Well, I finally watched
Inland Empire. Surrealist film is something I've become rather interested in recently, but don't feel like I'm educated on it enough to really "critique" this movie. I'm not totally sure to what extent you even can critique surrealism on a logical level since it's not necessarily even supposed to be logically coherent. But yeah, watching this, or anything truly surreal, is quite the experience--and that's basically the whole point (I think), to create an emotional experience with some intellectual/philosophical ideas expressed in the mix, perhaps.
Inland Empire in particular has more of a horror aspect to it than most, which I enjoyed, and feel is something the realm surrealism can approach in a very effective and unique way.
All I can say is that if you want to experience something you didn't even know existed, or feel like you're on drugs without actually doing them, then give something like
Inland Empire a shot. But be warned.
If you're not familiar with David Lynch, even the first five minutes will be the biggest WTF moment you've ever experienced in a movie.
Maybe this will help explain what I mean...
And that's just one frame of a 3 hour movie.