Since movie going has long been a national pastime, we feel it is important to educate our readers about movies that have the brain as subject matter. We will find that accuracy is not a criterion when it comes to the brain as subject matter. On with the list:

1. The Man With Two Brains (1983). Steve Martin plays Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr, a brilliant surgeon who falls in love with a brain in a jar (Sissy Spacek). Quite entertaining, as we learn that beauty is in the brain of the beholder.

2. Blade Runner (1982). In this Harrison Ford sci-fi movie, pupillometry is used to identify alien beings. In the mid-eighties, Dr. Stein operated a laboratory that used pupillometry (measurement of pupil dilation) to determine sexual preference in sex offenders. Just as Blade Runner was sci-fi, so was the naive belief that we could determine sexual interest with pupil dilation, which is a crude measure of sympathetic arousal and, presumably, "interest."

3. The Terminal Man (1974). In this intelligent sci-fi movie, George Segal comes under the control of computers in his brain that cause temporal lobe seizures, resulting in considerable mayhem. In real life, while temporal lobe seizures can involve elaborate motor behavior, targeted aggression is rare (but it does happen).

4. Awakenings (1990). This poignant dramatic story follows Dr. Oliver Sacks as he cares for patients with encephalitis lethargica by treating them with 1-dopa. Astounding results ultimately lead to disappointment and some lessons about the brain and about life.

5. Everything You've Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask) (1972). The final segment in this Woody Allen comedy has Tony Randall playing a brain in control of a man having sex. Not to be missed.

6. Shattered (1991). This mystery stars Tom Berenger as a man with amnesia following a car accident, who slowly realizes that things are not as they seem. This movie has the best twist ending ever. See it and tell me I'm wrong.

7. I Never Sang For My Father (1970). Gene Hackman stars as a grown man caring for his deteriorating elderly father (Melvyn Douglas). Better than the ordinary "disease of the week" movies, this one really gets to the heart of what it is like to watch a loved one deal with dementia.

8. The Snake Pit (1948). Many hokey mental hospital movies have been made, but this classic starring Olivia DeHavilland remains one of the most intelligent and harrowing movies on the subject.

9. Jacob's Ladder (1990). Tim Robbins plays a Vietnam vat who suffers hallucinations and dissociative episodes, and cannot seem to figure out whether he is in the real world or the nightmare of his imagination.

10. The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Just how manipulable is the human mind? Reports of brainwashing during the Korean War inspired this story that follows star Frank Sinatra as a soldier who is a victim of post-hypnotic suggestion following a stay at a Korean POW camp. Later research showed that brainwashing was indeed possible for the short-term, but its effects were only temporary.

To the best of my knowledge, all these movies are available at your local video store. Let Me know what you think!