Memento Review (Archive)

19:30Josh Larsen:You'll often take a piece of paper from me and a pen, but there won't be much on there at the end of the movie. It's just not your style. And so I find it incredibly interesting that this is the movie. You have more notes than you know what to do with. And it makes total sense to me. Why does Memento appeal so much to someone like me and so much to someone like you, Adam? Well, the answer, I think, lies in a quote Leonard gives when he's describing his process. I'm disciplined and organized. I use habit and routine to make my life possible. Now, I'm probably 95 % that guy. I'm going to guess you're 115 % that guy.

20:12Josh Larsen:So there's something, correct me if I'm wrong in making those assumptions, but there's something about this organizational, I mean, we do this show built on top five lists and themes and processes and organization and habits and routines. and so when you see a movie when that is at once being taken away from you this goes to what you were just talking about about the filmmaking process what nolan is doing here he's undercutting all that stuff in a way that makes this a thriller and makes this destabilizing while at the same time as movie lovers who know how films work we are simultaneously appreciating the superstructure The stitching that is allowing us to be disoriented in an oriented way, if that makes sense.

21:01Josh Larsen:And that is the genius of Memento that I think if your particular personalities in ways that I think we both share is just going to blow your mind.

21:12Adam Kempenaar:Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of blowing your mind, I love the fact that you've got not only Carrie Ann Moss in this movie, but Joe Pantagliano, who I like both of them as performers. I think they're both very good here, but also just that they're in this movie at all, because this is a film that came out two years after The Matrix. And if you think about those movies as a pair, which I actually do, or at least I do now, having just rewatched this film, these are heady genre movies, right? Sci-fi and this neo-noir. But they actually raise really similar questions about human existence that at the time were groundbreaking for me.

21:47Adam Kempenaar:They were films that planted something in my brain about the human condition that I have never relinquished. And I watch almost every movie I see still through this lens, even just in my everyday life. I take away aspects of these movies that have filtered into my subconscious. And there's a different Leonard line I'm going to give you where he says, we all lie to ourselves to be happy. And if you think about it, Leonard essentially takes the blue pill in this movie, right? That's what's revealed. The harsh truth of reality is given to him. But unlike Neo and the others in The Matrix, he does what Cypher does, what Joe Panigliano does in The Matrix.

22:29Adam Kempenaar:He effectively takes the blue pill to remain blissfully unaware and to allow himself to continue living this new version of a happy life. And this time that tattoo that's right there where he can see it most plainly, most visibly. Remember Sammy Jankus, the one that's right there by his thumb on his wrist. Of course, what he literally means by that is remember Sammy. Remember that story. But of course, it's more than that because he remembers Sammy. Sammy is actually in his past. He doesn't need the tattoo to remind him of what happened with Sammy. That tattoo is there because it has broader implications.

23:07Adam Kempenaar:What he doesn't want to do is end up like Sammy. Remember how Sammy ends up a man with no agency, no purpose whatsoever. And that relates to the line he says to the Jimmy Grant's character who says, what do you want? And he says, I want my life back. Literally, of course, on one level, he does. He wishes none of this had ever happened. But what I think he's really saying there is I want a life back. I need a life that has purpose. I can't be Sammy. And that brings us full circle to your line. I need a life that relies on discipline and organization and habit and routine. I need drive. I'm going to give myself that drive.

23:46Adam Kempenaar:I'm not going to be Sammy Jankus sitting at home watching TV commercials. There are moral and ethical compromises and questions that come with that, that he has chosen, I suppose, his answer to. But he has definitely decided that there has to be a path and a purpose to his life in order to go on.

24:06Josh Larsen:And by choosing to deceive himself, by choosing not to face the harsh truth, the movie makes us face a couple of harsh truths, I think. And one of them is this idea that memories, even for those of us who are healthy in terms of memory, aren't what we like to think of them as. No. Right? You think of memories as those are the facts. More than that, they're my facts. They're my very personal facts I have witnessed, I can attest to. And Memento makes us face the harsh truth that, you know, they're just interpretations. They're interpretations of our experiences. And, you know, like you hear about conflicting police reports of, you know, two eyewitnesses to the same scene that speak to this.

24:49Josh Larsen:And other psychological studies where we do distort what we've experienced in the way that we want to remember it. And that's just something I think we all know. But when you watch something like Memento, where it's put in this context and made this stark, it kind of makes us face it in a different way. And yeah, Carrie Ann Moss being in The Matrix just, what, like a year or two before is really remarkable. Looking forward, it reminds me, she's obviously been working since, but nothing really quite as resonant as either of these two films. So I'm looking forward to seeing her in the fourth Matrix film.

25:24Josh Larsen:if we eventually get that. I love, as Natalie, this character, how unapologetic she is. That's a word I use to describe Betty Davis in Of Human Bondage. And I think we get a little bit of that here. Even before we realize she's using Leonard, there's still this fierceness to her that I appreciated. And there's another, speaking of the humanity in this movie, so many layers of emotion in that one tentative kiss that she and Leonard share because there is betrayal going on there. There's a little confusion, but there's also some real longing in it. You can sense. I think for sure. Because these are two people who have lost people, right?

26:02Josh Larsen:And then Moss gets that great moment where she gets to act while she's acting. You know, you get a character playing a part when she comes back in the house after Leonard has hit her and she sits in the car. I mean, that's one of the scares. That sequence is where it makes it so palpable, the condition he's in. Yes. Because for some reason, the edits to him waking up again, those are movie conventions we're familiar with, right? Like, okay, he forgets. I understand. We're restarting. But to see it happen in real time where the camera looks at her sitting in the car. Yes. Counting down until she knows his memory is going to reset.

26:41Josh Larsen:And then calmly coming to the door as if she just arrived. I mean, that's just a great little bit because the acting is so good there. but also the terror of realizing this is how it really happens to Leonard. Yeah.

26:53Adam Kempenaar:I love that moment. I love that you articulated that moment because I don't know that I had a firm handle on why it was so effective. I just know that you're 100 % right that in terms of just pure thrilling moments in the movie, that cut to her sneering at him from her driver's seat, knowing what she's about to do to him, it's electrifying.

27:12Josh Larsen:Yeah, chilling, chilling. It is. And then another one like that, which, you know, I had forgotten until the chase was on, and I think it was pretty common in the trailer, too, is the I think it starts with, why am I chasing this guy? And then a second later, oh, he's chasing me. Or maybe it's vice versa. But that's just another great in the moment way of putting us in Leonard's head, right?

27:32Adam Kempenaar:Yes. Yeah, absolutely. A great joke in the film. And it probably made me laugh back in 2001. It definitely made me laugh this time, too. And of course, this being this oeuvre of you, we are coming at these films considering how each film before it or set of films informs it. And beyond some of the things we've already touched on earlier in the discussion, just the fact that you've got a man and a woman here double crossing Leonard, just like we had in Following, right? Two people that he thinks might be on his side, but ultimately are working against him. The whole object aspect to this film, right, in terms of what do these objects that people have or hang on to tell us about them?

28:12Adam Kempenaar:And there was that whole sequence I'd completely forgotten about with the prostitute in this movie and the props, right? He effectively buys props that he knows he can convince himself, I suppose, that belong to his wife. And then he disposes of them. But he goes through this whole charade with those objects. So that was another thing that tied back to following, and you may have a few more items on your list. But also, like any Sacred Cow we do, or with our 8 from 84 series, if this is the first time you're seeing these movies in a long time, it's always interesting to consider what we maybe didn't notice or what we didn't put emphasis on in that first viewing and what was different then about this experience.

28:54Adam Kempenaar:And I had completely forgotten, Josh, and I don't know if my eyes were perceptive enough back in 2001 to catch it. It is very subtle, even though it sounds like it shouldn't be. I had forgotten completely about the moment where the black and white and the color timelines actually do intersect with each other. near the end of this film, right? Where we actually see the color change. But beyond that, and getting to some of these other points we're talking about, I had forgotten or decided to overlook how much of a sympathetic figure in some ways Natalie really was. You're right. She's completely unapologetic.

29:30Adam Kempenaar:And I like that about her as a movie character. And there's no doubt that she completely uses Leonard. But there are some of these other touches that suggest an inner life and maybe, as you said, some longing to her. And we do accept that she didn't plan any of this. When you do finally think about this movie and you process it in terms of an actual chronology, the first thing that happens at the beginning of this film is her boyfriend being killed by Leonard. And the next thing that happens is the guy who killed her boyfriend driving up in his car wearing his suit and pulling up to the bar. Imagine being her in that situation.

30:14Adam Kempenaar:And there's a lot more we can unpack there. But this is a case where even though, as you said, there's a key moment where she lays out what she's going to use him for and she has her own personal reasons to do it. It's also driven by her personal animosity to the guy who she knows did kill her boyfriend. Even if maybe someone else was pulling some of the strings, there's a hatred for him as well. And so that was that was surprising to me to see her not just as what I thought was a traditional kind of femme fatale who's there only to drive his downfall. But actually, in a lot of ways, I think she's more sympathetic than the hero is.

30:49Adam Kempenaar:I've lost somebody, too.

30:54Adam Kempenaar:I'm sorry. His name was Jimmy. What happened to him? I went to meet somebody. He never came back. Who are you going to meet? A guy called Teddy. What do the police think? They don't look too hard for guys like Jimmy. When you find this guy, this John G, what are you going to do?

31:22Josh Larsen:I'm going to kill him.

31:26Adam Kempenaar:Maybe I can help you find him.

31:29Josh Larsen:Well, it makes me think you talked about the chronological cut of following that's out there. we could it'd be great to have a Natalie cut of memento right I mean I know you would you wouldn't have the memory issues but there is definitely a compelling story there that we get a good sense of in the performance and in in the sequences that Carrie Ann Moss is involved in are you trying to get weight loss support through telehealth but it feels overwhelming and rushed check out orderlymeds.com now orderlymeds.com was built to be different here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you.

32:08Josh Larsen:Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and terzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care, and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging. So your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research. Ask the right questions. Then visit orderlymeds.com slash podcast for an exclusive offer.

32:42Josh Larsen:Again, that's orderlymeds.com slash podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice. Eligibility required. See site for details. I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan. Hey, how's it going today? It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do. I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan & Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

33:06Adam Kempenaar:That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said$20 ,000 ,000 ,000 won. $20 ,000 ,000 is an insane number.

33:14Josh Larsen:Yeah,$20 ,000 ,000 recovered. It's actually, I think, somewhere north, probably closer to$22 ,000 ,000,$23 ,000 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on. Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan & Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident? Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's pound 529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 24-7, 365.

33:42Adam Kempenaar:Wow. Dan Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

33:47Josh Larsen:Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you. Let's talk about modern home shopping. It's sort of become a fun side hobby, right? Scrolling listings at night, dreaming about kitchens you've never seen, or backyards you haven't even stepped foot in. All from the comforts of pretty much anywhere. Redfin knows a lot of people like you want to own, but are stuck in this browsing mode loop. That's where Redfin flips the script. With listings that update within minutes, and tours you can book right from the Redfin app, you can see your dream home the moment it appears. Now, liking a listing is easy, but actually landing it, that's where Redfin comes in.

34:26Josh Larsen:Redfin has over 2 ,200 agents with local expertise. And Redfin agents close twice as many deals as other agents. That means they want to help you win, not just window shop. Redfin is built to help you go from just looking to wait. This could actually be home. So become the newest neighbor on the block. Visit Redfin.com to start finding and start owning. That's Redfin.com. Wait, this is a soda? Yeah. And it has protein? 10 grams. No sugar? Zero. And it actually tastes good? It's Sky Pop. Sky Pop Protein Soda delivers the refreshing taste you want from a real soda. Crisp and delicious with 10 grams of complete protein, zero sugar, and just 45 calories.

35:10Josh Larsen:So you're not choosing between great taste and real benefits. You're getting both in every sip. Sky Pop Protein Soda. Reach for the sky. Get your Sky Pop Protein Soda now at Target. I was the thing maybe that I noticed, I guess, and I think this just comes with, you know, another what, two decades of film watching or so is the editing is just, you know, I've gotten to learn how to look more closely at what the editing is doing. and mentioned at the top, Dottie Dorn, Oscar nominated for the work here. There's just little flickers here and there. When Leonard references my wife fairly early on, we get a quick shot of her eye opening and closing beneath that shower curtain, a haunting, haunting image.

35:55Josh Larsen:And later on with the Sammy Jenkins storyline, when that's starting to sink into us, the conclusive element is that quick flick of a shot where Lenny, we see Lenny sitting in Sammy's car, right? It's like half a second, but it's, it's, and this is where Nolan is like, or is it in the wheelchair? I think it's in the wheelchair. Is it the wheelchair? Okay. That's what I thought. Yeah. It's just, it's so quick. And it's almost where Nolan is, is like, okay, you've probably caught up to me now. So I'm going to give you a little reward, you know, and just like confirm what you're probably thinking.

36:30Josh Larsen:And then this is more towards the end, but when Leonard does kill Jimmy, that sequence is match cut with scenes of Leonard's wife, played by, I think it's Yuria Fox. He's looking out the window of the abandoned building where he's waiting for Jimmy to come, and we get these match cuts of her looking out the window of their house. And this, again, it brings back that human element, the humanity of this, um, ties us. It's, it's not just, you know, a noir killing we're going to see, but we understand the psychological and emotional, um, building blocks that has brought to that moment. Those edits bringing back that into the final scene is just so crucial.

37:12Josh Larsen:Um, so I, I want to ask you a question though. Um, this was a great experience, a great revisit. Was there any point, however, where clue fatigue began to set in where, as I mentioned, we are trying to keep up with this movie and that's part of the thrill but i did have a moment it might have been the sequence with um around the time of the prostitute where it was just becoming um that's the only way we can describe it kind of like i don't need any more clues let me work with what you've already given me a little

37:39Adam Kempenaar:bit yeah i can definitely see that i don't know that i felt it as much as you but i was very aware on this rewatch anyway of how many clues as confounding as the movie ultimately can be and as provocative as it is, as much as there is unanswered, there are so many clues to unraveling it that Nolan gives you along the way, but you would only really know that on multiple rewatches because on that first watch, your head is spinning so much. But when you see things like speaking of the editing, you see a flash near the end to Leonard, I think in bed with his wife, but now he does have that tattoo over his heart that says, I've done it.

38:17Adam Kempenaar:You've got little things like that, that clue you in. Even Bert, the guy who is behind the desk at the discount in early in the movie, he says, that must suck. It's all backwards. Like maybe you got an idea about what you want to do next, but you don't remember what you just did. I mean, he's giving you the structure of the film in some of the lines that the characters say. And Teddy, the Paneleano character, really does lay out some of the larger themes of the movie I was touching on in terms of the subjectivity of your experiences and choosing your own destiny and denying things and rationalizing in order to be happy.

38:53Adam Kempenaar:That was way more present in the script than I had remembered it from 2001, which might be a little bit different from some of the clues that you're talking about and what you felt fatigued by.

39:03Josh Larsen:So I have to, before we wrap up, note that, because now I'm looking for it, of course, I mentioned how in the basement bar and following, I saw those doors that had the porthole windows and something about him screamed Nolan. It's almost the exact same door in that abandoned building where Leonard kills Jimmy at the end, I noticed in the background. So I'm going to be looking for those as the oeuvre view continues.

39:25Adam Kempenaar:Yeah, as you should. I wonder if we will see them make future appearances. I guess the last thing I wanted to touch on, in terms of the new experience this time, even more than recognizing Natalie as a tragic figure, I also do see Leonard as even more complicated and tragic. Obviously, you can't deny the people he's willing to hurt and those moral and ethical compromises that he has been willing to make, not just in the name of revenge, but for him to have this life of purpose. but you really do tap into i think you mentioned this line earlier i tapped into more this time josh the fact the real weight of the fact that he starts every day with the last thing he remembers being his wife and not just starting your day it's not just when you wake up it's whenever you come out of this sort of spell you've been in where you are right processing what you're doing however many minutes that is 5 10 15 you're back to the reality of that brutal act that occurred against your wife so that's a horrible place to be and when he has that sequence where he articulates that pain and he says that he doesn't even know how long she's been gone it's like i've woken up in bed and she's not here and the way that ends how can i heal how am i supposed to heal if I can't feel time.

40:49Adam Kempenaar:That is a true, almost sci-fi like character dilemma, right? To be in a situation where you can't process time because time truly is not to be a Hallmark card. It truly is the only thing that can get you past grief. It's the only way you can get over anything that traumatic or sad. You may never truly get over it, but the only way you can go on is to process it through time and he can't ever do that and as much as i understood that we're supposed to see leonard as a bad person who does some really bad things and he doesn't even fully want to come to terms with that himself this is why he sets himself on this path where he can live with the blue pill existence i suppose i understand what's driving that and i do empathize with what's driving that.

41:43Josh Larsen:Well, and the tragedy of his choice at the end, the reveal at the end, is that it has this decision to continue to trick himself into pursuing revenge has not provided any sort of closure or healing. And yet that's something he does not learn. And he chooses to re-experience it. I don't know what other route he would have, what sort of healing he could pursue. If he instead chose to write himself tattoos, notes about the one you mentioned, you've done it, you know, is a different route. It's a different path he could have taken. But that's not his choice at the end. And that's what makes him ultimately a tragic figure is he is still choosing this path that is going to repeat the pain.

42:27Josh Larsen:That's it. It's not going to

42:28Adam Kempenaar:help. So I do have a few final little mysteries that remain for me, and I'm not necessarily expecting you to illuminate me, but I do want to throw them out to the audience. And obviously, we can have a larger discussion about this movie and some of these questions. But this one may be not so much a question as much as a little tidbit I loved. The way in the flashbacks we see Mrs. Jankus, when she makes that decision in his memory, in Leonard's version of events, to test her husband, Sammy, played by Stephen Tobolowsky. She does it by telling him that it's time for her insulin shot, suggesting that it's been some passage of time between the last shot.

43:11Adam Kempenaar:And she actually does rewind her watch every time. Yeah. She rewinds the watch almost like Nolan is rewinding the watch on this entire film. She doesn't have to. Does she? Is there a reason why she has to do that? She's not going to trick him. He doesn't look at the watch, does he? And check the time.

43:28Josh Larsen:Yeah, I think it's just a flourish to emphasize what's happening for the viewer. But the coverage is that in case he looks, I'll just say those are two great performances. Tabalovsky, you mentioned, and Harriet Sansom Harris as Sammy Jankis' wife that, again, bring an element of humanity into the movie that really does a lot. It's very important. It pays off when we understand that they're stand-ins for Leonard and his wife, right? Because we've come to care about them, and all of that care gets transferred to Leonard when we get the reveal.

43:59Adam Kempenaar:Yeah. And depending on your reading of the film, there's a possibility that they are actually not just stand-ins metaphorically. No, that's what I mean. Right. I mean, there's different ways to come at it. Maybe this is where my head was exploding. But I swear if you go back, Josh, and look at the scene where Natalie tells Leonard that she lost somebody too. he looks at a picture of her and Jimmy and then after they've I think slept together he comes out to the room on his own and he's looking through some things and he looks at that picture again and I swear in the first cut of the picture we see in this new sequence Jimmy does not have a goatee like he did in the first one and then when he looks at the picture again there's a goatee there okay so I'm losing my mind but I want to know what's up with Jimmy's goatee there's also So I'm getting crazy, aren't I?

44:51Adam Kempenaar:That's a little too deep for me, but go ahead. What's your other one? When Leonard goes downstairs, this is early in the film, but in the actual chronology would be late in the film. It's right before he goes to meet Teddy to take him to the warehouse. He's kind of in a rush. He's definitely frazzled. He comes out of his motel room and he comes downstairs. And just as he's about to walk into the lobby to talk to Bert, we see guy pierce stop catch his breath kind of get his body in a certain physical position and then he walks through the door slowly it's almost as if he's putting himself into character there in the moment as if leonard is putting himself into character and i haven't been able to figure out yet why he would need to do that my last two and these really get at bigger questions about this film is to ponder why does teddy even tell leonard why does he tell him the truth that prompts him to kill him at the end if he knows what leonard is capable of and there's a suggestion that he really does because they've done this before why does he even open that possibility right by pushing leonard to that level yeah the teddy character at some point i

46:09Josh Larsen:I think, does become more about function for this idea to work than, you know, practicality if it were actually happening in the real world. I agree. There's probably some hiccups there.

46:19Adam Kempenaar:So then the real mind bender is what happens now? What happens now? Where does Memento go chronologically after he has killed Teddy slash John G? we could presume because there are suggestions that he's done this before that this is what he always does that a cycle will continue like even if you look at the tattoo and teddy says this but if you look at the tattoo where he has john g and then there's another tattoo below it that clearly came at a different time it doesn't look as good that says or james you know he's just going to

46:52Josh Larsen:keep adding j's until what he's done what he's done is he he's provided a path yes for this to continue forever unless he encounters someone who genuinely will help him. But as long as he, you know, he has this path set for himself and he encounters someone who's going to manipulate him, it'll continue forever.

47:12Adam Kempenaar:See, now that Josh almost strikes me as a generous reading of the film that I don't know that I subscribe to, which is I don't think it matters who's there to help him or double cross him or not. He is always going to pick the path that leads to a life where he's not Sammy Jankis. So he is the one that's always going to manipulate a situation until he gets what he wants, which is to continue this. And so if you look at it that way, then the reason I'm asking the question is the license plate that belongs to Teddy and those facts that he gave him to lead him right to John G. Now that he's killed this John G, even if there are others out there that he will be able to conjure up and seek out and get his revenge, it's going to be a lot harder for him, isn't it?

47:57Adam Kempenaar:I mean, he kind of put himself on this path to find Teddy and the movie ends with him killing him. So where does it go?

48:05Josh Larsen:Well, yeah, that's, but that's what I mean. The discrepancies in his clues allow for him to invent. And you wonder at some point in his consciousness somewhere down below, he just wants it to keep going. Right. So, so there's always, it's, it's, it's the conspiracy mindset. You, you, you know, if you have that sort of mindset, that you can always invent a new path to keep you going the direction you want to go. And the reason I say if he encounters someone who would not manipulate him but care for his mental well-being, I only say it's a possibility because we haven't seen that fail yet. We've only seen him encounter people who are going to use him for their own purposes.

48:42Josh Larsen:So I have one logistical question to ask you. It's the only open question, and I'm not trying to trick the film up because I don't like to play those games with movies. this thing works as beautifully as it needs to. But I did wonder, how does he remember he even has those Polaroids? Because if he's supposed to wake up, not know anything except for the incident, he'll often go for the Polaroids to orient himself. And so I'm just wondering if I missed something where he, or maybe it's just a shortcut, you know, it's a storytelling shortcut because Because otherwise he would what? He'd be dazed.

49:18Josh Larsen:He'd notice a tattoo. He'd look at other tattoos. He'd go to the mirror. And rather than have us go through that whole process every time, you know, the Nolans have him grab the Polaroids, look at them and start the path. Right.

49:29Adam Kempenaar:Yeah. Yeah. I think the only potential answer is that he knows what condition he suffers from. And so knowing that by habit, and this opens up another whole line of questioning with this film, because that dovetails with Sammy and what he could or couldn't learn from from habit and ritual the way Leonard does. Right. That's what distinguishes him. one of the habits he's picked up is he knows to look around him and look in his pockets immediately right yeah to find anything right to find anything that might orient him whatsoever but there's no doubt there are a ton of those little questions that this movie makes you ask and will continue to make us ask i think so i love the fact that we got a chance to revisit memento as part of this OOV review.

50:13Adam Kempenaar:Next up is 2002's Insomnia, a remake of the 1997 Norwegian thriller starring Al Pacino. And Robin Williams, as I've said before, the only Nolan film I suppose I feel like I don't like based on one viewing. It was a disappointment for me, so I can't wait to watch now in this order.

50:33Josh Larsen:Well, and fascinating after Memento, too, because my memory of it is being fairly conventional in terms of narrative and filmmaking. So it'll be interesting to revisit that after we've seen Memento.

50:43Adam Kempenaar:Now, last week, we went through our whole Nolan filmography ranking as it currently stands. Memento, after this watch, still my number one Christopher Nolan. Again, we're only two films into the overview. So we'll see if that does change as we move ahead here. Any changes for you with your list?

51:01Josh Larsen:Yeah, the way I'm going to do this is because I have thought about it, I'm going to start from scratch. So basically right now, it's a boring way because we've only had two films. I like it. I have Memento number one and I have Following two. And so when I get to Insomnia, I'm going to see where it fits compared to those two.

51:19Adam Kempenaar:If only it was that easy. We'll just keep it two films. And yes, I know where Memento ranks and where Following ranks.

51:25Josh Larsen:I like a plan. I like an organized path. I like a procedure,

51:29Adam Kempenaar:Of course you do, Lenny. I mean, Josh. We'll get to following here in a few weeks. And Josh, that is our show. From April 2020, that was our conversation about Memento, a reminder that access to the Film Spotting Archive, including monthly bonus shows, is available to every member of the Film Spotting family, including monthly bonus shows. And we do have a discussion of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights dropping soon in that feed. Again, that's exclusive to Film Spotting family members. You can join at filmspottingfamily.com and you can get 20 % off through the month of January if you use promo code Supreme.

52:08Adam Kempenaar:That's 20 % off using promo code Supreme. Film spotting is listener supported. Join the film spotting family at filmspottingfamily.com and get access to ad free episodes, monthly bonus shows, our weekly newsletter, and for the first time all in one place, the entire film spotting archive going back to 2005. That's filmspottingfamily.com.

52:33Adam Kempenaar:This is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of, but I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words.

53:11Adam Kempenaar:And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.

53:18Josh Larsen:When people turn to telehealth for weight loss, they're looking for real support. That's why more people are choosing orderlymeds.com. Orderly Meds connects you with real doctors and access to proven GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and terzeptatide. No guessing, just a more supportive experience. And all shipped directly to your door in discreet packaging. Do your research, ask questions, then visit orderlymeds.com slash podcast for an exclusive offer. That's orderlymeds.com slash podcast. Individual results may vary. Now medical advice eligibility required. See site for details. Wait, this is a soda?

53:51Josh Larsen:Yeah. And it has protein? 10 grams. No sugar? Zero. And it actually tastes good? It's Sky Pop. Sky Pop Protein Soda delivers the refreshing taste you want from a real soda. Crisp and delicious with 10 grams of complete protein, zero sugar, and just 45 calories. So you're not choosing between great taste and real benefits. You're getting both in every sip. Sky Pop Protein Soda. Reach for the sky. Get your Sky Pop Protein Soda now at Target. This episode is brought to you by Choiceology.

54:22Adam Kempenaar:an original podcast from Charles Schwab, hosted by Katie Milkman, an award-winning behavioral scientist and author of the best-selling book, How to Change, Choiceology is a show about the psychology and economics behind our decisions. Hear true stories from Nobel laureates, authors, athletes, and everyday people

54:43Josh Larsen:about why we make the choices we do, and how to make better ones to help avoid costly mistakes. Listen to Choiceology at schwab.com slash podcast or wherever you listen.