Writer/director Richard Kelly is one of those filmmakers who puzzles me. Is he a genius? Is he a hack? Is he something in between? There’s no denying that Kelly has created some truly mind-bending movies, but I’ve never been able to deduce whether or not there’s any logic or reason behind them. Does there even have to be? Kelly studied at the USC School of Cinema-Television and began making short films during his time there. Upon graduation, he managed to acquire a $4.5 million budget for his debut film Donnie Darko, which proved to be a cult hit and was actually my favourite movie for quite a while. It would be four years before he took part in the creation of another film – this time as a writer for Domino, directed by Tony Scott. In 2006, Kelly wrote and directed the bizarre Southland Tales, which I’m still scratching my head over, and in 2009 he wrote and directed The Box, a movie based on an episode of The Twilight Zone. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Richard Kelly isn’t afraid to step outside the boundaries of convention. He turns 38 today.