3. Donnie Darko (2001)

Now this is one entry amongst my top ten that truly deserves cult film status. During the film's theatrical release it was barely noticed. Being an avid reader of the film geek magazine Empire, the five star review of Donnie Darko made me stand up and take notice. Unfortuntely living in a country town has many disadvantages, one of which being the inability to see any independent cinema and seeing as Donnie was on limited release for a very limited time I missed my opportunity to see it on the big screen. I was quite distraught. Satisfaction wouln't come until a couple of months down the track when to my great surprise I discovered the DVD on the shelves at the local Video Ezy.

Adjectives just don't cover how I felt after watching the film for the first time. I was frightened, bewildered, exhilerated....and very confused. So I did the only logical thing: I made a VHS dub before it had to be taken back to the video store. Over the next few weeks I would watch the film again and again, studying every scene to pieces and my appreciation for director Richard Kelly's sci-fi masterpiece only grew with time. As word spread, Donnie Darko, like the Shawshank Redemption before it, became a true cult classic thanks to home video and DVD.

There are many reasons why I love this film. When it first came along it was fresh and exciting, it felt like a throwback to the teen angst films of the 80s, the film is actually set during the 80s and Kelly portrays this beautiful, transporting us back to the era through way of music, costume and key political events of the time. As Donnie Darko, Jake Gyllenhaal gives us an angsty teen we can root for, he was such a great choice for the film which ended up catapulting him into the A-list, likewise for his talented sibling Maggie whom also plays his sister in the film.

The best thing about Donnie Darko is that it's so refreshingly weird. This, and the effortless combination of so many different film elements and you've got yourself one big, enthralling mind trip. It's equal parts funny, scary and sad and by the end you really feel like you've been a part of a compelety different kind of journey.

It is true that I may never be able to fully understand the film, however, the fact that the first time I saw it I had absoloutely no idea what was happening and yet was still taken in by it speaks volumes about the kind of unique experience this piece of independent cinema was. In my opinion the film is timeless and will continue to be discovered by people on DVD for years to come, it's always been this way for films of this nature. It is the greatest accolade a film can get to be remembered long after it's release as apposed to audiences flocking to it upon release and then have it dissapear into the void. Bombing at the box office was probably the best thing that could of happened to Donnie Darko.....did I mention it has the best bunny rabbit in film history?

Here's a scene from Donnie Darko...