Megan and Murray McMillan

With epic writing and sound editing, Brick, by first-time writer/director/editor Rian Johnson, gracefully forwards the neo-surrealist genre (think Wes Anderson). It’s the winner of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision and was nominated at the Independent Spirit Award 2006 for the John Cassavetes Award (best film-production with a budget under $500,000).

It’s a “Cool” [yes, capitalized] movie centering around drug culture, but it avoids most of the usual stereotypical devices. The reason to see it is to hear high schoolers speak with a seasoned-veteran film noir accent without blinking. I wonder what Johnson could do with more money.