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Memento

Memento

List Price: $24.95
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Memento
Review: Memento is a very entertaining movie about a guy who can't make new memories because of brain damage and has to write down notes
to remember big events.So one day he finds a note that says, "John G raped and murdered my wife". So he wants to find John G and get revenge. And the movie starts at the end and
ends at the beginning. It Stars Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano
and Carrie Anne Moss. Memento is hard to follow, but all in all it is a really good movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If there's a better film than "Memento" in 2001 where is it?
Review: I have just finished watching "Memento" on DVD and it is simply the best film I have seen all year. I was hooked on this film from the opening sequence and even though I was in the ballpark in terms of unraveling the puzzle, the ending surprised me. The most important thing is that the ending fit. The idea of a man trying to find the person who raped and murdered his wife is old enough, but the twist of making the protagonist devoid of short-term memory is utterly fascinating. But what makes "Memento" great is what writer/director Christopher Nolan does with that clever idea. Those who complain that the story is one of those post-"Pulp Fiction" films that plays around with the time should just calm down and realize the story is simply being told in a regressive manner, with each scene taking us back for the next key piece in the puzzle. Guy Pearce turns in an utterly convincing performance as Leonard Shelby, the man with a mission but no short-term memory, with Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie, the woman who appears to be helping him, and Joe Pantoliano in a restrained performance as Teddy, who cannot be trusted according to the note Leonard has penned on the back of his polaroid. The DVD version has a few select treats: Christopher Nolan is interviewed about both "Memento" and his previous film, "Following"; the short story by his brother Jonathan Nolan, which inspired the film and was written contemporaneously; background information about the characters and events you have to searh and find in the "otnemem" section. If you have seen a better film noir than "Memento," I bet it was in black and white...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buy a Memento Today.
Review: Starting with the end, this brilliant thriller weaves an intriguing spiders web and culminates in the best ending since 'The Usual Suspects'.
Guy Pearce (back on his 'L.A. Confidential' form) stars as Leonard, a man with brain damage sustained during a horrific attack on his wife. Leonard cannot remember short term experiences, if he talks for a few minutes he forgets what he started to say. He's trying to track down his wifes killer. which is difficult if you can't remember the clues to the puzzle.
Leonard uses tattoos and polaroid photographs to remind himself of the important points, but can he trust the past?
Remeniscent of Pulp Fiction in the way the timeline is de-linear, this sparkling classic will be remembered as the film which made both Guy Pearce, and the writer/director Christopher Nolan. (one to watch) Highly recommended for all fans of tight plotted braintwisters. If i could award 6 stars, i would.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: DVD version's pluses and minuses
Review: Ditto what everyone else said about the theatrical version's outstanding cast, direction, and screenplay. This review instead will focus on the DVD's bonus content.

For a DVD, the added content -- one TV interview with the director, widescreen format, Dolby audio, digital video, small picture gallery -- is unexceptional. For a movie of Memento's artistic stature, a secondary soundtrack featuring commentary by the cast and director would have been greatly appreciated.

What still made this DVD worthwhile to me is the ability to play the movie backward scene-by-scene -- essentially running the plot of the movie FORWARD to see how the movie holds together. In a movie like Memento, the scene-by-scene selection menu (common to all DVDs) may by itself justify buying the DVD version.

Finally, I did discover one surprise. Buried amid the DVD features is a collection of fictitious newspaper articles and doctors' reports that cast the main character of the movie in still another surprising new light.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Psychological Thrillers Don't Get Much Better! Amazing.
Review: As a medical doctor with a neuroscience degree, I very much appreciated the intracacies of this psychological thriller which has a very real basis! I do believe the main character over-stepped his capabilities for somebody with his condition; no amount of organization could allow someone to retain that much information. The character would have to re-read EVERYTHING to the point where he would have forgotten it well under half-way through. A real person with this condition actually stopped recognizing himself in the mirror because he had aged beyond the point where he was able to remeber himself. This movie, and anyone with such a condition, is a living nightmare. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be overly emotionally painful for the patient. For family members, it is obviously very painful. Eventually, they will not be recognized either once they age sufficiently. This is an incredible mind trip done in an extremely creative fashion-- a fashion that puts you in the main character (patient's) shoes! This is an experience not to miss. You will want to watch it again. You will have to watch it again. Tatoo it to your arm before you forget!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: great movie
Review: If you liked LA confidential and the usual suspects as much as I did you will love this movie. Inventively filmed backwards, it is the story bent on avenging his dead wife. I would tell you more, but I wouldn't want to ruin the movie for you. Go see it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Entertaining but...
Review: No doubt, this is an entertaining film. However, upon repeated viewing it in forward sequence (i.e. chronologically -- a feature available on DVD which the directors says will "help clarify things") there are still "loose ends" -- unexplained events which leaves the plot too open-ended. Some might say, it leaves the story for the viewer to interpret...others (including myself) find it frustrating. It's simply too easy for the director to "withhold" information in the guise of story telling cleverness. If the info is given and yet there is still room for multiple interpretations...then it is a stroke of genius.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Interesting premise somewhat undermined by sketchy script
Review: In Memento, Guy Pierce plays a former insurance investigator with a rare form of amnesia trying to track down his wifes murderer. What seperates Memento from Dana Carvey's comically fumbling opus "Clean Slate," which had an eerily similar plot, is that Pierce's amnesia is based only around short term memories, which can be as frightningly annoying at times to the viewer as it is to Pierce. Memento also wreaks havoc with the usual time continuom, much in the same way that Pulp Fiction did, tracing it's characters personal history backwards. For the most part this works to great effect in creating an intriguing scenario and thickened suspense, although at times it neccessitates that the plot be overly simplified just so it's easier for the viewer to try to correctly piece everything together chronologically. This brings me to the major faults of Memento. Since the main character doesn't really know who anybody else is, neither do we. The characters are all paper thin and nothing more than shadows, leaving the viewer a little hollow. On top of the poorly (although albeit neccessarily so)defined characterization, the movie ends abruptly and somewhat unreasonably. The conclusion actually negates the importance of everyone we've been introduced to, and implodes what little we actually did know about them. The general feeling we are left with is one of emptiness, as if the previous hour was all just a waste of time. Understandably, this brings us closer to experiencing Pierce's feelings, but is ultimately detrimental. It seems like the writer was stretching for one last plot twist, ala Usual Suspects, that just wasn't feasible. Overall, the first three quarters of Momento is a four star movie, the last quarter is just sort of ridiculous.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Movie You Will Want to Own
Review: This is a movie that demands attention and you will want to watch it several times. It's fast-paced, and told in reverse. To make you REALLY pay attention, everything you see and hear is from the perspective of the main character (brilliantly acted by Guy Pearce) who has short term memory loss. Since the plot line is reversed, it grows more complicated at the story progresses and challenges you (along with the main character) to solve the puzzle. My best advice for the first time viewer is to sit back and enjoy the ride. You can worry about figuring out the details later!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everyone I talk to has this movie on their mind!
Review: This movie is utterly original and extremely well made. I can't get this movie out of my mind. I'm definitely adding this to my DVD collection


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