SFF: "Think of Me" (Retitled "About Sunny") Review/ Bryan Wizemann Interview

     I'd like to start this, my first post since the Colorado theater shootings, by taking a moment to pause and remember. Remember those who lost their lives and those lives that were saved. Remember that there is a God and that He has a plan. It is when tragedy strikes and that plan is less evident that we must remember it all the more. Christopher Nolan said best what is in my and I'm sure all of our hearts, "I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting, but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me." Take not for granted that it was not your "home" that was invaded that early Friday morning.

Think of Me * * * *

"Following" My Extended Absence

     I have been away for far too long. Rather than give an extended explanation and apology, I'll simply say that I'm sorry and offer as compensation the fulfillment of one of my long overdue blog promises: typing up, tweaking, and posting my old hand-written review for Following.

Following * * * ½

     Film and story aren't synonymous. One encapsulates, manipulates, and then presents the other. As Roger has essentially said before, "Film is not only concerned with the telling of a story, but also in the way in which it is told." Even going back to their roots, the Nolan broth-ers exemplified a keen understanding of these facts. Though it was with their sophomore effort Memento that they earned notoriety and prestige; it was while they still stood on the precipice of that fame that they first demonstrated their mastery of storytelling with their freshman foray into cinema: Following.

     Following's starkly minimalistic black and white frames lend a documentary-like gritty realism to its stylized and streamlined plot. The film's allure doesn't just stem from its plot though. As with Memento, it is the way in which the film's plot unfolds that develops its intrigue.