Movie #187 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004 - Rated R - 1 hr 48 min
Director: Michel Gondry
Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst

Oh.... this movie.

I fell in love with this movie the first time I saw it, and my love has not waivered.  By now, I've watched it a dozen times and I still have to go by Kate Winslet's hair color to make sure I know what point in time we're in. 

The concept of this movie - the ability to wipe away the memories of a lost love from your life - is a highly polarizing one, but a fascinating one all the same.  Would you do it? Should you do it? And what happens if during the procedure you change your mind, like Jim Carrey does? The sequence of them hiding in his early memories is so imaginative and so much fun to watch.  By the end, you're really hoping they'll win.

The best part about this movie is that it doesn't just involve the procedure.  It covers the before, during, and after. And even throws in a case of extreme after with Kirsten Dunst, who reacts to it in a way surprising for her character but not surprising in general.  To go from worshipping the process and its creator, to suddenly being its victim.  She does a brilliant job with this, and sets into motion the resolution for Carrey and Winslet as well.  I'm glad it doens't just end with them forgetting each other.  It's too far-fetched to think people who loved each other once wouldn't gravitate back to each other.  Here, it's handled very well and very realistically.

One of my faves, by far.

Movie #2 - 9

9
Focus Features
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 20 min
Director: Shane Acker
Starring: Elijah Wood, John C Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Fred Tatasciore

This one is nice and short at 80 minutes, so I'm moving right along today.

9 is another good one - not one of my favorites, but fun to watch. Something about Elijah Wood as the main character, though, makes this heroic post-apocalyptic plight akin to a LOTR adventure. Just substitute a small troupe of robot Beanie Babies for the Hobbits and voila! And as for the whole the-nine-robot-Beanie-Babies-are-pieces-of-the-scientist's-soul business? That sounds like Voldemort's horcruxes to me...



Still, the movie is an enjoyable one. Lots of fun visuals, an intriguing premise, and an incredible cast of voice actors including Christopher Plummer and John C. Reilly. I wouldn't think watching a team of tiny, artificially intelligent beings battle robotic skeleton cats would be so riveting, but there you go. Ellie seemed to enjoy it too, but I don't think she was really following the plot.


Overall, though, this was another dark, bleak movie... two of those in a row plus this rainy weather is really bumming me out. Where are the comedies at right now?



Looks like I still have a ways to go before I get something lighter. 12 Monkeys is next - one of a triple feature collection that also includes Mercury Rising and The Jackal. I don't get anything funny until move #7. Argh.