eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – “Two Guys Die Alone 2017” (#85)

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a fortnightly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This time, a Valentine’s treat. Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

An exploration of memory and loss, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind imagines a world in which people can pay to have traumatic and heartbreaking memories scrubbed from their minds. The film follows Joel as he elects to undergo the procedure to erase his relationship with Clementine, but at the last minute he suffers buyer’s remorse.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 85th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, film, The 250, valentine's day | Leave a comment »

The Why of Sci-Fi…

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Darren

“Science-fiction” is one of those genres which finds itself consistently boxed in by film fans. Mentioning that hyphenated word calls to mind images of “warp speed”, space ships, transporters, aliens, time travel and all manner of weird genre devices. It’s part of the reason why so many film viewers attempt to stay away from the genre – I have encountered more than a few people will dismiss a science-fiction film or television show off-hand because it must be camp or ridiculous. I remain convinced that this is the reason that Battlestar Galactica never got the attention it deserved (with advertisements on my local channels playing down the fact that it happens “in space”). However, what is science-fiction when you boil it all down?

Are viewers spaced out by sci-fi?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2001: A Space Odyssey, arts, cormac mccarthy, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, science fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Science fiction film, Seven Samurai | Leave a comment »

My Top 50 Movies of the Decade…

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Darren

Alright here it is, my top fifty films of the decade. I’ve decided to stop complaining about Donal Clarke’s list in the Irish Times and just let rip myself. There’s more than a few crazy choices down there, but – after a week in the works – I’m happy with it. I doubt that a lot of other people will be.

Like the Oscars, but... you know, better...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 1 hour photo, 28 days later, a history of violence, anchorman, apocalypto, batman, batman begins, battle royale, best movies, best movies of the decade, best movies of the naughties, burn after reading, casino royale, collateral, coraline, crash, crouching tiger hidden dragon, dark knight, doubt, downfall, eternal sunshince, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, finding nemo, frost nixon, frost/nixon, gladiator, gone baby gone, good movies, history of violence, in bruges, infernal affairs, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, inter mission, intermission, juno, kiss kiss bang bang, little miss sunshine, Momento, moon, mystic river, naughties, no country for old men, one hour photo, pans labyrinth, phone booth, prestige, shaun of the dead, sin city, spider-man 2, spider-man ii, sunshine, team america, team america: world police, The Dark Knight, the departed, the good the bad & the weird, the good the bad and the weird, the incredibles, the lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the two towers, the mist, the naughties, the noughties, the prestige, the two towers, there will be blood, top 50, top fifty movies of the decade, training day, tropic thunder, twenty-eight days later, zoolander | 16 Comments »

Space Racism = Bad (District 9)

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Darren

I finally got around to checking out the District 9 trailers that everyone’s been talking about. The movie’s attracted a lot of cult attention – mainly because Peter ‘Lord of the Rings’ Jackson has plastered his name all over the trailers – but I haven’t seen any sort of advanced publicity in Ireland, despite a fairly deftly-managed viral campaign in the United States. In fairness, we aren’t getting it until two weeks later than the Americans, but it would be nice to see some of these advertisements reaching us – just pretend we’re a semi-important market. For the uninitiated, it’s a movie about illegal aliens settling in South Africa and becoming second class citizens. The catch? They’re from outer space. In fairness, this year looks to be an epic year for science-fiction – Watchmen is already out, Moon is currently on release, Avatar is due out in the next few months and there seems to be legitimate buzz around The Road as an Oscar contender. Still, District 9 looks like it might just be a bit preachy for my tastes, but isn’t most science fiction?

Guess the moral...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: district 9, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, ethics, films, gattaca, message, morals, Movies, preachy, science fiction, space racism, star trek, star wars, the matrix | 1 Comment »

Carrey On: Jim Carrey’s Eternal Oscar Pursuit Less Likely Than the Man on the Moon?

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Darren

It was Jack Nicholson himself who reportedly recognised Jim Carrey as the Jack Nicholson of his generation. That’s high praise indeed, particularly when you consider the size of Nicholson’s ego. It’s true that Carrey is a very talented actor – his slapstick ability is unmatched in the modern day and age, and he seems able to invest a huge amount of humanity in his dramatic characters. Still, despite my faith in his dramatic abilities, I’m not sold on the Jack Nicholson comparison. Partially because Carrey looks far less scary than Nicholson does (Stephen King famously denounced The Shining because he felt that the audience never doubted Nicholson would go axe-crazy), but also because despite Nicholson’s prolific Oscar track record, Carrey has yet to secure even a nomination. Maybe I Love You Phillip Morris will be that film.