Whenever I re-watch Memento, I'm always reminded of the quote from the book Sculpting in Time, written by my favorite director in the history of cinema, Andrei Tarkovsky, which states, “I felt all the time that, for the film to be a success, the texture of the scenery and the landscapes must fill me with definite memories and poetic associations.” I believe that Tarkovsky was spot on with his titular assertion that the act of creating cinema is, indeed, the equivalent to the act of sculpting time, and that Christopher Nolan's Memento could almost be viewed as fine example of contemporary structuralism -- "structuralist film theory emphasizes how films convey meaning through the use of codes and conventions not dissimilar…

Part Six of Preparing (As Much As Humanly Possible) For Interstellar

Memento is one of Nolan's most gripping works, a puzzle-box neo-noir of intimate and tragic beauty, all tied in with a narrative that is told uniquely and effectively. Completely dropping any sign of a linear story or framework, the film goes off the rails in the finest way possible, culminating in a film that is funny, powerful, saddening, and wonderfully cinematic.

Guy Pierce is at his finest here, playing the protagonist of Leonard with an oblivious and shocking timidity. It works for the role, which happens to be one of the finest characters in any of Nolan's films. Similarly great are Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano, both adding to…

An unforgettable journey into the mind of a man with no memory, Memento is one of the most original, fun, inventive, intriguing & puzzling brain-teasers of all time that will have its viewers guessing from the very beginning to the very end & even afterwards. Having gained a significant cult following over the years, Christopher Nolan's breakthrough feature beautifully exhibits his incredible talent as a storyteller & remains one of the finest features of his illustrious film career.

Divided into 2 adjacent timelines which periodically alternate throughout its runtime, Memento tells the story of Leonard Shelby; an ex-insurance detective who is suffering from short-term memory loss which leaves him incapable of building new memories and has to rely on notes & tattoos as reminders.…

I've begun to accept Christopher Nolan as my favorite director. Reason? I've seen one of his films after another, The Dark Knight, then Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar, and Dunkirk. I've loved them all -- in fact, the former two I consider some of my favorites of all time.

Because of this, I've started going back to his earlier films. Turns out I had seen Insomnia when I was much younger (over a decade ago, when I was around 10), and it was good as I semi-remembered, dark and moody. Following was narratively impressive. If that was where he started, gosh will Nolan have some gems I haven't seen.

So Memento it became.

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If I had been a…

While this is technically a review of my very first watch of this film, I'd been spoiled on the gimmick/twist a few years ago, and while I'd forgotten what exactly I'd been spoiled on for the most part, it did make figuring everything out much easier, to the extent that I knew what way the story was being told within the first 20 minutes.

Nevertheless, Memento really is incredible storytelling. I don't want to say that this is Nolan at his best, but I'm glad that he only had a $4.5 million budget and that this was only his second feature. I'm not saying that Inception or Interstellar weren't great, but I'm glad Nolan was somewhat limited in making this.…