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Opinions! We all have them. Find out what people really think with polls and surveys from Crowdsignal.
Anyone know why the results are set to private? Or is it just me...
Either of these films could easily sit in my all time top 10... and if both films stuck around I'd probably end up rewatching Eternal Sunshine many more times than Mullholland Dr. But... given the circumstances... I still need Lynch's dark masterpiece around to puzzle over and keep wandering through its labyrinth.
I just don't get the Mulholland Drive love. I've tried to watch it a few times and I cannot understand what people love about this movie. It's confusing, messy and doesn't make nearly as much sense as a film as film snobs like to pretend it does.
This bracket was especially hard because I dislike both films. The rhetoric around both movies comes off as more pretentious than anything, and the movies themselves I just never enjoyed.
Vann's great comment says it all. Both movies are exceptional. But Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind's effect on me was much more emotional than the one that Mulholland Drive gave me. I'm impressed by Mulholland Drive. But I really love Eternal Sunshine.
Mulholland Drive was a movie I first watched when I was 12 years old. At the time, I thought of myself as a young cinephile. I had seen some of the so-called "essential greats" like Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction and The Godfather. And I thought I was so deeply knowledgeable because I had seen all these movies while my friends were still deep into Stepbrothers or High School Musical. So I googled "the best movies" like usual, looking for something to watch, and Mulholland Drive popped out. I wasn't sure what it was or if I was even old enough to watch it, but it was at that moment that I figured out how little I actually knew about cinema. It felt like something awakened inside me. Something like an honest appreciation of the power of a cut, an edit, a shot, a mise en scene, a framing device, a movement of the camera, a scene placed disorientingly in the film, to move, to frighten, to confuse, and to make your jaw drop to the floor. Mulholland Drive was a movie that turned me into a real lover of the craft of cinema.
But then...
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a movie I first watched when I was 13. At the time, I thought of myself as a young cinephile because I had seen Mulholland Drive. When I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on HBO, I watched it because it had Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, two actors I recognized. It seemed fairly high concept at first - people could erase the memories of other people from each other. It seemed like it could even be a perfect comedic set-up. I quickly figured out that it's much more than that. It's an extremely impressive visual and aural experience AND a triumph of storytelling. These threads of ideas about love, relationships, and memory all came to life. And it all comes together in that scene. The scene where Clementine and Joel say their final farewells to each other in Joel's mind, both clinging onto that last bit of memory that doesn't exist. Farewells are common in the pantheon of cinematic moments, but there is no farewell that is quite as painfully romantic as this. It's a farewell to love, a farewell to feeling, a farewell to the memory of someone's hair, their face, their smell, their touch. It rocked me to my core, and even just thinking about it now, I can imagine the sounds of the beach and the cracks of a house falling apart. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was the movie that turned me into a real lover of the soul of cinema.
I'm voting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I always was. It not only changed my life, it's part of a handful of films that has made its away into my very being. I know I will likely have to see it dumped into an incinerator after this round, but it will never leave my being. After all, what else are we but a mess of thoughts and feelings?
The Final Four should be "There Will Be Blood," "Children of Men," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and "Mulholland Drive." Voting against any of these four films is painful to me, so much so that I'll vote once for each of these four films to keep my conscience clear (multi-voting is so Chicago-style anyway). As long as one of these four films wins it all, I will remain a fan of this tournament.
Luis (currently in Arlington, VA; formerly of Vienna, Austria; Alexandria, VA; and Abuja, Nigeria)
I vaguely remember David Lynch being asked in an interview once what was similar about his two main creative passions: Filmmaking and painting. His answer was that there are ideas and experiences that simply cannot be captured by words, and that he found these visual arts the only way he could express certain things. The obvious thing being dreams. Besides maybe Tarkovsky or Adam Curtis, David Lynch has to be THE most successful filmmaker of all time in capturing the experience of being immersed in a dream.
Not only is Mulholland Drive one of his best films, but I also think it's his most purposeful, in that he uses his unique ability to paint dream-space and he weaponizes it into a sharp tool to dig out the nightmare just beneath the happy and hopeful skin of Hollywood. And boy, does it need digging. That place is a haunted burial ground.
Eternal Sunshine is great. I love it. I would hate to live in a world without it. But I simply can't imagine a world without Lynch's vision. And specifically THIS vision. We need his excavation of that burial ground.
As good as Mullholland Drive is, it is Eternal that shines more than any film in this field. It is science fiction at it's best--a simple concept that asks us to question the nature of our existence. The movie has a wonderful screenplay. Every time I time I happen to turn on the movie I am drawn into Joel and Clems plight. I love how the dialogue dances with the score, and how the striking images presented on screen help accentuate the importance of our memories, be they joyful or painful. And the brilliance of the ending: if we could only listen to our petty judgments of others, we could learn a great deal about ourselves.
I suspect most filmspotting voters will choose Mulholland, and I hope Michael Phillips will tell them how wrong they are.
Two great films from directors with personal vision who are capable of working in surreal and absurdist spaces. Arguably the best films on their individual CVs.
For once I am going with the movie that has the most emotional resonance, in this case Eternal Sunshine.
I am going to miss Naomi Watt's audition though.
After Lost in Translation and Before Sunrise got knocked out, it seems as though this faction of the 00s greatest seems to be knocked itself out. I'll vote for the representative that's most likely to go all the way: Mulholland Drive.
Ah! This is, quite possibly, the toughest match up on any film spotting poll thus far. In a battle between dreams you can't possibly make a conscious choice. You can only hold the arrow key in either direction, close your eyes, and hit enter when you feel the moment is right.
Ok, i'll elaborate on why this sucks.
Both of these films are in my Letterboxd 4. I'm a sucker for looks into the subconscious, and nobody quite does it like Lynch and Gondry.
This is the perfect, most frustrating matchup. On one hand, you have a dark look at the business of movies and a great romance. On the other hand, you have something set completely in the subconscious, as a romance buds and slowly fades away.
I love Mulholland Dr, and seeing it for both the first and second time this past week has especially made me fall in love with it. However, I have to give the leg up to Jim Carrey's sad Joel. It's almost like Gondry scoops out the feeling of a fever dream from my mind with this one. I may be biased since this is one that made me fall in love with filmmaking, but Eternal Sunshine gets my vote.
I told my friend as we sat down to watch Mulholland Dr, "We are going to watch this. You will not like it. You will be bored. You will be confused. And, you will not stop thinking about this film in coming weeks." I saw him a month later. Unprompted, he said, "You know what, you were right. That movie was something."
Mullholland Drive is a great movie but at the end of the day it's like someone describing a fascinating dream. I'm interested but I have my limits. Elite 8 seems like a great run for it, but Eternal Sunshine deserves to move on.
I am in the minority as I do not like Mullholland Drive and have voted against it consistently throughout the tournament.
Eternal Sunshine is in my top ten greatest films of all time, and the only one from the last quarter century. I know it's my favourite film of the 2000s. This is the easiest of the Elite Eight for me.
I honestly don't know a better way to sum up my feelings on this one:
How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
I can't let this film be forgot
Perfect Lynch, Perfect choice.
I suspect the emotionally resonant choice will win out here, and Eternal Sunshine will take this one. I love Gondry's masterpiece too, but I'm always going to side with movies that redefine what the medium can do. In that regard, Mulholland Drive is the clear winner for me.
Love both of these films. In a different bracket his could have been the final match-up for me. Whichever wins should have an easy road to the finals.
For me , these two are the movies that should be on the final matchup ; few films have had the impact on me like them , both are dark , surreal and perverted . After revisiting them ,I am going with Mulholland because
I am a fan of old Hollywood movies and this one is the sum of many of them ; many times it reminds me of Vertigo , my personal favourite .
It is a tough selection , since Eternal talks to the heart and lingers there , but the couple Naomi/Laura devastates both heart and mind and lets you with no response , unable to answer many questions but fascinated just by their presence .
Voting in this one SUCKED, but at the end of the day it goes to Eternal Sunshine.
This is easy for me. Eternal Sunshine. To me Mulholland Drive is nonsense posing as genius, whereas Sunshine is the real thing.
All of my other favourite films have been knocked out of the competition (Donnie Darko, I'll never forget you), so if Eternal Sunshine doesn't win this one, I'm never listening to Filmspotting again.
Mr Lynch, meet me in Montauk
I almost wrote something about this being a matter of head vs. heart, but then I caught myself. Eternal Sunshine, for all its emotional resonance, is also a technical marvel, full of astonishing camera work, brilliant effects, and all varieties of virtuosic filmmaking. In my opinion, it's not only the funnier movie, or the more romantic movie; it's also the better movie.
Two movies that get better with each viewing. I guess I give ETERNAL SUNSHINE the edge here because it's so much easier to identify with. I mean, it hurts to see the misery of various Lynch characters getting put through the existential/Hollywood wringer, but it's nothing like the pain of watching Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet make all the same mistakes we've all made in relationships—and still getting to hope for success. Most good movies are good at nailing one mood really well. ETERNAL SUNSHINE somehow nails them all. That said, I still have nightmares about the monster behind the dumpster at Winkies. I think it represents everything that Lynch loves about movies but hates about the machine behind making them. For me it represents the nightmare that wakes you up and you can't understand why you were so terrified, you just know you were. No one does that better than Lynch. Wait, who am I voting for?
Both films are beautiful in the way they treat love and memory, taking human subjectivity to fantastical heights. My passion for Mulholland Drive has been such a constant over the years, though. Every so often, my mind will drift to such impeccable scenes as the Man Behind Winkie's, Betty's audition scene, and the instantly iconic Club Silencio. Never before had I felt as locked into my seat as the characters on-screen–and was fully affected by this singular moment of connection and yearning than most of anything in Eternal Sunshine's runtime. But hey, there's always Synecdoche, NY next year! Here's hoping Josh finally got around to seeing the flick again.
Recently just watching Eternal Sunshine again. Its a masterpiece and maybe my favorite of the decade. It may be one of the best commentaries on the human condition and bravery that has ever been depicted in film.
This is the perfect matchup because they both explore the subconscious in 2 very different ways, but Mulholland Drive has my vote. As much as I find Eternal Sunshine personal and deeply affecting, I am always ready to take that trip deep into the strange dark dream world of David Lynch.
I can't believe this is a match-up in the Great 8!!! I've seriously been just sitting at my computer staring at the two titles unable to click a button. The other three matchups were tough but I was able to relatively quickly rationalize my favorite of the two films. But both of these films are in my personal top 10 with Mulholland Drive number 5 and Eternal Sunshine number 7. Even looking at this I couldn't vote one over the other. But then I thought of the last time watching Eternal Sunshine, which like every time before experienced the physical pain of heartbreak. Many movies provoke emotions in me but none more than Eternal Sunshine. And for that it gets my vote. I'm sorry Mr. Lynch, you deserve better.
I thought the matchup between Mulholland and Before Sunset was brutal to the point of paralyzing thought and action. This matchup is the most agonizing of the entire tournament for me, holy crap. Few films have been as emotionally devastating to me as Eternal Sunshine, but like in a good way, in tandem with being expertly constructed around exploring playfully with the structures of memory and the experience of loss. The only other film in this bracket that is as successful tinkering with and exploring structure, artifice, and emotion is, well it's bloody Mulholland Dr. I voted against Mulholland Dr TWICE already and I still think that Lynch's masterpiece is Twin Peaks, but of the two films, Mulholland is operating on a bigger cultural canvas and more interested in the structures of art and rhetoric itself, not "just" memory and relationships, so I have to vote for it. But it hurts, a lot. Maybe a night out at a club and then a good night's rest will make it all . . . nope, that's the nightmare recipe. It's nightmares all the way down in the Madness, just no getting around it.
Sorry Adam. This was easy ESotSM.
All due respect to Mulholland Drive, which is my favorite Lynch movie and a movie that I still find something new to come away with every time I watch it, but Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind speaks on such a deep level to the loneliness and heartbreak that we all must face at least once in this lifetime that it has to have my vote. As Kate Winslet's Clementine sits on the stairs of the beach and says to Jim Carrey's Joel "This is it Joel. It's gonna be gone soon. What do we do?" and Joel plaintively replies "Enjoy it."...well, I think we all know exactly how that feels, even if our memories fade with the passage of time rather than being obliterated through a medical process. Joel and Clementine may not be right for each other, but the love that each of them felt for one another at one time is still real and potent and worthy of being remembered. Yes, once and for all, it is far better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all, if for no other reason than we received this incredible film as a result.
I was certain this would defy conventional wisdom and become a Sunshine / Sunset match-up, but cold head seems to have won out over gooey heart. Well no more! I may have been convinced to sacrifice Clementine to the altar of Celine, but now I'm riding this Kaufman train as far as it will take me.
I'm going with Sunshine, which is a movie a love to pieces. Like Josh, I haven't seen Mulholland Drive in years, but admittedly was a little cold to it when I first saw it. Maybe a rewatch will change my mind but it's too late for that now. Sunshine hits me in the gut like few movies do.