Memento More Memorable than Not!
932316
At first the direction of the plot was somewhat disorienting; but very soon, this flick became completely fascinating and inescapable. There doesn't appear to be much publicity for this film...but there should be. You will not be disappointed. Try it!
1325477
It's true! The more times I watch this movie, the more I discover! It's like peeling an onion- as each layer of skin comes off, it reveals yet another layer...and so forth. There is so much more than meets the eye each time around.

The story is centered on a couple ( Jim Carey and Kate Winslet)
who after 2 years together,have a nasty arguement, and Winslet goes to a company that specializes in erasing unpleasant memories, and has Carey erased totally from her memory.
After He realizes what she has done, he is too hurt to go on without her, and he in turn has her erased.

During HIS procedure is where most of the movie takes place-In Carey's unconcious mind. The deeper they probe into his memories to erase her, the more he realizes he really loves her and don't want her erased.

 Unconscious though, he is unable to stop them, so begins a dillema in his mind to HIDE her in other PARTS of his memory, And THAT is where the story gets SO original !!! As we see them mapping his brain on a scanner, we see the couple running crazily from them through his memories- LITERALLY!

We are also treated to other characters stories : Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood (The staff at the Company that does the erasing)and thier characters add a lot of flavour to the movie, too.

I seen another reviewer say that they kept track of time by her hair color (which changes from one bizarre color to the next)and that is also how I kept track. Because it skips in time- a LOT, but in a good way.

I just absolutely LOVE this movie, and LOVED seeing Jim Carey in such a serious role  He is so awesome in this!
The only reason I only gave it 4 stars, Is that,though
it was directed good, I think the directing could have been better.

 I think we should have got to know them as a COUPLE a little better BEFORE the break up, Not DURING the erasing procedure. The first time I seen it, I didn't really sympathize with Carey while he was Grieving toward the beginning of the movie- I think SOME of thier closeness should have been revealed earlier on.

Over all though, This film is PURE entertainment! - GENIOUS !!
I will watch this movie over and over for years to come , and always reccomend it to others.
736104
Like MEMENTO, this is a movie that deals with a person with "short-term memory" loss. I put the term I just used in quotes, because, although it is standard psychological term, it is clearly a confusing misnomer. "Short-term memory" is clearly NOT the shortest term memory that we have. If it were, a person who had lost all short-term memory could not complete an intelligible sentence. He or she would have no memory from one syllable to the next what he or she were talking about. But both the main character in MEMENTO and Lucy in this movie can carry on seemingly "normal" converstions with people over certain periods of time. Perhaps that is one reason why their disability is all the more troublesome. It can appear to be no disability at all for a while to any observer. Lucy in this movie could appear entirely to have a "normal" memory as long as she is awake during a given day. But after she had slept, one could observe that she retained no memory of the previous day. The guy in MEMENTO had a shorter period over which he could remember "new" memories, but still over a sufficiently short period, he remembered things "normally" so as to completely baffle somebody as to why he would have to write down the simplest of directions or he would promptly forget them. Neither movie paints any clear picture of what "short-term memory" is that concurs with or can build upon what little I learned about the term in the psychology course that I took. Allegedly, according to fans of one or both of these movies, losing "short-term memory" means no longer being able to form new memories. The paradox here is that these subjects efinitely DO remember new things, but only for short terms, It is said that their "long-term memories" ae intact, but in a literal sense of speaking, long-term memory of anythig happening after the accident that deprived them of "short-term memory" is excactly what they DON"T have. So, when one loses "short-term" memory but retains "long-term" memory, memories of new events become troublesomely short-term. Shouldn't that mean that "long-term" memory is what is really impaired? Maybe it all makes sense if properly explained. Ardent fans of movies like this often insist that it is all perfectly clear and those of us who point out the confusing paradoxes are just dummies. That doesn't help. If more movies dealing with the subject are to be made, I hope some will really clarify it. By the way, subjects of movies do come to have long-term realization that they DO have "short-term memory loss. And that is something that they couldn't have learned before their accidents, because it wasn't the case until after the accidents. Gee, I wish clarification could be found somewhere.

What redeems this movie somewhat, to make it worthy of four stars, is that it does tell a touching and OFTEN coherent story of Lucy and her disability, even though it only confuses in implying both that her condition can "never get better" but also that she can learn to know and accept her condition better from day to day and she can form a long-term relationship with someone she met since her accident. Overall though, it tells a more coherent story than MEMENTO, and injects enough humor and charm to make a movie that is highly watchable. Some have said that the humor clashes withe the movie's serious theme. I can see how it has that feeling at times. But if you consider where the movie would be without the humor, I think the humor more enhances than impairs the ability to make this a palatable story.
978248
I agree with most of what the other reviewers have said about this film.  This is a wonderful film - full of insights about humanity, family, Life and Love.

However, I think this film has much more to offer than just insights about memories, or generations, or possessions . . . .

 It is the second in a series of films produced by Muse d'Orsay, after The Flight of the Red Balloon.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Flight-Of-The-Red-Balloon-DVD-WS-Juliette-Binoche/dp/B001GR917E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Flight Of The Red Balloon [DVD] WS, Juliette Binoche</a>

This film is a "map" of modern human consciousness.

It starts with a French family gathering in the provences at their family home.  The aging mother, now 75 years old, played by lovely and charming French actress Edith Scob, has gathered with her children for a birthday.  Her children have come from their careers, all over the world, to be with her.  During the course of the celebration, they begin exchanging memories, sentiments, the realities of fulfilling careers in a modern global economy, and, the importance of their love and sentiment for each other.

In the wake of the mother's demise, the family explores the values that they hold most dearly.  As all of us must face, in our modern lives, they make compromises so that they may continue with their careers, their global pursuits, and their relationships outside of the family.  The denouement arrives when they decide to sell their mother's considerable estate, and, donate many of her objets d'art to the Muse d'Orsay.

The film witnesses the resolution of their grief, fears, hopes and dreams, as they gradually let go of the art that their mother had collected, and, which had surrounded them when they were children.

Juliette Binoche (as a blonde) is no less than brilliant in this performance.  In many ways, it involved another enactment of her extraordinary, and award-winning, performance in "Bleu", in the well-known and respected French trilogy - Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge, by Kiezlowski.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Three-Colors-Trilogy-Blue-White-Red/dp/B000083C5F/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)</a>

This film exlplores all of our feelings, spirit, and thoughts, as all of us now struggle for identity in a global conscioussness, fast becoming smaller, and smaller, and smaller . . . .
2986721
I saw Legend with my brothers when i was younger and had a BLAST!! a year ago, i had begun the search for the soundtrack of this bit of nostalgia. once i found it i was of course expecting the Tangerine Dream music, but i got an unexpected surprise: a beautiful, lush orchestral score by the guy who wrote the great music for "Poltergeist" and "The Secret of N.I.M.H.", Jerry Goldsmith! the moment i heard his music, i defintly thought that this is exactly what the movie was missing! i mean for it's time, it was a cool movie for those who appreciate fantasy stories, but in retrospect i think it could've been cooler if we had Tangerine Dream songs AND Jerry Goldsmith's score. They should re-release this movie with both scores!...it's just an idea, but you never know! ^_^
4199105
I don't know how I died. Thats strange, isn't it? To be dead and know that but to not know how it happened. To not know my last memory. Its not something that I ever considered when I was alive. I can see and I can hear. And when I remember back to other times and other places, I see and hear them as though Im reliving them. But when I remember, I miss things that are happening now. I miss chunks of time. I try not to remember. I try not to think. I watch and I listen and I hope to not miss any more time. Because time is all I have now. And how quickly it disappears.

Cate is the narrator, her words begin this touching, lovely story. Heartbreaking, yes, but theres this strong bond of family, of love, that ever so slowly, and with such quiet strength, gently speaks to the eternal bond of families, the grief of loss and the life that follows after. Love. Hope.

Cate Carlton, wife and mother, in life married to Bass, the only man she ever loved, mother to twin boys Rafferty and Cameron, and to daughter Jessa. She loved, loves her horses, especially her horse Opal. Their farm is in the countryside, in rural Victoria, with assorted farm animals in addition to the horses.

Hovering over her family, Cate finds herself watching Jessa ride her horse, or the familys attempts to find Opal, who has been missing since the day she died. Watching all the members of the family, friends, watching their grief, watching them stumble through the days, months as time passes in random patches of time. Alternating those with moments of remembering the years when the children were oh-so-young, and life was filled with small, but incessant energy draining moments. Moments like when she first brought Bass home the first time.

When I brought Bass home to meet my parents and Beatrice, it was autumn. We kicked our way through crunchy leaves and breathed steam as we waited on the doorstep.

This simply is a story of a family, their love, their grief, and perhaps about our memories and the way they haunt us. The importance, perhaps, of staying in the moment long enough to form those memories, and also to cherish those memories. How our memories can pull us back to another place, another time.

When I read my friend Angelas review (which is what convinced me to read this), what stayed with me most of all was the comment that was made to her, that it's so hard to lose a mother because she holds all of your memories. Which, of course, reminded me of my mother, and of these lyrics.

Sometimes when you're doin' simple things around the house
Maybe you'll think of me and smile
You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse
Keep me in your heart for a while

Hold me in your thoughts
Take me to your dreams
Touch me as I fall into view
When the winter comes
Keep the fires lit
And I will be right next to you

- Warren Zevon Keep Me in Your Heart

Recommended

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Harper-Collins AU
738730
Its possible that my circumstances  being coddled by the woman I loved most in the world  misled me into believing that time could be peeled back.

His father appears at the house of Miss Ona Vitkus who is 104 years old. He is filling in for the Boy Scout duties of his 11 year old son who has passed away. The boys duties to win his badge were simply to help around the house but he was doing so much more. He was making a recording of her life story and she was revealing more than she has ever told anyone. He was helping her to become the oldest person to ever have a drivers license. He was obsessed with world records and helping his new friend to be part of those records had become the obsession of both.  The father, Quinn Porter, is a musician who travels and has not been part of his sons life. Now his time with Ona is his way of making up for what he missed with his son.

Can memory be revisited to allow us to see now what we didn't see then?

The story travels through the past and the present, as we spend time with Ona and the boy and then Ona and Quinn. We meet Belle, the boys mother and explore the broken relationship between the boys father and mother. And we watch the relationships between the survivors grow. Chapters are pieces of the story, time between the boy and Ona, between Quinn and Ona, parts of Onas recordings, and list of the boys favorite world records. But everything in the story revolves around the boy and how his life and death made everyone.

It is rare indeed that I find a novel that is so richly layered, that explores relationships so deeply, and finds so much in the human heart. This is a novel that I treasured reading and that is on my list to reread in the future. I can heartily recommend this story.

This is Miss Ona Viktus. This is her life memories and shards on tape.
2126352
REMEMBER is an awesome movie! The suspense was killing me. I had to walk away a few times. It was getting a little intense. The story starts out a little slow, but picks up and takes you on a journey unlike any other movie. I keep thinking about this story and the characters. Bravo!
2983623
Joshua Foer is an unknown freelance journalist, barely out of college and eager to make a name for himself. While still living in his parents basement, he comes across an article announcing the upcoming 2005 United States Memory Competition. Little does Mr. Foer realize that finding that article will change his life forever.

In true journalistic spirit, Mr. Foer sets out to cover the event and becomes entranced by the seemingly superhuman feats of the participants. Ultimately, he is convinced by a competitor to train for the next years competition. With the trepidation of any mere mortal, Mr. Foer begins his journey. Along the way, he meets people with no memory at all, and others who cannot forget anything. He is introduced to national and world memory champions, and top memory researchers. Little by little, he learns of the vast potential of our memoryif we only knew how to use it properly.

Tension builds as the competition nears and characters weve met during Mr. Foers journey are reunited to mentally spar against each other in one of the strangest competitions ever conceived. Victors of each round rejoice as they memorize decks cards more quickly or recount random lists of names more perfectly. Mr. Foer miraculously survives through round after round, leaving the reader in breathless anticipation as the competition draws to a close.

Moonwalking with Einstein is an eye opening romp through the mysteries of our memory. Reading it proved to be educational, inspirational and entertaining. Readers will learn, as Mr. Foer did, that it is possible for anyone to have a great memory with the right tools and a little dedication. I picked this book on a whim and was mesmerized by Mr. Foers story from the start. I cant recommend it highly enough. It is a real gem!
4102974
To this day, this book still pops in my head when I come across small reminders and details that happened in this book.

Such a unique story about a woman who loses her memory and the whole time the book makes you think she is crazy but you come to find out that she really isn't and when you find out why and how she lost her memory......OOOOO MANNNN!!!!!
4572008
This movie was so good that I had my memory erased so I could watch it and enjoy it again for the first time.

Seriously, this movie is wonderful. It examines many of the truths in relationships, such as how the things that draw us to a person end up driving us crazy eventually and how we're often attracted to people who have the qualities in abundance that we lack. The movie also examines the complexity of memory and how we as humans natually seek out relationships that challenge us and help us grow, which is why the characters with certain memories erased by choice seem doomed to learn the same lessons they just learned all over again.

The only problem I had with this movie was that it would be impossible to erase the memory of one person completely. You couldn't erase all of the associations you have with someone you've dated over 2 years, of course, as you are going to run into their mother/father/sister/friend/neighbour, etc. eventually and when they ask you how you're doing and you don't know at all who all these people are, you would start to think perhaps you have Alzheimer's or wonder why it is that some people out there in the world know an awful lot about you and you don't know them at all...plus the insert of "Patrick" in the film shows the dangers involved in someone having all this knowledge of you and you not knowing them.

The acting and the way this film is designed is beyond amazing. Both Jim Carey, as Joel, and Kate Winslet as Clementine gave incredible performances. I really loved this movie and the messages it conveys. Clementine and Joel were complex and complicated people and the writing, directing, and producing was an example of a collection of creative geniuses in full force.
1606022
Well I guess some memories are best kept as good memories.  I remember getting this as my first handheld game and couldn't put it down, but now as an adult about 20 minutes total use and it sits in a drawer.  My 9 year old thought it was cool for about the same amount of time.  lol
2974019
Memento is one of those rare films that manages to do something new.  On one level, this film is a simple crime thriller.  Guy Pearce plays the disabled Leonard who is searching for his wife's killer despite being hampered by the inablity to make any new memories.  Though the mystery element of the plot is compelling, the true force of the movie comes from its ablity to let you experience a series of events from Leonard's perspective.  The movie runs backwards in ten minute clips that mirror the increadibly short period of time in which Leonard can maintain linear awareness.  You watch as Leonard is thrust into a situation and, along with Leonard, you have no idea how he got there.  It is only after the scene has run its course and the movie skips to the next sequence that you are finally given the answer.  However, every answer you are granted unearths three times as many new questions, and you find your attention rapt and unrelenting as you wait for the appearance of Leonard's next random adventure.
This movie is as compelling as any that have been released in recent memory.  Like "Pulp Fiction," the events of the film are not presented linearly, thus making the editing a major factor in the effect of the film.  The structure is increadibly unique and well crafted.  The movie starts at the chronological end and moves backwards in jumps which are separated by black and white segments that take place in the distant past.  The narrative lines run towards each other and eventually connect using the very clever device of watching a polaroid picture develop (thus providing the bridge from black and white to color).
Guy Pearce gives a tremendous performance.  If he got your attention in L.A. Confidential, he's proved himself to be a formidable actor here, much like Brad Pitt's career defining performance in "Seven."  But really there is not much more I can say, the whole supporting cast is superb, the script is well above average and the direction and film construction is magnificent.  This is a daring and thought provoking movie and if you have any interest at all in the genre of film it is not one that you can possibly justify having missed.
2277192
I really loved this book.  Our narrator, writing as an adult in present day, tells us of his teenage years in Piney Creek Louisiana, centering on the summer of 1989 when his neighbor, Lindy, was raped. This book is really two things:  it's a mystery surrounding the crime and who could have committed it and it's a reflection on memories and how we are affected by them.

First, the mystery.  It was compelling and there are clues peppered throughout.  I thought I knew what would happen but nothing (and everything) was as it seemed.  There are a few creepy scenes (not horror or paranormal creepy, just voyeuristic and invasive) and the book is very atmospheric.

That brings me to my next point.  I loved the description of the setting.  I felt like I was experiencing a Louisiana summer; like I could really feel the heat and humidity, see the moss hanging from the trees, feel the sweat dripping, and taste the lemonade. Even the mood of the community as a whole was felt.  The author really created a complete sense of place.

Where this book really shines, though, is in the recollection of youth.  The narrator describes his memories with a nostalgia that is very relatable but also with a wisdom that can only come from a lifetime of experiences.  Anyone who grew up in the 80's will recognize references to the Challenger explosion, Jeffrey Dahmer, talking for hours on the phone before there was internet and call waiting, running around the neighborhood until (and sometimes after) dark with friends.  In many ways, the 80's marked the death of innocence for our society in general, and this narrator's reflections on his childhood mark the death of his.  It's a great parallel.

Many readers may be put off by how this book is paced and structured.  It's told in bits and pieces that are mostly in order but occasionally veer off onto what seem like unrelated events, much like the recollection of memory.  Often we recall bits and pieces of an event and those memories lead us to others. Some readers may feel these are parenthetical scenes but I felt that they all tied in to the overall growth of the narrator.  Indeed, this book is much more about the narrator than it is about Lindy and the mystery surrounding her rape.

Overall, I really loved this one.  The nostalgia, the atmosphere, the importance of memory viewed from a distance of years, all of these things were great.  I loved the writing.  I loved that the author captured the feeling of adolescence so perfectly.  I found it very hard to put this book down and highly recommend it.  In fact, my original rating after finishing was 4 stars but I just can't stop thinking about this one and the more I think about it the more I love it.  For that reason, I'm bumping this up to 5 stars and I'm pleased to own a physical copy for my bookshelf.
3651651
Wow! Would you want to relive and revisit the past and old memories if you had a choice?
Lynn Osterkamp's Bittersweet Memories explores just this- revisiting the past, even if it means that we have to recall something long forgotten or not remembered at all. Anne was left an invention when her brother dies, a Memory Enhancer, that allows her to relive memories through her dreams each night. Anne soon finds out that some of these memories are just not what she imagines them to be, or worse yet, they aren't the memories she knows about. Her deep family secrets soon resurface and Anne is forced to deal with them on her own.
Great novel by Osterkamp and definitely worth a read!
3017564
Swanson has penned a book, a majestic rendering of the heart that haunted me long after I put this novel on the shelves among my favourites.  I was touched with the simplicity of his writing, and astounded that such  simplicity is exactly what engages the reader and keeps them glued to the  pages until the book meets its resolve. I think we have all ached for  someone, perhaps found them, and then lost them for reasons that are often  too painful to remember... or so we think, but we do remember them, even if  through subliminal hauntings that carry forward into our adult lives.  Christian is so familiar to me, like a shadow-self who appeared before me  in my sleep to remind me of a someone all too familiar to Reis. If this is  the one book you pick up off the shelf to ponder, beware the strong effect  that it is destined to have on you.  Its intoxication will leave you  breathless, dizzy and aching for someone you thought you said goodbye to  years ago.
3342122
I finished "The Sense of an Ending" two days ago and, like many who have read the book, it has left a deep impression on me.

In some ways, the book is about memory - how it works or doesn't work - how it changes over time and what the meaning of memory is for our lives.

Some of the best writers in English today -  think John Banville in "The Sea" and Ian McKeown in "Atonement" have explored the same themes of the
power and potential (and limitations and threats to our persona) of memory.

Mr. Barnes has, in addition to his own exploration of this theme added the darker riff of the devastating power of words - words that are perhaps
cast off heedlessly and then forgotten - but like the proverbial "butterfly effect" words can have reveberations that last decades and cut to the core
of people's lives.

No spoilers from me but any one just starting the book should keep this in mind as they read.

This was a book that I am sure that I will re-read at some point and one that I believe may deliver additional worthwhile insights into the human
condition.

I am very happy to have read (devoured?)this book.  Congratulations to the Booker judges for a very worthy award selection for 2011.