Memento (2000) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!
Added 2022-09-12 15:55:47 +0000 UTC
Comments
Awesome... this the 5th film I watch along with you all the way... I hope you guys react to his first film "following" ... it's worthy.
Sutil
2024-02-22 18:54:57 +0000 UTCThe whole thing of leonards wife being alive I don't think is correct... she did die, there is a police report about the incident and everything... teddy was just trying to fuck with him and make him realize that his memory might not be as reliable as he thinks... I don't believe his wife was a diabetic and he killed her... sammy jenkis did exist... but it was just a wat fir teddy to prove a point and make him doubt... that's why he got so angry and purposely put clues to have him killed... because he just does NOT want to believe that he got revenge ... the only way Leonard survives or continues with a purpose is to continue to look for John G... without that he has nothing... he has no drive , no goal, no nothing... he needs this in order to continue living... otherwise he'll just sit and watch tv commercials for the rest of his life like sammy... he really needs a goal and to stay organized in his mind ... and he is basically a serial killer... it's crazy, I saw this when it came out and it blew my mind... then I saw Nolan's first film called "Following" which is also amazing but we jump in time randomly but it just works... when I saw those 2 films I was a Nolan Fan! But then ge got into the studio system too much and now makes big blockbusters that kind of have cerebral themes ... but they are very much dumbed down for wider audiences ... unlike his first 2 "following" and "memento" ... can't blame him... but I believe if it was up to him and money was out of the equation something like interstellar could be a masperpiece like 2001 or something... he is a veru capable filmmaker... but unfortunately has to please the masses because of the position he is in... he's one of the fee directors that are allowed big budgets to make a "serious" film... but he still dumbs it down because he has to... he is no Kubrick in that sense... now he wants everyone to "get it" ... not just for the few smart enough to do the work... like in a stanley kubrick film... or newer directors that have balls like Lanthimos, Glazer, Cronenberg or even PT Anderson
Sutil
2024-02-22 18:52:12 +0000 UTCLeonard was basically a serial killer without knowing it... that's why teddy told him he doesn't know who he is... who he has become... after teddy realized that Leonard was never going to be satisfied he used him to get a little money out of it... Carrie ann moss used him because teddy chose him as john g and got killed , which was her boyfriend... todd was going after them because it was his money...
Sutil
2024-02-22 18:39:59 +0000 UTCThe script of Memento which has you not knowing what just happened because you haven't seen it yet mimics Leonards/Lennys (Sammy's?) "condition" of not remembering what just happened.
Mike LL
2023-01-05 20:05:14 +0000 UTCAnother great Joe Pantoliano performance is in the Wachowski sisters' debut film, which they made before The Matrix (with both Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss). It is a crime thriller called Bound that I would say is one of the all-time great neo-noirs and directorial debuts. It is very racy early on but it's a knockout.
Tyler Foster
2022-09-15 16:52:20 +0000 UTCYou're the first reactors to notice that Teddy is constantly trying to get Leonard's car, because he set Jimmy up for the $200k and knows it's in the trunk. Like Andrew said above, I don't hate Natalie. I think she's a misunderstood character by many people who watch the movie. She does not say Dodd is her boyfriend, by the way. She immediately suspects that Leonard murdered her boyfriend Jimmy when she first sees him at the bar driving Jimmy's car and wearing Jimmy's clothes, so she dislikes him and is even afraid of him. Worse, Dodd, who is Jimmy's boss, comes looking for her -- that part is true, when she's closing her curtains, right before the big scene where she yells at Leonard -- Dodd probably would kill her thinking she stole the $200k. So, even though Natalie is cruel to Leonard, you can understand why she dislikes him, and it makes enough sense to use Leonard to solve a problem that Leonard created. In her last scene, when she meets him at the diner and gives him the information that leads to "Teddy," she is genuinely trying to help him, because she has come to believe his condition is real, and also her problem with Dodd is resolved. It might be pity, as Leonard writes, but it's genuine. One can even speculate -- although it is impossible to know -- that her cruelty in the scene where she yells at Leonard is not true, that she simply knows she has to pick on his wife (not knowing anything else about Leonard) in order to make him mad enough to hit her. She is not exactly a nice person, but in the end, she's honestly nicer than Leonard.
Tyler Foster
2022-09-15 16:48:18 +0000 UTCI don’t know this one.
Robert Nichols
2022-09-14 21:57:25 +0000 UTCI'm in the "the truth doesn't really matter" camp. One of the main themes of the film is that memory is unreliable. Leonard even narrates about how people will misremember what color a car was and things like that. Leonard thinks that writing down things and his tattoos are reliable ways to retain information, but they totally are not. Without the ability to create new memories he has no way of putting those pieces of information into context. The thing is, Leonard knows this so he sets himself up to kill Teddy. He knows that Teddy will become just another John G. Was Leonard the one who actually killed his wife with the insulin? It doesn't matter, because even Leonard's memories before his brain injury are unreliable. I think as time goes on it has been easier for Leonard to lie to himself or create stories because there is nothing to connect him to his previous life. If something reminds him of his past, he'll just forget it. It's like there's nothing to keep his old memories alive. Maybe that's why he had kept some of his wife's stuff. I dunno, it's crazy and I could think about this for a long time. Some endings are not puzzles to be solved. They're there to make you think about the thematic elements of a film. I think Nolan does this in 'The Prestige' and obviously 'Inception'. I think he does a good job of making the themes of some of his films fairly easy to identify.
Jeffrey Miller
2022-09-14 07:57:04 +0000 UTCI don't think it really matters if Teddy was telling the truth about helping Leonard get revenge or not. What really matters is that Leonard is clearly a psycho. The one thing that is very clear is that Leonard is totally willing to lie to himself just to keep satisfying his revenge over and over again. In fact, because he has no short term memory, his only purpose is perpetual revenge. And he could end it by taking a "memento" but chooses not to (maybe many many times). A lot of the story is clouded by what's true and what's not. But the last 5 min or so is the only really true thing. His choice not to end it. Imagine knowing you wont remember the revenge and instead of memorializing it so you do remember, you decide you want to experience it again (because you'll forget). He even dreams memorializing it at the end with the "i did it" tattoo in bed with his wife. What does he do instead? He stops at the tattoo parlor and gets the license plate tattoo. He talks about everyone needing a mirror to remind them who they are. He gets to wipe his mirror clean / create his own with the tattoos.
Ed R
2022-09-14 05:54:10 +0000 UTCHave y’all watched Tenet? I think it’s Nolan’s most recent movie. There were some shots in Memento that reminded me of Tenet.
Grand Moff Slackin'
2022-09-14 02:40:38 +0000 UTCIt's amazing how the end of the movie is the start of the story.
Vwlss Nvwls
2022-09-13 22:16:18 +0000 UTCThe part when Natalie takes all the pens and waits in the car for Leonard to forget is haunting. I love this movie, and Guy Pearce is an excellent actor. I always enjoy watching him.
Vwlss Nvwls
2022-09-13 21:37:02 +0000 UTCI remember seeing this movie in a little art-house theater when it first came out...probably near the end of its theater run, 'cause that's when the little art-house theater near me would get its movies. I was excited for Guy Pierce, who I had seen in L.A. Confidential, and Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano, who I had just seen in The Matrix. Had no idea who Christopher Nolan was, or what this movie even was. Holy shit. Watching this made me feel like a kid or a teenager again, the first time I had seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, Apocalypse Now, Chinatown, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction. Like I was rediscovering movies. Then he would hit us all with The Prestige, Inception, Batman Beings, The Dark Knight, Dunkirk... It's nice to have a big director, who makes big movies, but who also brings with him that daring cinematic auteur quality. Might I also recommend a slightly lesser known movie Nolan did called Insomnia with Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hilary Swank.
Steve Mercier
2022-09-13 20:25:40 +0000 UTCI haven't seen this film in like 15/20 years. Totally forgot Nolan did it. Rewatching it, i think it's very clever how its put together, but the ending is a bit weak for me. It's not that much of a twist. Still a very good film though
Alex
2022-09-13 17:05:55 +0000 UTCSimply getting to ‘watch’ the movie on that dvd was a bit of a chore the first time. 😆
Nick of Time
2022-09-13 13:52:48 +0000 UTCThis movie was the ultimate fender-bender. I remember owning the limited edition 2 disk DVD set and opening it was a trip in itself. Thanks for the reaction!
Vidal (BillyG!) Gomez jr
2022-09-13 12:52:29 +0000 UTCThis one you definitely have to put your thinking cap. But the good thing is it's self contained you get your answers at the end. Sometimes it's nice to see a movie where you don't have to wait 3 or 4 movies to get answers.
Anakin Starkiller
2022-09-13 09:51:18 +0000 UTCYou guys missed the license plate shot at around 44 minutes.
Jay Robert
2022-09-13 09:49:58 +0000 UTCThe original DVD didn’t have the chronological cut. So I made one of my own (as I’m sure many other people did). The proper chronological order is first all the B&W scenes in the hotel room with him on the phone (In the order they appear in the movie), followed by all the color scenes (in the reverse order they appear in the movie) . The scene where it fades from B&W to color is chronologically the middle of the movie. I agree the chronological cut is not very interesting, as the whole point is to disorient you as Leonard is disoriented . He will never be able to “figure it out”. He will never know that he set himself up to kill Teddy. One of the great “unreliable narrator” films of all time
Samolina Pilchard
2022-09-13 06:56:57 +0000 UTCAnd when she comes back inside and telling Leonard about Dodd- Leonard goes to write it down, she offers him a pen, from her purse.
Samolina Pilchard
2022-09-13 06:44:26 +0000 UTCI haven't seen this movie in such a long time that I've forgotten what happened. I should have tattooed all over me every single movie I've seen so I don't forget.
Guston Zimasheen
2022-09-13 06:40:28 +0000 UTCReally glad that you both enjoyed this one. It's been a fave of mine for many years. I have an awful memory, so I really relate with the character. It's good stuff! Definitely need to give this a rewatch, the both of you.
Logan Kerlee
2022-09-13 00:26:03 +0000 UTCNatalie isn't really that bad as it relates to Leonard. Yes she is involved in the drug business but think about it: Teddy and Leonard is the reason her boyfriend got killed and why Dodd is after her so she uses him to help her out of the situation they were responsible for putting her into in the first place.
Andrew Roach
2022-09-13 00:09:24 +0000 UTCHe likes to play with time. Famous words before watching Memento!
Reed James
2022-09-12 23:47:44 +0000 UTCMy new favourite reaction! The originality and quality of the film, the joy of watching you both get mind-fu%ked, the excitement of seeing you finally understand what's going on. Such fun! There's a video on youtube where Christopher Nolan explains how he wrote the script and talks about the reverse storytelling. Search "18-Minute Analysis By Christopher Nolan On Story & Construction Of Memento." I think you'll enjoy it. The only other film that's messed with my head in a way that's as fun and thrilling as Memento is "Triangle" (2009). It's a hidden gem, and a great horror/mystery/thriller. Like Memento, it has a mind-bending story and a massive gut-punch ending. It won't win any polls because it's too unknown, but if you choose to watch it, you'll have a great time. A great reactors' choice for Halloween!
Future Boy
2022-09-12 22:41:23 +0000 UTCWe have seen Interstellar prior to the channel! Unfortunately, we won't be able to do a first time watch -Sam
TBR Schmitt
2022-09-12 22:05:03 +0000 UTCWe completely missed that! Natalie was something else :( -Sam
TBR Schmitt
2022-09-12 22:04:39 +0000 UTCInteresting take! I guess I hadn't thought about it that far, but straight to murdering him did seem a bit far! The whole thing was wild though! -Sam
TBR Schmitt
2022-09-12 22:04:25 +0000 UTCYeah it seems like just punishment over and over again :( Oh wow, that's really interesting that they did put it in chronological order on the DVD. -Sam
TBR Schmitt
2022-09-12 22:03:25 +0000 UTCDunno if you missed Nolan's "Interstellar" (2014), but if you did it's definitely should be on your list, probably the best Sci-Fi movie of this century, with an absolutely spectacular score by Hans Zimmer
Alec S
2022-09-12 20:41:01 +0000 UTCThe moment goes by fast, but if you watch closely you can see Natalie scooping up all the pens and putting them into her purse when she enters the house. After that she begins to antagonize him.. its so evil -_-
24fps_
2022-09-12 20:32:20 +0000 UTCI thought choosing Teddy as John G was good revenge, he definitely deserved it. He'd been using him and his condition to murder and rip off small time criminals for over a year, he said they got the real guy over a year ago. Who knows how many John G's Teddy fed to him. Teddy wasn't his buddy, or not anymore. He was his hitman pimp.
Tostito Buddy
2022-09-12 20:16:14 +0000 UTCWatching it a second time really lets you put things together. I believe the scene with the hooker was just him grabbing a bit of happiness. From the time the door slam woke him up, until he opened that bathroom door, he believed his wife was alive and everything was normal. It was a short burst of happiness that is quickly killed in a very painful way. The bluray includes a version where the movie is put in chronological movie, but it's not as cool as it sounds.
TGrimace
2022-09-12 19:12:23 +0000 UTC
