6
Feb/13

BEER, DINNER, AND A MOVIE: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

6
Feb/13

Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey battle over how to celebrate Valentine’s Day in ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (Michel Gondry, 2004)
Nitehawk Cinema
136 Metropolitan Ave. between Berry St. & Wythe Ave.
Wednesday, February 13, $65, 7:30
718-384-3980
www.nitehawkcinema.com
www.eternalsunshine.com

Going to a hip new overrated Brooklyn restaurant for Valentine’s Day is so, well, 2012. For something completely different this year, Nitehawk Cinema’s monthly Beer, Dinner, and a Movie series is hosting a special presentation on February 13, screening Michel Gondry’s wickedly entertaining Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and serving a three-course meal inspired by the film (and dished out at very specific, related times), featuring drink pairings courtesy of Brooklyn’s own KelSo Beer Co. The brilliant film comes from the warped mind of Charlie Kaufman, the sensational scribe behind Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. (Chris Elliott fans will get a kick out of knowing that Kaufman was a writer for Get a Life, one of the great warped series of all time.) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as a couple looking to erase each other from their memories by . . . ah, don’t worry what it’s about. The less you know, the better. Just be prepared for a visual, metaphysical spectacle that will both exhilarate and depress you, filling you with wonder and amazement. The only thing keeping it from perfection is the ordinariness of the subplot involving Elijah Wood. Kaufman and Gondry (The Science of Sleep) mix in a little Punch-Drunk Love and Groundhog Day, both of which also starred former television comedians in more serious roles, but end up with something wholly original and, quite simply, one of the most romantic movies we have ever seen. As far as the food goes, after a welcoming KelSo pale ale, the dining kicks off with creamy tomato soup, grilled sourdough, and smoked Gouda with KelSo Rauchbier, followed by Blue Point oysters, local striped bass, vermouth, cauliflower, and KelSo pilsner. For dessert there’s Clementine vanilla sorbet, coconut “snow,” and KelSo rye aged pale ale. That frees you up on Valentine’s Day to snuggle with your loved one while everyone else is out eating mediocre food at mediocre restaurants that will not provide nearly the kinds of memories Nitehawk served up the night before.