REMINISCENCE - Unofficial & Fan Reviews (Potential Spoilers)

[jo]

From a British actress who attended the premiere. Not part of the cast so comments are not self-serving.

[jo]

From a media person --

[jo]

Check IMDB-Reminiscence 2021 page -

sorry, not very proficient yet using an iPad

126 fans have sent in numeric reviews & film scored a high 81% both in terms of number of voters & how they voted! Best scores came from the youngest subset of voters - the fanboy demos!!

Also 3 written reviews - 3 with 10/10 …1 with a “ very poor” review (checked his other reviews - seems to delight in his kind of writing)

Will check rotten tomatoes next .

Jo

[jo]

No official reviews & audience score yet on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jo

[njr]

Aug 16, 2021 20:58:51 GMT -5 jo said:

Check IMDB-Reminiscence 2021 page -

sorry, not very proficient yet using an iPad

126 fans have sent in numeric reviews & film scored a high 81% both in terms of number of voters & how they voted! Best scores came from the youngest subset of voters - the fanboy demos!!

Also 3 written reviews - 3 with 10/10 …1 with a “ very poor” review (checked his other reviews - seems to delight in his kind of writing)

Will check rotten tomatoes next .

Jo

I’ve used an iPad exclusively since 2016 and I LOVE it!


www.imdb.com/title/tt3272066/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1


Nancy

[jo]

My problem is I need to find out how I can do the same things as I can with a laptop… we had a major telecomm outage problem in the main server which took a few days to resolve…unfortunately my connection will have to be looked into by the field team…any given that we are now on the strictest lockdown - not sure how fast I can get back to normal.

Read & seen many clips & reminiscence promos but can’t post them 🥲

* premiere in LA taking place now - red not blue carpet — Hugh reminiscence posters in huge versions all over the place! Hugh has started filming The Son in London - unlikely to be there ( maybe a video clip msg?)

Argghhh

Jo

[jo]

if you use link given by not - follow thru to the link for users ratings.

Now at 181 votes with average votes holding well at 7.9!

Best trend is that it is the males at age group 18-29 yrs old ( most sought after demos - fanboys who are fans of superhero & sci-fi & action movies - likes to do repeat business) & followed by the 45+ yrs old demos!

Somewhat disappointing is the response of female voters - hopefully will pick up once the movie is released,

Many promo clips out there!

Jo

[jo]

Given by Nancy - sorry my iPad won’t type n j r - very disobedient iPad🤨

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

Amazon has already handed Lisa and Jonathan Nolan a 5-year contract to make films for their streaming service.

Jo

[jo]

From Toronto fans --

[jo]

Another review from Southeast Asia -- IGN Southeast Asia --

REMINISCENCE
Reminiscence - Review
Westworld’s Lisa Joy brings us another intriguing sci-fi thriller.


+
Reminiscence Review
Thecurvycritic



Posted Aug. 19, 2021, 12:20 a.m.
Reminiscence hits theaters on Aug. 20.

What would you do for just one more chance to play fetch with your furry best friend, grab that baby scent from your now all-too-adult child, or wrap your arms around a lost loved one? Lisa Joy imagines a world where there’s a machine that could enable you to relive all those memories in her feature directorial debut Reminiscence, a film noir-inspired, mind-bending thriller that reminds us that the past doesn’t haunt us -- we haunt the ghosts of our past.

In Reminiscence, former veteran Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), now a private investigator of the mind, finds himself navigating worlds of memories for a quirky variety of clients until his life is changed in an instant while locking eyes with Mae (Rebecca Ferguson). A simple case of locating Mae’s lost keys turns into an obsession. Once she mysteriously vanishes, Nick spends every waking moment fighting to learn the truth regarding her whereabouts and why she disappeared.

Although there are slight similarities to other futuristic dramas like Total Recall and Minority Report, Reminiscence has more heart than some of the other entries in the genre. This is even reflected in the production design, with Joy shooting in mostly muted grey and blue tones to illustrate a world in which humans have become stuck between the present and their memories. These very conscious visual choices are quite intriguing, and drive home that melancholic feeling of yearning for the past.

Mae, meanwhile, stands out in bright, jewel-tone shades of red and blue, a burst of excitement for Nick. And fortunately, Ferguson and Jackman’s chemistry is pure fire, the kind of film noir leading man and woman that leave you wanting more. Ferguson channels Lauren Bacall chanteuse vibes while crooning the Rodgers and Hart classic “Where or When” (with its fitting nostalgic lyrics), while Jackman again proves he’s a character actor in a leading man’s body. He has a likeability that harkens back to true classic movie stars like Cary Grant and James Stewart; we root for him, and want him to have a happy ending with the woman he loves at all costs.


Nick’s chemistry with his best (and only) friend, Emily Watts (Thandiwe Newton, who previously worked with Joy on Westworld), is memorable in a completely different way. Nick loves and respects Emily, but is in love with Mae, which proves to be a hard pill to swallow for Emily. Newton’s skill, substance, and character work stands out here; when she walks into a New Orleans bar and lights it up like the Fourth of July, it’s exhilarating to watch.

Where Reminiscence runs into issues is, ironically, the ways in which it reflects its own premise. There are portions of the story that feel like they’re on a loop -- just like a memory. While the idea of revisiting the past physically and mentally is alluring, watching that play out in the movie is less interesting. To quote Nick himself, “memories are like perfume… better in small doses.”


Even still, Joy’s exciting aesthetic choices keep us interested. The setting, a futuristic and nearly underwater Miami, is intriguing, with Joy exploring the class issues that exist within it through production design. In one beautifully shot scene in particular, centering on a fight in the water, the camera pulls all the way back so we can clearly see how deep the water is -- and how heavy the stakes are. This all drives home Reminiscence’s core message: tomorrow is not guaranteed, so live in the present.

The Verdict
Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), a private investigator of the mind, navigates the darkly alluring world of the past by helping his clients access lost memories. Living on the fringes of the sunken Miami coast, his life is forever changed when he takes on a new client, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson). A simple matter of lost and found becomes a dangerous obsession. As Bannister fights to find the truth about Mae's disappearance, he uncovers a violent conspiracy, and must ultimately answer the question: how far would you go to hold on to the ones you love?

Unlike other negative reviews ( especially those from the top reviewers from the USA), this review appreciates the story and the characters as they were written... and to appreciate the unwieldy world that Lisa Joy's storytelling present to the audience!

Jo

[jo]

From new comments attached to the trailer --

Ann
20 hours ago
Saw a screening, it was such an amazing movie! Definitely gonna watch again to tie it all together ❤ wow!



One Man On Fire
One Man On Fire
17 hours ago
Saw it at a screening also so I know how you feel

Hope this is he real reception with audiences!

Hope the fanboys and fangirls support it in a big way!

[jo]

From initial readers reviews on Rotten Tomatoes --

3.5 of 5
Pedro A
2h ago
"With a not very appealing plot, 'Reminiscense' delivers good moments of Hugh Jackman acting, good character development and a promising story that starts badly but ends well. Overall it's a good movie, with a CGI without complaints, and good romance mixed with good deed. "

5 of 5
Ole J
3h ago
A film like no other. Cool vibe of film-noir in a crime-thriller for aficionados. Don't let haters decide. Well worth a visit to your cinema.

5 of 5
Leandro M
2h ago
Here Lisa Joy shone again. A movie with lots of action, romance and impeccable CGI. The Cast was well chosen because we had good moments of good acting in dramatic scenes and in her new work Lisa didn't let go of her pleasure for enigma. Although the story starts a bit slow from the middle to the end, the film is just plain fire. Grade 10!!!!!

[jo]

MOVIES
REMINISCENCE SHOWS WHY HUGH JACKMAN CAN’T GO BACK TO WOLVERINE AGAIN
AUGUST 19, 2021 JESSE 0 COMMENTS


Ryan Reynolds is at it again: A new round of press for his new movie Free Guy has meant another parallel round of Reynolds goofing on his former co-star of X-Men Origins: Wolverine—not least because Jackman does quick vocal cameo in the mostly video-game-set comedy. As it happens, Jackman also has a new movie out this month, so his press rounds for Reminiscence have included him discussing how much Reynolds wants to do a Deadpool/Wolverine team-up, and how Jackman doesn’t think that’s in the cards.

Reynolds and Jackman did, of course, team up briefly during that Wolverine prequel that introduced the wisecracking mercenary Wade Wilson, played by Reynolds (as well as the mutated and muted version that re-appears at that film’s misbegotten climax). Since then, Reynolds has resurrected Deadpool as an extremely popular and self-referential R-rated superhero, while Jackman has gone on to make two Wolverine movies that were actually good-to-great. Seems like everything worked out for both of them, but in the spirit of nothing being left alone, it makes sense enough that Reynolds would like a reunion that hitches Deadpool’s insouciant wisecrackery to Wolverine’s gruff irritability. It would probably be a fun and funny variation on the X-Men series that fans would enjoy.

It would also place the sensibilities of two major stars directly at odds. And not necessarily in the usual, familiar buddy-comedy way.

Jackman understand the value of franchise allegiance better than most. His career was jumpstarted by his casting as Wolverine over 20 years ago in the first X-Men movie, and he went on to play the part as the lead in six more films, plus two cameos. But most of his non-Wolverine roles are more like his part in Reminiscence, where he plays a noirish sorta-hero who isn’t sure if he’s a de facto cop or a manipulated patsy. Last year, he gave one of his finest performances as a Long Island educator whose people-pleasing slickness hides a career of embezzlement (as well as his closeted homosexuality) in Bad Education. He’s also played charismatic but doomed politician Gary Hart in The Front Runner and the obsessed parent of a kidnapped child in Prisoners. Not every Jackman character is this tortured—one of his biggest hits, The Greatest Showman, is a family-friendly musical that translates his Broadway chops to the big screen—but he seems to save most of his crowd-pleasing for when he plays in front of an actual crowd. In most of his movies, of late, any showmanship masks a hurt, a void, or both.

That’s the side of him that Reminiscence favors. He plays Nick Bannister, proprietor of a rundown facility where he guides people through a tour of their most cherished memories. In a flooded and ravaged Miami of the future, customers come to Nick, who outfits them with a high-tech crown, partially submerges them in a tank, sedates them, and talks them toward the memory they want to relive—a combination truth serum and hypnotic dream state. Nick understands his clients because he himself is stuck in the past; it’s revealed early on that some of what we’re seeing is his memory of when he met May (Rebecca Ferguson), a stunning mystery woman who walked into his life with a simple request for him to help find her misplaced car keys.



Reminiscence builds its own memory-chamber thingie out of the many, many other movies it recalls: Start with the recent time-jumping, memory-warping oeuvre of Christopher Nolan, whose sister-in-law Lisa Joy wrote and directed this film, produced by Nolan’s brother Jonathan, and continue through a litany of Philip K. Dick checkpoints like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, with stops at Vanilla Sky and a host of more overtly noirish movies featuring dames, drink, convoluted amateur investigations, and slightly clumsy ruminations. By comparison to her many touchstones, Joy’s obsessions feel a bit secondhand, like she’s more transfixed by the cinema of elegiac memories than the actual experiences that inform them. The ample time that Jackman and Ferguson do share on screen feels illusory, with none of the real-life notes struck by something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Yet their elusiveness, the feeling that their archetypal, noir-ready, overnarrated courtship starts to fade before the movie’s exposition is even over, also lends Reminiscence some weight, as does Jackman’s accumulated weariness. No longer cartoonishly jacked, coifed, or clawed, he’s still outfitted in ways that recall Wolverine: In one scene he sports that essential Wolverine On Film accessory, a white tank top; when he plugs himself into the watery tank, it recalls the endless flashbacks to Logan’s own foggy past. Even weirder, other elements of the movie recall The Greatest Showman, of all things, wherein he plays another man bewitched by the beauty and singing voice of a character played by Rebecca Ferguson. (There’s even a scene using sheets hung to dry on rooftops, like an early, romantic musical number in Showman.)

It’s hard to say how intentional any of this really is; this movie doesn’t feel like the work of someone who considers a shlocky revisionist 2017 musical about P.T. Barnum iconic. But the details are there anyway, Jackman’s film career (which also includes a genuine Christopher Nolan movie, The Prestige, with a particularly dark turn for his character) floating through the firmament of this beautiful, underpopulated world. When the movie breaks out into bizarre action scenes, it feels dreamlike, rather than obligatory.

The way Jackman rattles around this effects-laden landscape, looking dissatisfied and lost, serves as a reminder of how gratifyingly uninterested Jackman has seemed in franchise-building in recent years. Logan, his last superhero movie, actually attempted to put a period at the end of a 20-year sentence, and did so with surprising emotion and credibility. (It’s one of the few superhero movies that’s legitimately difficult to watch in parts for reasons other than bad CG.) The Jackman of Reminiscence seems acutely aware of how dangerous nostalgia can be, even if his character may be ready to acquiesce to it.

It might not be fair to compare the brightly colored antics of Free Guy to the brooding ambition of Reminiscence. But they’re both movies that assimilate spare parts into virtual worlds—and Free Guy is as eager to please as Reynolds, just as Reminiscence is as self-consciously serious as Jackman. This also means that outside of their virtual realms, Reminiscence has a credible tactility, with actual sets and memorable imagery, while Free Guy feels as simulated outside the computer as it does inside. The Reynolds film bends its most interesting sci-fi ideas, about the creation of a full-on artificial life form evolving from the questionable environment of a derivative videogame, into a story of cheerful self-actualization. There’s nothing wrong with that, exactly, but it underlines a basic lack of compatibility between Reynolds and Jackman, even if they enjoy joshing around the margins of each others’ projects. After spending two decades playing a man who barely ages, Jackman taps into middle-aged regrets that don’t have much of a place in a Disney-stamped blockbuster-to-be. Meanwhile, in Free Guy, Reynolds labors to look, sound, and act like a daisy-fresh naif, sort of a peculiar shtick to be accessing in your mid-forties. Of course, both men have other modes: Look at Adventureland or Mississippi Grind, where Reynolds plays a man whose slickness has started to calcify and crack; or look at the deadpan humor Jackman brings to his brooding X-Men role. They might well be a great buddy team in the making, in some X-Men spinoff or another realm entirely. But his performance in Reminiscence, even when it succumbs to hard-boiled affectation, makes it difficult to picture him joshing around back in comic-book world, ready to turn nostalgia back into a bloodless playground.

He is a writer/editor for AVClub which submitted an official review to Rotten Tomatoes.

[jo]

I replied to his thoughts on Hugh Jackman's evolving screen persona.

I also added this tweet to show him how far Hugh's persona (looks-wise) is also evolving on stage. His Italian-American Chicago cop is as far away from his Wolverine persona as Craig's departure from his Bond roles has!

Jesse Hassenger
liked your reply

That's a thoughtful insight into HughJackman's evolving acting persona!He's been exploring his dramatic range(no matter the genre)on both film&stage.HisB'way work has evolved in musicals&drama. In SteadyRain w/DanielCraig,both portrayed roles far from their famous film personas!

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

More readers reviews on Rotten Tomatoes ( hmmm... the readers are posting completely opposite impressions to what the critics are saying -- will this movie defy critical reviews to some extent?) --

5 of 5
Albert M
3h ago
Loved it! It's the first film I've watched that is like what life feels like. Desire, pain, loss, love, betrayal, holding onto what never was in the hope that happiness is possible, realizing it's not, and taking solace in the memory. I imagine the whole film is like the moment before death that some people would call heaven. I plan to watch it many more times, great job by all.


5 of 5
Johnathon R
4h ago
It was a really good movie. Hugh Jackman did a really good job & so did the rest of the cast I also like any movies that the Nolan brothers produce write or direct & Lisa did great job at writing producing & directing. The moment the movie started out & The theme of the movie it felt like I was watching a Christopher Nolan film so u get a 5 star's for that.


5 0f 5
Bailey W
7h ago
Great movie. May have made me cry, may have not. Would recommend it if you're into something a bit different

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]