When we were children, we readily believed in magic. We’d imagine having superhuman abilities — such as flying, mind reading, teleportation and time travel. As adults, it hasn’t changed much. In recent years more and more movies are coming out with supernatural elements. These are some of my favorites:
10. “Knowing” (2009): Fifty years ago, students at William Dawes Elementary submitted pictures of what they thought the future would look like. In 2009 the capsule is opened and the current students attending the school are given the entries. Caleb, the child of a widowed astrophysicist, receives a particularly strange submission. Instead of a drawn picture, the page is covered in numerals — numbers that predict future disasters.
9. “X2: X-Men United” (2003): After the President of the United States is attacked by a mutant, an academy for people with special abilities is invaded by the military. While the government deems mutants a threat to society, a small band of X-Men seek out the assailant in an attempt to redeem their kind.
8. “Looper” (2012): In the future, time travel has become possible as well as the inability to murder and dispose of bodies without getting caught. A mobster from the future comes back in time to hire assassins. These assassins are known as “Loopers” and are responsible for the assassination and disposal of the people sent back to them. Loopers get a golden payday when their future selves are sent back in time to be assassinated by their present selves. This is referred to as “closing the loop.” But sometimes, by fluke, the loop isn’t closed, such as the case with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, Joe.
7. “The Nines” (2007): Reality begins to distort as lives intertwine. This movie is divided into three parts. Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis star in every chapter. Each story is different with varying roles, but they are all connected.
6. “The Corridor” (2012): A group of friends decide to take a trip together to cheer up one of their buddies. When one of the guys wanders off into the woods he discovers some sort of force field in the form of a corridor. This corridor grants its visitors with paranormal powers. After receiving these special powers, everyone begins to lose their mind.
5. “Dreamcatcher” (2003): Another cabin-in-the-woods psychic horror story, based on the Stephen King novel. Childhood friends, linked together by a mysterious past, reunite for their yearly hunting trip. After a terrifying encounter with a sickly man, they find out that a parasitic alien invasion is taking place, and it’s up to them to save the world.
4. “Chronicle” (2012): One night three high school students unearth an unusual glowing structure underground. They black out after coming into contact with it. Afterwards, they wake up with superpowers. As they develop their abilities, they find themselves deviating from each other both morally and in terms of dexterity.
3. “Ruby Sparks” (2012): Struggling with writer’s block, a young man begins to dream about a girl, inspiring him to write again. As he writes about the girl of his dreams, she suddenly comes to life — literally. He can’t believe his eyes when she shows up in his kitchen. Later confirming the legitimacy of her existence, he finds that he can change any detail about her by simply writing it.
2. “The Last Mimzy” (2007): A mysterious box full of toys appears, and two small children are granted with magical skills after interacting with these objects. One of the toys, a stuffed rabbit named Mimzy, begins telepathically communicating with the one of the children. Mimzy tells them that they’ve been chosen for a very important task. Their parents and teachers begin to take notice and a series of events begin to unfold.
1. “Limitless” (2011): Feeling like a loser, Eddie (played by Bradley Cooper) starts taking pills given to him by an old friend. These pills allow Eddie to use his brain in a full capacity. With 100 percent of his brain active, Eddie is capable of remembering and taking notice of the smallest details. Unfortunately, Eddie’s not the only one taking the drug, and in the wrong hands, it spells trouble.
