Would love to see a link to articles/papers on these new approaches.

Loved the noir feel of Dark City and how we we had to learn what was happening along with the main character.

I didn't see this before I posted about Zero Effect (and Dead Again). I've watched Zero Effect a few times now and love the humor and acting. Ben Stiller plays the straight man, the Watson to Pullman's Holmes, which is a different role for him. And Pullman is fantastic.

Loved "The Dish" and it makes a great compliment to Apollo 11 and the other recent moon landing documentaries and movies.

Agreed. One of my favorites of the 80s rom-coms and rarely mentioned with the others.

Zero Effect, starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller, had the misfortune of coming out in January of 1998 while everyone was still going to see Titanic. It's got great, dry humor and a story reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. Dead Again stars Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, with wonderful acting and a very tightly edited plot. I see new aspects each time I watch it. Most people I mention it to have never heard of it.

I second the recommendation of the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro headphones. Even without music they significantly reduce noise. I use them to reduce server noises. I've also used them while mowing the lawn with a gas-powered mower and was able to set the iPod to a fairly low level before starting the mower and still listen to it at that level while running the mower. With normal headphones I have to turn the volume up significantly while mowing. They also have excellent music reproduction.

I do find them a bit heavy to wear all day, every day. But I've tried two noise reduction headphones and they were less comfortable for me.