Short and sweet

I love end-of-the-year wrap up reports that magazines and newspapers put together to commemorate the year that has just passed by. Two particular film/ entertainment magazines I always look out for are Entertainment Weekly (for more mainstream movies and what I like to call celebrity journalism- Jude has no respect for this magazine though...) and Sight and Sound (for independent movies and the good film writing). It's harder to find Sight and Sound here because it's British and I can't buy Entertainment Weekly as often as I'd like. I did buy their annual "Best Of..." issue (my seventh one since they nominated Ellen as Entertainer of the Year in 1997- yes, I loved her when she was just an actress. She was my first inspiration to open a bookshop with a coffee bar...) where they give little snippets on the best movies, books, music, videos, etc. of 2004. Thought to share with you what was written about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of our favorite films of the year, maybe ever. It's proof that 1) a quirky movie doesn't always have to be annoyingly aware of it's own quirkiness; 2) Jim Carrey can act; 3) there is life for Kate Winslet post-Titanic; 3) there are good writers out there who clearly know and love a film enough to choose the exact right words to describe the exact right things about it, and all in less than 1000 words:

"Only from the unique, origami mind of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman could such an original valentine of a movie spring. Here's a brainteaser that says love is more than the sum of our memories or our pixels, and that the delete button of the mind doesn't take into account the hard drive of the heart. And only from the sweet-and-salty blend of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, perhaps, could director Michel Gondry fashion a creation of such style, whimsy, and poignance. Watch Eternal Sunshine, let it drift from your thoughts, watch it again, and something marvelous happens: The rainbow colors that enchanted the first time look even more strangely and wonderfully intense."

Thank you Lisa Schwarzbaum.