'Vanilla Sky' Named Most Confusing Movie

If you think a list of the best or worst movies is hard to back up with anything substantive, here's one that could be a little easier: The Top Ten Most Confusing Films of All Time. The lst comes from UK DVD outlet LoveFilm (via Worst Previews), which asked its customers what flick left them most in the dark. Maybe my memory of Vanilla Sky is drenched in apathy, but I don't exactly recall it being confusing. I mean, I know it wasn't very good and I sure didn't recommend it at the time, but I don't know if it belongs at the top of a list like this. What was confusing was how Paul McCartney got an Oscar nomination for that wretched song he contributed to the film's soundtrack. I would put their number two selection, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive atop my personal list of movies that were a bit perplexing, if only because the narrative doesn't even seem finished. Anyway, here's the list. It's British, which explains Guy Ritchie's Revolver. It is confusing, but you really had to search that one out in the US. 1 - Vanilla Sky
2 - Mulholland Drive
3 - Donnie Darko
4 - The Matrix Revolutions
5 - Memento
6 - 12 Monkeys
7 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
8 - 2001: A Space Odyssey
9 - Revolver
10 - A Clockwork Orange Yeah, one Tom Cruise movie, two Stanley Kubrick flicks, and the UK completely overlooked the combo meal; Eyes Wide Shut definitely belongs here over 2001.

Comments

[Joel Burman]

A similar poll with an american/international audience would be interesting!

[Jay]

I think I'd replace Mulholland Drive with Lost Highway, and as for Vanilla Sky, it tries to be clever and enigmatic but fails on both counts, although it does have that classic Cameron Diaz line ;-)

As for what should be number one, I remember completely losing the thread (and never regaining it) whilst watching Primer. My head still hurts! Brick and The Prestige also kept me on my toes, but weren't *too* mind-melting.

[dan]

ohhh now i feel like either a genious or a crazy person cause 3 through 10 are some of my favorite movies.

[Sensaes]

That's depressing. I can only assume that L'Année dernière à Marienbad must've lost its enigmatic charm over the years, and that no one writes threatening letters to Peter Greenaway any more.

[Nelson]

Eternal Sunshine is not a confusing movie if you watch it all the way through.

The rest are all valid. 2001 should be much higher, and I think Mulholland should be #1

[Jason]

-12 Monkeys is confusing for quite awhile, but then it all comes together. (But hey, I am a time travel nut)
-Once one gets used to some of the vocabulary, A Clockwork Orange isn't that confusing. (Don't really know why this is on this list at all.)
-Matrix Revolutions definitely a good call. Perfect example of a great start, but the creators are either too lazy or too "sophisticated" (note the sarcastic quotes!!) to really develop the conclusion.
-Vanilla Sky doesn't deserve to be on this list, simply because it wasn't a good enough movie! I mean I could string together 120 minutes of film that wouldn't make a lick of sense. Should that be on this list?

[Severian]

Methinks the Fountain should be on that list

[orinn]

I forgot about the fountain, I second that.

Also there was some military movie with Samuel Jackson and John Travolta, that movie made no sense.