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BLOGS FAVORITES |
Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an early contender for the best film of the year. Easily Jim Carrey’s best performance since The Truman Show and the most heartbreakingly romantic film I’ve seen in a while. The true theme of this movie is this: love is not perfect, but we keep falling anyway. The critics seem to agree. It’s got 94% positive ratings on RottenTomatoes.com. While Carrey and Kate Winslet shine, the real star is another stellar script by Charlie Kaufman. The premise and the way the story unfolds had me smiling throughout at its ingenuity. There’s a reason Kaufman is so highly regarded in Hollywood; he’s the most original screenwriter to come along in over 20 years. We’re fortunate and spoiled that he has two of the most original directors working directing his scripts: Spike Jonze and Gondry. Jonze has directed Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Gondry directed the underrated Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine. George Clooney directed Kaufman’s script of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, apparently an unhappy experience for Kaufman. Both worked (and still work) extensively in music videos, creating some of the most innovative videos ever. You can find most of their best videos on DVD. While Jonze gets the most accolades, both in video and in film, Gondry is the bigger pioneer. Witness his breakthrough work for Bjork, the Chemical Brothers and the White Stripes. His clip for Kylie Minogue’s Come Into My World is a technical marvel. Let’s not forget his video for The Rolling Stones’ Like a Rolling Stone, which was the first clip to ever use “bullet-time” (not The Matrix). I don’t know why Eternal Sunshine’s been delayed for so long; it was completed over a year ago. Delays are usually a sign of trouble on a picture, but no worries, this movie will no doubt be at the top of my list for 2004. Also caught David Mamet’s new film, Spartan. Really nicely paced political thriller and possibly even a career resuscitator for Val Kilmer. Lots of the Mamet-sycopated dialogue, just the way I like it. Mamet has yet to direct a movie that bores me. Even the one’s he he writes but doesn’t direct are pretty great… Glengarry Glen Ross, The Edge, We’re No Angels. That last film is notable for the fact that almost no one is familiar with it, yet it stars the only screen pairing of Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn. That alone should cause moviegoers to rent the film. So now we have Gondry and Mamet in the Directors That Are Never Boring camp. They join Terrence Malick, the Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze. Not even Spielberg or Scorsese can make that claim (Kundan anyone? Amistad?). And hey, how about that Richard Clarke!?! Boy, Bush just keeps getting more and more fucked.
©2004 Ron Lim unless noted |
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MY IPOD |
