I finally saw "Memento"

Date: Sat, Feb 2, 2002 3:22 PM

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

> WAY easy to see why Stang, as der film editor, would be DYING to put the damned
> thing in ORDER, heh, but if he did, there'd be little to distinguish it from a
> hundred other cinematic tax-deduction projects. Two-Faced Bad Cop plays all ends
> against the middle to use the SEEMING rape/murder of Protagonist's wife to kill
> off Drug Dealer and land The Money for himself. *SIGH!* Oh, where have I seen
> THAT script 412 times before?

I did recut it, and in normal sequence it becomes a very very SIMPLE
story in which everybody around this guy takes blatant advantage of
him.

The gist of the point of the twist of it is not what you have
summarized, but rather the fact that our hero, Leonard Shelby, also
uses his own disability to get his own way -- for instance,
deliberately setting himself up to later kill somebodyhe was basically
just irritated at -- SANS GUILT, because he knows that just like
everybody else, he can exploit his problem.

The implication is that we all do this sort of thing, constantly,
mostly unconciously. We tell ourselves lies because we know that
BELIEVING that lie will help us get what we REALLY want.

That's some of what I got out of it, anyway. I think you're being
awfully crabby to totally discount the radical way this otherwise
simple story is told. That radical way of telling the story is more the
point of the story than the story itself, but you are relegating it to
mere gimmickry. I strongly disagree that that's all that's going on in
MEMENTO. I think it posits some deep questions very effectively. The
Bad Cop character pretty much delineates these ideas in a quick
throwaway rant to Leonard in the early part of the movie (near the end
of the actual story per se).

But, I also consider such things to be entirely a matter of taste, and
if there's such a thing as "good" taste, then both of us are in big
trouble, Huey.

I've seen the movie three times, in three ways:
1) the way it's released
2) one section at a time, working backwards, as I recut it.
3) in recut (chronological) form.

It does indeed feature all the keen little loop-backs and third-viewing
inside-jokes that I suspected it does.

Ydnax says the DVD is full of keen details regarding the project.

The Guy who played Leonard, Guy Pierce, plays The Time Traveller in the
upcoming THE TIME MACHINE remake. That may cause me some brain fartage.

The scene where Leonard desperately tries to find a pen to write
something down before he forgets it -- and it's pretty fucking
important -- is one of the more harrowing moments of screen history,
for me.

Anyway, the tatoo on my hand says I have to get to work now.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Legume <none@yerbiz.com>

> I think you're being awfully crabby to totally discount the radical way
> this otherwise simple story is told.

Why should you care what Huey thinks after the terrible things he did to
your billygoat?
--
Dr. K. "Cortez" Legume
-----------------------------
"I don't need to vote for Legume's work to submit that he's handed guys
like you your asses. He's Tarzan on a big red scooter and you'll never
catch him". ---Februus
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

Hell, I OFFERED him the billygoat. I was GLAD he taught it to post
stuff on alt.slack. It's not his fault how it behaved after it ran off
to Shreveport.

I'm just real partial to that movie, is all. I want Huey to like it,
and if he doesn't I'll kill him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>Why should you care what Huey thinks after the terrible things he did to
>your billygoat?

Hey, I took it to Arby's first and used a rubber for my filthy bidness. How
much more does a mere goat DESERVE?

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
you should be horsewhipped

Transported to a surreal landscape,
a young girl kills the first woman she meets
and then teams up with three complete strangers
to kill again.
- Marin County newspaper's TV listing
for "The Wizard of Oz"

"You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney,
we will supply you with the stupidest,
1st year law student dumb-ass slacker
we can find on the continent."
- "Lethal Weapon 4"

"Hey, you made me take a poopy!"
- "The Fairly Odd Parents"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Legume <none@yerbiz.com>

> I'm just real partial to that movie, is all. I want Huey to like it,
> and if he doesn't I'll kill him.

That's not a very nice thing to do. Just because Hellpope doesn't like the
same movies as you doesn't mean you should kill him without inviting your
buddies to help.

--
Dr. K. "Cortez" Legume

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Champion Jack Codini <Codini@subgeniusdot.whatever>

>That's not a very nice thing to do. Just because Hellpope doesn't like the
>same movies as you doesn't mean you should kill him without inviting your
>buddies to help.
Yeah, you said I could help

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>Yeah, you said I could help

Sure, you're welcome to come along, the more the merrier. But remember, I'll try
real hard to scratch your eyes out, you gossiping bitch. Your kind of lipstick
lesbian makes me ever so grouchy.

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

Even though we about killed Pastor Craig last time, maybe we SHOULD get
back to the Blood Wrestling at X-day.

Not ME.

But Legume and Codini, IN LESBIAN MAKE-UP, versus HUEY and my
BILLYGOAT... what a spectacle. I would join you in a tag-team, Huey,
but they need me backstage to, uh, take pictures. And uh, the doctor
told me I have to go easy on this arm.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Blackout" <blackout@404infomagic.net>

"HellPope Huey" wrote

> (As 'reviewed' by Mr. Big after I followed the suggestion of Stang et al to see
> this.)
>
> I can see why youse guys would be taken with this one, because the framing
> device and weird flow were pretty engaging. Clever twist on the old lost-memory
> gambit. I followed it with some initial interest. However, if not for those
> aspects, the basic STORY would be just another sordid EYE-talian-style drug-deal
> potboiler. There's no "hero" or even an Eastwood-esque "anti-hero;" everyone in
> it is some sort of scumbag. Virtually all classic narratives pivot on SOME sort
> of yin/yang and this one is all yang.
>
> I'm sure I've lost points with Ghod for all the hours I've wasted, sitting
> around fropped, watching 3rd-rate Godzilliod flicks, bodice-ripping draymas and
> Bugatti-racing Moebius strips that either ended with virtually everyone dead or
> one hard-boiled cat walking away as the biggest sleaze(s) thrash around in some
> sort of steamy futility, such as looking for car keys in the bushes.
>
> It DOES have a sort of Euro-style finger-puzzle air that makes you scratch yer
> brain, trying to figure it out, so its fame as an "art" piece is understandable.
> It DOES put you in the catbird seat along with the cute blond feller and that's
> a time-honored path to take; Hitchcock was a master of it. But the conclusion
> was just "okay, it stops here"; it wasn't really RESOLVED. Mr. Wonderful drives
> off with the same problems he had at the outset, poof.
>
> I'm glad I saw it for its new twist on an old theme, but at best, its value
> lies in that of being usable as a comparison for better films and WAY less for
> its own internal merits. I note that the writer/director is releasing a 2nd film
> based on the fame of this one, but that reminds me of "The Sixth Sense," in
> which the followup, "Unbreakable," was clearly a coast on the name of a previous
> success and didn't stack up half as well.
>
> WAY easy to see why Stang, as der film editor, would be DYING to put the damned
> thing in ORDER, heh, but if he did, there'd be little to distinguish it from a
> hundred other cinematic tax-deduction projects. Two-Faced Bad Cop plays all ends
> against the middle to use the SEEMING rape/murder of Protagonist's wife to kill
> off Drug Dealer and land The Money for himself. *SIGH!* Oh, where have I seen
> THAT script 412 times before?
>
> The only way it could have been MORE formulaic is if the Bad Cop was being
> manipulated by an Evil Wizard, so as to use the money to acquire a Magic Stone
> with which to open a dimensional p0rtal to a place where I wouldn't be bored by
> retreads of creaky plots of yesteryear. EIEIEIEIEIEII!!!

this from a guy who thinks "The West Wing" is high fucking drama.

I TOLD YOU that shit was gonna ROT YER BRAIN
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: virtualole@aol.com (VirtualOle)

Stang wrote:

>The implication is that we all do this sort of thing, constantly,
>mostly unconciously. We tell ourselves lies because we know that
>BELIEVING that lie will help us get what we REALLY want.

Like waving some medical study showing that a thimbleful of red wine helps your
heart as an excuse to drink a bathtub full every meal.

>The Guy who played Leonard, Guy Pierce, plays The Time Traveller in the
>upcoming THE TIME MACHINE remake. That may cause me some brain fartage.

You think that's bad? Try watching Priscilla Queen of the Desert again,
especially the scene where Guy takes a picture of himself with a polaroid
camera.

>The scene where Leonard desperately tries to find a pen to write
>something down before he forgets it -- and it's pretty fucking
>important -- is one of the more harrowing moments of screen history,
>for me.

Definitely up there with the shower scene from Psycho. I was on the edge of my
seat through the whole thing, but then anyone who has EVER found a note in
their pocket in their own handwriting and had ABSOLUTELY NO RECOLLECTION OF
HAVING WRITTEN IT will identify with Lenny.

-------------------------------
Ole Olson, P.O. Box 592, Ishpeming, MI 49849
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

> Definitely up there with the shower scene from Psycho. I was on the edge of my
> seat through the whole thing, but then anyone who has EVER found a note in
> their pocket in their own handwriting and had ABSOLUTELY NO RECOLLECTION OF
> HAVING WRITTEN IT will identify with Lenny.

Imagine finding a whole one-hour show recording and not remembering
having done any of it. Frightening, sometimes. But one is NEVER bored.
One can watch a light blink over and over again -- or, in my case,
computer graphic render lines slowly creep down a screen -- and be
endlessly enthralled as if by something totally new, at every moment.
Almost like the way an infant sees the world, alternately wondrous and
terrifyinging. Truly living in the NOW, because the THEN just SLIPS
AWAY.

That's what plenty of "Bob" can do for ya!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>>>> WAY easy to see why Stang, as der film editor, would be DYING to put the
>> damned thing in ORDER,
>
>I did recut it, and in normal sequence it becomes a very very SIMPLE
>story in which everybody around this guy takes blatant advantage of
>him.

He deserved it, he was a murdering insurance investigator. Insurance people rim
Satan daily. I suspect he was cast in that job to MAKE him less sympathetic and
highlight his base character. It wouldn't have flown anywhere NEAR the same if
he'd worked with crippled kids, ahem.

>The gist of the point of the twist of it is not what you have
>summarized, but rather the fact that our hero, Leonard Shelby, also
>uses his own disability to get his own way -- for instance,
>deliberately setting himself up to later kill somebody he was basically
>just irritated at -- SANS GUILT, because he knows that just like
>everybody else, he can exploit his problem.

Eeeyewww, well that sure brightens up my day. Mine just give me a chapped ass.
I would not care to frop with ANYONE in that flick, sorry. It missed the
sympathy boat entirely. I'd've liked it more of EVERYBODY got punched in the
face. Oh wait, all but a couple did.

>The implication is that we all do this sort of thing, constantly,
>mostly unconciously. We tell ourselves lies because we know that
>BELIEVING that lie will help us get what we REALLY want.

I've never had a lie get me ice cream yet. And they smell too much like camphor
to me.

>That's some of what I got out of it, anyway. I think you're being
>awfully crabby to totally discount the radical way this otherwise
>simple story is told. That radical way of telling the story is more the
>point of the story than the story itself, but you are relegating it to
>mere gimmickry. I strongly disagree that that's all that's going on in
>MEMENTO. I think it posits some deep questions very effectively. The
>Bad Cop character pretty much delineates these ideas in a quick
>throwaway rant to Leonard in the early part of the movie (near the end
>of the actual story per se).

I DID give the Nod to the mechanism used; THAT one aspect is quite clever. My
prob is that without it, the story would be a retread of things that were way
old before WE were. If I'm going to be presented with deep questions, I don't
feel they should be couched in such bland environs. I still assert that when the
STYLE outweighs the STORY by such a wide margin, its like having a smelly
Italian gigolo hang around and stink up the place with Dunhills & B.O.

>But, I also consider such things to be entirely a matter of taste, and
>if there's such a thing as "good" taste, then both of us are in big
>trouble, Huey.

Naw, we'll just go on violating it for grins like we ALWAYS have. People who
are too het up about "good taste" can jump up my ass with a bottle brush and get
to scrubbin'.

>I've seen the movie three times, in three ways:
>1) the way it's released
>2) one section at a time, working backwards, as I recut it.
>3) in recut (chronological) form.
>It does indeed feature all the keen little loop-backs and third-viewing
>inside-jokes that I suspected it does.

Granted. I can respect the inspired aspects and still wish it had been about
more than fucked-up people turning a fucked-up situation into an ever BIGGER
fuck-up via bad decisions and really base greed. It was too much like a Bergman
statement about the dullness of Life being expressed by making you lapse INTO
boredom. The DEVICE deserved more to work with, 'cause it IS a cool one.

I agree with this. I do it all the time, eeeeeee! That was one of the few
hackle-raising moments for me as well. It was tres creepy because it was/is a
very common experience writ large due to the weight of events.

>Anyway, the tatoo on my hand says I have to get to work now.

The one on my shoulder says "Fraidy 'Bob' rules."

Boy, I sure do love the way those ice skater girls glide at you twat-first with
their leg way up. Wish they wuz nekkid. My woody ripped mah shorts, ah tell ya
whut.

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>this from a guy who thinks "The West Wing" is high fucking drama.
>>I TOLD YOU that shit was gonna ROT YER BRAIN

I never called it high drama; I said I ENJOYED it. I ain't apologizin' to
NObody for giving TV the 2 points it deserves here and there. WW has some good
lines worth quotin' and a few good moments amongst the asshole yuppiedom,
neo-liberal pukin' and impossible stuff that would all but get you shot through
the gleeschlonken by the SS (Secret Soivice.)

Anyway, that's a lotta big-ass talk for a guy who misspelled the MOVIE title,
huh? E before O, frop before opiates.

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

> By some coincidence, I finally saw the whole thing on video
> just this weekend. Where Leonard concludes his story about
> Sammy Jankis: "You think you're supposed to recognize somebody,
> you just pretend to. You bluff it to get a pat on the head
> from the doctors. You bluff it to seem less of a freak."

That describes my situation at devivals and X-Day Drills perfectly.
Once, Rev. Blaze Brown and I had a whole conversation before we
recognized each other (it HAD been over 10 years).

Every now and then the shoe is on the other foot. I got to listen to
this one guy explain, to a whole party, how he knew all the SubGeniuses
and how he had been to the giant office building in Dallas that they
own. I even got him to describe Ivan Stang to me. It turned out
everything he was saying had been relayed to him by somebody else, a
random Dallas SubGenius, who had been pulling his leg. He took it all
at face value and repeated it to people as if it had happened to him.
What he described was such a good adventure that I sometimes tell it
myself -- like at parties, when I'm trying to impress people with all
the obscurely famous people I know. Come to think of it... MAYBE that
lying motherfucker at that party WAS me and I hjad simply forgotten tht
not only did I KNOW Ivan Stang, I was myself the guy paid to
impersonate him!

>
> Sammy is seen in the nursing home looking up at a passing
> staff member. I glimpsed something, rewound, and advanced
> through it with pause/still. As the staff member passes
> Sammy, he's replaced in the chair by Leonard.

I didn't catch that one!

> Occupies only a few frames. You gotta wonder what else
> they're sneaking past you.

There's a shot near the physical end of the movie that throws EVERYBODY
-- you see Leonard in bed with his WIFE. Who is ALIVE. But he's still
covered with the TATTOOS. In fact the blank spot over his heart has
been filled in with "I GOT HIM" or something like that.

That one very quick shot throws EVERYTHING ELSE into a tizzy,
logically.

So the moral of the story might be, "YOU DON'T KNOW *SHIT.*"

Here's a teeny little irony for you: the actor who plays Sammy Jankis,
Steven Tobolowski, has been in the back seat of cars that I was driving
TWICE in the distant past, for long stretches of time driving across
Texas, but I can almost promise that he doesn't remember either time.
Movies involved were the unknown KEEP MY GRAVE OPEN (his first movie
job, age 20 maybe) and the awkward TRUE STORIES.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Two Beans" <twobeans@godhatesyou.com>

"Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com> wrote...
>
> MAYBE that lying motherfucker at that party WAS me and I had simply forgotten tht
> not only did I KNOW Ivan Stang, I was myself the guy paid to impersonate him!

That was ME you were relaying all that bullshit to back at that party. I
didn't believe for a second that you knew Ivan Stang.

He's taller, with less hair. Built like an ox he is.

--
Two Beans

"There, the spark leaps to life. The Golden Age quivers on the brink of
creation. Live, my machine! Live my savior! You have my breath... You have
my dream, my dream."
-The Residents, "Failure / Reconstruction" from the album Mark of the Mole
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>That describes my situation at devivals and X-Day Drills perfectly.
>Once, Rev. Blaze Brown and I had a whole conversation before we
>recognized each other (it HAD been over 10 years).

He's my sainted, beloved radio pal of many years and is still MOSTLY alive in
New Orleans. He's a Slack-abusing fuck, but still has Dobbs in his heart. He
drove us to X-Day 1 and my ass is STILL sore. Next time, a better car than his
land yacht of a Buick, eieieie!!! His wife saved 1/12th of my ass with some good
legal advice recently. Praise BLAZE! Praise THEM!

I DID notice that one, which is part of why I added some mention of respect for
the overall work. Brilliant bit of mental judo. Did SHE set him up in
conjunction with the cop? Was she evil and clever enuf to arrange most of it for
the sacred money? Is he hallucinating next to a hooker in Ohio? Who knows? If it
had been inserted into a classier story, it could have become the Rocky Horror
of the Elmore Leonard/G. K. Chesterton set. OH yes, it has merits.

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com
CEO, Gassy McMethane's Danger Cigars

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem
mihi dabis ad capul tuum saxum immane mittam.
- "I have a catapult. Give me all the money
or I will fling an enormous rock at your head."

"If you want me, you can find me,
left of center, off of the strip."
- Suzanne Vega

"The moose! The MOOOSE!!
Hurry! There isn't much TIME!"
- "Invad
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: virtualole@aol.com (VirtualOle)

>There's a shot near the physical end of the movie that throws EVERYBODY
>-- you see Leonard in bed with his WIFE. Who is ALIVE. But he's still
>covered with the TATTOOS. In fact the blank spot over his heart has
>been filled in with "I GOT HIM" or something like that.
>
>That one very quick shot throws EVERYTHING ELSE into a tizzy,
>logically.
>
>So the moral of the story might be, "YOU DON'T KNOW *SHIT.*"

That did fuck with my head pretty badly and continues to do so.

>Here's a teeny little irony for you: the actor who plays Sammy Jankis,
>Steven Tobolowski, has been in the back seat of cars that I was driving
>TWICE in the distant past, for long stretches of time driving across
>Texas, but I can almost promise that he doesn't remember either time.
>Movies involved were the unknown KEEP MY GRAVE OPEN (his first movie
>job, age 20 maybe) and the awkward TRUE STORIES.

Who did he play in True Stories?

-------------------------------
Ole Olson, P.O. Box 592, Ishpeming, MI 49849
----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tesla Coil <tescoil@devnull.ilbbs.com>

> There's a shot near the physical end of the movie that throws
> EVERYBODY -- you see Leonard in bed with his WIFE. Who is ALIVE.
> But he's still covered with the TATTOOS. In fact the blank spot
> over his heart has been filled in with "I GOT HIM" or something
> like that.
>
> That one very quick shot throws EVERYTHING ELSE into a tizzy,
> logically.

Yeah, saw that. My first idea was that it was confirmation of
what Teddy was says about Catherine surviving the assault, that
it took place before Leonard put her into insulin shock. But
Leonard doesn't have that tattoo ("I'VE DONE IT," it says), so
I take it for Leonard fantasizing about an ideal moment that
won't happen.

Regards Leonard idealizing about his wife -- The "I always
thought the pleasure of a book was in wanting to know what
happens next" scene. "Don't be a prick." Catherine replies,
"I'm not reading it to annoy you. I enjoy it. Just let me
read...Please?" The only extended dialogue Leonard recalls
throughout the movie with the wife he so passionately wishes
to avenge, and it's somewhat irritated. What part of their
relationship is he filtering out that leaves him *this* in
the department of happy memories?

The recollection is followed by Leonard burning the book.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

> I DID notice that one, which is part of why I added some mention of respect for
> the overall work. Brilliant bit of mental judo. Did SHE set him up in
> conjunction with the cop? Was she evil and clever enuf to arrange most of it for
> the sacred money? Is he hallucinating next to a hooker in Ohio? Who knows? If it
> had been inserted into a classier story, it could have become the Rocky Horror
> of the Elmore Leonard/G. K. Chesterton set. OH yes, it has merits.

My dear Hellpope, I assure you that, given the fact that the story of a
man with no ability to form new memories is told in ten minute chunks
moving BACKWARDS chronologically, HAD the underlying, admittedly very
simple plot been ANY MORE COMPLICATED, those of us suffering from Sammy
Jankisitis in the AUDIENCE would not have been able to follow it AT
ALL.

As it was, I was STRAINING IN MY SEAT, FISTS CLENCHED, SWEAT BREAKING
OUT, FOREHEAD VEINS BURSTING, with concentration, while in the theater
watching that movie, struggling to hold on for ANOTHER TEN MINUTES to
how the scene I had JUST SEEN had BEGUN, ten minutes earlier.

AND I WAS ABLE TO! Sort of.

But any more layers of story and I'da been a goner.

Now, some SubGenii are smarter than me in that particular way, and
might not find it such a brain teaser.

But you Mentats must HAVE SOME MERCY on us Deltas!

Especially us ones that work in the MEDICINE FISH MINES.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

> >Here's a teeny little irony for you: the actor who plays Sammy Jankis,
> >Steven Tobolowski, has been in the back seat of cars that I was driving
> >TWICE in the distant past, for long stretches of time driving across
> >Texas, but I can almost promise that he doesn't remember either time.
> >Movies involved were the unknown KEEP MY GRAVE OPEN (his first movie
> >job, age 20 maybe) and the awkward TRUE STORIES.
>
> Who did he play in True Stories?

Nobody! He helped Byrne write the script. They were in my back seat as
we scouted a couple of locations, saying stuff like, "And the little
girl on the road at the beginning symbolizes innocence. The bike is a
symbol of change... so when she comes back without the bike it
symbolizes growth..." Seriously, they were talking about what this or
that in the movie SYMBOLIZED. I thought that was strictly art school
and film critic stuff. Real movie makers don't usually think about
movie stories that way. I can vouch, therefore, that TRUE STORIES is
very much what you would call an "art film." The film makers really
were concerned with that symbolic level of art.

I was sort of shocked, at the time, hearing them talk that way, because
to me it's a sure fire way to make a movie without heart. I'm from the
Frank Capra school by way of Federico Fellini, myself. That is, you can
get arty farty as HELL, you just have to keep the plain human emotional
aspects at the forefront, or nobody but art critics will give a shit.
(Actually almost nobody but art critics gave a shit about most of
Federico Fellini's stuff. But I've seen 8 1/2 as many times as I have
seen THE WIZARD OF OZ or STAR WARS.)

Some film makers do indeed work with art critics in mind, and I suppose
there's room for that too.

For PUSSIES!!!

I was watching MOULIN ROUGE last night and while it is very impressive
on many levels, something about it seems forced and affected and puts
me off. It may simply be that I've spent too much time around amateur
actors, and being one. I bet that was one wacky set to work on, though.

The set shenanigans I most want to know about are those surrounding
PROSPERO'S BOOKS. Now that was one hell of a set, with a shitload of
naked artist, actor, dancer types standing around waiting.

I can't hardly watch a movie without at some point "stopping" to
imagine what the helacious set looks like THREE FEET BACK from what the
camera sees -- the horrible mindane world of grips and gaffers standing
around waiting, at the periphery, all the snotty technicians and snooty
assistants, roll upon roll of duct tape, and two-by-fours, endless
two-by-fours and cans of paint. And all the weird shit that goes on
between all the weird bored people trying to make it big in the movies.

LORD OF THE RINGS is just about the best yet for that. I can't wait
till the bloopers start being pointed out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Rev. Ivan Stang" <stang@subgenius.com>

The creepy question the movie asks is, "How much do YOU filter out?" Is
what I filter out merely a matter of degree from what Leonard does? Are
we all kidding ourselves, only a little less obviously and deliberately
than Leonard does? (Even his "excuse," Sammy Jankis, isn't real.)

And the creepy answer is, of course, YES, leaving one only to ponder,
"TO *WHAT* DEGREE do I do it"?

Ummmm, best not to think about it... you can get into all kinds of
horrible loops, where you THINK you thought you knew where you were
wrong, but you can't KNOW that, so you THINK you probably fucked up on
that one thing, but, maybe you're just REMEMBERING it that way...

Best to just go by the checkbook. If it's got checks in it, everything
is okay.

My checkbook has ONE CHECK LEFT.

Speaking of which, CONNIVIN' IVAN's is open 24 HOURS A DAY at
http://www.subgenius.com/scatalog.html

When was the last time you soaked in YET ELEVEN MORE HOURS OF SLACK in
pure stereo, with all that great trippy music, great trippy yakking,
and hard hitting ranting of interest to ALL who pee. ELEVEN HOURS of
the GREAT recent war shows, in MP3 format -- so you NEVER EVER have to
flip the CD!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: HellPope Huey <hellpopehuey@subspamgeenyus.com>

>But you Mentats must HAVE SOME MERCY on us Deltas!
>Especially us ones that work in the MEDICINE FISH MINES.

Hey, if I'm so fucking smart, how is it that I've never seen "Shakes the
Clown?"

HellPope Huey, hellpopehuey@subgenius.com
Recreation Director, Dildonia Prime

"Never trust anyone whose mouth goes
tighter than a chicken's asshole.
- William Murchison

"Indeed. There are many cruel Rooms in the mansion,
and many deep holes in the Road.
Keep alert or be stabbed."
- Hunter S. Thompson

Aside from the rodent droppings and shards of glass,
we have a mighty fine product.
- A button I just bought for $2

http://www.joebobbriggs.com

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Original file name: I finally saw _Memento_.txt - converted on Friday, 20 September 2002, 16:09