Spotless Mind#$&%

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of the best movies of the decade. Dave Chappelle's Block Party isn't bad either. Michel Gondry, the brilliant French director who made both these films, returns Friday with The Science of Sleep, a surrealist mindfuck disguised as a romantic fable. The Motorcycle Diaries' Gael Garc�a Bernal plays shy graphic artist Stephane -- doing time at a small calendar-manufacturing office staffed by farting, sex-obsessed freaks -- who regularly escapes to a dreamworld. There, he hosts his own talk show that includes stop-motion animation, puppets, and oversized hands. Stephane falls in love with his neighbor, who may or may not be part of his reality. If Sleep sounds confusing, it is. But it's also a visually stunning portrait of the artist as a young idealist: Bernal more or less plays Gondry, who's helmed far-out music videos for Bj�rk, Beck, and others. It's playing at the Cedar Lee and Regal Crocker Park. -- Michael Gallucci