Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Review

One of the most interesting and creative ways to tell a love story, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind changed the way romantic comedies could be made. A little splash of science fiction is all the genre needed in order to feel fresh and unique. However, if there’s one thing I base how good a film of this genre is, it is the film’s ability to make me cry. And I’ll get into that later. Now I’m not a huge Rom-Com person, but depending on my mood sometimes I might just be in the mood for a love story.

A brief overview of the plot; the film depicts a present day where if they wish a person can have certain memories erased. Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) go through a rough breakup. Clementine decided to have all memories of him erased, and when Joel finds this out, he too decides to erase her from memory. After this, the two meet again is if for the first time.

This film took me by surprise. I was looking for something that was going to get me somewhat emotional, and I got that, just not the way I was expecting. The film is more so about the complexity of relationships on a cognitive level, rather than your average sad story that eventually has a bit of hope at the end. Previously a music video director, Michel Gondry carefully crafts the films’ non-linear structure, alongside clever writing from Charlie Kaufman, to take the viewer on a journey through Joel’s mind, his feelings and show the viewer how early life experiences can shape the way future relationships may turn out. If anything, the film is somewhat insightful and inspires a refreshing and hopeful look at relationships, where two people can clearly state to one another what is wrong with their relationship, and actively try to work on it. Despite the fantasy element within the plot, i.e. the sci-fi-esk ability to erase memories, the film is still kind of grounded in reality in comparison with others in its genre on an emotional level. And while it did not make me cry, it still gave me an interesting view on how relationships can be perceived.

8/10.

Nicolas Winding Refn – Style Over Substance?

 

Nicolas Winding Refn is quite possibly one of the best visual directors of our time. His movies are impeccably shot and are the absolute definition of eye candy. Bronson (2008), Drive (2011) as well as the Pusher series (1996-2005) from early on in his career helped to establish the visual style of Refn’s films and created anticipation for future projects. With the release of highly divisive Only God Forgives (2013), arguments about whether Refn’s films prioritize visual style in expense of substance started to pop up. The debate was only amplified upon the release of The Neon Demon in 2016.

Personally, I happen to enjoy Refn’s films more than most. I have still to see the Pusher series, as well as Valhalla Rising (2009), but I’m up to date on the rest of his work. Out of Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon, it’s interesting to see how Refn has retained a certain visual aesthetic to his films. They look remarkably “clean”, which could be down to the digital age of film, but with Refn, his use of digital cameras seems to make his work look more polished and perfected. This directly contrasts what can actually be seen within the frame, where gore and violence are all heavily prominent.

So we’ve established that his films look great, but what about the story? The general consensus is that Drive is his best work, and that everything after it is perhaps not so great. Personally, I feel like Drive is a little overrated, the story has never really done anything for me. I never really bought the relationship between Stunt Driver (Ryan Gosling) and Irene (Carey Mulligan). It felt relatively forced, yet the context surrounding the relationship still gives it some strength. Gosling’s character has been involved in the criminal underworld for a long time and sees Irene as his way out. Once people threaten her existence, he must do everything he can to prevent it. Sure, its a decent plot, but for me when I watch Drive, the main thing catching my eye is the cinematography.

What about Only God Forgives? Upon a first viewing, I was bored out of my mind and actually stopped paying attention to what was going on. Suffice it to say I didn’t remember much after the viewing. Then a few years later The Neon Demon was released, and I ended up liking it quite bit. I decided to give Only God Forgives another shot, and it’s now probably my favourite of Refn’s films. I have come to appreciate when action is shot well, specifically hand to hand fight scenes, and this film delivers in that department. Well choreographed fight scenes along with other action sequences tend to not hide through the power of editing. There is a significantly less number of cuts in comparison to an average summer blockbluster – where I can barely make out what’s going on. It’s pacing is very slow, but I’d take a film takes it’s time to develop its ideas rather than feeling rushed. This in itself has left me feeling a lot more appreciative of the film, and gaining a new found love for it’s badass characters, such as Chang the Police Chief (Vithaya Pansringarm), who is hinted to be the physical embodiment of God himself. I mean, just watch this:

Also, The Neon Demon might be the weirdest out of the lot. In my opinion it’s the best shot out of any of his works, cleverly using colours and other imagery to emphasize the deterioration of Jesse’s (Elle Fanning) innocence. Many would argue that the film’s ending is just outright nuts and that Refn should definitely see a doctor. But ultimately, there’s a deep undertone to most of his films. I think it would ignorant to suggest that his works favour style over substance. The difference with these films is that the viewer may have to dig a little deeper to find the real meat of the Danish director’s films.

Is Death Note (2017) As Bad As Everyone Says?

I’m sure we all remember the uproar and backlash of last years’ live action rendition of “Death Note”. Before the film had even released, the IMDb page had already been filled with hundreds of negative reviews. Die hard fans of the manga and anime had their pitchforks at the ready and began to tear the film apart. It currently has a rating of 4.6/10 user score on IMDb. As a person who at the time had not read or seen any of the source material, I decided to give it a try.

I thought the film started off relatively well, setting up some of it’s characters quite quickly and didn’t waste time getting on with the story. I assumed that eventually the pace would slow down, giving the story space to breathe and time for things to settle, allowing for realistic character development and cohesive writing. This didn’t happen. The film jets through it’s 90 minutes, never really stopping, allowing plot holes to arise, and for things to seem like they’ve been written all too conveniently. When the film had finished, I felt like I had just wasted an hour and a half on a poorly written film that I couldn’t care less about.

As the initial concept of the film seemed relatively interesting to me, I decided to then watch the anime. Straight away I was aware that the film had deviated from the source material big time. The anime was well written, clever, along with having characters that felt real. Ironically, the characters in the film seem to be more 2D than their anime counterparts. The motivation of Light Turner (Nat Wolff) seems meaningless, his intended battle of wits with “L” (Lakeith Stanfield) is non-existent, and the characters unrealistically leap to conclusions, almost as if they themselves have read the script. The anime itself sometimes suffers from this problem, but at least it tries its best to flesh out coherent thought and make the character’s conclusions seem realistic.

Ultimately, Death Note (2017) is a terrible adaptation, and leaves a lot to be desired.

4/10