Film Review: Memento (2000)

Director - Christopher Nolan

 

"A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife." - IMDB

 

Before I get "Memento was out thirteen years ago. Why are you reviewing it now?" I'm reviewing it because it's probably one of my favourite films and I've watched it again recently. I just love it!

 

One of the main things that stands out about this film, and makes it one of my favourites, is the narrative structure. It's very confusing as it starts at the end, plays a scene, then goes back to the scene before. The whole film continues like this so you have to keep watching to understand what's going on. I like this because I don't think I've ever seen a film like it before and you get put into the main character's, Lenny (Guy Pearce), position as he has a brain injury which causes his to only be able to remember things for a few minutes at a time. It allows you to empathise with him and lets us know what he knows, making the film more enjoyable and psychological.

I also really like this structure as every time you watch it, it's always like watching it for the first time: You always get something new from it. Even the ending surprised me when I watched it again! It also helps to watch the film more than once as it's so confusing!

 

The casting is also very good. Each person plays their role really well. I heard that Brad Pitt was going to play Lenny, but I think that Pearce did it better than Pitt could have (although I wouldn't mind seeing Pitt in the film... Who wouldn't?) even though Brad Pitt is good at playing psychological roles - I really love him in Fight Club.

 

Guy Pearce or Brad Pitt - Who would you rather play Lenny?

 

I love the mise-en-scène (yes I know fancy film words), specifically the use of props, as it's what gives you little clues and makes you go "aaah that's why..." It helps to have these little things in there to link up the plot and give away elements of the story making the plot more exciting. One instance is when, at the beginning of the film Lenny finds two bullets in a car and at the end we find out that it was his car and he put them there. Just little things like that!

 

Overall I think that the story is really good but without this weird structure, the film wouldn't stand out from any other. I've been told that there's a version of the film, on the DVD, played in chronological order which I need to watch at some point!

If you haven't seen Memento, watch it! Because it's so old you can get the DVD on Amazon for fairly cheap! It will change your life! (Well... I'm being dramatic now but you get it!)

My Ebay Basket

| Necklace | Key Cover | The Breakfast Club DVD | Phone Case |

| Poster | Clutch Bag | Earrings | Necklace | Stud Earrings |

 

I've been dying to blog today but I haven't seen any films to review, read any more books or had any inspiration for anything else. In the need to satisfy my blogging addictions, I decided to show y'all my recent bargains which I've bought on ebay (as I buy a lot!)



Uglies Book Review

 

"Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellent Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks, Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend, Shay, isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worse choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever." - Amazon

As the cover says "Before The Hunger Games there was Uglies" and if you like The Hunger Games then you'll like Uglies!

Being a huge fan of The Hunger Games, and other series of books, when I heard about this quartet I had to read it!

 

The story seems a bit silly but it's really good! It's interesting to see how that kind of world is different to The Hunger Games.

Throughout the book there isn't any hanging around! The story gets straight into it and the relationship of the characters. It moves along quite quickly which can be annoying at times as you kind of want to see something develop a bit more and the responses to things. Hence there are a lot of things that happen in the story. It can be a bit hard to keep up with sometimes but I guess it stops you from getting bored of waiting for things to happen and it definitely doesn't drag. I do like how it's paced though; it's a different style of writing and it keeps you wanting to read on.

 

The character's relationships are really well explained and you can connect with them through their feelings for each other. We can empathise with Tally's longing to be pretty as it's something which we envy in every day life anyway. You'd think that in a story like this the characters would be really unbelievable and surreal, a bit like The Hunger Games, but they're not. The characters are really 'real' and you can imagine then being actual people, not just characters in a book.

 

As I do with every book, I read the last page (I just can't help ) so I knew how the story was going to end. The thing is, I didn't expect it to happen like it did. I'm not trying to give anything away, but usually with a story, you can guess how it's going to end. Not with Uglies. I think it's because so much does happen and with every event, your imagination changes in how the story is going to end. The ending was really good and as soon I finished reading it, I bought the second book and started reading that. (I have a kindle so this is quick moving!)

 

I don't know what else to say really. I did enjoy the book, a lot, and I think that anyone who loves The Hunger Games should definitely read Uglies. The Hunger Games are ridiculously easy to read and so Uglies is more of a 'challenge'/interesting read. I don't want to keep comparing it to The Hunger Games but they are very similar stories and definitely attract the same audience.

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