Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating - Joel in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind

10 minutes into ‘Inception’ , the first wisp of violence and I was ready to puke my guts out.
I mean what is it with movie-makers today, are they afraid to invest into something that does not pop out a gun every 10 seconds or do they think that a guy missing his long dead wife and 2 kids can masquarade as some existential angst???
Really, I fail to understand and I think it is not even worth trying to.

Which brings a flash of another flick of the same genre, sci-fi, if I may?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind sounds like a tongue twister title, but it does provide an interesting tale of a new invention - erasing memories of someone you want to forget.

Clementine and Joel have a sense of déjà vu when they first meet, because this really is not their first meeting. We get a peek into their relationship as we traverse through Joel’s memories. Joel tries to take vengeance on Clementine after realizing that she had memories of him erased, but while in the process of erasing his memories of her, he changes his mind.
We meander through memories filled with wonderful conversation, wise cracks and interesting anecdotes. Of course, I am way more partial to it because of the special mention of Anna Akmatova, whose poetry, am a big fan of.

CLEMENTINE : Have you ever read any Anna Akhmatova?
JOEL ; I love her.
CLEMENTINE : Really? Me, too! I don't meet people who even know who she is and I work in a book store. (Really!!! )

You wouldn’t recognize Jim Carrey, as the extreme introvert, Joel who is drastically opposite of, i-wear-my-heart-on-my-sleeve, Clementine, played by Kate Winslet.

Among other things, this is a story about how two people diametrically opposite try to disillusion themselves about a relationship going awry. Even the peripheral characters add so much soul into the bigger picture, that you come away feeling a little fascinated and at the same time very vulnerable as if someone has stirred the old soft core inside you that you have forgotten.

Yeah, I am a little late- Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Notorious'

Watching a motion picture the second time is not an exciting venture for me. I would rather spend my time on viewing something I haven’t seen before. But tonight was an exception.
I couldn’t resist the temptation of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. They set new standards of on-screen chemistry in Hitchcock’s 1946 film, ‘Notorious’.
It has been a couple of years since I watched this movie and although I was familiar with the ending, it still did not fail to glue me to the edge of my seat.

Volumes have been written about Hitchcock being a misogynist, but I think he is misunderstood. His women were strong and ahead of their time.
Like the character Alicia, excellently portrayed by Ingrid Bergman. I think the movie belonged to her. Never before and after has a Hitchcock movie been carried by a female protagonist as this one. As an American agent infiltrating into a German camp, we are drawn towards her. While on one hand she plays the part of a promiscuous woman on the other hand her love for the undercover FBI agent, Devlin (Cary Grant) is so palpable that we feel for her vulnerability.
The entire setting draws us into the kind of suspense least expected out of a espionage story – mind play. There is absolutely no violence of any sort, unless the violence of words counts!

Sample this:

Alicia: This is a very strange love affair.
Devlin: Why?
Alicia: Maybe the fact that you don't love me.

Alicia: What does the speedometer say?
Devlin: 65.
Alicia: I want to make it 80 and wipe that grin off your face.

Devlin: [bitterly, to Alicia] Dry your eyes, baby; it's out of character.

I wouldn’t do justice if I do not mention Claude Rains, a great actor who doesn’t need dialogue to act. His portrayal of a mama’s boy is not surprising given that this is a common thread in most Hitchcock movies.
The scene, where Alicia realizes that she has been caught and Rains and his mother
look at her implying that she has no escape from their clutches, is priceless.



If all this doesn’t attract you, maybe the notorious kissing scene of nearly 4 minutes between Grant and Bergman would do the trick.