both in my top 5 films of all time. Both are incredible masterpieces. Aronofsky's The Fountain and Anno's The End of Evangelion would've been great additions too.

Synecdoche, New York is one of my favorite movies. I don't think it's really as avant garde or abstract as it is sometimes said to be. Caden is trying to create a play that sums up the entire human experience -- the story that tells everyone's story. He does so by endlessly recreating and analyzing his experiences -- which is what a great many of us spend our lives doing in our heads. The movie, by following Caden's life and his failure to realize his ambitions, and as a consequence his failure to make sense of his life, ends up doing what Caden fails to do. The movie ends up summing up what a human life is. Your life will pass before your eyes, the years will slip away as old age strips you of your features, you will try to make sense of the passing years in vain, you will spend it trying to resurrect relationships you never really had, you will wonder what else there is but loneliness -- yet, there will be moments that break through it, the shining moments of truth for your life. The truth that seem to stand out of time and strike you all at once that your time here was significant.

Pro tip for watching 2001. A little more than 20 minutes before the end, text will appear onscreen saying “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite”. At that moment, press play on ‘Echoes’ by Pink Floyd. Enjoy.

A great list of my favorite kind of movies. One that i don't think gets mentioned that I think deserves recognition is Shane Carruth's Upstream Color. A beautiful mind-bending puzzle of a movie that he made after Primer. I would love to see a part 2 of this list!

Bravo! I adore each and every one of these films. When I find a film where I sense the presence of an arc, a through line, if you will, and it doesn’t reveal itself to me on the first viewing, I stay with it and watch it multiple times without trying to read something into it, which can be a challenge. It’s akin to reading and rereading certain poems, and allowing whatever revelation or understanding come to me in the moment. I’ve found some truly great works of art change in significance and meaning for me over time, and I find that just delicious. Mulholland Drive is one such film that has had enormous significance for me in conjunction with certain experiences I’ve had. Again, this is a terrific video. Thankyou.

A movie I love (because I understand it) but it confuses pretty much everyone I know is Predestination, based on the Robert A. Heinlein novella Attention All You Zombies. I loved Donnie Darko when I saw it, although I don't remember much about it. I probably should watch it again. Snowpiercer was fun, but not what I consider a really great movie. Brazil is one of my all time favourite movies and 2001 is simply gorgeous. To get the composites to not have visual errors as so many movies do, he had people hand trace the model shots to create the mattes for the optical printer. That was great except for the poor bugger who had to trace the open framework of Station V!

Any movie by Peter Greenaway exists as an insanely complex puzzle to get mired in. I recommend Drowning by Numbers and A Zed and Two Noughts.

This was excellent. I’m not sure that anyone will ever be able to truly understand 2001: A Space Odyssey. I don’t think it was meant to be understood. Just appreciated. And I will absolutely be rewatching Donnie Darko. Thank you!

"The Game" with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn "Shutter Island" "Arlington Road" "Vanilla Sky" "Machinist" "Identity"

Something that trips up a lot of people is limiting yourself to **one message** in a movie. I'm thinking of Kubrick in particular, but in any movie the writer, and/or director can have many different tricks to a film. You don't need to finally know the secret to a film. For example, in The Shining, of course the pov when Wendy has a scene gets continuity tricks specific to her pov. That's just one way to mess with your head. It doesn't mean you finally figured out the secret to The Shining. The impossible floor plan, the knives in the kitchen, on and on... That film messes with you many ways. Kubrick was editing scripts on the fly throughout, even during filming.

Stalker is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece of epic storytelling with amazing atmosphere that grabs and doesn’t let go

Daz, I don't know how you do it. Another excellent list. Thank you. I have seen most as always but I need to watch some again. Brilliant reminders !

Yours is the only movie review channel I watch. Well done as always.

Excellent list, Darren. I've seen all but 3 on your list, but Stalker is the one that stands out for me. I watched about a year ago and thought it was simply amazing. Slow, deliberately paced, but very intriguing. I plan to rewatch it again soon. Thanks for this list.

I think Alejandro Jodorowsky could be put in here just for The Holy Mountain alone. Overall great list, even though I am probably more of a fan of Eraserhead but that flick has been put on lists since it was created, so understandable.

I now have a couple to add to my watch list. Some other great ones are 'Lost Highway', another Lynchian rabbit-hole; 'Naked Lunch' from the master of WTF, David Cronenberg; and Christopher Nolan's sophomore feature, 'Memento'.

You should also check out Dark City and Primer I am sure it will be hard to find them streaming though.

Glad I found the channel just now, you really seem to have one hell of an operation going on here! The room you filmed in here just looks great and that color of purple/magenta/whatever the fuck automatically improves any situation of any type. And you got the host thing down very well, energetic and entertaining. Can't beat it! Subbed up, appreciate the effort clearly put in here, everyone have a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays YEA!

I love this list. When I saw the title, I said to myself that if "Brazil" is not included I'm going to be pissed! Then I got to thinking about what other movies should be added to this: "Dark City" "Memento" "The Killing of a Sacred Deer" and/or "The Lobster" "Midsommar" and/or "Hereditary" "Fight Club" "Her" "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" "Vanilla Sky" (both versions) "Eraserhead" "Blue Velvet" "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" Of course, there are a lot of classic movies that would fit this category but because they are so ingrained in our psyche, they are not easily thought of: "Citizen Kane," "Vertigo," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," "Rashomon," "The Shining," and "Chinatown." Of course, I more than doubled your list but the topic really made me think about which movies should be included. Thank you!

6:39 Great pick. Now let’s see Paul Allen’s pic.

Good list, I've seen most of these movies. If you do a follow-up of other puzzling movies I'd include "Barton Fink" (1991). It confused a lot of people when it first came out but is perfectly understandable when you understand what is happening to the title character.

STALKER is amazing, I loved the games even though bug ridden to the point of being unplayable. I think growing up in the 80's, being close enough to Chernobyl that we were told to stay inside for a few weeks. No playing outside, no hanging clothes out to dry big in the 80's. The cold war was really a worry much more so than what's going on today, people were afraid of nuclear conflict.

Great list! I would also add Primer, Tideland, Pan's Labyrinth, City of Lost Children, Fear(s) of the Dark, Three Colors, Circle, Requiem for a Dream, Sharp Objects, Another Earth, Let the Right One In, and Coherence.

There's a wierd and perplexing movie that most peoplehave forgotten, Naked Lunch. Based on the book by William S Burroughs, they didn't think could be made into a movie because it is so dense and so bizarre. This is one of David Cronenberg's most interesting movies but it has kind of been forgotten.

Nice list. For some reason I was expecting to see Interstellar and Memento on this list, but you coulda said all Chris Nolan movies as well as all Kubrick. Definitely going back to watch some of these again tho!!! 😊

I am so pleased someone is finally giving a shout out to Synedoche, incredible film

I loved Mulholland Drive, but it spooked me. Still does.

Great list once again. I would add that Donnie Darko director's cut is best and Lost Highway maybe gets honorable mention. Thanks.

Thank you for your content, just subscribed!

The rerelease of the directors cut (in the White DVD case) of Donny Darko is probably the best version as it includes added graphic overlays/cut that really remove the disjointedness the original version was plagued with, without harming the integrity of the film at all.

Love your work. Keep it up brother!

Inception. For me, the ending isn’t whether it’s a dream or not, because the protagonist is exactly where he wants to be. If it’s a dream, then he’ll happily live there. If it’s not a dream, he’ll happily live there.

If you're struggling with 2001, I've always suggested watching the sequel 2010. Not nearly as good as 2001, by a very large margin, but a nice companion to the original that definitely clears up some of the its ambiguity.

Really loved this list mate! Thanks

I have seen most of these and will watch the rest soon. These reminded me about watching Primer the first time. I immediately had to watch it again, found another new thing and had to watch it a third time. Luckily, with a 70 or so minute runtime, It didn't take my whole day, but I love those kinds of experiences with movies.

Congratularions for the so well-made list. However, I think it was very esssential to to mention that the russian film"Stalker" is based on the amazing novel "Roadside picnic" written by brothers Strugatsky

Nailed it! Guess I know now where my niche is. I've got Synecdoche teed up and just when I thought I was through with Tarkovsky, there's Stalker waiting! Great list and category.

First time ever watching you. I was thoroughly captivated. I subscribed and liked and hit the bell. You speak very well...thank you for doing what you do.

Loved Donnie Darko. Used to watch it all the time. It was ahead of its time for sure

As far as American Psycho goes, I remember buying the book when I was way younger. Reading it, putting it down and reading it again a couple of years later. I don't remember it "leaving it up to your Imagination" as to what actually happened. I saw the movie twice but maybe the movie did that and I don't remember. I do recall a passage in the book, where Bates gets into an elevator with a very short guy next to him, who lives in the top floor, turns out it was Tom Cruise 😁 Also there's the part where he has some PVC pipe, a hooker in a bathtub and a NY sewer rat that I won't get into. His dry cleaning was hella expensive.

I LOVED the ending of Snowpiercer.

I watched Perfect Blue and Paprika recently and they could easily be contenders for this list too.

Wow nice video. I’m currently in a Go tournament and the theme is “the last words of Stalker” and the description for the tournament talks about the movie. I will need to find a copy of it FOR SURE

Excelent selection! Got one for today! Cheers!

Enemy is a great film, and I think it may be his first film in English, but August 32nd on Earth was his first feature film and by the looks of it, probably filmed in a lower budget than Enemy. It’s a great little film, especially because it’s so different from the films he’d become famous for in the future.

I'm very glad I don't have to question your commitment to Sparkel Motion.

Hi! I'm inCanada and was searching for Brazil last week . Couldn't find it. I saw it a couple of times. I really love it. Really imaginative and beautiful piece. I saw Mulholland Drive when it came up, didn't like it. Saw it twice since and don't connect with it. Will try again, I love David Lynch. I saw Donnie Darko last week too, again. A must watch. Love Jake Gyllenhaal. There's only Stalker I haven't seen on your list. Will try to find it. Enemy is one of my all time favorites, it blew my mind and again, Jake Gyllenhaal. I would give a really honorable mention to Predestination and Coherence. I don't remember hearing about Coherence to this day and it's an amazing movie. If you like doppelgangers that's a great pick.

I’ve seen five of the ten. Will look up the other five! Thanks FC.

Another great David Lynch addition to your list is "Lost Highway"

I really appreciate your sophisticated insights, reviews and recomendations!

I always thought that 2001: A Space Odyssey was based on the book by Arthur C. Clarke. I only recently learned that Clarke and Kubrick co-wrote the movie concurrently and Clarke wrote the book (some say Kubrick worked on it too) as a straight novelization of the film. Clarke later wrote 3 sequel novels

Great job. Thank you. I would also like to say that you have the best head of hair I've seen in some time.

So glad you used an image from Stalker as your cover shot

I am so glad you included Synecdoche. New York. I will rewatch it along with Mulholland Dr. & Stalker. Great list!

Nice list! Happy to see Mulholland Drive, Brazil and Donnie Darko make it! Will have to check out Enemy and Synecdoche and I keep hearing about Stalker - the cinematography looks amazing - so I must watch that soon.

good video i barely noticed 20 mins go by.... enemy and stalker would be my picks to watch, never even heard of them... thanks for the insight :)

Stalker is truly amazing.

Donnie Darko is my favorite movie of all time. Thank you for pushing it to a new audience!

Stalker is great, people don’t know it but they know the games, films and shorts that it has inspired.

A lot of these were some of my favorite movies, so I mostly watched this to see your take on them. In my opinion you do the best movie reviews... based on them I really feel like if I'd actually enjoy the movie. Also, I'm always looking for new and obscure flicks.

Great list! The only one I haven't seen is Stalker. 2001 and Mulholland Dr. are two of my absolute favourites.

That was an excellent FLICK CONNECTION,Darren. Great to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at your #1. Many thanks for sharing this presentation with us 👍👍👍

Nice video. I really think Primer should be on the list tho

Solid list 👍. I was recommending Donnie Darko to someone last week, but found it hard to describe without spoiling it.

Great video! I might re-watch all of these.

Great to see you still got it Darren lol. I'm happy your doing great. You put in the great work and definitely deserve the fruits of it. Keep up the Great work

Thanks from Russia for STALKER, man.

6:33 - Best advice ever!

Thank you Sir, for turning me oneto some new and old movies to watch for the 1st time and some again and again ;P

Completely solid list. Well earned subscription. Question: why is the film called "Brazil"? Was there a throwaway line in the movie that I missed? Or just pure nonsensical naming?

Great vid! Thanks guy!

Definitely check out Primer! One of my favorite puzzle films.

"first time i watched it, didnt understand anything but i loved it... second time, i started to understand some stuff and loved it even more..."

Thank you, man! And thanks to the algorithm

I would add Last Year at Marienbad. It’s almost certain that both Kubrick and Lynch were heavily influenced by Resnais’s film.

The last shot in Enemy jump scared me lol

Good list Darrin. Regarding Donnie Darko, one thing that will really help understand it better is to watch the director's cut. Scenes cut from the theatrical release to shave time & add pacing add much more in the way of explanation.

I hope this channel grows and grows because its one of the few left where you actually learn something and hear it in a cultural, educated way. I'm watching your videos everytime with much attention, curisoity, excitement and ultimately child-joy. You talk about movies. Period. In an civilised, almost artsy, critique way which is amazing. Love it. Keep up. You are doing the good work. Thank you!