Rewatchables Reference

• Lenny kills Teddy – the first 6 minutes; 'Beg my wife's forgiveness before I blow your brains out' (Bill's pick).
• Leonard goes off in his flannel and the transition from black and white to color – killing Jimmy then Teddy's reveal (Chris's pick).
• Carrie-Anne Moss flipping out on Leonard – hiding the pens, getting him to hit her, then coming back claiming another guy did it.
• First Carrie-Anne Moss diner scene – 'We're both survivors'; totally different on rewatches knowing what she did.
• The diabetes/insulin reveal with Teddy telling Leonard the truth – 'You lie to yourself to be happy'.

• One of the first movie websites – Jonathan Nolan designed it with clues like 'The Blair Witch Project'.
• Anterograde amnesia depicted realistically – medical experts praised it as one of the most accurate depictions in film.
• Guy Pearce's improvised narration – Bill isn't usually a narrator fan but it worked.
• Subtle physical comedy – Leonard pushing a pull door, the hotel clerk renting him two rooms.
• Nolan's shooting style: anamorphic lenses, camera always closer to Pearce to put the audience inside Leonard's head.
• Tujunga/Valley locations – that grimy down-and-out Valley vibe.

• This movie will never match the experience of seeing it the first time – a unique class of movies where nothing replicates initial discovery.
• Guy Pearce's career – 'if you had his rookie cards after 'Memento', you took a hit'.

• Brad Pitt was initially slated to play Leonard; after passing, Nolan said he didn't want a movie star anyway.
• Aaron Eckhart and Thomas Jane were also considered; Bill thinks Thomas Jane would have been really good.
• Bill's controversial take: this would have been an amazing Brad Pitt movie, between 'Fight Club' and Ocean's 11.
• Paranoid Android by Radiohead was going to be in the closing credits but was too expensive for the $4.5M budget.

The drug dealer that Leonard hits over the head – one reason Bill wanted Nicky Katt for the re-casting.

• Joe Pantoliano automatically wins because the award is named after him – they decide he auto-wins when he's in the movie.
• Runner-up: Mark Boone Junior (Burt, the Discount Inn front desk guy) – Two Fast Two Furious, 'Batman' Begins, Sons of Anarchy.
• Callum Keith Rennie as Dodd also mentioned.

• Mark Boone Junior as Burt.
• Runner-up: the coked-up escort/prostitute.

• The drug dealer: Nicky Katt (Chris) or Michael Imperioli (Bill – still gettable, just Spider from 'Goodfellas').
• Michael Madsen or Tom Sizemore also mentioned.

• Newmarket gave it $4.5M; screened for studio heads who all liked it but passed because it was 'too confusing'.
• Soderbergh championed it; Newmarket distributed it themselves to ~500 theaters.
• Harvey Weinstein passed, then tried to buy it afterwards and couldn't.
• Teddy's 'you freak' line is actually Nolan's voice, not Pantoliano's – they felt Pants didn't nail it.
• Teddy's phone number is the same as Marla Singer's in 'Fight Club'.

• Guy Pearce – yes, this is Apex Mountain for him.
• Carrie-Anne Moss – yes, even over The Matrix (Chris agrees).
• Anterograde amnesia – yes, absolutely Apex Mountain for the condition.
• The Discount Inn – yes, when has a discount inn ever been more prominent?
• Tan suits – fun pick from Chris; Pearce keeps that suit crisp despite living in it for a week.
• Christopher Nolan – no (his apex is later); Joey Pantoliano – no (The Sopranos).

Teddy should just kill Lenny much earlier – he's so dangerous and unpredictable that Teddy is now in danger himself.

• Yes – Leonard as basically a killer-for-hire for different people, each episode following a different manipulation.
• Chris: what if it was told from Burt's (the hotel guy's) perspective?
• Probably can't do it backwards for TV – too confusing.

• Was there a second attacker? Bill thinks no – Leonard is Sammy Jankis.
• Did Leonard's wife kill herself or did he accidentally kill her with insulin shots? They think the Sammy Jankis story is really Leonard's story.
• What happens to this movie in the era of mobile phone video? Leonard could create a vlog.
• Is Leonard in the mental institution at the end? There's a quick flash of him replacing Sammy Jankis.
• Why didn't this movie have 10 sequels? Why wasn't this 'Saw'?

• The first Polaroid – the one Leonard is holding at the beginning (Bill).
• The Jaguar, even with the window blown out (Chris).

Christopher Nolan – comes out of essentially nowhere and for $5 million makes a movie that looks better than 99% of all other films.