I’ll say this about “Red Lights,” the Cillian Murphy- and Robert De Niro-starring thriller that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday night (January 20): I don’t think I’ve talked as much with people about a movie after seeing it since “Inception.”

Which is not to suggest writer/director Rodrigo Cortés’ feature (his follow-up to 2010 fest fav “Buried”) is anywhere near as perfectly conceived and executed as Christopher Nolan’s escapade within the dream world. In fact, “Red Lights” is honestly not a very good movie, though it’s difficult to say why without giving away all the twists, turns and what-the-eff moments.

While there is plenty to admire and scare during the film’s 119-minute running time (and much more to debate afterwards), there remain a handful of unintentionally hilarious moments that left the audience awkwardly laughing in the presence of the film’s talent, plus some head-smacking plot turns and a final montage that manages to be both pretentious and utterly vacuous — not an easy feat.

“Red Lights” begins with a compelling premise and cast of characters. Murphy and Sigourney Weaver play academics specializing in debunking paranormal activity. After a mysterious 30-year absence, De Niro’s world-famous blind psychic emerges back on the scene, drawing Murphy and Weaver into…well, we really should just leave it there. Because “there” is tense, uncomfortable and occasionally jump-out-of-your-seat scary — and it’s best to know as little about the plot specifics as possible.

You might not know much about the plot afterwards either. There are a few twists that make not a lick of sense. There are long stretches of monologue that, when subjected to any sort of Lit-101 scrutiny, crumble under their own substance-free inanity. There are plot strands that are picked up and dropped, especially at the end, seemingly less out of a sense of maintaining mystery than of purely shoddy storytelling.

Murphy, predictably, plays the obsessed investigator with aplomb. Weaver, after all these years, has the sci-gal thing down. De Niro, it seems, will take on any project so long as he gets to deliver a fiery monologue at some point. And Elizabeth Olsen, who was a breakout star at Sundance last year, is given nothing to do and almost less to say as the investigators’ research assistant.

It’s not the performances you’ll be talking about afterwards. It’s the odd choices in supporting cast. It’s the plot twists. It’s the plot holes. It’s the ending. Like it or loathe it, you’ll be talking afterwards. There’s not much more you can ask of a film than that.

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially underway, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked to MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.

Elijah Wood is well accustomed to getting his crazy on. Please see his disturbing turn as feel-no-pain and claw-all-limbs-off serial killer Kevin in “Sin City” for more, or check out his dog-talking ways on “Wilfred” for further reference.

But when it comes to his work in the upcoming remake of “Maniac,” Wood’s brand of insanity falls more in line with the murderous Kevin than the comparatively sane Ryan Newman. Wood stars in the updated version of the 1980 horror film as Frank Zito, a New York City loner who serves as landlord of a small apartment complex by day and stalks the streets to kill women by night.

Wood’s turn as Zito is bound to be very different from the late Joe Spinell’s cult classic version of the character, not just because of their physical differences, but also because director Alejandre Aja has apparently opted to shoot “Maniac” entirely from Wood’s own perspective.

“[It's] entirely in POV,” Wood revealed to MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival, where he’s busy promoting “Celeste And Jesse Forever.” “You only ever see me in reflections and occasionally there are out-of-body experiences where you see more of me.”

Wood added that while he’s not a fan of remakes in general, it was the “very different approach” that Aja has taken to this version of “Maniac” that made him bite.

“I normally don’t love the notion of remakes,” he said. “I’ve said that I’m averse to it, especially in horror films. But the approach was so different and so unique that I was really intrigued. It was fun.”

Tell us what you think of Wood’s “Maniac” news in the comments section and on Twitter!

There are two words that can best describe Sundance: pizza tacos.

Okay, maybe those are just the two words best fit to describe the way the MTV Movies team has been chowing down here in Park City over the past two days. There are better words to describe the film festival experience as a whole, but we’ll just pick one and repeat it three times: movies, movies, movies!

We’ve been digesting screenings and pumping out interviews like there’s no tomorrow (which, of course, there is, also jam-packed with screenings and interviews). Highlights of the past 24 hours include getting to talk with “West of Memphis” producer Peter Jackson, director Amy Berg, West Memphis Three defendant Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis; rapping with both Jackson and Elijah Wood about their returns to Middle-earth in “The Hobbit,” which still has about 100 days of filming left; getting some “maybe” time in with once and future “Arrested Development” star Alia Shawkat; and, of course, catching an all-too-brief glimpse of the fetching Taylor Swift on the “Ethel” red carpet.

Movie-wise, we’ve seen a ton. “Celeste and Jesse Forever,” the romantic dramedy starring Wood, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg and Emma Roberts. “Red Lights,” featuring an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver. “We Belong Together” with rising superstar Joel Edgerton and the astonishingly beautiful (as in-our-jaws-are-still-on-the-ground levels of beautiful) Teresa Palmer, both of whom we also spoke to. Excellent films worth seeing, all of them.

The movie madness does not end there. Today we’re seeing flicks like “Lay the Favorite” and “For Ellen.” We’re talking to an eclectic roster of stars including Alison Brie, Joshua Jackson, Michael Cera, Neil Young (Neil Young?!), and the billion dollar superstars Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. If we have time, we’re even going to swing by the Sugar Festival After Dark tonight, with guests including the likes of Mary J Blige and Estelle.

Oh, and more pizza tacos. At this point, pizza tacos are a given.

‪The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially underway, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked to MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.‬

As someone whose college moviegoing experiences are defined by “Lord of the Rings,” watching Peter Jackson in action at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this morning was a bit of a thrill. The man has traded Middle-earth for Park City this week to support “West of Memphis,” the powerful documentary he produced about the conviction, imprisonment and eventual release of the West Memphis Three — and, of course, to kick off our annual Sundance celebrity photo booth series!

Jackson (alongside “Memphis” director Amy Berg) swung by MTV News’ headquarters at the Puma Social Club to discuss the documentary and the impact he hopes it will have after its Sundance premiere this evening. Bonus points for a nice “Hobbit” update, too! Stay tuned for all of that and more very soon.

Beautifully shot and with a memorable, tough-guy-meets-vulnerable-dad performance from Joel Edgerton, “Wish You Were Here” keeps threatening to become a first-rate mystery tale about secrets, lies and sex.

Its story flits back and forth through time, unspooling a tale about a Cambodian holiday gone bad and the ramifications of an ecstasy-fueled party that leaves one man missing and the lives of his vacation mates in shambles. But there are a few weakly drawn characters and a rushed ending that leaves the timeline-hopping plot strands in an unsatisfying cinematic heap. It all made for an entertaining opening to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday (January 19), but one that left us itching for some truly great festival films in the days to come.

Edgerton plays Dave, an Australian boat builder and father of two, who jets off to Southeast Asia with his pregnant wife, Alice (Felicity Price), her sister, Steph (Teresa Palmer) and Steph’s boyfriend, Jeremy (Antony Starr). They tour Cambodia’s towns, beaches and flea markets. The handheld camera work and rocking score make for a compelling travelogue in these opening scenes. One night, though, they pop pills (save, wisely, for Alice, who heads to bed early). The next day Jeremy is gone, and the remaining three are forever changed. What exactly happened on that drug-addled night is the mystery at the heart of “Wish You Were Here,” and first-time writer/director Kieran Darcy-Smith expertly builds suspense as secrets are revealed through flashbacks and emotional, present-day confessions.

Dave clearly knows more than he initially lets on about what happened in Cambodia, and Edgerton perfectly conveys, often with one glance as the camera stays locked on his gaze, the extent of his anxiety-ridden guilt. Price, too (a relative unknown on American shores), delivers a layered, affecting performance as she learns, along with the audience, the brutal truths at the center of the film. Palmer, though, is given little to work with in the script, a problem not only of character but of storytelling, since her actions are so integral to driving the drama forward.

Yet “Wish You Were Here” still manages to be a taut mystery — until, that is, the film’s final act, as Darcy-Smith rushes to wrap everything up, leaving plot holes aplenty and a healthy dose of confusion. We won’t give anything away, but we will say this. If the lessons of films like “Midnight Express,” “Brokedown Palace” and “Return to Paradise” weren’t already clear, let “Wish You Were Here” be the final word: travel abroad for the towns, beaches and flea markets — and skip the drugs.