Memoria

I found this to be a deeply affecting film. It's not fun by any means, but the dialogue felt really on-point in its realism and it did a great job of really making us understand just how the lead character felt. The whole mundane existence that he felt he was living, I've seen many films try to accomplish it but I think this one greatly succeeded. It puts everything into perspective as to why these awful things happen and why these people, who are many times just like the rest of us, are on the brink of committing acts that could ruin the rest of their lives. Really god acting as well, really well-written and directed. I definitely recommend this film to anyone wiling to endure some hard-to-watch realism.

Seems a bit like a student film, I know James Franco is in it but he's held film-classes and stuff so it's not unreasonable to think that he was asked to appear in a couple scenes by his students.

Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, and initially it shows some promise but it doesn't amount to a whole much

It does feel rather realistic though, the characters do talk and act like a lot of youths do and act like morons for no particular reasons half the time just like many youths do. The ending was extremely out of the blue though.

And there isn't a whole lot of material to connect with, the plot despite it's realistic nature isn't deeply constructed enough and they could have made one of the characters a bit more likable perhaps where as with this none really are.

But it's still not enough for me to write off the directors and writers completely for the future with this being their debut full length feature film, I think their best work is to come though, everyone have to start somewhere and it's not absolutely terrible by any means.

I just saw the poster for this and realised it's actually based on James Franco's memoir book Palo Alto stories, just like 'Palo Alto (2013)' was so if that's what draws you to want to watch this I'd suggest watching that instead cause that's far better and a more complete piece of work.

I don't understand the 7 of 10 rating as of my watching this film. It starts seemingly stupid and continues being stupid. Quit watching after five minutes.

This movie is absolutely "cinematic" it's a day in the life type of movie shot in a way that feels almost like a Hollywood daytime tv movie in one, from the aspect ratio to the grain it feels like you're watching a 90's skater movie, if you like day in the life loose story 90's skater vibes like the movie kids, or mid90's then you will love Memoria, the lighting the dialogue the colors and the acting is all amazing and its movies like this that bring that A24 films feeling. From teenagers smoking and skating to violence and just simple boring chill sesh' this movie has it all!!!! Amazing! Enjoy.

"Memoria" (2015 release; 70 min.) brings the story of Ivan. As the movie opens, we see a guy walking into the Golden Gate Bridge. Is he thinking of jumping off? We then go back in time, as we get to know young Ivan, whose father, a Russian immigrant, has returned to Russia. Ivan's stepfather is the stern type, making awkward attempts to forge a relationship with Ivan. As Ivan grows older, he becomes even more distant from his mom and stepdad, and instead spends time with his friends. At this point we're 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the second movie that is based on James Franco's writings. In 2013 there was the okay "Palo Alto", and now this. As in the earlier movie, Franco plays a small role, as the HS teacher who tries to help out van. Franco has maybe 10 min. of screen time. Indeed, the focus is not on Franco, but on Ivan (played by Sam Dillon) and his HS friends, whose idea of getting through the day is to do as little as possible, while partaking in drugs quasi constantly. As Franco's character says: "I know how hard it an be to be a HS kid", and indeed we feel Ivan's pain and isolation. Ivan comments "I don't care what they think", but instead he does very much care, too much so indeed. An obvious question is why this movie is a mere 70 min., too short really to be a theater-ready full-length feature. Surely, the makers could've come up with, say, another 10 min. of material?

I had no idea that this movie was released (it premiered at film festivals in Fall of 2015, and then next spring went straight to DVD), and when I noticed it the other days at my local library, my curiosity was peaked and I had to check it out. It's not a bad movie per se, but neither is it all that memorable. The similarities between this and the previous "Palo Alto" are obvious, but "Palo Alto" is easily the better of the two movies.