Memento

I bought this used for a good price. So it has a little wear and tear. But both discs work and have no scratches.Overall, Christopher Nolan's movies are pretty good. This one is older (2000), but definitely a classic in my opinion. The original movie is out of chronological order, with the black and white scenes going forward and the colorful scenes going backward. It can be confusing at first but the plot draws you back for another viewing or two. By then the order of the movie should become clearer.This version I bought, the Limited Edition has a key to unlocking the movie in complete chronological order. It's a lot of fun to figure out, then you can sit back and watch the movie without having to think as much!

Took like 2 months to get this product. Amazon assumed the package was delivered, but there was no signature confirmation (probably because the item was a mail-slot-sized box). They asked me to review it the first time, and I'm all "I never even got this."On the bright side, after I filed the ticket, the movie was delivered within 2 days.In itself, the 2-disc set is a microscopic marvel of DVD-packaging production. The dvd box is themed as a medical history folio of Leonard Shelby, the star of Memento. It has a post-it that tells you to 'watch,' and a number of photostatic copies of various medically-themed sheets, just as flavor for the box.The movie itself is amazing. Shot in reverse chronological order, Memento is an investigative psychological action-drama starring brain-damaged hero Leonard Shelby. Someone raped and killed his wife and destroyed his ability to remember, but he's created a system of polaroids, tattoos and very specific notes to take the place of memory. Since he can no longer form long-term memories, the audience is taken on a ride with Leonard in the way he sees life. The movie starts with Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) getting shot in the head by Leonard, and it continues as a slow reveal of exactly why this had to happen, and how Leonard, with no ability to know why, was certain that Teddy was the one who killed his wife. This is accomplished through scenes (each exactly the length of time Leonard can remember before forgetting) in reverse order accompanied with segments of a phone call between Leonard and an unknown caller, describing his condition, letting the audience know exactly what he's capable of, and how he manages to function day-to-day.But what if you wanted to disentangle the chronological mess the movie finds itself in and really see how Leonard Shelby would look in real life? You then use the hidden movie on Disc 2. I won't explain how, but on the extras disc you can find a full copy of the movie, spliced into chronological order.The movie was excellent, the DVD production superb. The delivery, though, sucked.

Memento (2000)Drama, Mystery, Thriller, 113 minutesDirected by Christopher NolanStarring Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss"What's the last thing you remember?""My wife...dying."I remember watching Memento on cable and buying it a few days later. It was such an original way of telling a story that I was excited to show it to my friends at the earliest opportunity.They hated it.The opening scene shows Leonard Shelby (Pearce) killing Teddy (Pantoliano), but that scene is actually how the story ends. Leonard suffered a head injury when his wife was murdered by intruders and hasn't been able to form short-term memories since the event. He remembers everything up to that point, such as who he is and what he did for a living, but can't build new memories.What would it be like to wake up every day and wonder where you were? What are you supposed to be doing that day?In order to place the viewer in a similar position, Nolan tells the story in reverse. We see events unfold and new information is introduced each time. The information changes our perceptions of the events we have already seen and the people we have already met. Who can Leonard trust? How can he keep the information readily available if he's going to forget everything?Nolan actually tells two stories. One is in black and white and proceeds in normal chronological order. This tells the story of Leonard's life before the accident. He worked as an insurance investigator and one of the claimants, Sammy Jankis, had the same problem with his memory. A tattoo on Leonard's wrist tells him to remember Sammy Jankis, and he's able to because it happened before he suffered the head injury.A second story shows Leonard's hunt for his wife's murderer. This time, Nolan tells it in color and uses reverse chronological order.Are you with me so far? Good.You can see why my friends hated the film. It requires patience and your full attention to understand what is going on. Furthermore, Leonard is an unreliable narrator, so we can't trust everything. Nolan presumably did this to show that Leonard can't trust his own thoughts.In order to function at all, Leonard employs a series of devices to aid his memory. He also sticks to a routine as much as possible. He takes photos of his car, his motel, and people he meets. As he finds out information about people, he writes notes on the photos.Teddy is either a crooked cop, a complete liar, or both. He claims to be helping Leonard look for his wife's killer, but he makes several attempts to borrow Leonard's car. When you see the closing scenes, you'll understand what his true motive may be.Natalie (Moss) is also claiming to help Leonard by providing information. Unfortunately, she also has motives of her own.Leonard doesn't know who to trust. He also doesn't know how long he's been trying to avenge his wife's death. Because of the nature of the narrative, we aren't even sure that Leonard hasn't already killed the murderer at some point in the past. Are Teddy or Natalie using him for some other purpose? Are they even who they say they are?I've seen Memento at least twice a year since I first saw it. It has endless replay value and it's interesting to see some of the events unfold when you know the outcome. Nolan gets the little details right as well as the big ones. Notice how Leonard forgets which way the motel door opens and how he brushes his hand against a glass in a restaurant because he's forgotten that he put it there.Each time I watch a Nolan movie I think it's the best thing he has ever done. Whether it's The Dark Knight, Inception, The Prestige, or Memento, he treats his audience with respect. Rather than spell out every little aspect of the story, he allows the audience to draw its own conclusion. That alienates some viewers, as it did with my friends, but the payoff is worth it if you are willing to pay full attention.