Twelve Monkeys (1995) ****1/2

Twelve Monkeys (1995) is a film I've seen many times and it's always been a favorite—one of those films where you know all the beats and it's no surprise what's going to happen but it still holds your attention and moves you. Terry Gilliam has made more than a few sci-fi films and while Brazil (1985) is undoubtedly his masterpiece, 12M is a superb, at times Hitchcockian, neo-noir time travel tragedy, a post-apocalyptic future and unexpected love. It features an excellent script co-written by David Peoples (Blade Runner (1982), Unforgiven (1992)), one of Bruce Willis's best and most vulnerable performances, a standout role by Brad Pitt, full of rapid-fire mannerisms and quotable dialogue* (no one plays nutty quite like he does in this film), and a memorable, melancholic score.

You can find my Terry Gilliam Feature Films Ranked list here.

*Fun fact: my first band, Sector Nine Eight, named one of our earliest cassettes (Shaved, Sterilized And Destroyed (1996), which I'm not sure we actually "released") after a quote from this film.