Weekend at the moofies

So, I didn't do anything last Friday or Saturday night, apart from watch a few movies that I had been meaning to - and one that I didn't mean to, did anyway, and lost a few brain cells as a reward.

First up, Memento. I paused the film halfway through to close up windows and blinds around the house, grab a drink and have a stretch, and I felt super weird. The scenes are cut in reverse chronological order, and the way Guy Pearce portrays the main character Leonard (and his loss of short term memory ability) made me feel extremely disjointed. I closed up the blinds and suddenly it felt like someone else had done them, and that only half of my brain was active. Awesome. Anyway, the movie kept me on the edge of my seat (metaphorically speaking, I was lying down) right to the end, where you find out how Lenny got himself in his current predicament (considering the scenes are backwards, the logical ending to the film!).

Saturday (after going for a run in the morning), I re-watched American Beauty. I'd forgotten how both awakening and enjoyable this film was, from watching the plastic bag blowing around in the wind with the leaves to Lester working through issues (otherwise known as stuff) to get to a place in his life where he was happy. Considering the amount of unenjoyment of this film that Australian high school students are put through... I dunno. Being a bit older now makes me realise that this'd be a film that you would want maturing teenagers to seriously think about.

Finally, Akira. I've had a few people give me the "it's not as good as everybody says it is", and I agree to a certain extent. The thing that grabbed me was the constant screaming of the characters at each other, which was grating and annoying. Other than that, ground-breaking, yeah, but Neon Genesis: Evangelion had the same feel: the writer just wanted to one-up everybody by showing how smart they were with a slightly incomprehensible story-line.
That and you could see where Dragonball(z?) took it's characters powering up and stuff from. And stuff. Heh.