Mission Impossible (1996)

Jim Phelps Was the Duplicitous Rogue Agent Who Faked His Own Death And Orchestrated Deaths of Others During the Opening Mission; Phelps Shot Partner Claire Dead, and Died with Krieger in Helicopter Explosion

In this Brian De Palma action thriller, covert American IMF (Impossible Missions Force) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) was sent to Prague with other spy squad team-colleagues led by Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), and including:

• Jack Harmon (Emilio Estevez), computer hacker
• Hannah Williams (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), surveillance expert
• Sarah Davies (Kristin Scott Thomas)
• Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), Phelps wife

The team was instructed to stop traitorous American embassy attache Alexander Golitsyn (Marcel Iures) from stealing a NOC (Non-Official Cover) list of agents in Eastern Europe from a high-security computer room during a reception at the Embassy.

The plan went awry when unknown assassins emerged, and Phelps aborted the mission. Jack was killed in the elevator shaft, both Sarah and Golitsyn were knifed and murdered at a metal gate, Phelps was shot in the stomach and fell from a bridge into a river, and it appeared that both Hannah and Claire expired in a car explosion.

Soon after, sole-surviving team member Ethan met with CIA-based IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) and was told the real objective of the mission -- Kittridge explained how the operation (referred to as Job 314) was basically a "molehunt," to learn the identity of an inside traitor who would benefit from the sale of the NOC list to an illegal Czech arms dealer known as "Max" (Vanessa Redgrave). "Max" would, in turn, sell the list to the highest bidder.

Note: Kittridge also revealed that Golitsyn was actually a CIA agent, and that the list Golitsyn stole was a decoy, with the actual list secure at Langley, Virginia CIA's headquarters.

Then came one of many of the film's complex twists -- Ethan was accused of being the rogue double agent - the real target of the mission. Also, Claire had survived the car bombing, although presumed dead by the CIA.

To clear his name, Ethan decided to steal the list himself and use it as bait for the real traitor. He assembled a team of "disavowed" agents, including:

• Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), computer hacker expert
• Franz Krieger (Jean Reno), French pilot
• Claire

The group of agents successfully infiltrated the CIA in Virginia, and acquired the real NOC list. It was offered to "Max" for $10 million, in exchange for the delivery of Job -- the code name for the mole.

Back in London, another surprise revelation occurred when Phelps appeared - actually alive. Although Ethan played along when Phelps claimed that Kittridge was the mole ("I saw who shot me. I saw the mole. It was Kittridge"), he suspected that Phelps was the mole (Max's 'Job') who had caused computer hacker Jack's 'accidental' death during the mission.

In fact, Phelps had faked his own shooting on the bridge (he used a gun with blanks and then a soaked sponge to rub a blood-like substance on his hands). He also detonated the car bomb, while Franz Krieger (Phelp's partner) knifed Golitsyn and Sarah.

Ethan was certain Kittridge would come after him, to acquire the NOC list. This was confirmed when the film concluded on a high-speed train from London to Paris where all the major players came together. The NOC list on disk was traded to "Max" in exchange for $10 million and "Job." The funds were to be handed over in the train's baggage compartment, where Ethan impersonated "Phelps" (with a latex mask) and discovered that Claire was her own husband's conspiratorial partner.

Phelps was conclusively proven to be the rogue agent, when Ethan wore special video-transmitting glasses and transmitted an image of Phelps to Kittridge on his video wristwatch, showing that the traitorous, duplicitous Phelps was still alive. Ethan added: "I'm not the only one who's seen you alive." Kittridge viewed Phelps on the wristwatch and greeted him: "Good morning, Mr. Phelps."

Phelps shot Claire dead, and then in the exciting conclusion atop the train inside the chunnel, Phelps met his own fiery and explosive end when his getaway helicopter (piloted by partner Krieger, who had all along partnered with Phelps) was blown up with explosive chewing gum, and he died in the falling wreckage that crushed him into the train tracks. Ethan narrowly escaped death by riding the fireball back to the train.

In the conclusion, the NOC list was returned to Kittridge from "Max," the Justice Department apologized to Ethan, and Luther was reinstated as an IMF agent, although Hunt was reluctant to join him.

Mission Impossible 3 (2006)

John Musgrave Was the Real Traitor, not Brassel, Who Was Collaborating with Elusive Arms Dealer Owen Davian to Sell a Weapon (Rabbit's Foot) To the US's Middle East Enemies, to Foment a War; Davian and Musgrave Were Killed in the Film's Conclusion By Hunt and Wife Julia, and the Rabbit's Foot Was Reclaimed

In this third installment in the long-running blockbuster film franchise, Impossible Missions Force (IMF) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) was semi-retired, although called back into duty, to combat a new threat -- the film's malicious bad guy, elusive arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and a mysterious object.

The film began with a hostage situation, although then flashbacked to events that led up to it.

Davian was at the center of a conspiracy, to profit from a McGuffin object of everyone's interest. The illegal object was a valuable weapon, code-named the Rabbit's Foot (worth about $850 million), to be sold to the US' enemies in the Middle East:

In 18 hours, the Rabbit's Foot will be delivered to its Middle Eastern buyer, and we'll have credible intel to prove it.

Ethan and his team of IMF agents headed to Vatican City to capture Davian and interrogate him about the most powerful nuclear device. However, Davian escaped or was released (with help from IMF double agents) in an exciting bridge attack sequence.

Davian then kidnapped Hunt's new wife Julia "Jules" Meade (Michelle Monaghan), and held her hostage in Shanghai (where the Rabbit's Foot was held). At the same time, Ethan was seized by the IMF and interrogated - but he escaped, knowing that he had only 48 hours to recover the Rabbit's Foot and rescue his wife.

[Note: By this point, it became clear that IMF Operations Manager John Musgrave (Billy Crudup) was a traitor, who was collaborating with Davian. However, Musgrave had made it appear that IMF Executive Director Mr. Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne) was the mole. Musgrave counted on personally profiting from the sale of the Rabbit's Foot to the Middle East. Once the US Security Council received the report of the delivery about six hours later, Musgrave predicted a "military strike within a week. And when the sand settles, our country will do what it does best. Clean up. Infrastructure. Democracy wins." Musgrave anticipated that the Middle East would attack, resulting in massive US retaliation in the region, and he would be rich and successful as a result.]

To acquire the Rabbit's Foot, Davian had blackmailed Hunt into stealing the object from a lab in a highly-fortified skyscraper in Shanghai, in order to trade it for his new wife's life. After Hunt delivered the valuable McGuffin to Davian (and his turncoat partner Musgrave who suddenly appeared), Hunt believed that his wife was shot in the head before his eyes (seen in part in the film's opening before the story's long flashback), although Musgrave pulled off Julia's latex facial mask to reveal the face of Davian's dead translator. In place of Julia was Davian's incompetent Head of Security from Vatican City who had failed to protect him there. Julia was still alive - to Ethan's utmost relief.

Musgrave then admitted that he was after Brassel's job (calling him an "affirmative action poster boy"). He also divulged that he had told Davian about Ethan's trained protege Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell) and had set her up to be killed in a Berlin warehouse (in an earlier scene in the film), while putting the blame on Brassel. Musgrave's biggest worry was the effectiveness of his set-up of Brassel ("Did she [Lindsey] buy that Brassel set her up? Did she buy that?"), and whether his name had been compromised at the IMF.

In the film's conclusion, Hunt fought hand-to-hand against Davian who died when he was punched backwards into the street and run over, head-on, by a truck. However, an explosive capsule detonated in Hunt's brain meant he had only four minutes to live. He rapidly instructed wife Julia on how to handle a gun before electrocuting himself, in order to deactivate the capsule in his brain.

Julia Killing Musgrave

Ethan Hunt - Revived by CPR

The Rabbit's Foot

Julia helped defend her unconscious husband by shooting and killing Musgrave, who dropped a small case carrying the Rabbit's Foot (encased in a glass container), and then Julia performed CPR on her husband to save his life.

The Mist (2007) (aka Stephen King's The Mist)

In a Cruel and Ironic Twist, Drayton's Premature Suicidal Mercy Killings Were In Vain

Writer/director Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella The Mist became a science-fiction horror-thriller film. It told about a strong thunderstorm and a subsequent massive power outage that affected the small town of Bridgton, Maine. Then, a mysterious, unnatural fog or mist full of otherworldly, monstrous inter-dimensional creatures, pterodactyl-like animals, tentacled snake-like worms, spider-like monsters, and giant flying insects enveloped and trapped a few dozen people in the local supermarket.

The controversial ending was one in which a group of five survivors fleeing in a car ran out of gas in the midst of a monster-ridden mist on a winding forested road.

In the film's final few minutes - a sadistic, tacked-on, bleak, nihilistic and sacrificial ending (not in the Stephen King novella), widowed painter-artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) realized that there were only four bullets left, so he opted to mercy kill occupants of the car (with bullet shots to the head), leaving himself the only survivor:

• Billy Drayton (Nathan Gamble), his young son
• Amanda Dunfrey (Laurie Holden), blonde, his newfound love interest
• Dan Miller (Jeffrey DeMunn) and Irene (Frances Sternhagen), two elderly survivors

He then stepped out of the van and screamed in anguish for one of the unseen blood-thirsty creatures to kill him -- but then a military caravan of tanks and trucks pulled up and emerged from the mist, in a deus ex machina moment.

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) After the Mist Cleared

The soldiers torched the remaining creatures and helped any remaining survivors, causing David to collapse in dazed disbelief at the pointlessness of his inane sacrifice.

Mr. Brooks (2007)

Serial Killer Mr. Brooks (Urged by Marshall) Unexpectedly Framed and Killed Blackmailer Peeping Tom Mr. Baffert ("Mr. Smith"); Brooks Experienced a Nightmare of His Killing-Addicted Daughter Murdering Him

This psychological thriller from writers/directors Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon told about a well-respected Portland businessman and debonair philanthropist named Mr. Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner). His wife was Emma (Marg Helgenberger), and he had a college-aged daughter. He was founder of a Box Factory and the Chamber of Commerce's Man of the Year. He had regularly been attending AA-styled, 12-step meetings for two years, to deal with his addiction. The film opened with the ominous text:

"The hunger has returned to Mr. Brooks' brain. It never really left."

Although he was an upright citizen, he also had an evil, bloodthirsty and murderous alter ego (id) - known as Marshall (William Hurt) who constantly tailed him, and made whispered urgings in his ear to commit serial murders - usually targeting couples mid-sex.

Brooks engaged in an internal conversation with Marshall as the film began, using Alcoholics Anonymous-style confessions to struggle against his insistent inner demon. Knowing he was addicted to killing but hadn't committed a crime for over two years, Brooks begged Marshall not to entice him to begin again: "Don't let me do this, please. I don't want to start again."

But he succumbed late one night, and methodically and meticulously murdered a young couple having sex in their bedroom (they were exhibitionists, often leaving their curtain open). He shot each of the two individuals in the middle of their foreheads, and then replayed the killings in his mind as he twirled around. In every case, Mr. Brooks followed a particular procedure, including fastidious and careful attention to detail (locking the doors before leaving), but this time, he realized that he had made one mistake - the curtains were left open during the execution-style killings. He posed their bodies on the bed, fastidiously cleaned up (and took the vacuum cleaner bag with him), and left his trademark - the victims' bloody thumbprints on a lampshade, making him known as the "Thumbprint Killer." He also recited the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer.

The re-opened homicide-serial killer case was investigated by astute police Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore), who was having her own personal issues. She was in the midst of a contested separation-divorce from her husband Jesse Vialo (Jason Lewis). Other news was particularly disturbing for Atwood - serial killer Thornton Meeks (aka The Hangman) had recently escaped from prison and was seeking revenge for being locked up previously by Atwood.

Shortly later, Brooks was visited as his place of work by a mechanical engineer named Mr. Baffert (Dane Cook), but anonymously calling himself "Mister Smith." He was a peeping tom who had witnessed the couple's Portland murder from his adjacent apartment (Brooks remembered that the couple's room had their curtains open) and taken incriminating photos. Through blackmail, he demanded to accompany Brooks on his next killing to feel the "rush." "Mister Smith" had his own death and murder fetish, and wanted to become Mr. Brooks' protege.

Mister Smith/Mr. Baffert (Dane Cook)
	Smith's Incriminating, Blackmail Photos of the Portland Murder Scene

In the meantime, Brooks' daughter Jane (Danielle Panabaker) returned home to announce that she had dropped out of college in the Bay Area (Palo Alto) only half-way through her freshman year. Although she claimed she was pregnant by a married man and was possibly planning an abortion, it was suspected that she was "hiding something bigger" - she had committed a hatchet murder of fellow student Phillip Ramsey in her dorm building shortly before returning home. Detectives from the Bay Area arrived to interview Jane.

Fearing that Jane had inherited his own killer traits and instincts ("I've been afraid of this since before she was born...she has what I have") and would be arrested, Brooks "cleaned up after her" by disguising himself as a different identity and committing a second hatchet murder in the Palo Alto area to throw off the authorities and clear Jane.

Brooks also had a "wonderfully twisted" idea about who would be "Smith's" hapless first victim during their joint murder - restauranteur Jesse Vialo - Detective Atwood's soon-to-be ex second husband with whom she was having a messy divorce. (The womanizing Vialo was demanding $5 million from Detective Atwood while having an affair with his own attractive lawyer Sheila (Reiko Aylesworth)). At Vialo's double-homicide murder scene where the making-out couple were murdered, "Smith" panicked and left his DNA by urinating on the floor - and Brooks knew that it would incriminate his inexperienced partner.

While driving away from the Vialo/Sheila murder scene, Brooks predicted that Mister Smith would hold a gun on him. As part of Brooks' own concocted story that he was terminally ill and wanted to disappear (to spare his family pain and to end his killing cycle forever), Brooks schemed to have "Smith" drive him to a cemetery. There, he would allow himself to be shot dead and buried in a open grave.

As expected, Brooks had planned for such an eventuality, and had prepared himself for a major double-cross. Brooks had previously tampered with "Smith's" murder weapon so that it wouldn't fire, admitting: "In case at the last minute, I changed my mind, I returned to your apartment and bent the firing pin on your gun." He also confessed that the damning photos - the contents of "Smith's" safe-deposit box had vanished. He then beat "Smith" to death with the graveyard shovel (one slashing blow severed his neck and he bled to death) and buried him, leaving no evidence. "Smith" was then the sole suspect in the Vialo murder (after DNA typing of his urine). Brooks also vacated "Smith's" apartment, and left a moving company receipt with an address. The new address was the location of the hideout of escapee Thomas Meeks, where a shootout with police ended with Meeks' double murder-suicide.

Meanwhile, Brooks continued to act like the perfect and upright citizen. However, Detective Atwood sensed that Baffert wasn't the murderer after Brooks impersonated him during a phone call, and realized the "Thumbprint Killer" was still at-large.

In a startling final scene with a shock (fake) ending, Brooks nightmarishly dreamt that his sweetly-manipulative daughter Jane mercilessly killed him as he kissed her while she was sleeping (she savagely stabbed him in the throat with a pair of scissors), a fear he had felt for a long time that Jane would become like him.

Imagined Stabbing Murder of Mr. Brooks by His Daughter Jane
Waking Up from Nightmare with Emma

He awoke in shock next to his loving wife Emma, and was reassured that everything was OK. He heard Marshall ask: "Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?" Then, he softly recited the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity prayer to himself, begging mercy from God for his impure impulses.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, UK)

A Costumed King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, In the Present-Day, Were Arrested and Hauled Away For the Murder of a "Famous Historian" During Filming; It Was Possible That They Were Framed for the Killing By a Villainous Knight (Maybe the Master of the Black Knight?)

This surreal comedy from the British comedy troupe was among several feature-length films in the 1970s and 80s:

• And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) - an anthology film of sketches from the TV series
• Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
• Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
• Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)

It was designed as an absurd spoof or parody of the King Arthur legend (and his Knights of the Round Table), the myth of Camelot, Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail in the 10th century A.D.. It also skewered religion, medieval epics, and the Middle Ages (with its witch trials and the black plague).

The members of the Monty Python troupe of performers took multiple roles, for example:

• Graham Chapman (King Arthur, the Voice of God)
• Terry Gilliam (Arthur's trusty squire or serf-assistant Patsy, the Green Knight)
• John Cleese (Sir Lancelot, the Black Knight)
• Eric Idle (Sir Robin, the Dead Collector, etc.)
• Terry Jones (Sir Bedevere the Wise)
• Michael Palin (Sir Galahad, Leader of the Knights Who Say Ni)

Part-way through the film, after King Arthur's failure to take a French-controlled castle, the first clue to the plot twist was given. Very abruptly in a cutaway sequence, a famous present-day historian named Frank (John Young) (a film-making documentarian) was speaking (or narrating) toward the camera about Arthur's new strategy for questing after the Holy Grail:

- Feature for schools. Take eight.
- Action.
"Defeat at the castle seems to have utterly disheartened King Arthur. The ferocity of the French taunting took him completely by surprise. And Arthur became convinced that a new strategy was required if the quest for the Holy Grail were to be brought to a successful conclusion. Arthur, having consulted his closest knights decided that they should separate and search for the Grail individually. Now this is what they did."

An unknown knight (the master of the Black Knight?), the main villain in the film, approached on horseback, and the speaker was killed by a vicious sword slash to his throat. Afterwards, his wife (Rita Davies) (from off-camera) rushed to her dead husband's side, crying out: "Frank!" It is possible this knight (not with Arthur) was framing Arthur and his Knights with murder.

Death of 'Famous Historian' Frank

After Arthur and Bedevere became separated from Lancelot at the Bridge of Death, Lancelot was arrested and frisked by police.

In the film's final moments when King Arthur and the Knights had gathered a large battle army and were charging against the French castle, the plot twist was fully revealed. A police car, a paddy wagon, and officers of the law pulled into the scene in front of the army, and Frank's wife exited the car and shouted out: "Yes, they're the ones, I'm sure."

There was an ongoing investigation of King Arthur and his Knights for the murder of the "Famous Historian" and they were now being arrested by police. Were they escapees from an insane asylum? One of the police officers threatened the cameraman, and put his hand over the camera lens:

"All right, sonny, that's enough, just pack that in."

The Abrupt End of the Film

The cameraman swore: "Christ!" Then, the film reel broke in the projector and derailed from the gate, and the film abruptly ended.

Moon (2009, UK)

Both Astronauts: Sam Bell and Sam 2 (His Replacement) Were Clones, Created to Supervise LUNAR's Sarang Mining Base on the Far Side of the Moon. The Two Clones Were Actually the 5th and 6th Clones In Succession at the Base, Over an Approximately 12 Year Period. A Hidden Lower-Level Chamber Held Cryo-Sleep Drawers of Replacement 'Sam' Clones. At the End of Each Clone's 3-Year Contract, the Existing Cloned Sam Would Begin Deteriorating, and During a Promised 3-Day Return Journey Home to Earth Would Actually Be Incinerated in a Cyrogenic Hibernation Protection Pod. Each Clone Was Fed Uploaded, Edited Memories of the Life of the First Sam Bell

Writer/director Duncan Jones' (David Bowie's son) debut film - the plot-twisting, dramatic thriller and thought-provoking sci-fi film from Sony Pictures had obvious filmic references to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Solaris (1972), Silent Running (1972), Alien (1979), Outland (1981) and Blade Runner (1982). It presented the themes of loneliness and alienation, the 'discovery of identity' (and what it means to be human), and the threats of technology and an ever-present, exploitational and watchful, cost-cutting 'Big-Brother' corporation. Hints of its themes were found in its two taglines:

• "250,000 miles from home, the hardest thing to face...is yourself."
• "The last place you'd ever expect to find yourself."

It began with a voice-over about LUNAR Industries' mission to gather a very valuable and precious commodity for Earth to help supply it with an alternative energy source known as Helium-3, to cleanly fuel the planet's power needs:

There was a time when energy was a dirty word. When turning on your lights was a hard choice. Cities in brown-out. Food shortages. Cars burning fuel to run. But that was the past. Where are we now? How do we make the world so much better? Make deserts bloom? Right now, we're the largest producer of fusion energy in the world. The energy of the sun, trapped in rock, harvested by machine from the far side of the moon. Today, we deliver enough clean-burning Helium-3 to supply the energy needs of nearly 70% of the planet. Who'd have thought? All the energy we ever needed, right above our heads. The power of the moon. The power of our future.

A lone, bearded, long-haired astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) was viewed as the company's sole employee; he was at the end of his three-year contract with Lunar Industries; he was located at a mostly-automated lunar mining base station (on the far side) known as 'Sarang', functioning as the only contracted worker in the fully-automated base-facility (a claustrophobic, dingy-white chamber); his job was to supervise the strip-mining of lunar soil and rock (with four gigantic robotic threshing or harvesting robotic machines.

Sam had only recorded communications with Earth, due to the base's persistently-malfunctioning satellite uplink system with signal failures. Sam was beginning to show signs of stress and homesickness ("I'm talking to myself on a regular basis. Time to go home, you know what I mean?"). He missed his wife Tess (Dominique McElligott) and his young 3-year old daughter Eve (she was an infant when he started his contract), and was only able to speak to them through delayed video messages. He was also experiencing hallucinations and dreams of making love to his wife.

Sam's only real interactive contact and companion was a semi-mobile, multi-tasking AI robotic assist machine named GERTY 3000 (voice of Kevin Spacey) with a separate robotic arm and a pincer hand; the questionably-helpful, smooth-voiced, programmed GERTY used yellow smiley face emoticons on a read-out screen to communicate feelings and monitored Sam's every move.

The film took a turn during Sam's venture out in a rover to check on two of the malfunctioning harvesting mining machines - the "twitchy" # 3 (Luke), and the "live one" # 1 (Matthew); he suffered an accident when he distractedly crashed the rover into one of the lunar threshers after seeing another hallucinatory mirage of the teenaged female figure in the distance (an image of his own grown daughter Eve that he had seen previously).

Sam Injured After A Rover Crash-Accident and Awakening in the Base Station's Infirmary

After a dissolve to black (the loss of consciousness due to loss of cabin oxygen), Sam suddenly awoke back in the infirmary in the lunar base station; Sam asked: "Where am I?"; GERTY - who had presumably assisted Sam, told him that he had experienced an accident that he couldn't remember. Shortly later, the injured Sam revived and struggled off the infirmary bed and in another room, he overheard GERTY having a strange and clandestine real-time conversation with LUNAR Central's Overmeyers (Matt Berry) and Thompson (Benedict Wong): "The new Sam is in reworking order. But we only have two working harvesters now."

In order to leave the base (and disobey orders), Sam was able to convince GERTY that he had to check the exterior shell of the base station possibly hit by a mini-meteorite - after self-sabotaging the base with a minor gas leak; on another rover, Sam left the base on an unauthorized mission to revisit the site where he had earlier crashed into one of the harvesters; there, he made a remarkable discovery - he found an unconscious version of himself (doppelganger) in the damaged rover; he brought his doppelganger back to the base, and then yelled at GERTY: "Who is he?...You tell me who that is!"

Sam Bringing His Doppelganger Back to the Base

Sam Again Recuperating in the Infirmary

Injured Elderly Sam in the Infirmary While His Healthier Sam #2 Clone Looked On

The disoriented, injured and tired Sam was again placed in the infirmary, and told there had been an accident that he didn't remember: ("You had an accident out by one of the harvesters"); a 'cloned' Sam #2 (Robin Chalk) that was a younger and healthier mirror-image of the elderly Sam, stood at a distance and looked at Sam who was again recuperating from injuries, including a concussion that brought further hallucinations.

Sam angrily asked GERTY about the other look-alike individual who was seen exercising in the rec room - and feared that he might be losing his sanity: "What the hell's going on?...Where did he come from? Why does he look like me?...I'm losing my mind"; GERTY blunted stated that both of them were named "Sam Bell," and then GERTY divulged a very crucial fact - that he had kept the presence of the second "Sam Bell" hidden from his superiors: "I haven't let Sam contact LUNAR. They don't know you were recovered alive from the accident...I'm here to keep you safe, Sam."

The two Sams remained awkward and wary around each other, and they each thought that the other was an inferior clone: ("We look like each other, I guess"). The company sent a message that an ELIZA Rescue Unit (a three-man crew) would arrive in approximately 14 hours; it had purportedly been sent to "fix" the stalled harvester, but might have other nefarious and ulterior motives; the elder Sam expected, due to his promised contract, that he would be returning "home" back to Earth in a few days with the rescue team, but the suspicious younger Sam doubted that his contract would be honored: "You're a f--king clone. You don't have s--t...You're not going anywhere. You know, you've been up here too long, man. You have lost your marbles"; a frustrated Sam yelled at the younger clone: "I am the original Sam. I'm Sam f--king Bell...Me!"; Sam asked for confirmation from GERTY ("Am I a clone?") - but was ignored; the younger Sam acknowledged the factual truth that they were both interchangeable clones: "I'm in the same boat, asshole."

The younger, smarter clone (Sam #2) was suspicious that the unethical company had a secret supply room of other 'Sam' clones inside the base - to easily replace them. The younger Sam insisted on tearing the base apart to find the hidden room; the two engaged in a bloody physical struggle and argument about their identities.

Sam's next question of GERTY - "Am I really a clone?" - resulted in a stunning answer - he revealed the film's plot twist about GERTY's role in LUNAR's businesss; GERTY clearly explained to the older Sam that every time a new clone was needed after a three year period of service, the old Sam was retired, and a new clone was awakened: "When you first arrived at Sarang, there was a small crash. You woke up in the infirmary. You suffered minor brain damage and memory loss. I kept you under observation and ran some tests....Sam, there was no crash. You were being awakened. It is standard procedure for all new clones to be given tests to establish mental stability and general physical health. Genetic abnormalities and minor duplication errors in the DNA can have considerable impact."

GERTY described how it had awakened or activated the new clone after the rover crash and implanted the memories of Sam Bell into the clone. There were now, accidentally, two cloned versions of Sam Bell existing at the same time. Apparently, the fraudulent Japanese consortium (LUNAR Industries) that was running the operation was regularly cloning replacement Sams inside the base station as a cost-effective measure to avoid paying for new astronauts, but they didn't expect two clones to meet each other.

GERTY's next answer to Sam's inquiry about Tess and Eve was even more emotionally stunning and sad - all of Sam's memories of his family were actually fake: "They are memory implants, Sam. Uploaded, edited memories of the original Sam Bell. I am very sorry." Sam #2, the younger clone also made two additional revealing admissions:

• "I wasn't supposed to find you. LUNAR instructed GERTY to lock me inside the base while you were out there"
• "Right around the time I was awakened, I walked in on GERTY talking with Central. He was having a live conversation...They don't want us to be able to contact Earth. They lied to us. They've been lying to us since the beginning. They've been lying since forever"

The two Sams, after becoming suspicious about GERTY's live conversation with LUNAR, decided to join together to search the outside of the base; the two drove in separate rovers outside the "working perimeter" of the base where the newer Sam discovered that live long-range communications to Earth were deliberately being jammed by tall transmitting antennas surrounding the entire base

The two Sams decided to join together to search the base, and drove two separate rovers outside the working perimeter of the base. There, they discovered that live long-range communications to Earth were deliberately being jammed by transmitting antennas. During the exploration of the exterior of the base, elder Sam was beginning to physically deteriorate after three years of service, and was throwing up blood; he hurriedly returned to the base where he threw up more blood and realized he was losing teeth.

Sam played back archival video footage of four previous Sams (all appeared to be physically debilitated as their 3-year contracts expired); they were each prepared to be launched on a three-day return journey back to Earth in a cyrogenic or hybernation protection pod; to his horror, Sam realized that the pods were actually euthanasia-incineration pods.

Once the two Sams were back inside the base, the elder Sam told his younger counterpart that he had found a large chamber ("secret room") below the launch area; the two entered the secret, out-of-bounds level of vaults below the hibernation chamber, where they observed hundreds of ready-to-use, unactivated cloned Sams stored in 'cryosleep' pull-out drawers: "Jesus Christ, there's so many of 'em."

After another trip in a rover beyond the perimeter, the older Sam pulled out a portable communications device and called Tess, but instead reached teenaged daughter Eve (Kaya Scodelario), now 15 years old, who bluntly told him that her mother Tess was dead and had "passed away some years ago"; stunned when she turned to tell her off-screen father: "There's someone asking about Mom," Sam hung up before her father [Spoiler: the "Original Sam"] was called to the video screen; Sam was devastated and cried to himself: "That's enough. I want to go home!"

[Note: The film's major spoiler was that neither of the two Sams was an 'original' -- BOTH OF THEM WERE CLONES of the first "Original Sam" who had long ago returned to Earth.]

Back in the base, the elder Sam told Sam #2 that there was a conspiracy, and that they would be in a deadly, problematic predicament once the menacing ELIZA 'rescue team' arrived in just seven hours; if they found the two of them together - they would likely be eliminated: "That crew they're sending us, if they find us awake at the same time, they aren't going to let us live"; as the elder rested, Sam #2 viewed a playback of Sam's recent phone call with Eve - and also learned the truth about how everything was questionable.

With only 5 hours until ELIZA's arrival, in a race against time, cloned Sam #2 confronted GERTY about having found the off-limits "hidden room" with additional clones, and then ordered: "We need to wake up a new clone"; GERTY refused: "New clones can only be awakened once a three-year contract is completed"; Sam #2 insisted: "If you don't wake up another clone, me and the other Sam will die...You want me and the other Sam to be killed?" - GERTY agreed to comply.

[Note: Spoiler: This new clone would be the 7th clone. There had been 4 previous clones before the two of them; in reality, the elder clone was #5, and Sam #2 was actually Sam #6!]

Sam #2 explained to the older Sam that he had found a way to avoid their predicament; both Sams had finally decided to work together to defeat their common foe; GERTY would be instructed to put the new clone's unactivated body into the crashed rover as a diversion, in time to greet ELIZA; meanwhile, the elder Sam would be returned to Earth in a Helium-3 transport, to expose LUNAR's conspiracy; and the ELIZA team would be greeted by Sam #2.

However, the older Sam disagreed with the plan - he knew that he was sick and deteriorating ("And it was a good plan. You know, you just picked the wrong guy to go back"); instead, he insisted on being driven back to the crashed rover to expire there (where he had been found earlier), while the newer, younger cloned Sam #2 would be sent back to Earth to expose the truth; upon ELIZA's arrival, they would be greeted by the 7th new clone who had awakened in the medical facility. T o make the plan work, it was necessary to wipe GERTY's memory cache that had recorded everything in the previous day; the ever-helpful GERTY volunteered and agreed to be rebooted once Sam #2 had launched; Sam #2 also programmed a harvester to crash into the jamming antenna to activate the Live-Feed communications with Earth.

The older Sam - after being placed into the damaged rover, was alive long enough to witness the launch of the younger cloned Sam #2 back to Earth; the ELIZA also arrived and the team entered the base just as the younger cloned Sam (actually #6) was launched, and the new 7th clone awoke in the infirmary; the rescue team seemed to be fooled by the deception once they found Sam's dead body in the rover.

Just before the closing credits as the launcher entered Earth's atmosphere, news reports (in voice-over) were broadcast about the controversy stirred up by Sam's (clone 6) testimony and evidence back on Earth, alerting the public to LUNAR's unethical practices:

Lunar Industries stocks have slipped a further 32% after accusations. Clone 6, the clone of Sam Bell, has been giving evidence at CAA's Board of Directors meeting in Seattle....

The voice of a radio talk show host was heard next, casting doubt on the clone's believability:

You know what? He's one of two things. He's a wacko or an illegal immigrant. Either way, they need to lock him up. Line two.

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

In a Nutshell, Diane and Betty Were the Same Person (Most of the Film Was Diane's Fantasy Dream of Attempting to Be Successful in Hollywood as Betty); When Diane's Dream of Stardom Wasn't Fulfilled, and After She Was Jilted by Lesbian Friend 'Rita'/Camilla (Who Received the Lead Acting Role and Fell in Love with the Director), Diane Jealously Put Out A Hit Contract on Her, and Then Committed Suicide; Her Rotting Corpse Was On the Bed

Best Director-nominated David Lynch's surreal, confusing, mystifying, mind-twisting, dream-like modern neo-noir told about the illusion of Hollywood fame in the 'city of dreams.' The film's themes included unrequited love, exploitation, corruption, false hopes and dreams, half-truths, and doppelgangers, with elements including strange blue keys and boxes, a red lampshade, the Silencio nightclub, a conflicted Hollywood director pressured by mobsters to cast a certain actress, a diner named Winkie's with a monstrous creature outside by the dumpster, and other unusual settings and characters.

On a budget of $15 million, Lynch's dramatic mystery-thriller grossed only $7.2 million (domestic) and $20.3 million (worldwide).

The most confusing aspect of this surrealistic, neo-noirish mystery drama with a non-linear narrative was that it told a twisting and turning tale involving dual characterizations (or personas, or split psyches) of the two female protagonists. A viewer would benefit by realizing that the first three quarters of the film (roughly 111 minutes of the 147 minute film) was an idealistically-portrayed, wholly-imagined, and romanticized fantasy dream by one of the two females. A mysterious blue 'Pandora's' box with a blue key signified the break between the first part of the film's DREAM (told in traditional linear fashion) and the second part's REALITY. Both parts were enhanced with flashbacks, subconscious thoughts, memories, and further dreams-hallucinations.

The first major character (although not introduced first) was Diane Selwyn (Naomi Watts) - a dirty-blonde (and cocaine junkie) who was the fantasized, idealized flip-side of aspiring, wholesome, pert blonde starlet Betty Elms (also Watts). Betty had come to Hollywood to hopefully find fame. In a nutshell, Diane and Betty were the same person (most of the film was Diane's fantasy dream and play-acting of being successful in Hollywood as Betty). When Diane's unrealistic dream of stardom and becoming an actress wasn't fulfilled, she became seriously depressed, delusional, irrational and murderous. Rejected by both a director and lover, the now-jaded starlet Diane sought retribution.

The second major character was Diane's brunette lesbian lover Camilla Rhodes (Laura Elena Harring), who jilted and betrayed Diane by being selected for a film role by the director and then falling in love with him. At first, Camilla was revealed as a dependent and lost amnesiac, temporarily named 'Rita' (Laura Elena Harring) - she was named after Rita Hayworth on a Gilda (1946) poster. She had suffered a car wreck on Mulholland Drive, a possible attempted murder, and a head concussion. She happened to meet up with Betty who was residing in an LA apartment building. At first, Betty took it upon herself to care for the dependent and memory-impaired 'Rita'. However, after the struggling Betty/Diane found herself competing and losing against the full-bodied, competing femme fatale actress 'Rita'/Camilla (both Harring and Melissa George), Diane jealously put out a hit contract on her ex-lover.

Guilt-ridden and remorseful after ordering the murder of Camilla who had ascended to stardom, and knowing that the hit had been made, Diane committed suicide; her rotting corpse was found on her bed. During her own extended death throes, she didn't blame her personal failings or problems, but had found comfort in conspiratorial ideas and other imagined ways to cast blame elsewhere, but all ended in tragedy.

• in the basic plot, Diane had a romanticized dream in which she presented herself as another character - as Betty (Naomi Watts) - a wannabe newcomer to Los Angeles (the city of dreams) from Canada; after winning a jitterbug dance contest during the opening credits, it allowed her to travel to Hollywood: ("Oh! I can't believe it!"); this was a hint that much of the film would be a delusional dream or have significant dream elements
• Betty had arrived from Canada at LAX and was planning to stay in the vacant apartment of her beloved, older red-haired Aunt Ruth (Maya Bond) at 1612 Havenhurst; she was given the KEY (1st) by the building's manager "Coco" (Ann Miller), aka Mrs. Lenoix; Betty's Aunt Ruth was away on vacation, or possibly long-since dead, or as Betty shortly later claimed: "She's working on a movie that's being made in Canada"
• before meeting Betty, a confused, bruised and frightened dark-haired woman (not named yet) had just escaped a murder attempt on her life by a hit man in a limousine; the limo was rammed into by a drag-racing vehicle as the brunette was being driven to a party on Mulholland Dr. (#6980); Mullholland Drive was the location of the house of famed Hollywood director Adam (further information later); after the "accident," the brunette exited the limo and crime scene and walked downhill; afterwards, she wandered about - with amnesia induced by the car accident - and fell asleep in the vacated apartment where Betty was going to be staying
• Betty met the dark-haired, amnesiac young woman in the apartment, who claimed she was showering after suffering a car accident; Betty assumed her Aunt Ruth had given her permission to stay; the confused brunette didn't know her name - so she plucked the name 'Rita' from a 'Gilda' movie poster that mentioned star Rita Hayworth; both Betty and 'Rita' were presumably aspects of Diane's imagination [Note: in Diane's dream of stardom (in the person of Betty), she at first took charge of the relationship with the dependent, glamorous brunette dubbed 'Rita'.]
• Betty told the female about her Aunt's upscale place:
  • "I couldn't afford a place like this in a million years. Unless of course, I'm discovered and become a movie star. Of course, I'd rather be known as a great actress than a movie star, but, you know, sometimes people end up being both so, that is, I guess you'd say, sort of why I came here. I'm sorry. I'm just so excited to be here. I mean I just came here from Deep River, Ontario, and now I'm in this dream place"
• wounded in the forehead, 'Rita' insisted that she didn't need medical help and would be okay if she just slept: "It will feel okay if I sleep"
• meanwhile, casting director Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) was being blackmailed, intimidated and threatened regarding his casting choices for the lead role in his new film; in the Ryan Entertainment building in downtown LA, Adam was being compelled by mobster-like agents - the Castigliane brothers: Vincenzo (Dan Hedaya) and Luigi (Angelo Badalamenti) - and an ominous, paralyzed and wheel-chaired Mr. Roque (Michael J. Anderson) calling the shots from behind the scenes, to cast their choice ("This is the girl") - an unknown, ingenue blonde actress (seen in a head-shot photo) named Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) for the lead role in his new Hollywood film, The Sylvia North Story; Adam was highly resistant: "There's no way that girl is in my movie....That girl is not in my film!", but he was overruled

Actress Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) (Headshot Photo)

• also in a foreshadowing, on the 6th floor of a downtown LA office building, inept hitman Joe Messing (Mark Pellegrino) was talking to his long-haired friend Ed (Vincent Castellanos), who jokingly mentioned a "f--king car accident" (the one that brought amnesiac 'Rita' to Betty's apartment); suddenly, Joe shot and killed his friend (with a silenced gun) in order to steal a "famous black book" (a phone book revealing phone numbers of Hollywood elites); while making the crime scene look like Ed had committed suicide, the gun accidentally discharged and wounded a Heavy-Set Woman (Diane Nelson) in an adjoining office; while trying to kill her before leaving, Joe also continued to flub his murder-for-hire job by murdering a Vacuum Man (Charlie Croughwell) standing in the hallway; he left three dead corpses in his wake
• once 'Rita' awoke, she admitted to Betty that she didn't remember her identity or real name: "I don't know what my name is. I don't know who I am!!"; a solid metal blue key and stacks of wrapped $100 dollar bills (about $125K) were unexpectedly found in Rita's purse; she could only remember "Mulholland Drive" - possibly the location of the car accident; Betty even suggested calling the police anonymously to see if there was the report of an accident there - with a crucial thematic statement: "It'll be just like in the movies. We'll pretend to be someone else"
• besides other pressures (including the shutting down of his set), director Adam was also having marital problems with his wife; when he arrived at his home unexpectedly, Adam's pool cleaner Gene (Billy Ray Cyrus), who was discovered sleeping with Adam's wife Lorraine (Lori Heuring), advised him to ignore his wife's infidelity; Adam retaliated by pouring pink paint over his wife's jewelry box; Adam was forcibly tossed out of his own house by Gene and had to seek refuge in a seedy, run-down LA hotel
• after hiding the cash in a hat box, 'Rita' and Betty (who wanted to solve the mystery of Rita's identity and play the role of a detective) visited Winkie's Diner on Sunset Blvd., where earlier in the film, a scary, monstrous character (Bonnie Aarons) was seen behind Winkie's diner - a disheveled homeless man [Note: He was symbolic of the 'demon' that started to breed evil thoughts in Diane's disintegrating mind - to kill her girlfriend.]

Waitress Diane (Missy Crider) at Winkie's Restaurant - Causing 'Rita' To Recall the Name Diane Selwyn

• the waitress (Missy Crider) who served them was named "Diane," causing 'Rita' to remember the name Diane Selwyn (Betty's alter-ego); 'Rita' was unsure whether it might be her real name or not: ("Diane Selwyn - maybe that's my name...Maybe it's not me"); a phone call to Diane's number in the phone book resulted in no answer, although 'Rita' recognized the voice on the message: "It's not my voice, but I know her" [Note: There was no answer at Diane's number because she was already dead!]
• at the cheap downtown Park Hotel, Adam was informed by Cookie (Geno Silva), the manager of the hotel, that his money was no good and had been frozen up: "You're maxed out at your bank and that your line of credit has been cancelled"; Adam was being pressured and agreed to meet a mysterious, powerful individual known as The Cowboy (Monty Montgomery); Adam met up with the Cowboy by a horse corral at the top of Beachwood Canyon, where he was warned to select the proper "lead girl" for his next movie: "You will see me one more time if you do good. You will see me two more times if you do bad"
• during their search for 'Rita's' identity, Betty suggested visiting the Sierra Bonita apartment complex the next day where Diane Selwyn resided, postulating that 'Rita' might be Diane's roommate; unexpectedly, neighbor Louise Bonner (Lee Grant) knocked on the door and questioned what Betty was doing in Ruth's apartment, while wildly spreading fear: ("Someone is in trouble. Something bad is happening!"); Coco appeared and vouched for Betty as Ruth's niece, and described her as an aspiring actress; Coco helpfully presented Betty with "faxed pages of a scene for a big audition tomorrow" - with director Adam Kesher (revealed later to be her son!)
• but then the next morning, Coco returned to question Betty about her occupancy of Ruth's apartment after speaking to Ruth on the phone: ("She wants to know who's staying in her apartment") - it was suspected that Betty was an imposter!; Betty misinterpreted and thought Coco was asking about her friend 'Rita'; although dubious, Coco allowed Betty some time to sort things out: "What you're telling me is a load of horse-pucky even though it comes from a good place. Now I'm gonna trust you to sort this thing out"
• before any further investigation into 'Rita's' identity, naive wannabe starlet Betty took a cab to the studio to try out for a part in Adam's new Hollywood film; first, she performed in a scene with a tanned and aging lothario and soap opera actor Jimmy 'Woody' Katz (Chad Everett), who shouted out to the director Bob Brooker (Wayne Grace): "Hey Bobby, I wanna play this one nice and close, like we did with that other girl, uhm, what's her name? The one with the black hair. That felt kinda good, whaddya think?"; presumably, Woody had already auditioned the same scene with Camilla, although Betty was unaware that Woody was referring to 'Rita'

Betty's Creepy Audition Scene With Jimmy "Woody" Katz (Chad Everett)

• in the masterfully-acted audition scene with a sexually-tainted script, Betty found herself in a creepy situation, where one of her lines was: "You're playing a dangerous game here. You're trying to blackmail me"; he seductively told her: "You know what I want. It's not that difficult"; she was cautioning the older lecherous gentleman to get out, or otherwise, she would inform her parents who were upstairs about their sexual affair, but then she surrendered to him: ("If I tell them what happened, they'll arrest you and put you in jail, so get out of here before... (they kissed) I kill you"); at the end of their tortured and passionate conversation, she denounced him: ("I hate you. I hate us both"); as a result of her first audition, Betty was naively led to believe by the over-the-hill film's producer Wally Brown (James Karen) (a friend of her Aunt Ruth) that she was gifted and talented ("extraordinary") and was succeeding in her quest for fame in Hollywood
• afterwards, Betty was led to another set where casting director Adam Kesher was listening to song auditions for the lead role in his new Hollywood film; as they entered the sound stage, an impressive young brunette singer named Carol (Elizabeth Lackey) was singing Connie Stevens' 1960 biggest hit song "Sixteen Reasons" with a back-up group; as she entered, Betty momentarily locked eyes with Adam

Auditions on the Set With Director Adam Kesher
Carol (Elizabeth Lackey) Performing "Sixteen Reasons"
Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) Singing "I've Told Every Little Star"

• the second auditioning ingenue actress-singer was blonde Camilla Rhodes (Melissa George) singing Linda Scott's "I've Told Every Little Star"; during Camilla's audition, Adam (who had been forcibly coached) decisively declared: "This is the girl"; Betty enviously and jealously watched on the set as Adam chose Camilla for the lead role; although Betty and Adam locked eyes a second time, without even auditioning, Betty hurriedly excused herself: "I have to be somewhere. I-I promised a friend. I'm sorry. I-I must go"; Betty knew that she had been rejected and jilted and her career was faltering
• after leaving the set, Betty and 'Rita' shared a taxi to continue their investigation at Diane Selwyn's residence in the Sierra Bonita apartment complex at 2590; they ducked down to avoid being noticed by two detectives parked on the street; when they knocked on the door of "Apartment 12," the female occupant (Johanna Stein) explained how apartments had been switched, and that Diane Selwyn was actually residing in Apartment 17. [Note: She was covering up the fact that she (W. DeRosa) and Diane had been lovers-roommates in Apt. 17, but then after a break-up, due to girlfriend Camilla's theft of Diane's heart, the displaced female had moved into Apartment 12.]

'Rita' (a Decaying Corpse) On the Bed in Apartment 17

• Betty broke into Apt. 17 (through a side window) when there was no answer at the door; once inside the dark residence, the two held their noses due to the smell; in the bedroom, they viewed what they thought was 'Rita's dark dress and shape on a bed (with reddish sheets - similar to the opening POV shot); they had actually discovered the corpse of aspiring actress Diane - more to be revealed later [Note: This was a terrifying foreshadowing -- Diane was really a dirty-blonde, failed actress and junkie - looking jaded, haggard, and beaten down, and had been living by herself in a cheap rented apartment.]
• 'Rita' was very distraught by the sight of the corpse; they retreated back to Aunt Ruth's apartment where 'Rita' threatened to cut her hair; Betty attempted to comfort 'Rita' ("I know what you have to do, but let me do it"); she refashioned 'Rita' to "look like someone else" - to become a blonde by donning a blonde wig and then pulling her in front of a mirror [Note: This was a clear indication that the two identities of blonde Betty/Diane and 'Rita' were somehow integrally intertwined; the incident was symbolic of the relationship between Diane/Betty and 'Rita'; Betty remade Rita to look more like her as a blonde in order to be transformed into her ideal.]
• as they prepared to go to bed, Betty urged 'Rita' to not sleep on the couch; 'Rita' removed her wig and then her robe, and slipped into Betty's bed naked; Betty mentioned: "It's more comfortable than the couch, isn't it?"; Rita leaned over and kissed Betty innocently on the forehead: Rita: "Good night, sweet Betty" and Betty replied: "Goodnight"
• in a possible DREAM sequence, they engaged in the first of two steamy, topless, hesitant and exploratory lesbian love scenes in the film; and then Betty asked a question of Rita: "Have you ever done this before?" followed by passionate kisses, and Rita answered: "I don't know. Have you?"; Betty then confessed: "I want to with you. I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you"; this was accompanied by more kisses and sexual touching; as they slept, their faces merged together
• in the middle of the night - signifying that this was their continuing dream sequence, the two awakened to the words: "SILENCIO" and "No hay banda"; Betty urged a reluctant 'Rita' that it was OK to wake up; 'Rita' suggested that they go "somewhere" although it was 2 am; the now-blonde 'Rita' and Betty took a taxi through dark LA streets to a nightclub called Club Silencio, where a man named Bondar (the same actor as Cookie) appeared on stage and announced that the music and singing were all an illusion and faked: ("It's all recorded. No hay banda! It's all a tape. Il n'est pas de orquestra. It is an illusion!"); seated in the audience, Betty began to shake uncontrollably; on stage live, the singer Rebekah Del Rio (as Herself) collapsed and revealed that she had been lip-synching a Spanish version of Roy Orbison's song about heartbreak: "Crying - " that had caused Betty and 'Rita' to also cry; Betty reached into her purse and found a blue box

Betty Discovered Blue Box in Her Purse

'Rita' Opening Betty's Blue Box

Zoom Into the Interior of the Opened Blue Box

• back at Aunt Ruth's apartment, Rita retrieved her purse in the hat box and found a mysterious blue KEY (2nd) to open the box, as Betty suddenly disappeared; 'Rita' asked: "Donde estas? (Where are you?)" -- a KEY moment in the film - Diane's DREAM-like part of the film ended at the 111 minute mark; Rita used her blue key to open Betty's blue box; after being opened; a zoom into the black interior of the box signaled a transitional change from a dream to reality; the blue box fell to the floor and 'Rita' also disappeared [Note: The opening of the blue box signified that Diane's escapist false dream that she had created about her alter-ego Betty had ended.]; red-haired Aunt Ruth had apparently returned and entered the bedroom and found that nothing was disturbed
• at the same time, back in Diane Selwyn's (also Naomi Watts) apartment #17 bedroom, The Cowboy appeared in the doorway and spoke to the sleeping Diane (who resembled Betty), telling her: "Hey, pretty girl. Time to wake up"; when Diane was commanded to wake up at her apartment from her dream by the Cowboy, the remainder of the story in the film's last section was told as a flashback - and was an accounting of what had really happened; the film now shifted entirely to the character of Diane Selwyn (also Naomi Watts), a failed, dirty-blonde aspiring actress with significant delusions; her earlier motivation to rescue 'Rita' (and express unrequited love for her) had been her attempt to conquer, possess and vanquish her competitive rival - aspiring actress Camilla (also played by Laura Elena Harring), but it appeared that she had utterly failed
• Diane had become despondent and upset, had snorted cocaine, and had fallen into a deep sleep-stupor (accompanied by dreams); persistent knocking at the door had actually stirred Diane; she was awakened by her acquaintance (her former female roommate who had been displaced by Camilla about 3 weeks earlier); she entered and asked for the return of her belongings (lamp, dishes and ashtray); as the belongings were gathered together in a box, Diane noticed a blue key on the coffee table; before leaving, the ex-roommate warned about the continuing investigation into her location: "Those two detectives came by again, looking for you"
• as she stood in her kitchen, the guilt-ridden, hallucinating and depressed Diane fantasized that a radiant-looking, bi-sexual 'Rita'/Camilla had entered ("You've come back!"); after brewing up some drip-coffee for herself, a half-naked Diane (with cut-off-jeans) approached the awaiting, equally-topless Camilla awaiting her for sex on the couch; Camilla told Diane: "You drive me wild!"; (See uncensored version here) after touching and kissing for a few moments, Diane was coldly rejected when told: "We shouldn't do this anymore"; Diane objected and was devastated: "Don't ever say that," although Camilla reminded her: "I've tried to tell you this before"; Diane reacted suspiciously: "It's him, isn't it?"

The 'Real' Diane On the Set During the Rehearsal of a Scene - Jealous of Brunette Camilla Kissing Director Adam Kesher

• still in her dream, Diane jealously recalled that on the set earlier during a rehearsal of a scene, director Adam played a love scene in the front seat of a vehicle with brunette Camilla, and passionately kissed her; after a fade to black for the scene, at her front door, Diane dismissed Camilla and the two broke up, as Diane yelled and slammed the door: "It's not easy for me!"

Diane's Fevered and Anguished Masturbation After a Total Break and Rejection by Camilla

• afterwards by herself, still fantasizing about her lost girlfriend and fantasy lover Camilla and suffering from unrequited love, the dejected Diane masturbated in a fevered state, crying and anguished
• Diane's phone rang (on a nightstand with a red lampshade and ashtray filled with cigarette butts) - it was Camilla inviting Diane to attend a dinner party at the Mulholland Dr. home of casting director Adam; a car would be sent to await her out front; now at the end of the film, the story circled flashed back to the beginning - dirty blonde Diane (not 'Rita') was now in a limo on its way to 6980 Mulholland Dr.; when the vehicle pulled over, Diane was surprised by the appearance of Camilla, who greeted her and showed her a "secret path" or shortcut to the house; hand in hand, Camilla led the way uphill as soothing music played - had they reconciled?

Two Different Trips on Mulholland Dr. to Adam's Party
'Rita' - Beginning of Film	Diane - End of Film

• at Adam's house-pool party, he brought them drinks to share in a toast: "Here's to love"; Diane was introduced to the mother of casting director Adam - "Coco" - the same person who was her apartment building's manager, although Diane didn't know her; during dinner, Diane described how she had arrived in Hollywood from Canada after winning a jitterbug contest, and believing she had aspirations to be an actress; now according to Diane, her Aunt Ruth had died and left her an inheritance; she had met Camilla while auditioning for Adam's new movie The Sylvia North Story; Diane confessed: "I wanted the lead so bad. Anyway, Camilla got the part"; during an audition with director Bob Brooker, Diane believed that he had disliked her: "He didn't think so much of me"; however, Camilla (on the set) had been helpful as a friend and assisted her in getting some minor film roles
• later in the evening at the party, Diane's vision blurred as Adam revealed to everyone that he had successfully divorced his wife, and his life was now very much under control; he had successfully maneuvered through his divorce with legal representation: ("I got the pool and she got the pool-man. I couldn't believe it, I wanted to buy that judge a Rolls-Royce. Sometimes good things happen"); Diane jealously saw (or imagined) Camilla and the blonde starlet Camilla Rhodes kissing; Adam also asked for everyone's attention to announce that he was now engaged to his major brunette star Camilla
• [Note: obviously, Diane's dream fantasy of stardom had been shattered - she had imagined how her life could have been better - unrealistically, from the beginning of the film; she had seen herself as naive starlet Betty with both a successful Hollywood career and a love affair with girlfriend Camilla (the film's major storyline) but everything had failed miserably; in her mind, Camilla was sleeping with the director, and had also found another lesbian lover - also named Camilla Rhodes.]
• Diane's memory or recall of the engagement announcement was interrupted by the crash of plates, dropped by a clumsy Winkie's waitress named Betty (formerly identifed as Diane!); rather than accepting rejection on so many fronts, Diane was then seen inside Winkie's diner (on Sunset Blvd.) arranging to hire the same incompetent hitman to eliminate her competition; Diane contracted for $50,000 for Joe to kill the voluptuous Camilla, identified by a head-shot photograph ("This is the girl"); the hitman pulled out a blue KEY (3rd) and told Diane that once the hit had been made, she would find the key in a prearranged location ("When it's finished, you'll find this where I told you"); Diane briefly noticed dreamer Dan at the check-out counter; there was also a quick glimpse of the homeless vagrant behind the diner next to the dumpster who was in possession of the blue box

Hitman Joe (with Resentful and Jealous Diane) and Waitress Betty (Missy Crider) at Winkie's Restaurant

• the blue key was prominently sitting on the coffee table in her apartment; Diane wondered whether Camilla had been eliminated (was her assumption correct or not?); after she began to wildly hallucinate other terrorizing characters, Diane raced into her darkened bedroom, reached into her nightstand drawer for a gun, and suicidally shot herself in the head; the monstrous dumpster vagrant was briefly viewed; the final spoken word of the film was "Silencio" softly uttered by blue-haired singer Rebekah sitting in a theater box and looking down on an empty stage - the pronouncement signified Diane's death
• [Note: It could be conjectured that after Diane shot herself, her brain's electrical activity intensified before she actually died; and for those few seconds, it's possible that she triggered - literally - the fantasy visions that composed the first three-quarters of the film; one of her remorseful delusions might have been that 'Rita'/Camilla had survived the car accident at the film's opening, when in reality, that's when she died.]

(Neil Simon's) Murder by Death (1976)

There Was No Murder of Millionaire Host Twain; The "Cook" Yetta, Thought At First to Be A Robot, Had Sought Revenge Against Five Famous Literary Detectives

In this plot-twisting, comedic 'who-dun-it' tale set in an old country mansion (at 22 Lola Lane), the main characters were five famous literary detectives, all with slightly different names:

• Sidney Wang (Peter Sellers), Catalina Island Police Inspector and adopted No. 3 son Willie (Richard Narita) - symbolizing Charlie Chan
• Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith) - New York detectives symbolizing the Thin Man's Nick and Nora Charles
• Milo Perrier (James Coco), Belgian Inspector with his chauffeur Marcel Cassette (James Cromwell) - symbolizing Hercule Poirot
• Miss Jessie Marbles (Elsa Lanchester), amateur sleuth with her nurse Miss Withers (Estelle Winwood) - symbolizing Miss Marple
• Sam Diamond (Peter Falk), hard-nosed PI and "dame" secretary Tess Skeffington (Eileen Brennan), symbolizing Sam Spade and Richard Diamond

The group was summoned to an old mansion for dinner by eccentric millionaire mastermind/host Lionel Twain (Truman Capote). They could win $1,000,000 if they could solve a murder to be committed within 24 hours at midnight.

The house was managed by blind butler Jamesir Bensonmum (Alec Guinness) and a deaf-mute maid/cook named Yetta (Nancy Walker). During the night, after the discovery of the dead butler, and equally dead Twain, and the cook was revealed as an animated mannequin or robot, there were various death threats to the guests, involving a venomous snake, deadly scorpion, falling ceiling in a shrinking room, poisonous gas, and a bomb.

Each of the sleuths came up with a completely ridiculous solution to the stabbing murder of Twain himself. They told their solutions to the butler Bensonmum, who was originally thought to have been dead, but was very much alive.

By film's end, it was revealed that there was no murder - making the mystery unsolvable. The butler removed his mask to reveal that he was Twain. After the guests left, Twain removed his mask to reveal that he was Yetta - the "deaf/dumb" maid/cook who was behind the entire scheme to make the detectives look like fools. But then, it begged the question: what had happened to Twain?

Presumably, Yetta had sought reader's revenge for the outlandish contrived plot endings in their novels, and laughed maniacally at the end after they had all left.

[Note: One might ask if Yetta was just another mask, or if Yetta had actually murdered both the butler and Twain.]