Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American science fiction romantic drama film directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman, based on a story by Gondry, Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, and Tom Wilkinson in supporting roles. The film follows two individuals who undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories following the dissolution of their relationship.
The title of the film is a quotation from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope. It uses elements of psychological drama, science fiction, and a nonlinear narrative to explore the nature of memory and love.
Starring: Jim Carey, Kate Winselt, Gerry Robert, Byrne, Kirsten Dunst
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind opened in theaters in the United States on March 19, 2004, to universal acclaim from critics and audiences, who praised the visual style, editing, writing, score, themes, Gondry's direction, and the performances of the cast, especially Carrey and Winslet. The film was a box office success, grossing $74 million on a $20 million budget, and was named by the American Film Institute one of the Top 10 Films of 2004. At the 77th Academy Awards, Bismuth, Gondry and Kaufman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Winslet received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film became a cult classic in the years since its release and is considered by many critics as one of the best films of the 2000s, and one of the greatest films of all time.
Starring: Nijiro Murakami, Fumi Nikaido, Nobuko Miyamoto, Tori Matsuzaka
The film is set in the 1930s–1940s in Hiroshima and Kure in Japan, roughly 10 years before and after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, but mainly in 1944–45. In the film, nature and traditional culture in Japan are clearly described and contrasted with the cruel and irredeemable scenes brought by the war. Though it is a fictional account, the official guidebook of the film claims that the episodes and background of the story are based on facts and real incidents of the lost townscape of pre-war Hiroshima damaged by the bombing, as researched by the production staff.
Bo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 musical special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. Created in the guest house of Burnham's Los Angeles home during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience, it was released on Netflix on May 30, 2021. Featuring a variety of songs and sketches about his day-to-day life indoors, it depicts Burnham's deteriorating mental health, explores themes of performativity and his relationship to the internet and the audience it helped him reach, and addresses topics such as climate change and social movements. Other segments discuss online activities such as FaceTiming one's mother, posting on Instagram, sexting, and livestreaming video games.
Starring: Bo Burnham
Inside follows Burnham's previous stand-up comedy special Make Happy (2016), which led him to quit performing as he began to experience panic attacks onstage during that special's tour. An album of songs from the special, Inside (The Songs), was released digitally on June 10, 2021. The special received universal acclaim, with reviewers praising its music, direction, cinematography, editing, and presentation of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics found that the special incorporates a variety of art forms including music, stand-up comedy bits, and meta-commentary, describing it as some combination of comedy, drama, documentary, and theater. For Inside, Burnham received a Peabody Award, Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Music Direction, and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media for "All Eyes on Me".
On the first anniversary of the special's release, Burnham uploaded The Inside Outtakes, an hour-long YouTube video of outtakes, unused songs, behind-the-scenes footage, and alternate takes from the special. A deluxe album including these outtakes, Inside (Deluxe), was released on June 3, 2022.
Tick, Tick... Boom! (styled as tick, tick... BOOM!) is a musical by Jonathan Larson. It tells the story of an aspiring composer named Jon, who lives in New York City in 1990. Jon is worried he has made the wrong career choice to be part of the performing arts. The story is semi-autobiographical, as stated by Larson's father in the liner notes of the cast recording – Larson had been trying to establish himself in theater since the early 1980s.
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Vanessa Hudgens
Larson began to perform the piece as a solo work in 1990. After his death in 1996, it was revised and revamped by playwright David Auburn as a three-actor piece and was premiered Off-Broadway in 2001. Since then, the show has had an Off West End production, a West End production, an American national tour, two Off-Broadway revivals, in 2014 and 2016, and numerous local and international productions.
A film adaptation, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield in the lead role, was released by Netflix in November 2021. It was generally well received by critics with Garfield receiving an Academy Award nomination for his performance.