Memento
What would you do if you couldn't remember what happened to you this morning, or even what took place a few minutes ago?
Time out Ref! Hey Ref!!! Time OUT, man!!
Would those of you who just tilted your heads to the left as if to ask, "What's so unusual about that?, please shut down your computers and wait for further instructions - I am addressing the non-burnouts of my virtual cohort. Thank you so much.
Now that we've cleared out all but fourteen of you, let's reexamine the question. Now, what was that question? I've got it written down somewhere around here. It doesn't matter, I suppose - I've got a moovie to review.
"Memento" with Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano and Stephen Tobolowsky. Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, directed by Christopher Nolan. MPAA Rating R for violence and language. Run time 110 minutes.
One of the most overused phrases, (and underused concepts) in the corporate jargon book for the past fifteen years or so has been "thinking outside the box". Many moovie studios -remember, they're mostly storefronts for corporate entities - have been steadfast in avoiding the outside of the box, and have generally avoided even the walls inside the box, to the point where all we get is bloated and dreary, monotonous, gut-wrenching moovie inertia sitting in a contractually-obligated, overpaid star-lump at the center of the bottom of the box. I can name names, but with a little time and a stubby pencil, you can make up your own list of mainstream cinematic drivel that you've cheerfully bellied up for.
Excuse me, they're sliding my dinner under the door.
"Memento" gets a lift completely out of the box and onto the top of the pile for creative thought with a simple story turned inside out by dynamite editing and the innovative use of an um, unconventional timeline. The result is a gripping joyride that leaves you wondering what happened last, and what will happen before that. I'm going to have to stop before I tell you much of anything else. This is a moovie that you have to see, and then we can chat. Seriously, the basics follow, but I'll not be able to do justice to the tightly woven story that Christopher Nolan's directorial imagination slowly flays then folds, winds and unwinds, hides and reveals.
so...
Guy Pearce, an Aussie with Brad Pitt good looks, but thirty times the talent, once seen poncing around Priscilla in the Outback, gives a dizzying performance as Leonard Shelby, a man slogging around L.A. looking for his wife's killer. Simple enough, right? No, not really. Leonard has a "condition" - a lack of short term memory. His life is made manageable by notes, Polaroid snapshots and the driving desire to see his wife's murder avenged. Did I mention his tattoos? Forget I said anything.
I also won't mention Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie or Joe Pantoliano as Teddy. They form the rhythm line for this oddly syncopated film. Natalie is a bartender and drug mole - Teddy is, well he's, forget it, I'm not saying what Teddy is. You'll find out soon enough.
What sets "Memento" apart is the way it's edited. Shot in chronological order, it's expertly edited (by Dody Dorn) to run in a sort of convoluted one step forward, three steps back counter-clockwise form. Leonard doesn't come unstuck in time like Billy Pilgrim - in Montana Wildhack's embrace one moment then suddenly back at the slaughterhouse - Leonard comes unstuck in his own life, over and over. The moovie starts at the end, then zig-zags back to the beginning in fits and starts - more like a dark downward spiraling version of "Groundhog Day". Just stunning.
Yikes, kids! This will take your breath away. I have the feeling that a some won't care for the unconventional nature of this moovie, but give yourself the chance to dislike it on its own merits. These guys have really put a lot of thought into what makes a story worth the telling, and I guarantee that after you see "Memento", you'll have plenty to talk about for a while. I intend to watch it again, just to double-check my own mental processes against Leonard's life.
Take yourself to see "Memento", and tell me what I already know. Or at least I knew it a little while from now. I think.
Four stunned cows.
Time out Ref! Hey Ref!!! Time OUT, man!!
Would those of you who just tilted your heads to the left as if to ask, "What's so unusual about that?, please shut down your computers and wait for further instructions - I am addressing the non-burnouts of my virtual cohort. Thank you so much.
Now that we've cleared out all but fourteen of you, let's reexamine the question. Now, what was that question? I've got it written down somewhere around here. It doesn't matter, I suppose - I've got a moovie to review.
"Memento" with Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano and Stephen Tobolowsky. Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, directed by Christopher Nolan. MPAA Rating R for violence and language. Run time 110 minutes.
One of the most overused phrases, (and underused concepts) in the corporate jargon book for the past fifteen years or so has been "thinking outside the box". Many moovie studios -remember, they're mostly storefronts for corporate entities - have been steadfast in avoiding the outside of the box, and have generally avoided even the walls inside the box, to the point where all we get is bloated and dreary, monotonous, gut-wrenching moovie inertia sitting in a contractually-obligated, overpaid star-lump at the center of the bottom of the box. I can name names, but with a little time and a stubby pencil, you can make up your own list of mainstream cinematic drivel that you've cheerfully bellied up for.
Excuse me, they're sliding my dinner under the door.
"Memento" gets a lift completely out of the box and onto the top of the pile for creative thought with a simple story turned inside out by dynamite editing and the innovative use of an um, unconventional timeline. The result is a gripping joyride that leaves you wondering what happened last, and what will happen before that. I'm going to have to stop before I tell you much of anything else. This is a moovie that you have to see, and then we can chat. Seriously, the basics follow, but I'll not be able to do justice to the tightly woven story that Christopher Nolan's directorial imagination slowly flays then folds, winds and unwinds, hides and reveals.
so...
Guy Pearce, an Aussie with Brad Pitt good looks, but thirty times the talent, once seen poncing around Priscilla in the Outback, gives a dizzying performance as Leonard Shelby, a man slogging around L.A. looking for his wife's killer. Simple enough, right? No, not really. Leonard has a "condition" - a lack of short term memory. His life is made manageable by notes, Polaroid snapshots and the driving desire to see his wife's murder avenged. Did I mention his tattoos? Forget I said anything.
I also won't mention Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie or Joe Pantoliano as Teddy. They form the rhythm line for this oddly syncopated film. Natalie is a bartender and drug mole - Teddy is, well he's, forget it, I'm not saying what Teddy is. You'll find out soon enough.
What sets "Memento" apart is the way it's edited. Shot in chronological order, it's expertly edited (by Dody Dorn) to run in a sort of convoluted one step forward, three steps back counter-clockwise form. Leonard doesn't come unstuck in time like Billy Pilgrim - in Montana Wildhack's embrace one moment then suddenly back at the slaughterhouse - Leonard comes unstuck in his own life, over and over. The moovie starts at the end, then zig-zags back to the beginning in fits and starts - more like a dark downward spiraling version of "Groundhog Day". Just stunning.
Yikes, kids! This will take your breath away. I have the feeling that a some won't care for the unconventional nature of this moovie, but give yourself the chance to dislike it on its own merits. These guys have really put a lot of thought into what makes a story worth the telling, and I guarantee that after you see "Memento", you'll have plenty to talk about for a while. I intend to watch it again, just to double-check my own mental processes against Leonard's life.
Take yourself to see "Memento", and tell me what I already know. Or at least I knew it a little while from now. I think.
Four stunned cows.