BRIEF THOUGHTS: Existenz

Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe
Plot: It's about this futuristic society where people plug these weird slimy things into their nervous systems as a means of playing video games that take place in your mind. Or something. This game designer almost gets assassinated so this dude has to protect her, and somehow or another they end up playing said video games. Wait, what?
Thoughts: The first half of this film is completely retarded. It's an interesting idea that's poorly implemented through vague implications about what's happening, poor acting, and some really bad props (the game machine things - see picture below). Granted, a lot of this might be intentional due to reasons that are explained later in the film, but still, it's dumb. Once they start playing the game, though, things start to get interesting. There are plenty of twists and turns to make for a fun ride, and as a whole, the game seems really cool. Plus, the ending is really superb and probably makes up for the poor beginning.