I taught film study courses for about two years. In the process I have to admit I have forced my opinion and film choices on students. While I think I have great taste in films, my students didn’t seem to agree, but I can’t get enough of Slingblade, Ghost Dog, Eraserhead, which a few of my students yacked when they saw (you know the scene) and Ichi the Killer (Ichi was off the record and was not required viewing since I could have really gotten in trouble for the violence in that film.)
But when I got to my Modern Masters series and introduced Chris Nolan and Batman, we didn’t watch Batman, but it was the only way to get the students interested initially, I didn’t have to work hard at all to get the interaction level up. I introduced the film Following, a very short Nolan film that I highly recommend. I was going to get all introspective and longwinded in this review, but I thought that since everybody is now a bigger Nolan fan due to Inception, I think I just need to make the recommendation and get it over with. Following may one of the slickest films created, but while it has its own endearing qualities it is this film that I think makes Nolan one of the greatest storytellers of our generation:
Memento made me forget that Trinity, from the Matrix, was actually an actress and not just the really cool karate kicking chick in black spandex. Carrie Anne Moss, played Trinity by the way. Memento is a film that requires you to actually quit talking, quit eating popcorn and pay attention. But it is the film that I would guess led to Inception. Guy Pearce probably would have been more engaging in the Inception than the perpetually young Leo Cap. But like I said I am making this a short entry and recommending for anyone who loves film to hit up Netflix, or below as long as it stays up on YT and watch these two Nolan films and then tell me what you think.
