Memento

Rating:
Summary: such a cool movie and Guy Pearce is the coolest
Review: This movie you have to watch more than once so it is a good idea
to buy it. The whole story starts at the end and the story unfolds backwards. I know it sounds confusing but believe me
you will want to watch it over and over. You will see a scene
out of nowhere and then the next thing you know the next scence
explains how the previous scene got to that point. It is such an original movie--a new classic thriller. The cast is great
and this movie rocks.

Rating:
Summary: " now, what was i doing?"
Review: I guess 5 1/2 star rating based on 914 reviews wasnt enough, I had to add in little more praise for this film.
Masterful, so intricatly thought out it can cause dizzieness just thinking about it. The most original film I'v seen since Fight Club. You want to watch it over and over again.
I think that about covers my bit-o-praise for this film.

Rating:
Summary: Momento - A "reversal" of the classic psychological drama.
Review: Imagine waking each day and having no memory of anything that has happened over the past twenty-four hours, week or month. This handicap would be more than most could bear, but add a single-minded vengeance focused on finding the murderer of your beloved wife and you have a volatile mixture for increased interest and high drama. The driving force for bringing this unique premise to the big screen is the product of the collaborative efforts of Director Chris Nolan and Columbia Tri-Star Studios. Their efforts in creating a story that stimulates our intellect and traps us in its' snare of plot twists for the entire duration of the movie is an achievement and makes this a must see for anyone looking for change a pace from the typical drama.
Further adding to this unique premise is the fact that the story is told in an unnatural reverse sequence; beginning with the ending, then building towards the ending again in ten minute segments. Even though the viewer is shown the ultimate ending first, the story really becomes about why the story concluded this way and thus begins their journey with Leonard Shelby, the unfortunate amnesiac portrayed perfectly through the fine acting of Guy Pierce. The viewer roots for Leonard due to his absolute devotion to finding his wife's killer through many of the creative efforts he utilizes to overcome his affliction. These include the use of Polaroid pictures, many notes scribbled on various pieces of paper and from a multitude of tattoos that adorn his body along with two individuals that we, the viewers, are really never sure are supposed to serve as friend or foe to Leonard. With all of these elements combined, this movie fulfills the role of achieving the highest excellence in film for this genre and creates a superior classic psychological drama for all to enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: sweet as movie
Review: Uh... yeah. This movie rocks the house. It's all twisted up and this dude can't remember things, except he remembers some things if they happened a long time ago and he ends up killing Joey Pants. Seriously if you haven't seen this get ready to see some crazy ass crap. In the end he never finds his wife's killer, but he kills Joey Pants.

Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: this movie was extremely bad how can people say its good basically u see guy kill someone at the begginig which really is the ending then it slowly rewinds backwards explaining how he came to be there why he did it and so on. Its so hard to watch because none of the scenes hold out long enough each past event is by the most 5 min and by least a min. then they go to the time before that. He ceriously in this movie forgets everything like a hundred times over so so boring and the ending is boring because its really suppose to be the beggining dont expect this to be an action film cause its not i dont really know what kind of film this is. I only gave it two stars cause guy is in it and he always does a fantastic job. But definitly not a movie to buy if your realy keen on watching it rent it instead because this is not the movie for the average only for those who say a movies great because they are lost and confused in the end me personally i like to see a movie that leaves you feeling like youve learned something from the movie but this does not do that it just leaves you very dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: To: Tomas
Review: This movie is excellent! Everything from acting, directing to the storyline. One thing to mr. Tomas (earlier reviewer): Lenny did in fact have a tattoo reminding him of his condition. It was in the most often seen place, on his hand! It said "Remember Sammy Jankis!" reminding him of the ex-customer with the same condition. Also, you probably missed the point on "conditionilizing" the memory, so even when you don't remember something, when it gets repeated long enough, your brains get conditionalized to it.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Effective Movie
Review: This movie is very well made, but it may be a bit tough for some people to digest. This movie starts you off at the "end" of the story and takes you back to the begining. You are immediately thrust into the life of a man with a type of memory loss that prevents him from remebering things for more than a few minutes at a time. He has no idea of what happened to him or why. The most ineresting thing about this movie is that for the most part you only know as much as he knows. This technique is very effective in that it keeps the viewer on the edge from the start of the movie to the surprising ending.

Viewers are likely to be very turned off by this movie because of its head spinning pace, but whether you love it or hate it I guarantee that Memento is a movie that you will not soon forget.

Rating:
Summary: Remember Sammy...
Review: To conclude, this movie rocks , although you may need to watch it a few times to fully grasp all the subtlties of what's going on.

The Limited edition version is by turns incredible rewarding and distressingly frustrating! I don't know who decided to make it in such a way, but I truly believe they need to rethink their strategy - not everyone has the patience to play games with a DVD each time they want to watch it, and those of us renting it from our local soul-destroying chain video store that shall remain nameless, don't get the inlay cards etc. leading to a puzzling night...

It challenges a lot of our assumptions of truth and memory and really forces us to home in on our own ideas of which narrative we believe, and should we trust the narrator.

Basically each disc has a set of psychiatric test questions that loop around, and depending on your answer offer you various bonus features.
Disc one isn't too hard to work out, but disc two can be prohibitively obstinate. Thank god then for the invention of the "Internet". Accessing this through a "Computer" will lead you to a bunch of fan sites that have maps and hints to guide you through the labyrinth, which does come off as being slightly rewarding.

The movie opens at the end and replays in short segments leading up to the beginning of the plot, while it alternates with black and white sections that go forward in time to the start of the real plot. The plot itself is dark and disturbing, yet tinged with a surprising amount of humor ("See, I have this condition...").

The main reason I picked up this DVD was the "alternate endings" feature on the back of the box. This turns out to also be slightly misleading. What you can get is 3 different directors commentaries over the ending, with three different ways to interpret the closing (or opening?!) scenes. I actually found this really cool, as each narrative presented by the director is presented as fact, and it's really cool to watch them all back to back with the thought "I'm being lied to!" in the back of your mind. That's pretty damn cool.

Very rarely a movie comes along that is so good it makes you rethink everything you once thought about movies. Memento is that kind of film.

The other special feature I was really looking forward to is the chance to see the whole movie in the correct sequence, which is also buried in Disc 2. This will certainly clear things up for anyone that didn't understand it the right way round, but I got kinda bored watching the straight version, possibly cos I'd just watched the "right" version the day before.
Anyway, memento will make you a better person and cause girls to fall at your feet. Not really, but you should go buy it anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Backwards
Review: An interesting movie with a captivating (although not all that original) premise, "Memento" is a true cult film, one that tries to offer something slightly different and personal. The concept is good, but after the first half the movie gets a bit repetitive and unsurprising, culminating in a mildly disappointing ending. Still, the acting is top notch, since Guy Pearce truly is an excellent choice for the lead role, delivering a subdued and intriguing performance. Directing Christopher Nolan suceeds at creating a gripping and moody atmosphere with enough suspense and interest, grabbing the viewer`s attention. That`s particularly relevant, since in this story every detail counts. Well, the plot per se is hardly anything new, so what sets "Memento" apart from most thrillers is the way its story is told. As a whole, this effort is worthwile and appealing, yet it`s more cerebral, cold and distant than enjoyable, entertaining and warm. It`s also a bit too depressing, since the final revelation makes one look at the characters from a new (and darker) perspective. Still, "Memento" is a remarkable movie about human nature, lies, trust and love, providing a clever (perhaps too clever, by the way), unusual and witty mistery. It`s unfortunate that, at parts, it carries more style than substance, but it`s a solid cinematic experience nonetheless.

Worth a look. Or two, to confirm if it all makes sense after all (some details are contrived, yet overall it works).

Rating:
Summary: easter eggs galore
Review: so the movie itself it first class first of all - innovative, extremely hard to follow and requires several viewings. the way the dvd's are produced is another thing - the film itself as well as all the options and extras are all kinda like easter eggs that you have to find. the disc itself only specifies the actual features i.e. the nice sundance channel documentary, the original short story memento mori, the trailers and picture gallery, but you have to pay a lot more attention to find the really hidden easter eggs, and boy the dvd doesn't make it easy to find them, even if you found instructions on the web of how to locate them!

the most important easter egg is the film in reverse sequence, i.e. in the realtime chronological order of the scenes - very nice to watch but only after you've seen the original sequence of the feature. another easter egg is a couple of japanese posters for the film and a nearly impossible to read journal made by leonard (i couldn't read any of it, maybe you need a hi-def tv for that...)

but for me the best easter egg is the alternate director's commentaries. basically for the last 20 minutes of the commentary track, there are 4 separate commentaries by the director. i won't tell you how to find them (and not many website will) but needless to say they are so hard to find that i still haven't managed to listen to one of those 4 commentaries. the first one is a continuation of the commentary from the rest of the film, i.e. talking about the movie etc., two other commentary tracks concern teddy's character with opposing views about him in each track. this is a fantastic idea because different people will hear different commentaries about teddy (assuming they've found the easter egg) and will draw different conclusions about him, and then in some hypothetical debate they'll go head-to-head with those who'd heard the opposing commentary track, if you know what i mean. finaly the fourth alternate commentary is the most interesting just because it's recorded backwards! i'd love to hear what's being said about it but to do that you'd need to record the track on a tape deck and then play it in reverse... not quite sure how to do that nowadays since i don't even own a tape deck but it would be interesting to hear what's on it.

i also read that none of the bonus features from the original one-disc dvd are included in this special edition 2-discer so that's a shame, but then again all those easter eggs will eventually drive you insane anyway so no need for even more extras!

a couple of final notes, apart from the alternate commentaries, the actuall full-length director's commentary can become tedious just because he never shuts up and just moves from one idea to another without any break in between them, and he doesn't always sound very clear with his low british accent voice. finally guy pearce in great in this movie and boy was i surprised to learn he's the guy from Priscilla Queen of the Desert! Great acting altogether and amazing editing.