I felt like I was watching one of my own dreams on screen or something
The dream imagery in Donnie Darko was definitely my favourite aspect of the movie, and I liked the sense that Donnie had a whole other world unfolding inside his head because it seemed intimately familar in a nice creepy way. But I found the ending too predictable, it felt like a cop-out in a way I don't think I can properly articulate--it was very much a nonsensical gut-reaction thing.
you know how sometimes a movie or something feels likes its explaining something about you to yourself?
Yeah, that's a great way of describing how I feel about Restless, oddly enough. Definite moment of instant recognition, there. In a way, my love for that episode is almost separate from my BtVS fanishness (that so isn't a word, but it needs to be, damnit!), even if my knowledge of the characters and such informs my reaction to it. I don't think I've ever felt that way about a film, though--I'm too cynical about the medium, or something. Maybe cinema is just too finite for me--a bad ending usually ruins the film for me, but a bad ending to a novel seems to have a less dramatic effect on my reaction, probably because I can't read a book in two or so hours.