Part One: ThePerpetual October....

One....

It’s only been ten days, but when I sit here with yourpicture in my hand, I can’t imagine it being any less than ten millennia.

.. ..

Ten days. I sit, staring at your picture, wishing, hoping.The only telephone calls I’ve gotten lately are the ones where my mother callscrying.

.. ..

“Is there any news?” I can’t bear to hear her, to see herlike this. She’s taking it harder than I, but she’s doing a much better job ofmasking her anguish than I. I want to tell her that there’s good news, that allis good in the world, that Frank is on his way home.

.. ..

But I can’t lie to her.

.. ..

It’s only noon, but I can’t make it through the day. Now, Ilay me down to rest.

.. ..

I can only hope another day, a better day comes soon.

.. ..

Two....

Day number twenty. I’ve finally come to grips with the factthat Frank may be dead.

.. ..

Around one in the afternoon, I got a phone call.

-“You’re Roger Fitzgerald, right?”

-“Yeah.”

-“Frank’s brother?”

-“Yeah.”

-“I don’t mean to, well, y’know, but I think I may have seenhim. Frank, that is.” There’s an invisible mass crushing my entire body, and itfelt as though the string had been snapped when he said that. Somehow, I defyall physics and spring off of the chair I’m sitting in.

-“Who is this?”

-“My name’s Smith. I own the bakery down on 22^nd.I saw all the stuff in the news and got your phone number from the paper.”

-“Well, Smith, where did you see him? Can you describe him?What does he look like? Is he all, yknow, injured and stuff?”

-“Well, strangest thing. He doesn’t look anything like youdescribed him. You said he was a big fella, robust and stuff. This guy’s allthin and mousy-looking. But the face…that’s one you don’t forget. He’s got ahuge scar across his face, but other than that, to a T.”

-“Smith, where’d you see him?”

-“Outside my bakery. Walking into the old warehouse on 22^nd,that really creepy one. You know what I’m talking about right?” Of course Idid. Everyone in town knows the Warehouse. It was the old Cyprus Technologiesstorehouse, until the head of the company, Mr. Morrissey, went missing. Heturned up five months later, electrocuted and horribly mangled, caught in thegears of one of the bigger machines. His mistress, the Duchess, as she’s knownthroughout the world, is serving a life term for murder.

-“Thank you so much.”

-“But, Roger, I wouldn’t suggest you go looking around downthere…the CyTech Warehouse has a history…”

-“Smith, I appreciate the concern, but this is my brother. Ihave to find him. I am indebted to you for your help. Thank you so much.”

I hung up the receiver, threw on my coat, and headed out. I’msurprised that I’m able to recognize through my delusions that this is alongshot, that Frank is probably dead somewhere. But there’s that small inklingof hope that I feel deep in myself that I have to follow to the end. Be italive in the CyTech Warehouse or be it dead on the side of a curb with asteering wheel through his chest, I have to find Frank. For me, for my mother.

.. ..

These past twenty days, these short autumn days, have beenthe worst I’ve ever endured, each second clinging for dear life, as I try tospeed the passage of time. October has been stuck on pause for me, and thismisery of mine that October has brought, refuses to subside. If I am to findFrank, I’ll be able to breathe again. I’ll be able to see clearly, to feel.  When I was younger, October always meant thingswere going to be okay. It brought Halloween, leaves, the crisp air, and it neverseemed to last long enough. Now, I would give up every inch of me for Octoberto end, for the leaves to fall, for the earth to decay, for everything to takeits place, but I can’t make it so. If I find Frank, the perpetual October willend.

.. ..

....................

Part Two: “ChasingSheep Is Best Left To the Shepherds”....

One....

It’s been a few days since my phone call with Smith. Inhindsight, I probably shouldn’t have waited so long to act. Frank could beanywhere by now.

.. ..

But something Smith said really stuck with me, and I had tomuster up the courage to face the warehouse. Mr. Morrissey’s murder in the warehousereally has me worried; I’m a supernaturalist of sorts. If ever there were such athing as ghosts, his would haunt that building with more fury and rage than onecould possibly fathom.

.. ..

But I guess that could just be ridiculous amounts of fearand anxiety building up in me. Frank should still be there. I can’t imaginewhere else he could have gone.

.. ..

It’s a biting, frosty day at the end of October when Ifinally bring myself to check out the warehouse. The air is so cold that onecould almost feel ice crystals beating their face as the wind froze. Everythingaround me was dying, and the season’s first snow had not yet even fallen.

.. ..

The front door of the warehouse is immense, solid steel,bearing the inscription,” Cypress Technologies Corporation: Working to a BetterTomorrow.” Ice is forming all over the door, and it appears to be frosted shut.

.. ..

That won’t stop me.

.. ..

I finally manage to push the door open after several tries andwalk in slowly, eyes clenched tight, hand clenching my shoulders (I bet Ireally banged one of them up busting through the door…).  I open them halfway, afraid of what I’m goingto see when I open them. Much to my surprise, I’m looking at beautiful redcurtains, men in tuxedos, and a stylish scene. It’s definitely not what I hadexpected to see.

.. ..

One’s things for certain: I already feel a little betterabout everything.

.. ..

I start to walk around and blend in. But that’s hard to dowhen you’re the only one not in a tuxedo…

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone wearing whatlooks like a white jumpsuit. They turn slightly and start heading in my direction.  I can tell that their face is sunken andsickly but not much else…until he turns his head and stares at me as he walks…

.. ..

He walks quickly still, but his head is turned straight atme as he walks. He swings his arms in a semi-robotic fashion, almost like hehas no control over his limbs. It’s somewhat comical but still quite eerie. Hisface is pale, caked in grime, covered in cuts and bruises. His eyes are fierce,but devoid of life. His lips are thin and dark. I see a thick triangle carveddeep in his right cheek.

.. ..

I’ll be seeing that face again tonight in dreams…I canalready feel it.

.. ..

I’ve only been here a few moments, and I’ve already hadenough. If Frank were here, he’d either have escaped or died by now…there’s noway they’ve been here more than a week and survived.

.. ..

There’s a man at a desk, sitting anxiously and staringstraight forward. I could use a place to stay, but for one night only, justwhile I look for Frank.

.. ..

-“Yes, hello, sir. I’d like to get a room, please.”

-“Certainly.” His voice sounded robotic, but chipper. “May Isee some identification, please?” I take out my driver’s license, and he slidesit through an odd contraption near his computer. “Okay, you’re all set, Mr.Fitzgerald. Your room is in Quadrant C, it’s Number 8 on your left. The liftwill escort you.” He hands me a key card and looks straight ahead.

.. ..

I walk away a little uneasy. I have no idea what he’s donewith my identification, but I’m sure it will come back to haunt me eventually.I get the funny feeling that I’ll be here a while. The place is labyrinthine,and there’s a lot of ground to cover. I’ll get lost once or twice, spend a fewmore days than anticipated, but in the end, when I find Frank, it’ll all beworth it…

.. ..

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

.. ..

Two....

The receptionist’s idea of a lift was very different thanmine. It was a large golden arrow, raised above the floor and rested on tracksthat ran the length of the hallway. I hop on, and instantly, the arrow shootsoff. There’s a great dip in the middle of the hallway that leads to the undergroundsection of the complex. I guess that’s where my room’s at…

.. ..

Scratch that, that’s where everything is at… The underground section of the maze makes theground level appear as though I’m walking through my own home…

.. ..

I’d might as well make myself at home…

.. ..

My new home is colossal…solid steel and cold, sterile. Everywhere.There’s no feeling of life anywhere, even from the people who are out andabout. Everything feels dead, not much different than outside.

.. ..

My room has a massive red “8” on the door, and a single slotof the key. No knob. I insert the key, and the door lifts upward. Not the leastbit surprised: the room looks exactly like everything else.  The walls are lined panels of steel. Nocurtains, no table. Just a single bed (even that’s being generous…it’s just an unpleasantcot). On that bed is a white jumpsuit. A television hangs from the ceilingabove the cot. As soon as I turn on the light, the TV flips itself on. My headis filled with racing thoughts as the television gives off an obnoxiouslyhigh-pitched tone. There’s a flowing blue velvet curtain, sheer beauty. A manwalks in front of it and turns to the camera. He's wearing a really nice black tuxedoand sipping a martini. A low, gravely-voiced announcer says, 'See him now,Steven Russell singing Frank Sinatra, one night only in the Quadrant A Lounge.The show starts promptly at 7:00.' The chiming stops and the televisionturns itself off.

.. ..

How odd…

.. ..

I guess I’ll check it out. Maybe I’ll run into someone inthere.

.. ..

After a few moments of deliberation, I change into thejumpsuit. It fits very strangely, but I guess I can’t complain.

.. ..

I head out of the room and the doors drops itself down andlocks. A man is only a few feet from me. I’d might as well. I pull out mywallet and a picture of Frank.

.. ..

-“Hey, sir—“ He stops moving and turns slowly in mydirection. “I was wondering if you’ve seen this guy. He’s my brother, and he’sbeen missing for quite some time.” He takes a really quick glance at thepicture.

-“Ahh…chasing sheep are we? You’d be wise to remove yourselffrom situations of this nature. You’re only going to end up finding yourself inquite a bind. She doesn’t like people involving themselves in the matters ofothers. And as for your brother, in due time, all will be revealed to everyonehere. But, please sir, don’t ask me to chase these sheep with you. That’s bestleft to the shepherds. And shepherds we are not.” He walks away.

.. ..

His cryptic scolding really made no sense to me…Who is She?What is there to be revealed?

He really didn’t help to quietany of my real problems. On the contrary, he just caused more. I’m feeling nobetter about anything now. I feel like I’ve gotten myself lost and trapped…Iwant more than anything to see the light of day, to see my mother. For somereason I can’t seem to figure out yet, I feel like I’m at home.

.. ..

It’s odd.

.. ..

It’s 6:00. If I want to make it to the show, I’d best leavenow…this maze could take months to master.

Part Three: “Strangers In The Night”....

One
Sometime later, around 7:00, I finally find my way to Quadrant A Lounge.  It’s so much different than I could havepossibly imagined. The room itself is titanic, and there are no fewer than twohundred circle tables, draped in no fewer than two hundred gold velvetcloths.  The lights overhead hungdelicately, and each facet of each crystal glistened on the tables.  For all of the scene’s aesthetic beauty,there was a sickly red glow emanating from the stage, only a slightly raised,unsightly concrete slab. For all of the hype, there’s not a single soul in theroom, at any of the tables or at the bar. The room is completely devoid of lifeuntil Steven Russell, the main attraction, sits on a wooden bar stool centerstage. A single light shines down on him and basks him in the fakeiridescence.  He holds in his hand asingle vodka martini, but his glazed eyes and lethargic motions suggest thatthere were plenty before and plenty more to come.  The lights go out in unison, and thespotlight brightens slightly. I’d already seen and witnessed plenty of bizarrehappenings, but this was perhaps the most intriguing thing I’d seen up to thispoint.  First, in a perfect a cappella Spanish, he croons Sinatra’sclassic, “My Way.” The song comes to a stop, he takes a few drinks of hismartini, and he begins to start singing (or at least I think that’s what he’strying to do) a badly slurred, painful version of “Strangers in the Night.”  I’ve always been a fan of Sinatra, but Icouldn’t appreciate this rendition.  Thesong is supposed to have some soul and some love in its inflection, but I onlycaught a glimpse of total delirium. I may be acting a bit extreme, but I’malready thoroughly disturbed by Russell. The man’s appearance speaks more than a thousand words, and his auragives off a dark foreboding and an indispensible sense of loathing. I approachhim slowly. He sits cross-legged in front of me on his stool, his head boweddown as if in shame.

-“I’m looking for Frank Fitzgerald, sir. He’s my brother andhe’s been missing—“ He places his hand up to stop my speaking.

-“I’m a busy man, sir. I have neither time nor concern forsuch things. Perhaps you should cease from involving yourself in such gravematters. Chasing sheep is best left to shepherds, don't you know that?”

I begin to walk away. The people who stay here have such a hostility towards helping me that I find it disturbing.

He’s obviously too inebriated to helpme, and I don’t want to stick around to see what he may do. My curiosity, ofcourse, gets the best of me, and I have to turn around and ask.

-'Sir, why are you singing to an empty room?' Atthe sound of my voice, he merely cocks his head to one side and replies withoutlooking at me

-'Why, you can't see them?'

I’m not sure what he meant by this, but I’m certain that I’mgoing to shortly, and I’ll regret ever having asked.

.. ..

He looks up slowly at the spotlight. His arms come out tohis side, raising themselves to the light. His eyes have rolled back into hisskull. When he comes back down, he motions to an entire crowd – more than sixhundred guests, all dressed in the exact same white jumpsuit, all with theexact same sunken facial features and emaciated physique.

As I look behind me while I’m running away, I can justbarely make out Steven Russell’s piercing eyes, and I would bet my life thathis eyes glowed bright, mechanical blue in that instant.

I try to catch my breath, but I’ve never been more confused,scared, hopelessly lost in all of my life. 

I’m no closer to finding my brother now than I was a weekago, and I can’t help but notice that I’m getting myself deeper and deeper intothe rabbit hole.  I can’t shake thefeeling that I can’t stop what’s coming…something is here at CyTech, andwhether or not it’s my brother, it will change everything. For the worst.

.. ..

Two
My panicked flight of the Lounge takes me to the adjacent hallway, identical to all the others in structure and sterility. The steel floor stings my feet as they leave the carpet and hits the icy bite of the metal.  Giant red arrows point down the hall and lead to who knows where. My curiosity tries to take over, to lead me down the hall,but I know I won’t be happy with what I find there, and I know it will plague my dreams.  But every step that gets me closer to Frank is worth the trouble.

The sign in front of my eyes says, 'Relaxation Room A' with an arrow pointing in the same direction. I follow it down for awhile until I encounter the room.  There’s not a single change in the hallway scenery.  A large wooden door bears the inscription, “RRA,” and the arrows on the floor stop.  This must be the place. The inside appears to be the same as a jail cell. Cold, barren, desolate. Three straw mats on the floor and a bright red light panel on the ceiling save the room from a completely vacuous aura. I lie down. The door slams shut automatically, and before I can jump up to object, the red light turns instantly black, and a series of buzzes and frequencies that I could not hear (but could sense) fill the room. I want to move, but my muscles refuse the motion. I can feel a sharp sting in my teeth and a painful sensation in my inner ears.  I want to scream, but I’m not in control of any muscle in my body at this point.  The screeching will not yield, and just when I feel like my entire skull might burst, the light turns white, and the frequencies become more audible. The frequency eventually halts, and I can feel an instant feeling of euphoriacaptures me as I let the binaural brainwaves take over my mind. Hypnosis. Thesewaves and frequencies have aligned themselves with my natural brain waves, andthe two are working in conjunction to provide unnatural happiness. I try to resist…but I’m not in control of the brain waves.  After a shrill ding, the light turns back to white, the door swings open, and I can move again. I’m not happy, but I’m not distressed. I’m…at peace? Whatever the feeling, it doesn’t suit me. I start to run.
The hallway seems to last forever and ever…In the distance, I hear what might be people talking. At last…someone to talk to…someone to see…I hadn't seen areal person here since I'd arrived (unless you count Steven Russell)

.. ..

But I couldn't find these people. I tracked their sounds for yards and yards, and they brought me to a wall. I could hear the talking and the sounds from inside the wall, but the map overhead on the ceiling showed no indication of a room on the other side…

I place my ear to the wall.

The wall turns into a translucent, pale grey divider…like a bubble?

This whole trip has been leading me to harsher and harsher realizations of what I am capable of withstanding, but when I gazed through the divider for the first time, I almost felt my soul shatter.

.. ..

I can feel my heart beating still (barely)…I know I’m not in Heaven…but I can’t be on Earth, this can’t be on Earth…no, not this…so where amI?

Part Four: 'When I Call a Name...' Will Be Posted Friday.

After some careful deliberation, I've come up with a list of my all-time favorite movies, arranged in order.  Each movie is judged based on style, technical prowess, and how many times I could watch it in one month without wanting to die.

20) Punch-Drunk Love

An accidental find of a harmonium convinces a small business man to chase a woman who walks into his life by chance.  It's a very strange and stylish movie that makes you respect Adam Sandler as an actor.  Told mostly through color, Sandler and his love interest fall in and out of love over a short period of time.  It is a very unique romantic comedy with some genuinely funny moments.

19) Metropolis

The son of a city leader falls in love with a working class woman who urges an uprising from the social class and faces some stern opposition in the wonderful gem from the silent movie era.  The music is utterly sublime, telling the story of a futuristic society bent on division.  The film spends two enthralling hours telling its very powerful moral: "There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator." I know, it takes a lot of convincing to get most to watch a silent film, but it's an absolutely miracle of cinema.

18) Network

A failing television network enlists the help of a ruthless woman, some foreign communists, and a mad anchorman to boost its ratings.  The crazy anchorman acts as a prophet of the small screen, and people really buy  into his teachings and warnings.  It's a very unique commentary and prophesy of the future of the television industry.  Boasting some extremely well-done lead performances, a very unique visual style, and an ending that will leave you stunned, NETWORK still remains unbeaten by its many imitators.

17) 2001: A Space Odyssey

An astronaut makes an epic journey through space.  Dazzling special effects are the landmark of 2001, a sprawling film that makes almost no sense until an hour in.  Once the plot takes over, the movie is an exhilirating warning to humanity on the unpredictability of robots.  It takes a lot for some to get into, but there's enough color and flashing lights and shiny things to keep even the most distractable viewers watching and waiting.  Nearly forty years later, people are still trying to figure out the ending. Quite the awesome experience of a film.

16) The Shining

"Wendy, I'm home." A chilling performance from Jack Nicholson makes this bizarre and haunting horror masterpiece a must-see.  As a restless hotel caretaker, Jack Nicholson sinks further and further into rage and madness while his psychic son finds mysteries and horrors among the hotel's former inhabitants.  To this day, it is the only movie that has ever really scared me. I hope it stays that way.

15) Pulp Fiction

This movie is more of an experience. It's a twisted and demented little film about life in California. Two hitmen, a boxer, a mob boss, his wife, and a few others meet their fates over a weekend in Tarantino's bravura film. The dialogue really helps you meet these characters, get to know them on a deep personal level, and even come to love  them in some cases. Some really weird stuff happens in this movie that make you think, "well that could never happen." But Tarantino does what he does best and convinces you that it could happen by making his characters so real. It's a violent joy ride that has earned much recognition and glory for its awesomeness. And rightly so.

14) Raging Bull

"Give me a stage, where this bull can rage." Without a doubt, the best sports movie ever made, if you can even call a movie this grandioso a sports movie. Jake LaMotta struggles with his own demons in and out of the ring. Dealing with his estranged wife who feels trapped by his obsessiveness, his manager and his brother who worries constantly about how he can win his next match, and himself who feels inadequate and egotistical at the same time. It's another "descent into madness" kind of movie, where most of the last act follows his downfall, but it's a wonderfully made and beautiful movie with the coolest opening credits sequence ever filmed.
 
13) Taxi Driver

Martin Scorsese's masterpiece is a dark and twisted commentary on society through the eyes of a demented cab driver. Travis Bickle goes through life on autopilot, numb to his surroundings and numb to life until he meets a woman that he gets deeply attracted to and a young prostitute who wants to escape from her pimp. A lot of the story focuses on his descent into madness, while the last act follows his sociopathic actions against people. It's a very gripping movie, using imagery and music to an extreme prowess. Anyone who loves movies should have to watch this movie by law.

12) Mulholland Dr.

Naomi Watts stars as a young naive woman from Ontario who moves to Los Angeles to jumpstart her acting career.  Upon the request of her aunt, she stays in a beautiful apartment.  Her first moment in this apartment ends with her meeting a random woman with amnesia.  She's been in a crash and has no recollection of where she's been or who she is.  The rest of the movie is the quest of the two women, travelling all around to put pieces of the puzzle together.  But the real puzzle is the film itself.  There's a moment in the film where you start to realize that nothing is as it seems, and your task is to decide what is happening and when . It's an expertly-crafted echo from the film noir era played out through dreams and happenings and the blurs between the two.  In all its surrel exhiliration, Mulholland Dr. is a twisted journey through the labryinth of subconscious thought that grabs your brain from the first frame to the last.

11. Pan's Labyrinth

A little girl has to complete three tasks to acheive immortality in a twisted fairy tale world which she created. She escapes from the harsh reality of her own life- the Spanish Civil War and a very abusive stepfather. It's a fairy tale of adults really, as it is very emotionally impacting and quite graphic. It's a bittersweet tale of the youthful innocence that so many people try to keep and hold onto in the midst of torture and corruption and desparity. Everyone can learn something from this foreign masterpiece.

10. Kill Bill

It's a gloriously twisted tale of revenge and one woman's quest for the truth that leads to Tarantino's double feature gorefest.  Two films tell the story of The Bride, a woman who is betrayed by her co-workers on her wedding night. She wakes up from a coma with one goal - you guessed it, to kill Bill. But along the way, she meets some other characters, who she subsequently kills. It's a nice homage and smorgasborde of all of his favorites - Japanese samurai, horror, western, you name it. It's highly entertaining, highly recommended, and highly fascinating.

9. Ed Wood

Ed Wood is a bizarre man in that he has become so famous and notorious for being such a bad filmmaker. His story is quite laughable: a no-talent dreamer who crossdresses and hires his friends as cast and crew. Watching him struggle and triumph and fail becomes a sort of game for his companions and for the audience, who get to experience two hours of watching this man work. It's a wickedly funny picture. Probably Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's best work.

8. The Lives of Others

This is a really hard to explain German film about a man who struggles with values: job over morals. An officer for the East German secret police spies on a man who he believes to be a Communist. Throughout this time, he becomes attached the the characters, and he overhears little snippets of conversations that make him feel better about himself. He always deals with this turmoil: do I remain loyal to my job, or do I help my fellow humans out. Can someone be a good person, even if it's a bad thing they're being forced to do, and how can you tell the difference, and how can you escape? It's an emotional thrillride, and the impact of the film's final scene really gets to me even as I think of it now.

7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

What a truly inspring film. After a medical emergency, a French socialite is confined to his own body when he loses the control of everything but his left eye.  Through a series of exercises, extreme patience, and people who love him and care for him, he learns to communicate the contents of his beautiful mind to those on the outseide.  The film's main character is one of the most likable characters in cinema, and his story is even more powerful because it is a true one.  Told mostly through his only eye and his active brain, the film explores how the mind can break out of the confines of a useless body. It'll make you regret ever wanting to die, ever laughing at a cripple, or ever taking anything in your life for granted. It's one of the most amazing and beautiful films I've seen in a very long time, and anyone willing to let their heart feel this film will not be disappointed.

6. Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amelie Poulain

This is another of those films that just amazes me. The color/photo scheme is unreal, and the main character is just the sweetest lady that you'd love to meet. By doing little favors for people, Amelie gets her kicks in life, but one day she realizes that she's somewhat empty inside. With the help of a shutin painter and some work acquaintances, she leaves little clues around the town for a man that she's in love with. It's a very cute and sweet movie. It's like a piece of chocolate- you love it while it's there, you can still taste it afterwards, and you'll always want it again.

5. A Clockwork Orange

This is a hard one to sell to others, but at the same time, not really. It's a movie that is primarily about juvenile delinquency- on the outside. At its core, its a film about the need for free will, a prophecy about the dangers of removing free will, and what lengths society will go to when conformity is needed. Alex and his friends go and cause some problems with some people (including a very disturbing scene in which he rapes a man's wife in front of him), but things go wrong when he gets convicted for murder. While in prison, he is subjected to a bizarre experiment, designed to make him an ideal citizen. The music is unreal and unsettling, the direction is perfect, and this may be Kubrick's masterpiece.

4. There Will Be Blood

This has to be one of the best American films ever made, and forty years from now, it'll gain that masterpiece stature that it deserves. It's a monstrous, sprawling movie that tells the tale of the complex conflict between religion, ambition, faith, greed, corruption, and insanity. A wealthy oil man moves into a California town to take advantage of an oil supply, but the town preacher Eli Sunday knows better. The two get in some scuffles, but nothing will prepare you for the ending. It gives a new definition to the Western genre.

3. The Royal Tenenbaums

This is a quirky little picture that I could watch over and over and over again. It's so brilliant and funny. The head of a crumbling family finds himself once again at odds with his children when he announces that he has a terminal illness. The whole film centers around a lonely old man trying to win back the company and love of his estranged children. But at the same time, it's so much more. It's struggling to find the place in your family, it's struggling with disappointment and expectation and acceptance. It's learning to let go, it's learning to hold on, it's learning to reach out. It covers so many themes that so many people need to learn, but in a darkly comic way. Wes Anderson has a real knack for unique film style, colors, and music choice. It's a truly great picture, and I think it was robbed of some awards when it came out.

2. American Beauty

Most films dealing with suburbian distress are all alike in that they all end about the same way and tell the same story. Here is where AMERICAN BEAUTY stands out. The film centers around distressed Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), whose life is getting increasingly worse. He hates his wife, he hates his job, but he loves his daughter's best friend. He begins to work out to try and impress her. The film features some very unique characters, like the gay neighbors and the military family with the creepy boy who likes Lester's daughter. It exposes the problems that every family has, that no family in perfect little suburbia is perfect. Its a very haunting and beautiful picture.

1. Magnolia

I don't think I could say enough words to describe how much I love this movie. It's a brilliant work of art.  This film, in it's sprawling three hours, tells the tale of many people whose lives intertwine and come together.  Some people seek forgiveness, others just try to escape their pitiful lives. It's a truly heartbreaking and heartwarming story all at the same time. The visual style and music are just amazing to behold, and the end will leave you surprised and awestricken.

11 Honorable Mentions:
American History X
Beetlejuice
Deep Red
Dr. Strangelove
Edward Scissorhands
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fargo
The Grapes of Wrath
No Country For Old Men
Requiem For a Dream
The Silence of the Lambs