Down by Eternal Sunshine

[trochee]

This week I saw two great movies courtesy of imtboo (have I mentioned I like her rather a lot?).

Last night we saw the second of them: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; last week we saw the first: Down By Law.

Sunshine was everything that Groundhog Day should have been (and I might add that Kate Winslet and Kirsten Dunst are both better actors than Andie MacDowell), along with a twist of Memento and maybe a little tiny bit of Existenz (for the Dick-ian questions of memory and reality) or Brazil, for the stalkerish brain-plumber/technicians played by Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood.

Down by Law, on the other hand, was essentially a Marx Brothers' jailbreak flick as assembled by Jim Jarmusch, only set in gritty New Orleans underworld. Tom Waits plays Groucho [mustachioed hyperverbal smartass]; Roberto Benigni is Chico [Italian malaprop-spouting physical goof], which leaves John Lurie to play a modified combo of the silent naive child that is Harpo and the overshadowed romantic "lead" that is Zeppo.

Okay, it's not really a Marx Brothers movie. But it's not a crazy way to look at it: Jarmusch says he filmed in black and white -- and allowed open shooting, with the camera quite still -- as a reference to Buster Keaton, and yet it has a film noir feel through the whole movie. The "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" scene alone has yet to be topped in prison movies. Hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

Comments

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

Very interesting take on Down By Law. I'll have to watch it again with that in mind. I love that idea...

These are two of my favorite movies, being a huge fan of Charlie Kaufman and Jim Jarmusch, and also being a huge fan of Tom Waits and well, The Marx Brothers. (I'm a huge fan of Jim Carrey too, but I don't tell anyone that). Sunshine was Kaufman's masterpiece to date, hot on the heels of Adaptation. I just loved the crap out of Sunshine. I'm very glad you got to see both.

Btw, Kaufman teams up with Spike Jonze again, supposedly for a project this year. Jonze, oddly enough, is at work on Where the Wild Things Are.

Um... I can't help going into "movie news" mode. Sorry. :)

Oh please let the low, flat wave that is the post-Oscar movie season pass quickly to the summer. I needs me my fix.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Movie season indeed. Down by Law was number 7 viewing for me and Sunshine was number 3. I gotta say Sunshine is ahead of Adaptation for me even though Meryl Streep is unbelievable . But Carrey as a serious ( ok goofy sometimes still ) is just so intense. And Winslet is awesome as a somewhat neurotic chick with low self estime. I used to change my hair color every 6 months too ... i know what i'm talking about. And ... I used to turn the sound off on the tv and make up the words out loud . They do that in the drive-in. Sunshine reminds me of Amelie in the treating of little things. In the truth of the moments. Like sex is often funny and people who love each other are often silly with one another. That's truth. Ok , i'll stop my Ebert moment. I go there easily...

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

Hm. You may be tapped for my oft-talked about rebirth of movie night :)

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Hm. I think I have been enquiring...

[xaosenkosmos.livejournal.com]

Sunshine is one of the best movies i've seen, in no small part because it was more depressing and more drink-inducing than even Requiem. It was just amazing.

[isolt.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't find Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind depressing at all.

Requiem for a Dream, however, has given me a permanent wariness of arty movies that, however artistically good they may be, are completely punishing and awful for the audience. I don't demand happy endings or anything, but that movie was just torture.

[xaosenkosmos.livejournal.com]

(Don't take this the wrong way, i'm not making a value judgement, i'm just sayin')

You'd probably agree with me more if you or your close friends lived bits and pieces of them. Sunshine, especially, hit close to home. Requiem is the far end of a slide i've seen a few friends start down, and heard of friends-of-friends living through. While there's a lot of good money to be made by smart people with hustle, it's something i have (thus far) made a concious effort to avoid.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

I would say that Requiem is the only movie i will never see again. It is so utterly terrifying. The old lady esp. And i will also say that it's funny.. because the first time i saw Sunshine I went to the theatre by myself and i left in tears. Just devastated. I went back a few days later and saw all the hope in it. And this time, I felt both the devastation and the joy. It is such a multifacetted piece of Art. It truly is a piece of Art. In every way. And yes, Sunshine was close to home for me too ( or at least close to an older home ...)

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

I think it's awesome that John Lurie doesn't have a picture on imdb. I don't either. :P

I couldn't believe Kirsten Dunst was almost to the T 10 years younger than me !

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

You are in IMDB.... (she really is)

I'm not sure I'm worthy enough to hang around with you.

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Ah yes. Perhaps you were not yet reading my journal when I made that announcement a while back.

and trust me... you're worthy.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

I won't be surprised if I see you there in the writing credits someday soon.

serious. Write fiction, mister.

[bwb-archive.livejournal.com]

I'm actually in IMDB, truth be told. It's in the acting category and I of course don't use my real name, but my stage name. Look for "Johnny Depp"...

[boobirdsfly.livejournal.com]

Oh. That was bad . But funny.