Explanation of the time sequences

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2001)

Don't read this one unless you have already seen the movie...could ruin the fun!
I noticed that many people have stated in their reviews that time goes backwards in the movie. That is actually only half right. The sequences are interleaved -- one color sequence, then one black and white sequence. The color sequences start at the end and get progressively earlier in time, while the B&W sequences start at the beginning and progress forward in time (i.e., each one picking up where the last left off). The final sequence of the movie (which is the middle of the story) starts in black and white, then brilliantly and subtly shifts into color as the two timelines come together (the shift occurs as the polaroid of Jimmy G is developing).
To illustrate, let's say there are 11 sequences in the movie. Temporally, they occurr in order from 1 to 11. However, in the movie, they appear 1, 11, 2, 10, 3, 9, 4, 8, 5, 7, 6, where 1-5 are B&W, 7-11 are color, and 6 begins in B&W then changes to color.
Definitely a new and interesting twist -- I thought it was sort of like "Pulp Fiction" (out of sequence storyline) meets "The Usual Suspects" (ending which calls into question all assumptions made by the viewer since the beginning) meets the book "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis (man lives his entire live in reverse).
After I saw it the first time, there was a strange lingering affect, where for a while afterward, linear time didn't seem quite right to me. Almost a flashback sort of effect.