2K Replay: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

 by Adam Riske

Nominated for “Best Blockbuster Movie” at the Russian National Movie Awards. It lost to Shrek 2.

• Best Scene/Moment (tie): Jim Carrey’s kid acting and Kirsten Dunst’s stoned acting.

• Best Song: “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra.

• Best Merch: An “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Window Cling Set - Carrey, Winslet, Dunst” for $75.00. You could put up a different star on your window every four months! I would go Carrey (Jan-Apr), Winslet (May-Aug) and Dunst (Sep-Dec). I checked to see if there’s an Eternal Sunshine cast & crew robe (like Carrey made for The Grinch and The Majestic) but alas, there is not.

• Director Grade: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was directed by Michel Gondry.
Great Movies: N/A
Good Movies: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
OK Movies: Be Kind Rewind, The Green Hornet
Bad Movies: N/A
Unseen By Me: Human Nature, The Science of Sleep, The We and the I, Moon Indigo, Microbe & Gasoline, The Book of Solutions, Maya donne moi un titre, Golden
Overall Grade: B-

• Double It with This 2004 Movie: Finding Neverland

• Year 2004 Movies to Trailer Before It: 13 Going on 30, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Spider-Man 2

• Color of Night or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Eternal Sunshine is better, but I’d rather watch Color of Night so that’s the winner.

• Mall Movie? No, Focus Features don’t play at the mall. They’re fancy.

• Only in 2004: A soundtrack with two songs by The Polyphonic Spree.

• Scene Stealer (tie): Kirsten Dunst and Tom Wilkinson.

• I Miss: Tom Wilkinson.

• I Don’t Miss: Elijah Wood showing up in movies I watch. I’m sure he’s a nice guy but he plays creepy too well.

• 2004 Crush: Kirsten Dunst.

• 2024 Crush (tie): Jane Adams and Kirsten Dunst.

• What I Thought in 2004: I had very little patience for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind when I first saw it in theaters in March 2004. I thought it was mopey and I was happy as hell in my relationship so whatever. Then I got dumped hard in the summer of 2004 and revisited the movie later in the year on DVD and found it to be really moving and incredibly well-directed, written (by Charlie Kaufman), and performed.

• What I Think in 2024: It took me a while to get back into the movie watching it this time, but by the end I liked it. It’s a very good movie with an especially strong performance by Kate Winslet, who really nails making a manic pixie dream girl (even before the term was invented) into a three-dimensional person. Plus, some of the things Michel Gondry does visually are so creative and amazing. It’s a movie I respect more than wanting to rush out and watch a bunch of times but that’s totally fine.