She Likes to Watch

FIRST PERSON: “Ever see that movie about amnesia?”

SECOND PERSON: “I can’t remember.”

There’s a little amnesia-related humor for y’all.

But seriously, folks, “Memento” is one of the best movies yet to use that familiar plot device — memory loss — to its full advantage.

Aussie actor Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator searching for the man who raped and murdered his wife.

Problem is, Leonard suffers from short-term memory loss. Unable to form new memories. he leaves hints for himself in the form of notes, Polaroid photos, even tattoos. Each interaction becomes another clue.

That’s the second problem: No one — not Leonard’s friends (”Matrix” co-stars Joe Pantoliano and Carrie-Anne Moss), not even Leonard himself — can be trusted.

Directed by Christopher Nolan (”Batman Begins,” “The Prestige”), “Memento” is a brilliantly twisted neo-noir.

Playing hard and loose with the facts, the movie constantly speeds forward and cycles back. Details are hazy. Characters are unreliable. And the audience is never quite sure which version of the truth is real.

Whether or not you can decipher “Memento,” it makes for an enjoyable head-game. *

Watch “Memento” tonight at the Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Showtimes are 7 and 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are $7.50.

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Also playing tonight is “West Side Story,” starring Natalie Wood.

I’ve always been a big fan of “West Side Story,” which sets Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers — “Romeo and Juliet” — in New York City, circa 1961.

Leonard Bernstein’s score is stunning, and the songs are instantly hummable — even though the numbers performed by the film’s allegedly Puerto Rican characters dip into racial stereotypes now and then.

“West Side Story” will be screened at 8 p.m. at the Dolphin Bay Resort and Spa, 2727 Shell Beach Road in Shell Beach.

Free lawn seating begins at 7:30 p.m. No outside beverages, food or chairs are allowed.

Moviegoers also have the option of a three-course dinner served on the patio, starting at 7 p.m. That costs $49 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reserations are required.

Dolphin Bay’s “Cinema Under the Stars” series continues July 2 with “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Call 773-8900 for more information.

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* For all you psych students out there: Caltech neuroscientist Christof Koch called “Memento” “the most accurate portrayal of the different memory systems in the popular media.”

And Esther M. Sternberg, a director at the National Institute of Mental Health, called the film a “thought-provoking thriller.” As she wrote in the trade journal Science, “‘Memento’ is a movie for anyone interested in the workings of memory and, indeed, in what it is that makes our own reality.”