The MOVIE REVIEW Thread

[Chi-Chi]

saw CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN (pirated DVD again!) - starring Lindsay Lohan (Freaky Friday, Parent Trap, Mean Girls). Nice songs by Lindsay Lohan but not comparable to Britney Spears dynamite performance although Lindsay has the potential to follow Britney's footsteps. Typical teenage flick story with the looser-bestfriend, rival jealousy with the sarcastic gorgeous girl. Story is lame with manipulatively obvious characters. But you'll definitely enjoy Lindsay Lohan's charisma on the screen (or on your TV screens).

the only lohan movie i liked is freaky friday.. <_<

 

i used tolike her.. but with mean girls and this movie..

 

ugh <_<

[kadafy]

guys, since this thread is 'bout reviews...

 

i pasted a copy of my review i did at the "art film" thread (under art & literature). Memento, directed & written by Christopher Nolan, is actually an old movie shown 2000 i guess. i just got hold of a dvd copy this year. it's actually a film-noir, nut i believe mainstream movie lovers could dig this. btw, Nolan is currently doing "Batman Begins" to be released in 2005. anyway, here it goes....

 

 

memento is one of those i would say falls into the "surprise/puzzle" film genre. one may say it's somewaht similar to the "6th sense" or "the usual suspects" or even maybe (most recently) "the others" for, like those movies, every scene in memento takes on a different meaning leading the audience in a different direction just exactly when you know where the film is going. or should i say where the film has been...

 

but unlike the movies above, or any other well-known "puzzle/surprise film" for that matter, memento's puzzle can't be summarrized in a simple explanatory statement. its riddles are all tied in a "elegant but brain-knotting structure". hearing just that, one might recall the riddle in the first installment of "the matrix". but oh no. memento is far off more better than that.

 

the story is told in the first person, by whom one can say, an "extremely unreliable" narrator through probably half of the film. a story told in "a post-modern self-referentiality that, unlike most empty examples of the form, significantly underscores the film's sad thematic meiditations on memory, knowledge & grief." and by dropping misleading clues that was seemed designed intentionally to distract the audience, or to hint of another, deeper layer of a puzzle at work (remember the "matrix w/in a matrix" theory, hmm?). or perhaps, on the other hand, it simply suggests that Nolan, in some respects (if not majority of the material), bit off more than he could chew. i guess that's really the "pitfall" for any "puzzle" movie maker if one prefers to put it that way (meaning it's indeed a "pitfall, that is).

 

anyway, back to regular programming The protagonist, Lenny (played by Guy Pearce of LA Confidential & Pirates of the Carribean),is a guy who suffers from what they call anterograde amnesia, a very rare mental condition where one is not capable of making new memories (50 first dates, yeah right. ) in Lenny's case, he can only retain "new memories" for about 15 minutes, sometimes even shorter specially when he's in panic or pressure, stress or being distracted. Lenny got into that condition due to a hard bonk he got in trying to save his wife from a rapist. he killed one of them. but the other one, w/c he didn't notice was behind him & hit him hard on the head. he woke up, the memory of the incident still fresh, as it will always be from then on. after the accident, Lenny swore vengeance. he will k*ll his wife's rapist. but he can only remember things only until the night of his accident. he can't remember a thing after that night. and he can't make new ones.

 

the story starts with Lenny killing Teddy (Joe "something" whose last name escapes me right now. but he's the guy "Ralphie" in the "Sopranos" series) one of the "rapist/killer" of his wife. and then the film moves backwards (as in rewind mode) from that point. and from there, in about 3 to 5 minute increments, the movie tells us how Lenny tracked Teddy down, leading to the climax, ending with what is supposedly, chronologically, the story's first scene, the beginning.

 

its easy to conclude that the movie was told backwards. afterall, the first scene was shot in "backward mode"; i.e. we see a Polaroid photo undevelop, a bullet fly back up the barrel of a gun and Teddy come back to life briefly right "after" the sound of the shot. this scene, which is in color, is immediately preceded by a black-and-white scene in which we see Lenny, in an unknown motel room, explaining a little about his situation (in voice-over). then the next extended scene, w/c is now back to color, finds Lenny meeting Teddy at his motel and then traveling to this abandoned building, wherein we see Lenny shoot Teddy again only this time, its a little bit more disturbing.

 

anyway, to say it was told backwards is a gross & substantial oversimplification of Nolan's piece. and that's just one of the surprises that you'll be in once you take a secnd & a third viewing of the film.

 

anyway, the story then proceeds in an alternating black-and-white and color sequences. but don't lose hope tracking it. the natural narrative i.e the one telling the story forward is in black & white. (clever, eh?) we stumble back per scene, and meet "new" characters -- Teddy; Natalie (played by Carrie-Ann Moss); her boyfriend Jimmy; and a drug dealer named Dodd -- each scene stepping back to put the previous one a bit better in context and providing a lot of shocks, cosmic jokes and horrors as it go along the way. and in between each, we see Lenny back in his hotel room, in black and white, talking on the phone and telling an oddly parallel story."

 

one may ask: "how in zeus's butthole can someone who can't remember find somebody he doesn't even know"? Lenny knew of his condition. so he made a way to remember. you may probably relate this to what Ben Affleck did in "Paycheck". he leaves clues. but in Lenny's case, he tattoes imporatnt facts on his body, takes pictures of acquiantances & puts notes on 'em.

 

so, did Lenny find his guy? i think i mentioned in the beginning that he killed Teddy. but the question is; is Teddy Lenny's guy? whoa! you guys are in for an exciting excruciating mental ride!

 

but, will it really matter if Lenny kills his wife's murderer. afterall, he won't remember, right? he'll be probably satisfied in fifteen or so minutes. but aftr that, he'll not remember. all that he'll recall is that is his wife is dead. and that he must avenge her.

 

here's a good line Lenny said in rebuttal to the question raised:"memory's not perfect. it's not even that good. ask the police; eyewitness testimony is unreliable ... memory can change the shape of a room or the color of a car. it's an interpretation, not a record. memories can be changed or distorted, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts." this is the gist of the film. "Memento" is a movie largely about memory -- the ways in which how it defines identity, how it's imperative to determine moral behavior and yet how terribly unreliable it is, despite its crucial role in our experience of the world.

 

to Lenny, it doesn't matter if he'll remember he did it. what's importatnt is that "it" happened.

 

also, in its own weird way, it's also a tribute to grief. grief is an emotion largely based on memory, of course. it is one of "Memento's" brilliant themes; that relief from grief is dependent on memory as well -- and that is one of the chief hells our unfathomable Lenny is subjected to. "how am I supposed to heal if I can't feel time?"

 

i reccomend you guys watch it the second time in DVD. take note of this: all colored scenes are supposed to be backwards. meaning, the start of the color sequence should be the last colored scene(the ending). on the other hand, the b&w scenes are told in forward fashion. so how do we really get the story? watch the movie scene by scene strating from the first b&w scene alternating with a colored scene starting from the end. it's kinda hard to elaborate. i'll just explain sa EB na lang. basta Nolan really did a mean crazy job here!

 

so did i get it? hell no! i told you guys this is one type of movie that always lead you to another conclusion just when you are about to land on one. and it still does even after the credits roll. it's brilliant. it makes you think. makes you ponder. makes you reflect. by the way, how do expect someone to really understand a film told by a character who's got brain damage?

 

 

 

hey, guys, pasensya na ha. i just can't have enough of this that i need to share it. you guys can also visit us at the "art film" thread. i think right now there's a review on "irreversible" (a monica belluci starrer).

 

Edited July 28, 2004 by kadafy

[jologsparin]

gonna watch this this week.

 

dont tell me the ending ha.

Ferdinand Marcos and Ninoy Aquino die. Oops.. sorry.

[Anaheim]

pareng jologsparin, saan mo nabili yung DVD copy mo of Memento ?

[cumshot]

finally got to see "imelda" last night. great documentary backed up by enormous research. maraming nakakatawang tagpo sa docu na 'to tulad nung ininterview si imelda sa kanyang mga 7 "theologies" na umabot sa 10! ang labo, and u can't help but quip if the grand dame's losing her marbles or maybe she just read too many books. (baka naging da vinci code junkie) anyway u can't help but notice her jewelry iba't ibang kumukuninang na bato for every "ostume"change, she's not imelda marcos for nothing. di ko ma-gets bakit pa bi-nan tong movie na 'to wala na naman akong nakitang nakakasira sa kanyang pagkatao. sa tingin ko di naman in-edit to para pagmukaha siyang tanga siya naman ang nagsasalita, nobody's guiding the woman. in the movei you can't help but notice the director being starstruck herself with imelda's personality. sa tingin ko pa charming siya talaga, at ang kanayang mga binisitang heads of state ay medyo talagang larget-than-life tulad niya. kita niyo dito ang isang batang khadaffi, si sadam at iba pa. di ko po makakalimutan ang hirit ni fr. james reuter na she talked to him for 4 hours straight at pinagtatawanan na siya ng matanda. ok din yung last scene lalo, na yung kinakanta ng mga marcos heirs ang "i just can't get enough" ibang klaseng sarcasm to. meron pang isang scene kung saan proud na proud ang lola na pinapanood ang kanayang anak sa isang re-run ata ng mel and jay, at tuwang -tuwa siya sa pgpuri ng kanyang anak na siya'y one of the world's greatest politicians. ibang klase talaga panoorin ninyo, it's a feast for the senses :cool:

[jologsparin]

pareng jologsparin, saan mo nabili yung DVD copy mo of Memento ?

Pareng Anaheim, di po ako ang may DVD copy ng "Memento." Si pareng kadafy po ata.

[kadafy]

dude, just got it in makati cinema square. (psst!)

[Hildy]

JUST SAW CATWOMAN..NOT AS GREAT AS I THOUGHT..KIND OF DISAPPOINTING..HALLE LOOKS GREAT THOUGH

[Guest Kilabot]

any more reviews sa catwoman? sabi ng barkada ko pangit daw

[Chi-Chi]

My friend said that Imelda showed how class and posh our first lady is.. talagang first lady daw. Talagang magiging proudka daw na naging first lady natin sha? totoo ba?

[seiba]

hi!..just saw the trailer of "RESIDENT EVIL 2: APOCALYPES"..

grabe!..ok talaga..cool trailer...showing this coming sept.

[Anaheim]

dude, just got it in makati cinema square. (psst!)

ok thanks, sana meron pang pirat... este pirasong copy pa ng Memento sa MCS.

[Anaheim]

My friend said that Imelda showed how class and posh our first lady is.. talagang first lady daw. Talagang magiging proudka daw na naging first lady natin sha? totoo ba?

yes it's true, Imelda brought an aura of royalty in Malacanang in the last half of the 60s decade, comparable to Jacqueline Kennedy in the early 60s. Her quality had tapered down the following years due to political controversies.

[seiba]

grabe na talaga..mapanood nga yung movie ni imelda..

[profX]

:mtc: