Memento

Rating:
Summary: Memento....
Review: What a brilliant film, leaving you slightly stunned, but dying to watch it again, brilliantly mastered, intellgently shot, a true masterpiece. Leonard Shelby creates emotions in us all, whether it be pity, fear or hatred, a character you can't help but want to know.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent & unique
Review: It's uncommon manner of presentation makes this film unique & sets it above the other suspense/thriller movies. We immediately know how it ended right at the start of the movie but what makes it extraordinarily gripping is the series of events that led to its real denouement. The 'twist' at the end of the film (which is actually the start of the entire movie) explains all the why's & how's you may have felt while watching it. Moreover, watching it the 2nd time around makes you comprehend more. You realize that you missed something during your 1st viewing, & watching it again helps you understand the film better. My husband & I have seen it twice, & we still debate as to what has actually transpired. Isn't that amazing?

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, ingenious, superb filmaking!
Review: I saw this film today, and I am sure I am going to see it at least two more times. It was ... the best thriller -well it's not really a thriller, maybe it fits into the film-noir category- I've seen in a long time. The story and the editing are just incredible. In fact, you need to see this movie a couple of times. Things are not one dimensional, they have three four or God knows how many things you can think about the way the story may unfold. If you like movies that lets you form your own opinions about the characters and about reality and the many interpretations it can have, well, this movie is for you.
Finally a non formulaic suspense film. Excellent. Watch this! OK enough. WATCH IT! ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR.

Rating:
Summary: Intensely interesting noir thriller
Review: This is the best noir mystery thriller I've seen in many years. The lead character, Lenny (Guy Pearce - is excellent) has anterograde amnesia, and is seeking revenge for his injury and his wife's murder. He is only cognizant of brief spans of the present, before his short term memory is lost. The film is edited to instill this same feeling of uncertainty of facts, relationships, and self-trust in the viewer. The story unfolds backwards, in brief spans, in a way that grabs your interest in the unravelling, like a top-notch mystery. This is the type of movie that has you still thinking about it hours after it is over. If you love mystery thrillers, or like studying films, this film is a must.

My only disappointment is that the DVD did not have a director commentary audio track. However, it did include an IFC Interview with the director, Christopher Nolan. This includes some insights into this film, the festival showings, and the relationship between this film and his brother's short story. Other extras are "ok" -- trailers, and a lot of handwritten notes, stills, and a newspaper article hyperlinked together...largely a time-vampire, much effort you'll spend to get very little insight. The IFC interview was the only good DVD extra.

This is an independent film that leaped from the festivals to the big screens, which is rare. Cinematography, multi-layered story, editing, and acting are the reason for it's success. Supporting actors are Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano (both from Matrix), are excellent. It does have many small twists, including the ending. The twists are non-Hollywood enough that you don't guess most of them. The only down side to the movie is that it seems slightly long (but never boring)... and trying to avoid reading too much press hype before you see it.

Rating:
Summary: Great idea
Review: I just saw this movie and I have not had a chance to think about it very much yet, but the idea that everything is in the perception is always an intriguing one. First, running the story backwards is inticing--a brilliant way to isolate pure perception from interpretation. Anything that shows how the passage of time affects our memory and opinions is a winner. What was disappointing was that superimposed over this simple and gigantic concept, was a lot of silliness about murder and personal deception. The twisting of memory and the concept of time was deception enough. Overdone. Maybe shooting for both depth and marketability is not such a great formula. Notice I still gave it four stars--greatness underlies this plot-encumbered story.

Rating:
Summary: interesting but with loopholes
Review: the way this movie is filmed is fairly unique; the action sequences are running backwards in time while the telephone conversations of the lead character, Leonard (Guy Pearce) moves forward. the parallel time streams were presented well and the phone conversations are shot in black and white to help ingrain the timing distinction.

however, this movie is a mystery at its core -- a logic puzzle and there are several things that makes the premise unbelieveable. the primary problem is why Leonard is able to run around given that he was connected (victim or not, the degree depends on your interpretation of the film -- but probably a victim if you analyze the tattoos) with one or more homicide. given his condition, it's difficult not to either be released to his closest kin, or be committed... either of which would have prompted a search of a missing, potentially derranged, and dangerous, person.

given his condition, i can't imagine him eluding any kind of manhunt -- he is just so easily remembered. it's also difficult to believe Natalie (Moss) wouldn't turn him in for either revenge for Jimmy or to tie up a loose end with Dodd. there's no reason Dodd wouldn't turn Leonard in (even as an anonymous tip) -- well, maybe not Natalie or Dodd per se but others like them that Leonard's probably met in the past.

for a guy that's so disciplined (to the point of tattooing instructions), Leonard also seem to rarely keep a pen on his person... that's not a short term memory problem, that's logically irresponsible.

finally, it's really reaching that a cop would use such a loose cannon like Leonard, who takes polariod 'momentos' and accumlates so much circumstantial evidence of everyone.

if, however, you sit back and don't think about the film from a logical starting point... it's not a bad movie with some credible acting and otherwise good direction.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This movie streches the idea of conventional cinema more than any that I have seen in a long time. This is not a movie for those looking for a mindless series of dialogue and explosions. This movie makes you think and in the end the reward is well worth it. PS: If you like this movie, FIGHT CLUB is VERY highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: one crazy ride
Review: this movie is odd and i love odd movies. its almost quentin tarantino-ish. it starts at the end and goes in reverse the whole time till it gets to the beginning. it's abt this guy that is involved in an "incident" and loses his short term memory. he takes polaroids to remember people and places (i.e. where he stays, what he drives, his friends, etc.) i was very surprised at how it ended (or began if you want to get technical) it's a really good movie especially if you like twisted weird things. i recommend it to everyone! you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Riveting!
Review: This is a thinking man's movie. It required the viewer to be engaged and perceptive. I tried to turn everyone on to this excellent flick. Some people got it and loved it as much as I did. I had friends that hated it though. These would be the same friends that refuse to get involved in a movie. They want to turn their brains off and watch such fare as Jet Li's "The One".

Rating:
Summary: Excellent performances but....
Review: MEMENTO somehow made it to the top of the critics' TOP 10 lists when it was in wide theatrical release last year. Although I really admired and enjoyed the principals' performances (Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano), the film doesn't deliver in the end, literally.

Much was made of the film's "structure", with Guy Pearce going back and forth through the same events, whether in his mind or real life, it doesn't matter because it didn't come together in the final moments. This so-called groundbreaking "structure" was seen some 40 years earlier in the French Surrealist film "L'Annee Derniere a Marienbad" (Last Year at Marienbad.) There, it was a story of two lovers who relive the same moments in the same place and time over and over again. The black-and-white photography, the same phrases of music, the repeated pan-and-scan shots of the hotel and its lavish surroundings emphasized the hallucinatory nature of their memories, real or imagined. The movie was then and is now still bizarre and original. The critics should've given it due credit in their reviews of MEMENTO.

MEMENTO's editor should be the one receiving the critical praise for making this disjointed story work as well as it does. I still didn't find the ending to be a resolution. It was just the start of another "repetition" for Leonard.

I'd give it 4 stars for the acting, but 3 stars overall because it was some 20 minutes too long, and the ending wasn't that at all.