Inception has arrived and it seems it is here to stay. A superb film which is a mix of the Matrix, Dark City, Memento and The Thirteenth Floor features a great cast, nicely executed special effects, original, interesting concepts, smart and potentially the best of 2010. However, it also seems that many people as shown on Facebook label Inception as 'blowing their minds'. I didn't get my 'mind blown' watching Inception surely. And thus, this list is dedicated to showcassing films worthy of really blowing your mind.
Its a satrical view totalitarian control of society, the mundane boring life of said society that uses consumerism to distract themselves from the futility of their lives. Follwing the life of average low level government worker Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) who frequently has dreams of himself in a different world where he is the hero fighting off monsters and saving a beautiful damsel in distress. Along the way, he finds said girl in dreams, Jill Layton (Kim Greist) and does whatever he can to save her life which could be in danger and meets renegade air conditioning repairman Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro). Terry Gilliam has created a fantastic world with wacky hilarious machines and generally let his imagination and creativity explode from every pulse. Mind you, this was from 1985, but the special effects still manage to look like a marvel.What blew my mind: The surreal dream sequences and the ending.
The most controversial film in 1999, David Fincher brought Fight Club to life from the equally controversial novel of the same name. Tells the story of the Narrator (Edward Norton) as he lives his average mundane life. He is inflicted with insomnia and through his own way managed to shut it out until he met Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). He grows more and more depressed and confused with the direction of his life, and then he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Tyler Durden is what the Narrator aspires to be and what everyone wants to be; cool, rebelious, philosophical, inspiring, ambitious and with a devil may care attitude. The Narrator admires him and with Durden's help, manages to free himself from the constrains of the world. Together they create Fight Club, a place for men to unleash their aggresiveness and to be free. This is where Wanted got the idea from. Also, like Brazil, it deals with consumerism distracting us from our lives and how the media expects us to be like.
What blew my mind: The twist and the philosophy surrounding the film.
Stanley Kubrick's primary masterpiece and also most controversial film of the decade and still is, A Clockwork Orange is also one of the best films I've ever watched. Set in the not so distant future Alex (Malcolm McDowell) is leader of a gang who partake in a daily routine of ultra violence, rape, drinking drug laced milk, listening to Beethoven and of course killing old women with sculpted penises (only happens one time though which lands Alex in prison, it is a funny scene which is fucked up for me to say that). In prison, Alex undergoes a government test, the Ludvico which would 'cure' Alex of all his sexual and violent desires. It doesn't cure him but instead creates pain in his body everytime he thinks of doing something violent or sexual. Kubrick takes us into the frame of violence and to understand its nature. This film has a chockload of memorable scenes which are memorable for its disturbing nature. The film is naturally a satire. A satire on violence, sex, views on violence, the government and moral decay.
What blew my mind: The dialog (Half Shakespearian and half Brit slang), the ending, the extremely well executed scenes of violence and sex, the question it leaves the viewers and of course Malcolm McDowell's superb acting.
OLDBOY (2003)
Based on the manga of the same name, Oldboy which was directed by Korean Park Chan-Wook received international acclaim upon release and is due for a US remake with Will Smith (Seriously, stop remaking good movies). Oldboy tells of Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik) getting drunk at the bar on his daughter's birthday. When his friend bails him out from the police station and takes him home, along the way Dae-Su disappears and his friend is bewildered. Couple of months later, we see Dae-Su confined in a hotel room of unknown location. For fifteen years, Dae-Su endured in this room not knowing why this is happening to him. He is drugged released on top of a building roof and only has one thing on his mind; why was he locked up for 15 years and who did this to him. Along the way, the puzzle unravels and watching this film was a thrill. Never a dull moment. Dae-Su narrates his tale and the way he does makes the film feel very poetic with every line and moment having a significant meaning. 
Another Gilliam classic, one way to describe this film would be; a darker 1985 Brazil with elements of sci-fi. James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a convicted criminal in the future. The future is bleak with a virus which was unleashed in 1997 caused the Earth to be uninhabitable and humans now live underground. Scientists in that time are able to create a time machine and Cole is offered a pardon if he can go back in time using the machine and stop the virus from ever being released. His first clue to the virus is Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) who is a mental patient at an asylum. Cole keeps having dreams of which when he was a child and saw a man in an airport getting shot by security and along the way begins to question his sanity after meeting Dr. Kathryn Raily (Madeleine Stowe) and wonders if there is no virus and he isn't from the future.
Christopher Nolan's first film, one of my favourites and his all time best. Before Inception, this was it. Not wanting to stretch this, read why its so awesome here.
Well, I guess that's that for films that will blow your mind. Broaden your film range and watch all the classics.
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