Criterion Year Week 52: Following

The Criterion Collection, the last vestige of truly collectible DVD and Blu-Ray movies in existence. These are well produced, fancy pants editions of important and interesting films for the discerning film lover. We continue our journey through Jim's collection of movies with... Following Spine Number: 638 Director: Christopher Nolan Genre: Drama We have never hid our love of Christopher Nolan on this show. Ever since he hit the scene with "Memento," he has stood out as one of the most distinctive and unique filmmakers in the industry. He holds the unique distinction of never having directed a bad movie. Everything he's done might not be perfect or great, but he has yet to make a movie that is bad or boring. Before he played with the idea of liner narration, before he completely changed everyones idea of a "comic book movie," and before he said, "A dream heist movie? Why not?" he made "Following." This is one of those rare first films that really shows you who the filmmaker is. Everything that defines Nolan as a filmmaker is here. The blind spots, the non-linear story flashes, the twist that wasn't really a twist, all of it is here. Nolan has refined who he is as a filmmaker, but he sprung pretty much fully formed with this thing. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's only 70 minutes long and well worth your time.  Next week,    Spine number 647: On The Waterfront  Also, check this out. The Life Masters is now it's own show with its own site and own dedicated feed. That's right, we have two completely different shows!  Right now check it out at www.thelifemasters.podbean.com. You can also drink in our brilliance on Youtube for both The Film Thugs and The Life Masters. http://fantasymovieleague.com/ Looks like Summer Movie League has officially become Fantasy Movie League. It looks quite fun. Here's how it works. You have an 8 screen theater. Every week you pick movies and have a budget/salary cap you have to stay under. Then you compete against other theaters in your league. It's fantasy football for movie people. Our league is Film Thugs 2015 and the password is Porterhouse. And remember, you can be a part of the show any time you wild like. How's that? All you have to do is call or e-mail us. If you live in the US, or any place that makes calling the US easy, just dial 512-666-RANT and leave us a voicemail. We will read the Google Voice transcript and play your message. It's both funny AND informative. If you live outside the US you can call us on Skype at The_Film_Thugs. You can leave a message, or someone might actually answer. E-mail us at [email protected] and we will read/play whatever you send us, or you can e-mail [email protected] to be part of  an upcoming "Ask the Film Thugs" show, where we answer questions on any subject without having heard them first. Also, we are on twitter @thefilmthugs and on Facebook and Vine. Also, be sure to check back often for our new endeavor The Life Masters, where we answer questions to other advice columnists. Thanks for listening, and until next week...