Memento

Rating:
Summary: Intense, intelligent, and often hilarious!
Review: The only film that I can think of that comes even close to the ingenuity of Memento is The Usual Suspects. Like that way underappreciated classic, Memento gives you the ending immediately, and then spends the rest of its time showing you how it got there. Each scene offers clues and various revelations--Leonard's tattoos, why he writes what he does on Natalie's and Teddy's pictures, what happened to his wife, Leonard's job before "the incident"--each of which are thrilling mini-narratives in themselves.

The acting is first rate. Guy Pearce, best known as "the one who wasn't Russell Crowe in L.A. Confidential", is Leonard, a character who will intrigue you, engage your sympathy, and might even scare you by the end. Joe Pantoliano's Teddy will have you debating his intentions towards Leonard for days afterwards. The real acting coup, however, is fellow Matrix alum Carrie Anne Moss--her performace as Natalie will make you love her, hate her, and make you fiercely protective of her.

The movie can only be watched on DVD. Keep the remote handy as you'll want to pause every now and then, if only to read Leonard's tattoos for various clues. After watching the movie, be sure to check out Otnemem in the Special Features section for newspaper articles, pictures, journal entries, and psychiatric reports on Mementos intriguing characters. They will help confirm what you think happened in the movie. DVD also offers the playful option of choosing to watch the movie backwards (or would it be watching the movie forward?). You will definitely consider the option after watching the movie. I haven't done it yet, but I can't wait to see the effect that it has on the movie.

This movie is worth the critical hype. If you enjoyed movies like The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Usual Suspects, Seven, Fight Club, and Dark City (some of my personal faves), then Memento will be the crown of your DVD collection!

Rating:
Summary: A complete waste of time
Review: As a film buff (including noir), it is rare that I ever get truly annoyed at a file for wasting my time. Memento was a complete time waster. I read these five star reviews here and wondered if it was me? My girlfriend thought the same, and of 20 people in my neighborhood who are fellow dog walkers, 18 said two thumbs down. And, these are very intelligent people.

Telling a story in reverse has been done before. (See 1977's And Now My Love.) But the 5 minutes forward, 10 minutes back every 5 minutes. It was worse than a migraine. I had to watch it in two sittings, I got so tired of TRYING to follow it.

Yes, there were moments when I said "Oh!"

Yes, the acting was excellent. But this movie probably resembled what pre-editing looks like! And inexpicable black and white scenes. The DVD really needed a directors commentary to explain what the heck was going on - after you'd seen it.

And the ending? That wasn't an ending. You still had no idea - I waited with baited breath to see if the right guy had been killed. Still no idea. And, frankly, who cares!!!

This movie is making headlines because it was not conventional. The final scene in Basic Instinct was subtle - and that movie made headlines without the need to go back to front.

One fatal flaw. If you did suffer from this condition, you would forget that suffered from it, period. Wasn't it convenient that he only forgot certain things like beer others spit in (who wrote that rubbish?) and not the fact the he forgot things period. Which means he also forget to write notes. Because he wouldn't remember why he was even writing them!!!

Where was the score?

Yes, the movie drew you in. It mezmorized you. It made you think for 90 minutes (or was it 90 minutes.) And then left you hanging at the end.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best...
Review: I haven't seen a movie written this well for quite some time. purchased this film without having seen it in the theaters or renting it. It has turned out to be one of the best dvd's in my collection. The film is shown in a backwards manner. Meaning that the film progresses after the fact. The beginning of this movie is actually the end of every other movie out there. But this works for this film...because like us, the audience, the main character, Leonard, has no idea what occured just before the scene that we are watching. It is a quirky, yet very original way a filming and creating a picture. I believe that if the film was shown sequentially, it wouldn't have been the same picture. I loved it.
The film is about a guy named leonard that has a sort of amnesia, except that he hasn't lost all past memories, he is unable to retain short term memories. He forgets everything that happens 10 minutes after the fact. No matter how hard he tries. Anyways, leonard is trying to find the man who killed his wife...and in order to do this he must remember all of the facts that he has gathered in the past. Sounds easier that done.
Awesome move. Highly recomended.

Rating:
Summary: Six Flags Over Your Psyche
Review: Jankis! Sammy Remember ?phone the on to talking Leonard is who & G. James is which say should I or G. James is Who them? leading is this where know doesn't Who who? outsmarting is Who worlds. surreal different two in are They "Matrix". the from scene a like other, each circling are they - film this throughout air mid in floating are Pantoliano and Pearce sequence". of out shooting" of practice the for created meaning new whole a see just can You cake. marble filmic this making while own his of notes copious made have must He - Nolan Christopher - director skilled forceful, a of hands expert the in are You trip. minute 113 non-stop a is This derailed. are you long, how matter no for backskip or pause You film. this pausing no is There button. search or pause your Forget you. exhausts ultimately and challenges, infuriates, confuses, toys, It park. amusement mind's the in ride thrill a on are you in, locks DVD this moment the From backwards. theatre the of out walked I

Rating:
Summary: dvd watchers
Review: Those who argued that the plot would make no sense, or be inconsistent if the movie was shown "forwards" should get the dvd... it has an option to watch the film "chronologically" by scene. It is wicked to watch it this way, after having watched the film the way it was intended... Furthermore, the movie makes complete sense watched this way. (though it is way less effective) This movie is just plain wonderful. Watch it now.

Rating:
Summary: One that keeps you guessing
Review: This film is one of those that keeps you guessing until the end; and one that provokes discussion after you finish watching it. A must for mystery affecionadoes.

Rating:
Summary: The Blessings of Continuity ...
Review: ... and the bewildering nightmare of life without it--therein lies the crux of "Memento", a quietly brilliant film by Christopher Nolan. The film's opening credits, set over the image of a Polaroid photograph in the reverse process of developing itself, indicates the way the story will unfold--backwards. The cast is filled with first-rate actors, headed by Guy Pearce in a mesmerizing performance as Leonard Shelby--driven, tormented, with a sallow, haunted visage that is maintained throughout the film-who suffers from a rare medical condition which has robbed him of short-term memory. He is on a relentless quest to find and kill the man who attacked and murdered his wife, and who is responsible for Leonard's memory malfunction. The "rub" is that Leonard can't possibly remember the identity of the assailant. Leonard is only able to track him down by the use of Polaroid photos scribbled with reminders, a few odd post-it notes, and, most chillingly, by tattooing clues to his body, including a constant reminder of the reason for his mission, emblazoned backwards across his chest, readable only by use of a mirror. (An aside: "We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are", says Leonard at the end of the film-but the film's question to the audience seems to be: what does that mirror reflect? And can we always believe in the truth of that reflection?) While some may find the vigilante aspect of the main character abhorrent, the audience's empathy for Leonard is gained by the poignancy of his plight. In one heart-wrenching scene, Leonard, while burning some of his wife's belongings, wonders if he has ever similarly disposed of her things before and thinks: "I can't remember to forget you." "Memento" is an astonishing homily about guilt and vengeance (and is vengeance ever really attainable?), manipulation and betrayal, and the lies we often force ourselves to believe when we fall into our own self-inflicted episodes of short-term memory. NOTE: Those with short-attention spans need not apply! This film demands from its audience absolute attention from beginning to end.

Rating:
Summary: You must see this movie!
Review: Buy this DVD! You will thank me later.

This is truly a great movie. The best movie I have seen all year. Maybe the best movie I have seen in about two years. Guy Pearce is excellent in this movie. If you don't know who he is he was in L.A. Confidential with Russell Crowe and Kim Basinger a few years back. (Also another great move.)

Guy plays Leonard (don't call him Lenny), a man with no short term memory. Due to the fact that he cannot remember conversations that took place less than five minutes ago, he uses a series of notes and photographs to remind himself of events and people. He also tattoos himself with important facts that he does not want to forget.

I won't give much away because you really have to go into this movie with a clear mind. As you have probably already read or heard elsewhere the movie goes in reverse. It starts at the end of the story and ends at the beginning. This makes for a very interesting plot device. Yet it does not make the movie difficult to watch.

The thing I loved most about this film was that there were really no answers, no resolution. Things were left open to interpetation of the viewer. I still find myself thinking about this movie all the time. I look forward to watching it several more times to see what further interpetations I can gleam from this great movie. This movie will be a classic.

Rating:
Summary: trying to forget this
Review: memento is one of the movies i ever saw i can't believe it actually stole 25,000,000 from moviegoers it made no sense to me what so ever if want to waste the money then rent memento.

Rating:
Summary: I wanted to love this movie - but...
Review: I heard such great things about this film, but I tried to watch it with little expectations. I really like Guy Pierce and Carrie Anne-Moss, and the style and concept were interesting - however, It just took too long to get there -and I didn't think that figuring out the ending was all that difficult or surprising. Rent, not buy.