Christopher Nolan’s “Memento” came out in 2000. A film beloved by both critics and your average filmgoer, the perplexing tale about a protagonist with short-term memory loss trying to avenge the murder of his wife is captivating, mesmerizing and, most of all, original.
The utilization of color and black-and-white scenes to signify time along with many other aspects make it a classic that is as unprecedented as anything else in bigger-budget filmmaking.
Thus, it only seems right for Hollywood to take this ingenious film and remake it because ... why the fuck not?
Hey, do you like “Space Jam” or “Star Wars” or car robots from your childhood? What about “Beetlejuice,” “Terminator,” even “Rocky”?
Anything you once loved will go through the kill-machine that is modern Hollywood that sucks out all of the fun, joy and novelty in filmmaking so that McDonalds can sell a doll with tattoos that vaguely resembles Guy Ritchie’s character in “Memento.”
There’s still some great blockbusters like “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but on the whole they are watered down in order to entertain every person in the world.
Newer films like “Spectre,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World” are exclusively fan service. Every time a crowd erupts for Stan Lee winking at the camera from underneath his designer sunglasses, I resign myself more and more to this being the norm for the foreseeable future.
Movies that are more inventive and off-beat are automatically festival films that will only be seen by a minority. “Birdman,” “Whiplash,” and “Her” are recent films that traveled that path with limited money return.
This might sound a bit uppity, but it’s just because I’m tired. I was not surprised “Memento” will be remade because it’s just what the film industry has become. Throughout the past few decades, television has become the more innovative medium in terms of story design and cinematography with movies becoming conventional in order to seemingly please everybody.
It’s only been 15 years. Please leave “Memento” alone.
