In this Movie Memory Machine: Five For mini-episode, Landen and Truman dive into five movies that explore memory, identity, and reality with more precision, elegance, or weirdness than Reminiscence managed. Whether you're craving memory-altering noir (Dark City), elliptical love stories (2046), or the very real terror of a dystopian mall (Minority Report), we've got you covered with sci-fi that's smart, stylish, and—most importantly—not narrated entirely in metaphor.

Films Discussed:

Dark City (1998)

2046 (2004)

Inception (2010)

Vertigo (1958)

Minority Report (2002)

Topics Covered:

Alex Proyas’s gothy memory-swapping metropolis in Dark City

Wong Kar-wai’s dreamlike, elliptical meditation on memory in 2046

Nolan’s multi-layered dream logic and hallway fights in Inception

Hitchcock’s haunting vision of obsession and identity in Vertigo

Spielberg’s predictive-policing thriller Minority Report and how its tech is already here

Key Takeaways:

Reminiscence wishes it had Dark City’s vibe, Inception’s logic, and Vertigo’s beauty

Tommy Lee Jones’s poetry may or may not be the missing link between metaphors and meaning

Sci-fi doesn’t need more narration—it needs better ideas

Every film on this list handles memory better than Reminiscence, and most have fewer drowning metaphors

Listener Prompt:

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