Memento

Rating:
Summary: I think superb really covers it
Review: If you need a film with great acting, a stimulating and smart script and a plot line that you won't sleep through, look no furthur than this noir thriller. The film opens on a brutal image. A photograph of a grisly murder that slowly begins to fade. The photograph slides back into the camera. The flash goes off. The blood slowly begins to disappear from the walls. And the murdered victim rises to his feet. The stage is set for a tense, dramatic and emotional thriller that tells the story of Leonard Shelby (played by an excellent and pretty fine if I do say so Guy Pearce) in reverse. Leonard is searching. He is looking for somebody in particular, the man who raped and murdered his wife. But the only problem is that Leonard suffers from short term memory loss, causing him to forget things that happened minutes before. To remember things, he keeps notes and tattoos important information on his body. With ten minute footage intermixed with a black and white shot subplot, the film takes you on a ride full of twists and turns. You know what the effect is, you know what the present is, but what was the cause? As the film begins to unfold, the story begins to reshape. We meet Teddy (Joe Pantalino? is that right?), a cop who may or may not be on Leonard's side. We also meet a waitress named Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) who may have alterior motives for helping Leonard. The ending left me astounded and wondering what exactly happened the night his wife was killed and what kind of guy is Leonard. I won't give away the ending, but trust me, it wraps it up (excuse me)starts it up nicely. 'Memento' is truly a great picture, why don't more movies like this get seen or even made? It is definately one that will keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering along with Leonard.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning and provacative
Review: A movie told in reverse. Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a man with a medical condition that makes him incapable of making long term memories. All Leonard remembers is someone raped and murdered his wife and he's out for revenge. With the words "Remember Sammy Jenkins" home-tattoed to his hand, Leonard searches for the killer. The continuous story unfolds in broken scenes in reverse order, pieced together by Leonard's tattoe reminders and polaroid notes, giving you a sense of what Leonard Shelby must experience.

Rating:
Summary: Not your typical suspense movie!!!
Review: Dark, suspense, at times humourous, a fantastic movie. The opening scene has Leonard (Guy Pearce) shooting a guy... in reverse (blood flowing back into the body, bullet & shell, back into the gun) to give you an idea of what's to come. This is a fast paced, edge-of-your-seat (sorry for the cliche) movie that uncovers why Leonard killed Teddy. Joe Pantoliano (Teddy) gives an outstanding performance and deserves a nod for best supporting.

Be warned though, if you like your movies tied up in a nice package with a pretty little bow... well you'll still like the movie but you won't be thrilled with the ending. It leaves questions unanswered. You *WILL* talk about this movie after you watch it... and you will watch it again.

Destined to be a classic and definitely on my list of movies to own. I've actually own the DVD (haven't had a chance to watch it) though I was disappointed that they don't give you the option to watch the movie in chronological order. That would have been a cool addition.

Rating:
Summary: Thinking person's action movie.....
Review: Memento was my favorite film last year, and I was very happy to finally find a film that wasn't Planet of the Apes, Tomb Raider, or The Mummy 2. This film is much, much better than any other action movie put out last year. It really makes every other film I saw last year look hollow and boring.

Aspects of the film that I enjoyed were the uncertainty of which reality was being experienced at different times, the nature of the lead character's strong, yet easily-manipulated personality, and the many questions that are left up to the viewer to answer for him or herself. I believe the characteristic of this movie that is most engaging is the subtlety with which aspects of the plot unfold. Subtlety is in very short supply in modern movies, and I was happy to see that it played a very large part in Memento.

The actors gave excellent performances. Solid, two-sides-to-each-decision roles that make you empathize with them, and yet sometimes you are reviled by them.

The best film of the year last year, and I applaud them for making it.

Rating:
Summary: PRETENTIOUS, INDULGENT AND STUPID
Review: Guy Pearce adds another bad tasted movie to his curriculum, summing this up with the utterly ridiculous RAVENOUS. The director had one single purpose here: to enter the history of movie making by shooting the first picture that moves backwards. Ok, he achieved it. Congratulations. But the history... my God, there is none!!! even the "Moral" dilemma of living in that kind of memory disorder is ridiculous !! The solution, for Leonard, is to become a killer, a good one because he doesn't feel regret (because he soons forget what he did!!!). When Teddy says that he already killed the "certain" killer of his wife, and proves it by showing a photo of LEonrad smiling full of blood, Leonard destroys the evidence (by means of burning this photo and the photo of the guy he just had killed), and selecting Teddy to be his next "target", the next man to be hunted to give some meaning to his life!!!! Bad taste, bad taste, bad taste. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Can't Wait To See It Again
Review: Rarely am I excited to watch a movie for a second time after having JUST seen it. But Memento has broken my general rule.

As a college student I'm being exposed to a wide variety of new and intriging information. Among the pool of knowledge is anterograde amnesia, which Leonard (played by Guy Pierce), the main character of Memento, suffers from. He is no longer able to make new memories due to a traumatic brain injury. But the movie isn't just that. It's shot BACKWARDS. You learn Leonard's story slowly, just as he might feel. You see a scene and are left with a ton of questions. The next scene backtracks, showing you the event previous to the scene you just saw. It ends as it begins to trail into the beginning. It's just marvelous. Over lying the main story is scenes shown in black and white. Exactly WHAT is going on in those black and white scenes is yet another mystery and wonderful entanglement of Memento. There's plenty of twists and turns as more and more is shown to you. Who to trust is a big issue and I was on my toes trying to guess exactly what would come next. When the movie wraps up and all the frayed ends are connected for you, the amazing twist at the end leaves you wanting to re-watch the whole thing right then.

Leonard can't make new memories. Imagining what that world must be like, because it is quite a different world from those who can make new memories, is quite impossible. The wonderful writers, actors, and directors of this film have made that world possible. The disjointed fluidness of the film truly make it feel as though you're caught up in Leonard's world. I know I personally can't wait to get caught up in it again and catch more details I might have missed the first time.

Rating:
Summary: spectacular film, average dvd bells and whistles
Review: Alfred Hitchcock was the master of Cinema's Rule One: 'Do not tell. SHOW.' Director/screenwriter Christopher Nolan takes that philosophy a step further in this film noir masterpiece by controlling not only the viewer's visual sense but their perception of time as well, reconstructing the protagonist's attempts to make sense of his world by reading the clues he leaves for himself (and us) and deciding who to trust in order to understand not only what occurs, but why. In effect, Nolan has rewritten the rule: 'Do not show. EXPERIENCE.'

The cast is exceptional, Guy Pearce in particular, and traditional film noir elements are executed very well, with haunting music, taut cinematography, smart dialogue, effective voiceover, and a constant search for motive. Humor is used sparingly and effectively. This is really an editor's film, and Dody Dorn deserves an Oscar nomination for editing this gem.

As for the DVD edition, it is a mixed bag. Though operationally a bit buggy, cinematically and artistically the special features are creative and fun. For instance, interesting scenes run behind the menus, and many film clips appear framed as Polaroid camera shots, both fun to watch and relevant to the film's concept. The original idea for the film was supplied by the director's brother Jonathan, who wrote a short story based on the same idea and designed the film's web site; information rendered from outside the time frame of the film, viewable on the DVD as newspaper clippings and notes by Guy Pearce's Leonard, are adapted from that web site. Also included are Jonathan Nolan's short story, an Independent Film Channel interview with Christopher Nolan, trailers from Memento and an earlier Nolan film, cast and director biographies, subtitles in English or Spanish, and a tattoo gallery (which looked interesting, but I couldn't get it to work on my Power Mac G4). I wish more DVDs would incorporate this kind of material.

I was disappointed because I'd heard that on the DVD you could watch the film as if it was shot running forward but that is not here, unless you count running the chapters in reverse from the Chapter Selection feature. I would also have liked to have seen behind-the-scenes footage, especially storyboards.

This is a great film to watch with a group (as long as they don't talk during the film) so you can talk about it afterward. Nolan and crew can be proud of this fine film. The DVD extras could have been better, but they are still fun to play with.

Rating:
Summary: put the sequence back in order
Review: The marketers would be real smart if there's an option in the DVD which rearranges the movie's sequences in a chronological order. This way, people in real life who suffer from short term memory loss will stop asking stupid questions.

Rating:
Summary: Memento has no Momentum
Review: Okay, I was so excited about seeing this movie. For the most part, critical reviews were overwhelmingly positive. I am also a huge fan of movies that are a little off the mainstream path. Some of my favorites over the past few years are Being John Malkovich and Magnolia. I was almost certain, from the reviews I had heard, that Memento would join that list. So, I hurriedly bought the DVD without having seen the movie. That was a mistake.

The movie plays backwards. For example, if you divided the film into 20 scenes, traditionally scene 1 would play first, followed by scene 2, etc. In Memento, Scene 20 plays first, followed by scene 19, then scene 18, etc. This is definitely a unique style, and if it would have worked, I would have been thrilled with the technique. Unfortunately, I don't think it is successful. Just when a little Momentum begins to build, we are pulled from the story and thrown back in time. The film could not hold my attention.

More troubling, though, is that interspersed within the film are scenes that play in the correct chronological order. This just adds to the confusion. By the end of the film, I was frustrated and exhausted by trying to keep up with the plot (which I cannot help but think would have been extremely weak if played in the traditional chronological order)and was hoping the ending would shed some light on the muddling film. Instead, the ending just left me asking "What?" If Memento were a better film, I would attempt to watch it a second time to figure out some of the puzzles. But as it stands, I don't feel like watching this film again anytime soon.

I would reccommend that before purchasing the DVD you rent the movie first. It could save you from disappointment.

NOTE: I really give the film 2.5 stars. It's has a story that is a little below average, but the unique presentation style is thoughtful and a welcome change to most Hollywood garbage. I just wish it could have been executed more effectively to lessen confusion and ambiguity.

Rating:
Summary: Memento has amazed the world like no movie in recent times.
Review: If you haven't seen Memento yet, Lord have mercy on your soul, run down to the video shop right now and rent a copy. This movie is truly unmissable. It has been highly praised by critics and audiences alike, and in general has Wowed the world. I mean, it even earned a place on the IMDb Top 10 (out of 250!) films of all time. That is pretty impressive. I can see exactly why the world loves the movie. It's different, exhilarating, amazingly engaging, original, smart, involving and endlessly entertaining. Memento is just everything you want out of a smart and fun movie. You truly get your money's worth with this one. Now, where should I start? Hmm, yes, Christopher Nolan. What a guy. He put his heart and soul into this movie and has come up with a true original. The script was actually adapted from a short story but extended to a film that seems so totally new and fresh you would never guess it had been adapted from anything. Christopher's direction is brilliant. He uses black and white for the unforgettable flashback scenes and colour for the scenes that are happening at that time. The film pretty goes backwards but is never confusing if you watch it carefully. Another great thing at the movie is Guy Pearce. He is one heck of a performer! While not only truly believable, he somehow possesses his character into amazing form. We never really know if Pearce is acting or not. There are plenty more great things about the movie. The editing is effective, especially within the first few minutes. The voice-overs help you to understand where the movie is taking itself. Carrie Anne-Moss's character is very intriguing. This movie is shocking, intriguing and truly unforgettable. If you haven't seen it by the time I've finished blabbing about how good it was, then you should get help. Preferably professional.