General Discussion : Psychological movies and/or twists

[Baby Fish]

I'm making a minute long animation for my course, and I want to have some kind of twist at the end or something that plays with your emotions etc. I'm doing some film research for inspiration, sooo I was wondering what your favorite movie twist is? What makes a psychological film good? Is the shock value something worth thinking about, or is it just plain annoying? Best endings ever? etc.
-,- Also, I take back any bad thing I've ever said about terrible movie endings, that shit is hard to get right!

[mwgerb]

I'd say that my favorite twists have to be from The Prestige, Brazil, The Sixth Sense, and Psycho. I'd say the shock value can be good (you are, after all, looking to create an emotional experience), but only if the twist explains everything in the movie better than before. If you just had The Godfather, and at the end Sonny wakes up and it was all just a dream, then it doesn't matter how perfectly you executed the twist. It would seem really pointless and stupid, and it would invalidate the entire movie.

[movieboy]

Sixth Sense, Prestige, Unbreakable.

The kind of twist I don't like is where it doesn't seem plausible - I can't think of examples now, but it's where someone who is a main character and is shown to be a very good guy - all of a sudden at the end, he turns out to be a bad guy who was incognito all the time. Or the other way around.

Also, it's not really a twist ending, but I didn't like the endings of Departed and Million Dollar Baby.

Spoiler: show

I would have preferred that Leonardo not die in Departed. And the girl either recover in Million Dollar Baby or there is some sort of payback for the Russian girl who did it to her. The whole movie these characters are built up & you end up liking them - and then they die - it leaves you with a feeling of no closure.

That said, both these movies are in my Tier 10.

[ShogunRua]

Sixth Sense, Prestige, Unbreakable.

The kind of twist I don't like is where it doesn't seem plausible - I can't think of examples now,

Funny, since all three films you mention above have highly implausible twists that contradict the stated rules of the movie's universe. And for the record, I loved "The Prestige" and its ending, but there was nothing logical about it.

Anyways, Oldboy is terrific.

[movieboy]

Sixth Sense, Prestige, Unbreakable.

The kind of twist I don't like is where it doesn't seem plausible - I can't think of examples now,

Funny, since all three films you mention above have highly implausible twists that contradict the stated rules of the movie's universe.

What stated rules do these endings break? May be there were some minor stuff I missed. But my point is about something which goes against everything in the movie till the twist happens - not something subtle.

As far as Nolan goes, I found more inconsistencies(or at least stuff which I didn't understand) in Inception than in Prestige (though I love both the movies).

[3dRevelation]

In addition to the films mentioned, I would add Atonement, Fight Club, Donnie Darko, Mystic River, Vertigo, The Game, The Others, Primal Fear, and I'll take some shit for this but I actually liked The Village. I guess for a few of these the strength of the twist is debatable.

[ShogunRua]

Sixth Sense, Prestige, Unbreakable.

The kind of twist I don't like is where it doesn't seem plausible - I can't think of examples now,

Funny, since all three films you mention above have highly implausible twists that contradict the stated rules of the movie's universe.

What stated rules do these endings break? May be there were some minor stuff I missed. But my point is about something which goes against everything in the movie till the twist happens - not something subtle.

Well, now you're just arguing degrees. The Sixth Sense was ridiculous because we're to assume Willis never noticed his death for years despite his (non)-interactions with his wife?

The Prestige introduced some bizarre supernatural/sci-fi elements into what was before then a very realistic movie, like the electricity cloning objects and human beings. Also, the twin aspect made zero sense when you consider how the relationships with the wife and assistant went. There was a very easy to make everyone happy there, but of course, that would be too easy...

Again, I loved The Prestige, but pretending that it was internally consistent and that the ending (the electricity plus the twist) didn't create a number of contradictions is silly.

As far as Nolan goes, I found more inconsistencies(or at least stuff which I didn't understand) in Inception than in Prestige (though I love both the movies).

Maybe; there are a lot of logical flaws in all of his work. But that wasn't the topic of discussion.

[Stewball]

I'm making a minute long animation for my course, and I want to have some kind of twist at the end or something that plays with your emotions etc. I'm doing some film research for inspiration, sooo I was wondering what your favorite movie twist is? What makes a psychological film good? Is the shock value something worth thinking about, or is it just plain annoying? Best endings ever? etc.
-,- Also, I take back any bad thing I've ever said about terrible movie endings, that shit is hard to get right!

My best endings ever (none are there for their shock value, although Devil's Advocate was shocking):

(500) Days of Summer
2001: A Space Odyssey
Detachment (a recent movie and my current favorite best ending)
Devil's Advocate
Dr. Strangelove
Fight Club
Master & Commander
Stranger Than Fiction
Sucker Punch

[Baby Fish]

(500) Days of Summer
2001: A Space Odyssey
Detachment[/i] (a recent movie and my current favorite best ending)
[i]Devil's Advocate
Dr. Strangelove
Fight Club
Master & Commander
Stranger Than Fiction
Sucker Punch

Detachment?? Ok, I am in love with the movie, but the ending is probably the weakest point in the film for me, it's so predictable (and a little over the top).
Haha! I completely forgot that Stranger Than Fiction had such a good ending!

Sixth Sense, Prestige, Unbreakable.

The Sixth sense was ruined for me *mutters*fuckingunmarkedspoilers*endmutter*

The kind of twist I don't like is where it doesn't seem plausible - I can't think of examples now, but it's where someone who is a main character and is shown to be a very good guy - all of a sudden at the end, he turns out to be a bad guy who was incognito all the time. Or the other way around.

True dat. Films that have a 360 instead of just a twist are annoying, damn those troll writers.

The Prestige introduced some bizarre supernatural/sci-fi elements into what was before then a very realistic movie, like the electricity cloning objects and human beings. Also, the twin aspect made zero sense when you consider how the relationships with the wife and assistant went. There was a very easy to make everyone happy there, but of course, that would be too easy...

I literally just finished watching The Prestige again, and I can't help but think that if they took away the difficulty in

Spoiler: show

the two

Borden's relationships it would have detracted from the story. "The twin aspect" was a great twist,

Spoiler: show

Angier had gone to such extreme lengths to achieve a great trick that he missed the simplicity of Borden's. And even though the second Borden was practically responsible for Sarah's (Borden's wife) death and they pretty much ruined their own lives, they never had to stoop as low as Angier.

Also, if every story went down the "easy" route, films and books would be incredibly boring.

[movieboy]

Well, now you're just arguing degrees.

Not arguing, man Just asking. I didn't find any inconsistencies in the movies - at least nothing that left a bad taste at the end of the movie. That's why I asked you to find out what you thought.

I really didn't find the 2 movies to be 360 turns - of course, everyone's perspective is different.
When I was talking about the kind of twist endings I didn't like - as I said, I couldn't remember any English movies of the top of my head. But there are 2 Hindi movies which fit to a T what I wanted to describe.
One in which the female romantic lead character helping the male lead(who I think was a police/Antiterrorist guy) fight terrorists through the movie turned out to be a terrorist herself.
Second again was a terrorist movie where the female lead is kidnapped by terrorists and the hero spends half the movie rescuing her and finally she is a terrorist.
Both the movies became meaningless because of the twists.

The Sixth Sense was ridiculous because we're to assume Willis never noticed his death for years despite his (non)-interactions with his wife?

Till the end, I assumed that his wife was put off by the fact that his work endangered their family and lives. Plus the mental trauma caused by the (till then assumed non-fatal) shooting may have caused her to react badly. Hence she wasn't talking to him. I enjoyed the movie even before the twist happened - it wouldn't have been a T10 without the twist but I still would have found it good enough for it to be a T7-T8 movie. Again, not arguing - I am just explaining how I felt while watching the movie - everybody reacts differently to the same thing.

The Prestige introduced some bizarre supernatural/sci-fi elements into what was before then a very realistic movie, like the electricity cloning objects and human beings.

The fact that it was Nikola Tesla, one of the greatest engineers of his time, made it realistic enough for me.
I am ready for forgive it as artistic license.

Also, the twin aspect made zero sense when you consider how the relationships with the wife and assistant went. There was a very easy to make everyone happy there, but of course, that would be too easy...

Sorry, I don't get what you are saying here.

As far as Nolan goes, I found more inconsistencies(or at least stuff which I didn't understand) in Inception than in Prestige (though I love both the movies).

Maybe; there are a lot of logical flaws in all of his work. But that wasn't the topic of discussion.

No, it wasn't - we move off topic in a lot of discussions. I was just comparing 2 of his works. I loved both the movies - at the end of Prestige, I didn't find anything unexplained. But I didn't have that feeling at the end of Inception - I think I even posted about it at Criticker - but I still haven't found any explanations for it.

Again, just talking about my reactions to all these movies. Not trying to pass it off as the final word on these movies - coz everyone has different tastes and reactions.

Criticker is one forum where I don't really argue (unlike other forums I am active in). Mainly because
- most things here are subjective.
- I don't think I know enough about movies and movie making to get into arguments. Especially when compared to most other people here - who seem to be far more dedicated about movies than me and who seem to know enough to write a thesis on movies (or even 1 movie).
So don't take any thing I ask to be arguing - mostly I am asking because I want you (or anyone else) to elaborate or explain what they wrote. I may argue in political subthreads Stewball regularly introduces in the movie discussions here but not in the main thread itself.