Stories and a film
May. 21st, 2004 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakAt the moment, I'm still spoiler free for the Angel finale and hope to remain so. Meanwhile, the surfing for spoiler-free zones brought something which you might or might not know already: Neil Gaiman's Sherlock Holmes/ H.P. Lovecraft fanfic is online, here.
I also saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and enjoyed it very much.
...though it inevitably brings the Jossverse to mind as well: what is a person, if not a collection of their memories? "Are you Wesley now?" Illyria asks Wes near the end of Origin. This film takes the optimistic view that it's possible to reconstruct yourself and your relationship, again and again, but it doesn't do so in an easy, feel-good-manner. The disintegration of Joel's and Clementine's relationship, shown early as we experience their story in reverse, feels as real as the later, loving scenes, or the zany "new" introduction which we return to in the end. A lesser film would have been content with just letting them fall in love anew, but this one brings up everything that drove them apart again through the tapes, and you hurt for both of them when hearing those vicious-and-realisting rants. So the happy ending does not feel facile, but earned.
The performances are all very good; Kate Winslet has a manic energy I haven't seen in her since her debut as Juliet Hulme in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, whereas Jim Carrey takes a rare (though not unprecedented) turn at going for the restrained performance. When Clementine, in the long pre-credit opening, hits on Joel again and again one wonders why she bothers; by the end of the film, Joel has so endeared himself one wants to hit on him as well. Mary struck me as a bit overdone at first, too much a "blonde bimbo" cliché as she went from sex with her co-worker to being gushy over her boss back and forth, but the twist of letting her discover she herself had been mindwiped and reconstructed suddenly gave her an unexpected dignity, which Kirsten Dunst conveyed very well. It was eerie seeing her, though, and having little Claudia from Interview with the Vampire in mind.
Lastly, my career as a tabloid journalist progresses. The new edition of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
galaxygab is out.
I also saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and enjoyed it very much.
...though it inevitably brings the Jossverse to mind as well: what is a person, if not a collection of their memories? "Are you Wesley now?" Illyria asks Wes near the end of Origin. This film takes the optimistic view that it's possible to reconstruct yourself and your relationship, again and again, but it doesn't do so in an easy, feel-good-manner. The disintegration of Joel's and Clementine's relationship, shown early as we experience their story in reverse, feels as real as the later, loving scenes, or the zany "new" introduction which we return to in the end. A lesser film would have been content with just letting them fall in love anew, but this one brings up everything that drove them apart again through the tapes, and you hurt for both of them when hearing those vicious-and-realisting rants. So the happy ending does not feel facile, but earned.
The performances are all very good; Kate Winslet has a manic energy I haven't seen in her since her debut as Juliet Hulme in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures, whereas Jim Carrey takes a rare (though not unprecedented) turn at going for the restrained performance. When Clementine, in the long pre-credit opening, hits on Joel again and again one wonders why she bothers; by the end of the film, Joel has so endeared himself one wants to hit on him as well. Mary struck me as a bit overdone at first, too much a "blonde bimbo" cliché as she went from sex with her co-worker to being gushy over her boss back and forth, but the twist of letting her discover she herself had been mindwiped and reconstructed suddenly gave her an unexpected dignity, which Kirsten Dunst conveyed very well. It was eerie seeing her, though, and having little Claudia from Interview with the Vampire in mind.
Lastly, my career as a tabloid journalist progresses. The new edition of
galaxygab is out.
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no subject
Date: 2004-05-21 10:48 am (UTC)"A man is the sum of his memories, you know, a Time Lord even more so..."
no subject
Date: 2004-05-21 10:55 am (UTC)How wonderful! A perfect way to let non T_M ers keep in the loop! Thank you so much!
no subject
Date: 2004-05-21 12:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-21 11:14 am (UTC)Thanks for the review of Eternal Sunshine.... It's on my list of things to see but I've been hesitating because of the Jim Carrey factor. I'll definitely go if you think he's restrained!
no subject
Date: 2004-05-21 11:18 am (UTC)He does not even *look* like Jim Carrey.
Date: 2004-05-21 01:22 pm (UTC)Proof, if you don't believe me, is in my icon. That's Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine. Incredible, isn't it?
Re: He does not even *look* like Jim Carrey.
Date: 2004-05-21 01:57 pm (UTC)not only the themes. . .
Date: 2004-05-21 12:50 pm (UTC)Re: not only the themes. . .
Date: 2004-05-21 12:56 pm (UTC)