Memento

Rating:
Summary: Where are the Special Features?
Review: Regarding the movie, it is certainly worthwhile to watch. Be sure to set some extra time aside after the movie as you'll likely want to watch certain things again.

Regarding the special features. Where are they? My disc doesn't have any. I checked everything multiple times looking for the commentary that some people refer to, and for the trailer that is mentioned. It doesn't appear to be on my disc.

There is one thing on the disc that makes up for that. (MINOR SPOILER if you haven't seen the movie.)

On the main menu there is a heading that is crossed out. There's a good reason for it to be crossed out. If it wasn't it would give something away. The only time I'd even heard about this movie was from IMDB's listing of the top 250 movies, so I didn't know about the unusual technique it employs.

The special feature that some reviews have mentioned would be nice is what this is for. It certainly makes it easier to rewatch. If you've seen the movie, you'll know what this is.

I do feel that commentary and other special features would enhance the disc. The UPC for this disc is 65935 13781 and it's Authorized for sale in Canada only.

Rating:
Summary: Backwards Thoughts
Review: Having ripped the plastic off the the cover of the DVD and shoved it into the player to experience the reversed chronology and intense performances just hours ago when the DVD arrived in the mail, I can assure you that this is a film not to be missed. Not only is it a film that's not to be missed, but it is also a crucial addition to any film-goers collection.
Memento evokes in the viewer a wide variety of conflicting emotions, from sympathy to rage to confusion to horror. Christopher Nolan creates a tense and riveting atmosphere where the simple search for a writing utensil becomes a mans chance to find his own identity.
The story centers around Leonard, a man with a memory disorder that cannot remember what he has done since the brutal murder of his wife. The story is told backward, so that the audience can attempt to grasp, if only for two hours, the emotional agony associated with not knowing what has come before.
It is a film that resonates with the viewer long after the last reel has played. I do urge you, though, to not waste your time and energy trying to decipher how he remembers some things (like for example that he has a memory disorder), and focus instead on the weary existence and emotional trauma of a man who knows nothing of who he is or was.

Rating:
Summary: I was bored
Review: I was expecting a great movie. A masterpiece, as the cover art of the DVD suggests. What I discovered was a repetitive, cliched, strangely uninvolving story that was simply going around in circles with no satisfying end in sight. The surprises in the end are more of a relief that this thing is over than the satisfaction one gets from a really enjoyable movie. I don't know what all the hype is about. I suppose that because there have been so many MAJOR PIECES OF TRASH on the screen lately, whenever something that requires a little thinking and comes off as slick and "ingenious", so-called critics pounce on it like culturally-starved vultures. Despite the overabundance of thrillers, this genre,like comedy, is one of the most difficult to get right on screen. Hitchcok had a few, Amenabar has three, Clouzet made a couple, and some of those B film noir thrillers weren't bad. But I can't compare Memento to the best of any of the above. It's derivative psycho-scrabble that spells...well, you pick the initials. It's a curiosity item, nothing more. When the dramatic highlight of this film is a confrontation of profanity between the "hero" and the "heroine", you know there's something wrong here. Where are the revelations? Where are the thrills? Okay. Enough negativism.I'm not a movie critic wannabe. Let's be less subjective. The DVD quality is excellent--crisp, clean. The sound is also very good. Guy Pearce is not bad, although he just doesn't seem to "live" the role, if you know what I mean. But it's a good effort, although he was WAY better in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and L.A. Confidential. Carrie Ann Moss is another story. I haven't seen a more convincing performance in a long time. She gets inside her rather limited role and gives it the life (on screen) that it probably didn't have on paper. If I think this movie is so bad, why am I bothering to write so much about it? Because it could have been a contender. The slick editing is not my idea of grade A cinematic form.This is a B movie with a sophomoric C movie mentality that's being pushed as filet mignon on celluloid when it's really just chopped liver in a plastic bag.

Rating:
Summary: A Truly Tantalizing Treat
Review: This film, easily the most original film (the only other candidate being "Being John Malkovich") of the past ten years, is also probably the best film made so far this year. It relies on the most treacherous and damning of human aspects--memory--to not only confuse our desperate protagonist, but also ourselves.
Beginning on a disconcerting note, the film shows a man being killed, and then runs backwards, scene by scene, in ten minute segments. The film becomes not so much as a "whodunit" but more of a "whydunit" and "howdunit." It explains how a man without any short-term memory named Leonard has come to be in California, looking for his wife's murderer. The only things on his side are Polaroids with notes scribbled under them to remind him of important people and things, important "facts" tattooed on his body, and two people of questionable motive named Natalie and Teddy.
This is a film where you need to sit down and stay down. If you get up to use the bathroom, I promise you'll miss something crucial (and you'll want to remember everything you can for the astonishing, much-debated ending). If you stop halfway through and try to finish later, you'll have probably forgotten many seemingly insignificant, though undoubtedly important, little bits of information.
Technically, the film is exceptional. The music and cinematography is first-rate, making California look like a bleached, bleak cesspool (the finer elements of Man are totally ignored here). Guy Pearce conveys phenomenal depth and range as the desperate, troubled, yet wry Leonard. Carrie Ann-Moss (almost wholly unrecognizable after "The Matrix") shines as the bitter, yet tender Natalie. Joe Pantoliano, of course, plays Teddy utterly to hell. It's a magnificent performance, and one that well deserves award recognition.
This film is by no means for everyone. Some of it is very intense, and it certainly will mess with your mind. But for all those patient and willing enough to sit through it, think about it, and give it a chance, it will prove to be that most rare type of film: a film that proves as intellectually stimulating and challenging as it does entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Worth watcing twice
Review: Like The Usual Suspects and The Limey before it, the "truth" if you will about Memento is not told during the actual film, but rather the writer has decided to leave it up to the viewer to fill in the blanks. Post modern and how.

What Chris Nolan does give us is one heck of great film which will keep you absolutely glued to your chair. I even suggest watching it with someone so you can bounce ideas off of each other during and after the movie. Things slowly begin to unravel during Memento, and the end manages to completely unglue everything you thought had figured out concerning Guy Pierce's very well acted character, Leonard Stanley. My friend and I have come up with three possible scenarios, which range from plot loophole to a deranged scerial killer with charm. I'm going to have to study it further.

Oh, the DVD extras are a complete waste of time and contribute nothing to the actual, wonderful movie. I really enjoyed Memento and am very glad that I own it. So i can watch it again and again and etc.

Rating:
Summary: So Many Different Versions
Review: Strikingly original and gloriously film-noir, Memento is a rare film that finds the perfect marriage between substance and style without sacrificing the tension, drama, and humor in its well-written script. The first offering from writer-director Christoper Nolan, and adapted from one of this own short stories, Memento engages audiences of all levels in a murder mystery of the first caliber.

Leonard (Guy Pierce) is hot on the trail of the man who murdered and killed his wife. He, too, was injured in the attack, rendering him unable to record any new memories - everything fades after around 10 minutes. Although he remembers everything until he blacked out, including his wife lying dead on the floor, he has formed no new memories since that time. This unusual condition has obviously rendered his search somewhat problematic, and Leonard is forced to rely on scribbled notes, photographs, maps, and tattoos to attempt to piece together his investigation.

In what has been described alternately as a pedantic, pretentious film-school choice and a masterful way to tell a story, the story is told in 10-minute segments, starting at the END and working backwards. Therefore, the audience can piece things together in a way Leonard cannot, and our reality becomes totally different from the main characters'. In fact, one could make the case that Memento is a meditation on the meaning and reliability of memory in and of itself, but I'll leave that one to the scholars.

With its legions of fans, it's a wonder this DVD wasn't released with more extras on it. In fact, there are FOUR different versions of Memento on the world market, and all four DVDs have their strengths and weaknesses. The American NTSC-format Region 1 version, seen here, has an interview and the incredible Memento website on it (which, I should note, adds to the story, but only look at it after you've seen the movie, because it might spoil some things). The Canadian version of the film, also a Region 1 NTSC DVD by Alliance, has no extras but has an option where you can select the film's chapters in chronological order, allowing you to see the movie "backwards" (forwards, really). The French and Belgian version is Region 2 PAL, and lacks all the extras but has an option where you can actually play the film in chronological order, instead of having to go back to the chapter screen 48 times. And, last but not least, the planned UK Region 2 PAL release (slated to hit the streets on January 14, 2002) will have a director's commentary, the "play chronologically" feature, but none of the American version's extras.

This shouldn't surprise people, as Memento was released first in the UK and did significantly better there at the box office than it did here. However, unless you want to import a DVD from Europe - which requires a DVD player configured not only to play Region 2 discs, but one that can translate a PAL signal to an NTSC signal - the American version will be just fine. The picture and sound are great, and the chronological mode is basically, as a friend put it, a gimmick. And, with a movie as good as this, we can live without a commentary.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the Best Picture of 2001
Review: "Memento" is surely one of the most innovative pictures in recent years. Christopher Nolan's screenplay (based on a short story by his brother Jonathan) is terrific and introduces us to a complete new way of storytelling. The script should be a shoe-in for an Academy Award nomination.

Nolan very wisely chose relatively unknown actors to play in his complex thriller, so that the audience can focus on the bewildering story. Pearce, well known for his performance as an honest cop in Curtis Hanson's masterpiece "L.A. Confidential," does a great job along with "The Matrix" stars Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss.

If there is one movie to watch this year, it's definitely "Memento."

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, skimpy DVD
Review: As a film, Memento is loads of fun, but from the description above it sounds like the DVD doesn't have a lot of bonus features. I was so hoping the disc would come with the ability to play scenes in chronological order once you'd watched it through once or twice correctly.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable movie (pun intended)
Review: By now you've read that the movie begins at the end and unravels backwards in time. This forces the viewer to experience the action much as Leonard does. You can't remember what's already happened because you haven't seen it yet; Leonard can't remember what's already happened because of his condition. The viewer and Leonard are both flying blind with only his tattoed clues and note-scribbled polaroids to help you make sense of what you see him doing. The story is challenging but not so much that you can't follow what's happening. It's not convoluted for the sake of being convoluted. There's a purpose for everything, and unlike most psychological thrillers, all the loose ends do tie up tightly by the film's close.

Rating:
Summary: BRILLIANT MOVIE, BUT DON'T BUY THIS EDITION
Review: There is no doubt that Memento is a brilliant and provocitave film, and many have been waiting for a long time for the DVD release, if only to pour over obsessively every little moment of the movie.

If you can wait, however, buy the Special Edition that is being discussed, which, I hear, will feature Chris Nolan's commentary, a tattoo gallery and the option of playing the scenes in reverse (or forward in this case) chronology. For such an absorbing and intricate film, with already a sizeable cult following, don't you think the features on this version are a little skimpy? While there's no guaratee, I would bet that an SE is coming soon.

Don't you just hate buying a DVD, only to have a superior edition released later (see "Almost Famous)?