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This post contains some vague spoilers for A Perfect Getaway.

David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway was not destined for commercial glory. Pitched as a generic tropical-set actioner, with no big-name stars and little marketing muscle behind it, its middling box office performance was a foregone conclusion. Last weekend's $5.7 million result seemed pretty much right.

Depending on your point of view, this is either fitting or tragic. Because David Twohy is one of the most fascinating writers and directors working in genre film today. Hollywood has plenty of talented technical craftsmen -- filmmakers who can make an action movie crackle. But it has precious few people who are consistently doing interesting things with action films, thrillers, science-fiction and horror. Twohy is not content to deliver generically competent entertainment. There's always a twist.

The man is best known for the Riddick duology -- Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. I like each very much in its own right, but they're really intriguing when viewed together. Pitch Black is a rousing piece of sci-fi horror Alien-style. Riddick then took the first film's mythology and radically changed its scale. A small, contained story seamlessly became something huge -- something on the order of epic fantasy. It was a great trick, and Riddick is some of the decade's most underappreciated sci-fi.

Well, this looks like fun. I really like Duncan Jones' directorial debut Moon -- coming soon to a discerning theater near you! -- but I really like submarine movies. Who doesn't? Only fools.

Jones -- a commercial vet, and David Bowie's son! Did you know that? I totally didn't know that. Next you'll be telling me Freddie Mercury begat Sofia Coppola -- will be moving on to Escape from the Deep, the true story of a World War II submarine that trapped itself at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, 180 feet below the surface, where it proceeded to be assaulted by enemy charges.

I'm pretty sure Escape from the Deep will rule, as I'm not sure I've ever disliked a submarine movie. Das Boot? Duh. Crimson Tide? Yeah. The Hunt for Red October? Gimme gimme gimme. Those are non-controversial. How about: U-571? Yep, McConaughey be damned. K-19: The Widowmaker? Never understood the widespread dislike for that terrifically suspenseful little action flick. And if you want to go a bit more obscure, try the underseen Below.

And spawn of Bowie or no, Jones is a talented chap. Moon is terrific science-fiction, in a confined space, on a shoestring budget -- and that's hard. Oh, and here's to hoping Jones is able to recruit Clint Mansell for both Escape from the Deep, and his other new project, the sci-fi thriller Mute. If you want to get a sense of Mansell's typically awesome work on Moon, give this trailer a look and listen. Suffice it to say the score is a large part of the reason I can't wait to see the movie again.

(from left to right) Sean Gullette in Pi, Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, Hugh Jackman in The Fountain, and Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

I had been writing a rambling introduction to this piece, but to make a long anecdote short, I decided to re-watch the works of writer-director Darren Aronofsky prior to seeing his new film, The Wrestler. Out of more happenstance than planning, I began his first film exactly a day to the minute before this one would end, and now I offer up my thoughts on his career to date. (Who knows what more could come following this: 24 Hours of Fincher? 36 Hours of Boyle? My Dinner with Andre Benjamin's Idlewild?)