On this latest episode of the podcast in which an overrated and underrated film within the same genre, style or tone are pitted against each other, the hosts of Over/Under Movies get neurotic as hell and dive into their anxieties about creativity and their life struggles. This episode is a Charlie Kaufman special, as host Oktay Ege Kozak chose “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” as the overrated up against “Adaptation” as the underrated. As usual, Playlist writer Ryan Oliver and myself join in on the discussion.
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It’s important to remember for this podcast that we don’t always all agree, and this episode is a great example of that. I for one adore ‘Eternal Sunshine’ (as do other Playlisters), but for this discussion I’m in the minority. The arty sci-fi vibe, where Jim Carrey‘s Joel, after a difficult breakup, decides to have all his memories erased of ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet, in a career-best performance), doesn’t always work for my co-hosts, even though we all agree it’s by far Michel Gondry‘s best film to date. Then there’s the meta 2002 Oscar-winning “Adaptation,” in which Kaufman started with a job to adapt “The Orchid Thief” only to scrap a more traditional take and make the film about him trying to adapt the book. The second collaboration between the screenwriter and director Spike Jonze, we all agree it’s a great film that’s only gotten better, yet it isn’t praised or talked about as much today. It’s all very (appropriately, for a Kaufman episode) complicated and messy.
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