I was really bored with it by the end the first time, and then some friends said, "Hey, let's go see Memento!" and I said, "Sure, maybe I missed something the first time because it seemed like it should be good!" and then I had the same bored, frustrated feeling at the end.

It's not that it's exceptionally horrible or anything, it's just that once you get over the gimmick it's extremely unremarkable, and actually crappy in some respects. All those things you point out? The POV and Hitchcock-ian stuff? I don't consider that all too remarkable any more. Any film school student worth getting their degree should be able to do something like that.

And then my reaction to it got even more negative the more I heard people talk it up like this hallmark entry in contemporary cinema, I won't deny that.

And oh yeah, it also doesn't help that Christopher Nolan minus a clever story has been relatively run-of-the-mill in his two successive films.