Schoolio's Movie Corner

[ghettojournalist]

Twilight will bring in the bucks, but Bolt could put up a good fight. people love their dog movies.

[bmack86]

Seriously, more people talk about Synecdoche, NY. Now.

[Down Rodeo]

Randy, I want your damn script to be made into a movie. When's that happening?

[Gonshman]

Seriously, more people talk about Synecdoche, NY. Now.

I'll talk after I see it this weekend

[amyzzz]

I will probably see Bolt.

[Down Rodeo]

Seriously, more people talk about Synecdoche, NY. Now.

I saw this last Saturday and it was pretty much everything I expected: bewildering, morbidly funny, depressing, basically awesome. However, as with most "difficult" films, I feel the need to see this a second time before I can fully develop and express my opinion about it. I agree with Ebert in that the first time I saw it, I felt I had seen a great film but that I hadn't mastered it yet.

[RotationSlimWang]

Randy, I want your damn script to be made into a movie. When's that happening?

In theory there will be about twenty five minutes of it available by summer. But I'm getting more and more pessimistic about the actual feasibility of pulling this off.

[bmack86]

I saw this last Saturday and it was pretty much everything I expected: bewildering, morbidly funny, depressing, basically awesome. However, as with most "difficult" films, I feel the need to see this a second time before I can fully develop and express my opinion about it. I agree with Ebert in that the first time I saw it, I felt I had seen a great film but that I hadn't mastered it yet.

I would agree with that. To be honest, despite the fact that I want to hear opinions and discuss it, I'm not completely sure that I want to talk about the film. For me it succeeded so fully because it captured on film feelings that I hadn't seen articulated so close to the way I view them, specifically the convoluted, distorted and confusing place that each of us plays in our own lives and the lives of others.

[bmack86]

and Randy, I'd like to see your film, and specifically the part where you(r character) say(s) Nigga to a 16 year old white girl.

[RotationSlimWang]

To tell the truth I'm not even sure he's right about that, although I might have to go check now. I thought I only had the character say it one time for one very specific moment in a tense conversation with Sprak. Can't imagine I would have added a second one in there as it would detract from the humor of the original instance.

[bmack86]

Well, based on the little bit you posted from what he wrote, he doesn't sound overly competent. So it's probably not even in there.

[wmgaretjax]

I don't think Synecdoche, NY is a "difficult" film, I mean... It is in terms of Hollywood, but for anyone that's ventured into art-house cinema at all it should be comfortable enough.

This film wasn't perfect by any measure, there were plenty of moments that with a little less direct personal attachment, or more experience, Kauffman could have done better. But in the end it didn't matter, the movie hit the sentiment and the emotional complexity of his experience so perfectly that the flaws in the film felt so human... Everything about that movie is so authentically human... I just hope to god he keeps making films rather than just writing, because he could easily be the greatest filmmaker of our generation.

[Down Rodeo]

See, I don't what my problem is then, because I've seen plenty of art-house films and Synecdoche, NY was still a little baffling to me. I mean, I didn't even fully understand what was going on in Mirror until the second time I saw it, and I just watched Persona for the second time and I still have questions. Kaufman just has an odd, quirky streak that takes a little getting accustomed to.

[patsfan5454]

I don't think Synecdoche, NY is a "difficult" film, I mean... It is in terms of Hollywood, but for anyone that's ventured into art-house cinema at all it should be comfortable enough.

This film wasn't perfect by any measure, there were plenty of moments that with a little less direct personal attachment, or more experience, Kauffman could have done better. But in the end it didn't matter, the movie hit the sentiment and the emotional complexity of his experience so perfectly that the flaws in the film felt so human... Everything about that movie is so authentically human... I just hope to god he keeps making films rather than just writing, because he could easily be the greatest filmmaker of our generation.

This is good to hear because i'm a huge Charlie Kaufman & haven't gotten around to seeing it yet, I always feel soo goood after seeing his flicks! You walk away saying damb! that was a really good movie!!

[amyzzz]

It's playing at one theatre that's about 25 miles away from me, but I really want to see it since I enjoyed Eternal Sunshine and Being John Malkovich soooo much.

[iv3rdawG]

I watched Sleeping Beauty today for the first time since I was about really young. It was fantastic. Watched it in Blu-Ray and it was perfect.

[wmgaretjax]

See, I don't what my problem is then, because I've seen plenty of art-house films and Synecdoche, NY was still a little baffling to me. I mean, I didn't even fully understand what was going on in Mirror until the second time I saw it, and I just watched Persona for the second time and I still have questions. Kaufman just has an odd, quirky streak that takes a little getting accustomed to.

See, I think you are having the same problem with this film as you did Mirror. It's not about making sense of the film as much as it is letting it wash over you. The film is about coming to terms with death, and it actually has an uncanny resemblance to Mirror in that way... Only Mirror seems to be more about coming to terms with the past, whereas Synecdoche, NY seems to be about taking that moment of departure and unraveling it completely.

[wmgaretjax]

OH, and if anyone goes into this hoping for Eternal Sunshine etc... You are going to be surprised. It's nothing like those films in many ways, it shares some similarities that are expected, but the execution is entirely different.

I've mentioned some qualms I have with his past efforts, and so I believe this departure to be a great thing.

[bballarl]

Again, I am no expert about film and thus don't feel comfortable being critical, but I watched Blow-Up in class and I thought it was amazing.

[real talk]

OH, and if anyone goes into this hoping for Eternal Sunshine etc... You are going to be surprised. It's nothing like those films in many ways, it shares some similarities that are expected, but the execution is entirely different.

I've mentioned some qualms I have with his past efforts, and so I believe this departure to be a great thing.

Here's how I put it to my companion as we walked home from the movie: at first I was trying so hard to find a linear meaning in each thing that would at first appear absurd - like trying to figure it out as I went and when I was doing that I was finding each new absurdity hilarious and fun and then it got to a certain point where my mind was just unable to comprehend one thing before the next thing happened and then I started to feel frustrated and annoyed at it for a while. Then as the end drew near I was just feeling it so hard - like Bryan said, it was a completely accurate way to depict these things that left me with the absolutely exact feeling in my gut and in my heart about inevitability and hopelessness and isolation. Without saying it completely outright. Or maybe I was over/underthinking it but either way it gave me an incredibly vivid emotional response. I felt like during the course of the film I'd been hypnotized or something. It took me days to process. I might even want to see it again and that never happens.

[chairmenmeow47]

I watched Sleeping Beauty today for the first time since I was about really young. It was fantastic. Watched it in Blu-Ray and it was perfect.

best animated disney movie. the animation is beautiful and maleficent is the best disney villain.

[garrett222]

if Bolt comes out the same weekend as Twilight..then bolt will own. I mean lets realize who controls the market...young teenage girls and boys who love Miley Cyrus. Bolt will gross 55 million and twilight will gross 38 million.

[wmgaretjax]

Here's how I put it to my companion as we walked home from the movie: at first I was trying so hard to find a linear meaning in each thing that would at first appear absurd - like trying to figure it out as I went and when I was doing that I was finding each new absurdity hilarious and fun and then it got to a certain point where my mind was just unable to comprehend one thing before the next thing happened and then I started to feel frustrated and annoyed at it for a while. Then as the end drew near I was just feeling it so hard - like Bryan said, it was a completely accurate way to depict these things that left me with the absolutely exact feeling in my gut and in my heart about inevitability and hopelessness and isolation. Without saying it completely outright. Or maybe I was over/underthinking it but either way it gave me an incredibly vivid emotional response. I felt like during the course of the film I'd been hypnotized or something. It took me days to process. I might even want to see it again and that never happens.

I think you've pretty much nailed it, I had the same progression of sensations. I was exhausted when it was all over as well, emotionally and physically.

[wmgaretjax]

Again, I am no expert about film and thus don't feel comfortable being critical, but I watched Blow-Up in class and I thought it was amazing.

What class did you watch it in? I think it's fairly accurate to describe that movie as amazing.

[bmack86]

I completely agree with both of you. Jared, I do agree that it's a flawed film, but I think the flaws almost worked in its favor for me, because they were indicative of the flaws that none of us want to see in ourselves but ultimately have to come to terms with. And i also thought that the slow pace at the end was so completely well done.

[PotVsKtl]

I don't even know how to talk about Synechdoche. Maybe when I see it again. All I can say is I felt like it painted emotions onto my brain while I wasn't looking.

[PotVsKtl]

Or collaged rather.

[wmgaretjax]

I completely agree with both of you. Jared, I do agree that it's a flawed film, but I think the flaws almost worked in its favor for me, because they were indicative of the flaws that none of us want to see in ourselves but ultimately have to come to terms with. And i also thought that the slow pace at the end was so completely well done.

yes. yes. yes...

and I think the last 20 minutes are the best of the film.

and yes to pot too...

[bballarl]

What class did you watch it in? I think it's fairly accurate to describe that movie as amazing.

Victorians to Moderns.

[wmgaretjax]

Victorians to Moderns.

huh.... Kind of hard to know what's going on there without some kind of summary or such.

[bballarl]

huh.... Kind of hard to know what's going on there without some kind of summary or such.

We looked at Britain in the Victorian era, the 1930s and the 1960s. Our lens' for looking at these periods was literature and film. Really enjoyable class.

[indietron]

The film is about coming to terms with death

You cannot say this. Synecdoche was made for each person to interpret the movie their own way. So, that is your opinion of what the movie is about, while someone else can see it a whole different way.

Here's how I put it to my companion as we walked home from the movie: at first I was trying so hard to find a linear meaning in each thing that would at first appear absurd - like trying to figure it out as I went and when I was doing that I was finding each new absurdity hilarious and fun and then it got to a certain point where my mind was just unable to comprehend one thing before the next thing happened and then I started to feel frustrated and annoyed at it for a while. Then as the end drew near I was just feeling it so hard - like Bryan said, it was a completely accurate way to depict these things that left me with the absolutely exact feeling in my gut and in my heart about inevitability and hopelessness and isolation. Without saying it completely outright. Or maybe I was over/underthinking it but either way it gave me an incredibly vivid emotional response. I felt like during the course of the film I'd been hypnotized or something. It took me days to process. I might even want to see it again and that never happens.

I think you've pretty much nailed it, I had the same progression of sensations. I was exhausted when it was all over as well, emotionally and physically.

I agree 100% with these posts. My brain was full after watching it.

Can we just start a Synecdoche, NY thread??

[wmgaretjax]

You cannot say this. Synecdoche was made for each person to interpret the movie their own way. So, that is your opinion of what the movie is about, while someone else can see it a whole different way.


Are you serious? It's about dying. The main character is dying. It's about death and sickness. How in the fucking world can you deny that?

SPOILERISH

He's dying in the first 30 minutes right? He has a terminal illness and every conversation he has points towards death. His wife asks him to stay when she travels because he's pretty much dead and she feels it's an opportunity for her to begin to move on, and give her daughter the same opportunity.

He dies. He has the seizure/whatever and then the entire movie shifts. That's because he's dead, or in a coma or whatever... That's up to interpretation, but the schism is essentially the point at which he is forced to come to terms with death. It's then that the state of his life at that point in time, and the status of all these relationships is then filtered and untangled and re-tangled in an attempt to gain perspective, to ascribe meaning... Her has varying degrees of success, but it all points back towards death as the catalyst for this attempt.

EDIT: the died/coma thing is the most literal possible reading of this moment, and it's not necessarily what I think is directly written into the piece. But that moment is a marker, and the shift that takes place at that point is dramatic, and for all intents and purposes he is alone (the very end points at connections that exist despite all this, but in terms of the plot...)


I went to this film with 4 different people and while we had varying subjective points of view about elements of the film, everyone unanimously agreed that the film's core is death (or how you make sense of life when it's so present), and I can't possibly see how someone could deny that.


Your attempt at defining how one should experience the film is a hell of a lot more of a stretch than me reading directly from it's surface.

[wmgaretjax]

We looked at Britain in the Victorian era, the 1930s and the 1960s. Our lens' for looking at these periods was literature and film. Really enjoyable class.

Makes sense. Sounds like a good class. I always loved the classes I took that balanced literary and filmic perspectives.

[indietron]

Are you serious? It's about dying. The main character is dying. It's about death and sickness. How in the fucking world can you deny that?

SPOILERISH

He's dying in the first 30 minutes right? He has a terminal illness and every conversation he has points towards death. His wife asks him to stay when she travels because he's pretty much dead and she feels it's an opportunity for her to begin to move on, and give her daughter the same opportunity.

He dies. He has the seizure/whatever and then the entire movie shifts. That's because he's dead, or in a coma or whatever... That's up to interpretation, but the schism is essentially the point at which he is forced to come to terms with death. It's then that the state of his life at that point in time, and the status of all these relationships is then filtered and untangled and re-tangled in an attempt to gain perspective, to ascribe meaning... Her has varying degrees of success, but it all points back towards death as the catalyst for this attempt.

EDIT: the died/coma thing is the most literal possible reading of this moment, and it's not necessarily what I think is directly written into the piece. But that moment is a marker, and the shift that takes place at that point is dramatic, and for all intents and purposes he is alone (the very end points at connections that exist despite all this, but in terms of the plot...)


I went to this film with 4 different people and while we had varying subjective points of view about elements of the film, everyone unanimously agreed that the film's core is death (or how you make sense of life when it's so present), and I can't possibly see how someone could deny that.


Your attempt at defining how one should experience the film is a hell of a lot more of a stretch than me reading directly from it's surface.

I am not attempting to tell you how you should experience the film, all i am saying is that this film is about each person taking whatever they want from it. Your entire posts backs this up.

I interpreted the movie much different than you. I did not see it ALL about death, although i do agree that it is a huge theme, if not the biggest. I thought alot of it was about love, and looking back into one's past. I dont think he had a sickness, i think he was just a hypochondriac (which i guess could be defined as a sickness in itself). I dont think he had a seizure or whatever at the end, i think he died because of how encapsulated he was in his own production and that he followed the orders of the director exactly as others did to him.

There are many other things too. At the end, i dont think there was really a war, i think it was put on/meant to symbolize something else. On a similar note, how did you (and everyone else too) interpret the burning house?? I still dont know what to think of that.

I hope im getting my point across. You see, i viewed the movie much different than you, and thats the beauty of this film. Heck, i was at a Q&A with Kaufman himself and he said that the movie is up for each person to decide, there is no one meaning to it. Someone even asked him what the burning house was, and he refused to answer because that would make people only think one way about it. He wants everyone to have their own view on it. Im totally down with the way you view Synecdoche, and that seems to be the most understandable theme, but there is also so many other ways that it can be taken.

[PotVsKtl]

A lot of artists reject requests to explain their own interpretations of what they create. When you release something into the public forum, it's gone. It belongs to the public and will be interpeted as they see fit. That doesn't mean Kaufman doesn't know the ultimate meaning.

[PotVsKtl]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qlv1iwPZL._SS500_.jpg

[indietron]

A lot of artists reject requests to explain their own interpretations of what they create. When you release something into the public forum, it's gone. It belongs to the public and will be interpeted as they see fit. That doesn't mean Kaufman doesn't know the ultimate meaning.

I understand what you are saying. However, he said that he is just another person with another opinion, and that he doesn't have an ultimate meaning for the movie. When asked about the burning house, he said that he would not give his opinion on it, because the public would turn that into the "ultimate meaning" and thats not what he wanted. He doesnt want there to be an ultimate meaning.

[indietron]

I have never heard of david lynch btw. What is his stuff like? Pretty artsy im assuming??

[Backwater]

You've never heard of David Lynch? When did you first start watching movies? Yesterday?

[thefunkylama]

i am such a movie lightweight, but at least i've heard of david mother fucking lynch.

[indietron]

You've never heard of David Lynch? When did you first start watching movies? Yesterday?

i am such a movie lightweight, but at least i've heard of david mother fucking lynch.

Well pardon me

[sbessiso]

Eraserhead, The elephant man, DUNE, blue velvet, Mulholland Dr.

indie, I KNOW you've seen at least one of these movies

[indietron]

Sadly not a single one. I have heard of a few though. Does that need to change??? Is it that good??

[sbessiso]

He's very weird and maybe an acquired taste but yeah, you need to see them. Go and watch Blue Velvet. That was my first Lynch experience.

[indietron]

Consider it done. I will rent it or buy it or find it somewhere. What is his stuff like?

[sbessiso]

Others will jump in with better a analysis, the only thing I can say is Fucking weird, man.

Don't buy it! Just give it a rental whirl

[indietron]

Others will jump in with better a analysis, the only thing I can say is Fucking weird, man.

Don't buy it! Just give it a rental whirl

Will do. Thank you for enlightening me good sir. Im looking forward to watching it and giving my review.

[JSam67]

Blue Velvet is great.

[Down Rodeo]

Elephant Man might be a bit more your speed to start out with. We don't want this guy to hate David Lynch.

[amyzzz]

I have never heard of david lynch btw. What is his stuff like? Pretty artsy im assuming??
I've been skipping over the spoiler stuff for the other movie--why is someone name-dropping David Lynch? I am very intrigued here since I adore Lynch.

Lost Highway FTW

[wmgaretjax]

The first thing you learn about art-house film is not to listen to most directors that talk about it. When approached about their art, most filmmakers have no desire to sit down and explain what they were trying to achieve. The easiest way out of this is to say that it's up to you. And it is, but that doesn't mean you can't be wrong.

And of course there are other themes, but death is the core of this film (and like I said before, it's relationship to life). You can't deny that, and if you did I would probably never listen to you ever again. I'm not concerned with analyzing the plot, like I said before, I'm not sure there is a strict linear plot or a finite explanation for every event in the film (although I could probably sit down and argue why I feel he is definitely not a hypochondriac within the context of of the themes in the film, and how I think that specific plot interpretation is actually detrimental to some elements of the film). I think you are taking Kauffman's Q/A too seriously, one reason being what I said about. I've seen a lot of filmmakers talk about their work, and one of the biggest things I've learned is that most have no fucking desire to be there. They hope that their work speaks for itself and the promotional gamut requires that they speak on it, the last thing they want to do is bog down the experience of their work... The "it's up to you" line is the best way to avoid that, unfortunately it convinces every joe and sally that the work is some kind of embedded interactive experience...

Oh and as a side note, David Lynch is a brilliant moron. He is by far the worst filmmaker I have ever seen speak. Absolute fucking retard. I love his movies, but goddamn I wanted to punch him in the face but just walked out instead (his talk ended up being one long commercial/solicitation for his meditation/religious puppet organization).

[amyzzz]

So I take it you wouldn't recommend I get Lynch's book about where he gets his ideas.... teehee. (I forget what it's called)

[PotVsKtl]

Sadly not a single one. I have heard of a few though. Does that need to change??? Is it that good??

I heard you can catch the gay from watching Lynch. Go fuck yourself.

[real talk]

POSSIBLE Synecdoche SPOILERS









Wmgaret, I can't believe you picked all that up from one viewing of the movie. I mean to be able to pinpoint the shift. I was in way too great a fog to be that perceptive. Also, while I agree that the theme was death, I think it wasn't just about physical death it was also about death of love, death of hope, death of identity; all these things that died while the physical body kept living. I, too, got the impression that he was a hypochondriac and that the physical symptoms of disease in him were metaphors for emotional damage...that's at least what I was trying to go with before I gave up trying to figure it out as it went along (see my first, no my second, comment). I also want to know what anybody's idea was of the burning house. It's such a huge and seemingly obvious symbol of something but I'm totally lost as to what the thing is. I mean, fire - hell, imminent danger - how does this apply to the character who moved in? ps how funny was when she was discussing buying it with the real estate agent and she was like "Well, it's such a risky thing to be buying this house by myself, and what with the fire..." or something like that. That was funny.

[thestripe]

Here's how I put it to my companion as we walked home from the movie: at first I was trying so hard to find a linear meaning in each thing that would at first appear absurd - like trying to figure it out as I went and when I was doing that I was finding each new absurdity hilarious and fun and then it got to a certain point where my mind was just unable to comprehend one thing before the next thing happened and then I started to feel frustrated and annoyed at it for a while. Then as the end drew near I was just feeling it so hard - like Bryan said, it was a completely accurate way to depict these things that left me with the absolutely exact feeling in my gut and in my heart about inevitability and hopelessness and isolation. Without saying it completely outright. Or maybe I was over/underthinking it but either way it gave me an incredibly vivid emotional response. I felt like during the course of the film I'd been hypnotized or something. It took me days to process. I might even want to see it again and that never happens.

Wow, this sounds incredibly interesting. I'm trying not to read the spoilers.

[bmack86]

SPOILERS MAYBE?












I honestly didn't pick up on that shift that Jared pointed out, although it seems fairly obvious in retrospect once he mentioned it. The fire I'm taking to represent the danger and uncertainty she gets from her relationship with Cayden (is that his name? PSH). Could be totally off base, but she gets the house right before they start their fling, and it remains through the whole movie.

And I love that a guy in the basement is included with the burning house.

[real talk]

SPOILERS MAYBE?












I honestly didn't pick up on that shift that Jared pointed out, although it seems fairly obvious in retrospect once he mentioned it. The fire I'm taking to represent the danger and uncertainty she gets from her relationship with Cayden (is that his name? PSH). Could be totally off base, but she gets the house right before they start their fling, and it remains through the whole movie.

And I love that a guy in the basement is included with the burning house.

Totally makes sense - but I was looking at everything from his perspective, like what does her house being on fire mean to HIS circumstances, like everything in the movie I was viewing through his perception...I didn't even think to apply it to her own circumstances. The guy in the basement in the burning house is just perfect.

[wmgaretjax]

POSSIBLE Synecdoche SPOILERS



SPOILERS MAYBE CONTINUED



RT, I'm totally ok with moving the focus away entirely from physical death into discussion of other less tangible kinds of death (relationship, love, memories, hopes)... But to identify Hoffman as a hypochondriac seems to imply that the death he is experiencing isn't real (or at best, re-appropriated)... Where, regardless of whether or not he was dying in the physical sense of things, the death he was experiencing was very real in my mind, regardless of how it might have manifested in his mind. It might seem like semantics, I just don't like the word and how it seems to place the blame on him in some way. As a psychological condition that he is suffering from and in some way has control over (as opposed to the human condition that we all suffer from).

And I agree with both of your impressions of the fire, but I think it can also extend into this notion of death (physical or otherwise). The purchase of a house is such a permanent thing, and in the traditional respect, the idea is that you will spend your whole life in this place. And inevitably die there as well. This experience seems embedded with danger in her mind (already being alone and getting "old"), and I think that the sense of danger simply comes from fear of dying alone. The whole movie takes these simple notions of experience (like dying alone) and attempts to translate them into sensations and impressions that transcend the basic themes that are initially presented (like dying of cancer, or being left by a spouse, or losing contact with a child etc... ) I also think as the movie goes on the metaphor of the burning house pulls their relationship into it as well, it evolves into something that is representative of her uncertainty over their relationship like Bryan said.

Remember the real estate agent's son is there when she first moves in? And that seems to scare her more because he (as an adult still living with his parents) seems to embody the exact same thing she's afraid of (being alone, or at least without a lover/spouse).

[wmgaretjax]

Totally makes sense - but I was looking at everything from his perspective, like what does her house being on fire mean to HIS circumstances, like everything in the movie I was viewing through his perception...I didn't even think to apply it to her own circumstances. The guy in the basement in the burning house is just perfect.

SPOILERS... agh I don't know...

This is one of the flaws that I struggled with that may not actually be a flaw. I wasn't able to, on first viewing, directly tie that surreal element to him... There are associations, but it doesn't seem as directly connected as the other elements of the film. In hindsight I'm starting to get the sense that it was a really explicit choice on Kauffman's part... At the end of the film we are essentially provided (in a dumb simple summary) with the realization that despite the death and loneliness, that there are connections between the nature of our experiences... The fire seems to foreshadow this... While Hoffman's character isn't confronted with the same exact fears as her, the sensations and the feeling of the place (fear and suffocation) seem parallel to his.


edit: reading over what I just wrote, I'm actually fairly confident in this reading of the film... But I would like to see it again in order to watch it with that in mind.

[C DUB YA]

Will do. Thank you for enlightening me good sir. Im looking forward to watching it and giving my review.

After Blue Velvet - if you still need David Lynch fix - get Wild At Heart with Nic Cage, Laura Dern and Willem Dafoe.

[real talk]

SPOILERS MAYBE CONTINUED



RT, I'm totally ok with moving the focus away entirely from physical death into discussion of other less tangible kinds of death (relationship, love, memories, hopes)... But to identify Hoffman as a hypochondriac seems to imply that the death he is experiencing isn't real (or at best, re-appropriated)... Where, regardless of whether or not he was dying in the physical sense of things, the death he was experiencing was very real in my mind, regardless of how it might have manifested in his mind. It might seem like semantics, I just don't like the word and how it seems to place the blame on him in some way. As a psychological condition that he is suffering from and in some way has control over (as opposed to the human condition that we all suffer from).

And I agree with both of your impressions of the fire, but I think it can also extend into this notion of death (physical or otherwise). The purchase of a house is such a permanent thing, and in the traditional respect, the idea is that you will spend your whole life in this place. And inevitably die there as well. This experience seems embedded with danger in her mind (already being alone and getting "old"), and I think that the sense of danger simply comes from fear of dying alone. The whole movie takes these simple notions of experience (like dying alone) and attempts to translate them into sensations and impressions that transcend the basic themes that are initially presented (like dying of cancer, or being left by a spouse, or losing contact with a child etc... ) I also think as the movie goes on the metaphor of the burning house pulls their relationship into it as well, it evolves into something that is representative of her uncertainty over their relationship like Bryan said.

Remember the real estate agent's son is there when she first moves in? And that seems to scare her more because he (as an adult still living with his parents) seems to embody the exact same thing she's afraid of (being alone, or at least without a lover/spouse).

Ahhh. That's some good analysis. I don't want you to think I'm committed to the hypochondriac thing - I can't put it in the context of the final outcome and make it stick, it's just what my perception of the situation was at the time. I think I tend to think everything means something else and I don't see the forest for the trees. I think the main reason I got the impression that it was in his mind was that no one around him showed concern...his wife was blase and his doctors seemed tired of him. Dunno.

One other (probably obvious) thing that just came to me while discussing the house on fire is that (if you see it like I was seeing it, that the fire was something with relation to Cayden's experience - not hers directly) is that if he succombed to temptation with her it would be cheating on his wife (hell) and the whole situation with her was risky and volatile (fire) but also impermanent because she could walk away/become disloyal to him or loyal to someone else in an instant (guy in the basement).

[wmgaretjax]

I might go see it again this weekend if time allows...

[indietron]

The first thing you learn about art-house film is not to listen to most directors that talk about it. When approached about their art, most filmmakers have no desire to sit down and explain what they were trying to achieve. The easiest way out of this is to say that it's up to you. And it is, but that doesn't mean you can't be wrong.

And of course there are other themes, but death is the core of this film (and like I said before, it's relationship to life). You can't deny that, and if you did I would probably never listen to you ever again. I'm not concerned with analyzing the plot, like I said before, I'm not sure there is a strict linear plot or a finite explanation for every event in the film (although I could probably sit down and argue why I feel he is definitely not a hypochondriac within the context of of the themes in the film, and how I think that specific plot interpretation is actually detrimental to some elements of the film). I think you are taking Kauffman's Q/A too seriously, one reason being what I said about. I've seen a lot of filmmakers talk about their work, and one of the biggest things I've learned is that most have no fucking desire to be there. They hope that their work speaks for itself and the promotional gamut requires that they speak on it, the last thing they want to do is bog down the experience of their work... The "it's up to you" line is the best way to avoid that, unfortunately it convinces every joe and sally that the work is some kind of embedded interactive experience...

Oh and as a side note, David Lynch is a brilliant moron. He is by far the worst filmmaker I have ever seen speak. Absolute fucking retard. I love his movies, but goddamn I wanted to punch him in the face but just walked out instead (his talk ended up being one long commercial/solicitation for his meditation/religious puppet organization).

RT, I'm totally ok with moving the focus away entirely from physical death into discussion of other less tangible kinds of death (relationship, love, memories, hopes)... But to identify Hoffman as a hypochondriac seems to imply that the death he is experiencing isn't real (or at best, re-appropriated)... Where, regardless of whether or not he was dying in the physical sense of things, the death he was experiencing was very real in my mind, regardless of how it might have manifested in his mind. It might seem like semantics, I just don't like the word and how it seems to place the blame on him in some way. As a psychological condition that he is suffering from and in some way has control over (as opposed to the human condition that we all suffer from).

And I agree with both of your impressions of the fire, but I think it can also extend into this notion of death (physical or otherwise). The purchase of a house is such a permanent thing, and in the traditional respect, the idea is that you will spend your whole life in this place. And inevitably die there as well. This experience seems embedded with danger in her mind (already being alone and getting "old"), and I think that the sense of danger simply comes from fear of dying alone. The whole movie takes these simple notions of experience (like dying alone) and attempts to translate them into sensations and impressions that transcend the basic themes that are initially presented (like dying of cancer, or being left by a spouse, or losing contact with a child etc... ) I also think as the movie goes on the metaphor of the burning house pulls their relationship into it as well, it evolves into something that is representative of her uncertainty over their relationship like Bryan said.

Remember the real estate agent's son is there when she first moves in? And that seems to scare her more because he (as an adult still living with his parents) seems to embody the exact same thing she's afraid of (being alone, or at least without a lover/spouse).


Can I just say Wmgaret that this post as well as most all of your posts on this board are extremely intelligent and well written. You seem like a well mannered, artistic intellectual. We are gonna have to meet up sometime at Coachella.

Anyways, I see what you are saying about how filmakers do not want to discuss their movies, and I could even see that in Kaufman a little bit. The thing is, I interpreted it different than you, who interpreted it different than real talk, who interpreted it different than bryan. So, you cannot say that there is one real meaning that everyone has to grasp, its all up for us to decide. In fact, I believe you are the only one here that believes he wasn't a hypochondriac. Thats cool though, because thats just the way you interpret it.


POSSIBLE SPOILER???


On a similar note of interpretation, what did you all think of the final scene when he was walking through the streets and there was dead people all over? Im still unsure, but i feel like it was just a fake "war" put on by that one lady who took his spot.


EDIT: Nevermind on the hypochondriac thing hahaha.
Also, is it still playing at the arclight? I need to see this again.

[indietron]

http://www.rowthree.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/synecdoche-new-york-poster.jpg

Best shot of the entire movie IMO

[wmgaretjax]

I think we just disagreed on this notion of open to interpretation. Of course everyone is going to walk away with different subjective interpretations of elements of the film, but there is a core to the film that anchors all of our experiences. I was trying to throw some themes out that I feel are at the heart of this anchor.

[amyzzz]

Holy shit, I've got to see this. If it sucks, I am going punch you all with my tiny fist. Repeatedly. For hours. Thanks.

[indietron]

I think we just disagreed on this notion of open to interpretation. Of course everyone is going to walk away with different subjective interpretations of elements of the film, but there is a core to the film that anchors all of our experiences. I was trying to throw some themes out that I feel are at the heart of this anchor.

I see. Well, we all have different opinions. Thats the beauty of this film. Best film of the year, hands down. My brain hurts from discussing this and reading all this analysis on it though haha.

Question: Why is it only playing in NY and LA?? Is it that small of a production?

[indietron]

Holy shit, I've got to see this. If it sucks, I am going punch you all with my tiny fist. Repeatedly. For hours. Thanks.

Dont go in expecting a clear meaning. Go in expecting to be frustrated and confused. Dont try to interpret/follow everything as it is going, just let the movie happen and process it all when it is over.

[amyzzz]

I will mull it over before I give it a final review.

[wmgaretjax]

fuck off amy.

it's playing up here in seattle...

[amyzzz]

It's playing in Scottsdale.

[bmack86]

South Park called Scottsdale the most miserable place on earth last night.

[indietron]

fuck off amy.

it's playing up here in seattle...

It's playing in Scottsdale.

Wierd, I heard it was only playing in LA and NY. Its not playing here in Riverside, which sucks cause I dont wanna drive into LA just to see a movie. I will have to plan it with something else.

[indietron]

South Park called Scottsdale the most miserable place on earth last night.

I went there once. That statement is probably true. I felt like I was gonna melt, plus there was nothing to do.

[amyzzz]

Are you 21 yet, indietron?

[indietron]

No I am 18.

[amyzzz]

Aha! That explains why there was "nothing to do."

[wmgaretjax]

I guess doing drugs and neglecting your children is "something" to do...

[indietron]

If your city can only offer me something to do if im 21, then your city sucks :)

[indietron]

I guess doing drugs and neglecting your children is "something" to do...

Hahaha

[amyzzz]

Wow, mr kitt kat just walked into the room.

[amyzzz]

Scottsdale AIN'T MY city. Fuck Scottsdale. I just wish the art theatre was closer to me.

[Down Rodeo]

It's also playing here in Berkeley.

[amyzzz]

I just won a pass to see Australia with Hugh Jackman. I hope I can make it to the theatre in time.

[sbessiso]

I'm trying so very hard to be positive about "Australia". Baz Luhrman is one of my favorite directors and this is his first movie since Moulin Roug! for christs sake! But not one of the trailers/TV spots inspire much excitement in me. I hope i'm wrong. I hophopehope im wrong

[amyzzz]

I haven't looked into this movie much I admit, but man, Hugh Jackman! That guy's talented. And hawt. I'm still feeling the shockwaves from his performance in The Fountain. And oh yeah, Nicole Kidman.

[real talk]

It's also playing here in Berkeley.

and in the city too, at Embarcadero and Kabuki.

[Down Rodeo]

SPOILERS

You know, since we've been having this discussion about Synecdoche, NY I've been thinking about one of the most intriguing characters in the entire movie, and that's the one played by Dianne Wiest. For a while I haven't been able to get a good grasp on her place in the film, but with the insights provided by the people here (Jared, Bryan, real talk) I think I have a better understanding now. Since the movie is primarily about Hoffman's character coming to terms with his imminent death (which I also believe is real), the importance of Wiest's character is that she is someone who has experienced the same sense of loss in her life that Cayden has. The difference is that she seems to be a better director than Cayden is (which illuminates his feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing), and so she provides him with the guidance at the end of his life that he desperately needed all along. To me, this makes the ending extremely poignant, poetic and illustrates those connections to other characters that others on here were talking about. This is just the sense I get after going over the movie in my head, but I'll need to see this again to see if my thoughts are confirmed.

[iv3rdawG]

And here's Aronofky's The Wrestler trailer (http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox_searchlight/thewrestler/thewrestler-tlra_h480p.mov). Everyone go see this when it's released. It's fantastic.

[humanoid]

I was planning on seeing Synecdoche, NY tonight, but I forgot that I just received La Dolce Vita from Netflix and I've been looking forward to seeing that for years...so it'll have to wait a few days

[wmgaretjax]

the wrestler... premise is great... I love me some rourke... but god I know aronofsky is going to completely ruin it with his sentimental bullshit. I'll go see it... but I don't have very high hopes. it's been a lousy year for film, so my fingers are crossed that I'm wrong.

what's left in the american queue besides this? Benjamin Button and Milk? anything else? merde...

[rage patton]

I have mixed feeling about Benjamin Button. I have a feeling it is going to be either really good, or really bad. I am looking forward to Milk though. Josh Brolin has had quite the year.

[Gonshman]

Just got back from the Wrestler. Mickey Rourke is fantastic, an Oscar nominee shoo-in. The story has pretty straightforward imagery and generic symbolism (particularly in a subplot about his relationship with a stripper), but Rourke just carries the movie. Very realistic and cringe-worthy wrestling scenes. Overall, the same story of Death of a Salesman, just inside a wrestling ring.

I was lucky enough to attend a screening with a Q and A with Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei afterwards. The entire movie was shot documentary style, completely handheld, and around 50% was improvisation with nonactors

[Somewhat Damaged]

WTF?!?! Was that at the Loft, Gonshman? MOTHERFUCK! I used to live, like, a 5-minute walk from there, as recently as September! Son of a bitch!

[indietron]

I just saw Synecdoche NY again tonight. I dont know how many other people have watched it more than once, but wow it was a MUCH different experience. Having some foreknowledge took away the frustration that i had the first time i saw it. I picked up on alot more little details and alot more themes.

SPOILERS

You know, since we've been having this discussion about Synecdoche, NY I've been thinking about one of the most intriguing characters in the entire movie, and that's the one played by Dianne Wiest. For a while I haven't been able to get a good grasp on her place in the film, but with the insights provided by the people here (Jared, Bryan, real talk) I think I have a better understanding now. Since the movie is primarily about Hoffman's character coming to terms with his imminent death (which I also believe is real), the importance of Wiest's character is that she is someone who has experienced the same sense of loss in her life that Cayden has. The difference is that she seems to be a better director than Cayden is (which illuminates his feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing), and so she provides him with the guidance at the end of his life that he desperately needed all along. To me, this makes the ending extremely poignant, poetic and illustrates those connections to other characters that others on here were talking about. This is just the sense I get after going over the movie in my head, but I'll need to see this again to see if my thoughts are confirmed.

I did not realize until tonight how significant of a character she really is. I will discuss it more in detail later, but wow there was so much more I learned about her.

I would HIGHLY reccomend seeing this movie another time. It made it even more amazing.

[Gonshman]

WTF?!?! Was that at the Loft, Gonshman? MOTHERFUCK! I used to live, like, a 5-minute walk from there, as recently as September! Son of a bitch!

It was at Scottsdale 101, a Phoenix Film Society screening. The movie was at 7 and there was already a line stretching across the building for Twilight.

[amyzzz]

WTF?!?! Was that at the Loft, Gonshman? MOTHERFUCK! I used to live, like, a 5-minute walk from there, as recently as September! Son of a bitch!
Where is that? Goddamnit I waited for 45 minutes last night for a chance to see a preview of Australia and got turned away. UGH. I would've preferred The Wrestler.

edit: oops, missed Gonshman's post. Thanks!

[Somewhat Damaged]

I thought you lived in Tucson, Gonshman. Or did you just drive up for the screening? Dammit, I need to join that film society. Do you need to be a member to attend the screenings, or does being a member just give you a discount on admission?

[amyzzz]

Yeah, some details would be nice. :)

[kroqken]

Has anyone seen JCVD, the first Van Damne movie that is actually good?

[Gonshman]

I thought you lived in Tucson, Gonshman. Or did you just drive up for the screening? Dammit, I need to join that film society. Do you need to be a member to attend the screenings, or does being a member just give you a discount on admission?

Nope, live right here in central Phoenix.

I get the emails, and it was (I believe) 10 dollars per ticket. But if you actually join the film society, you get admission to all screenings during the year (they usually show them about 3 weeks before release) and a package that also gives you Phoenix Film Festival tickets and IFP tickets.

Great movies - last week was Slumdog Millionaire, this week was the Wrestler, December 2nd is Doubt.

[Gonshman]

Here is the link

http://www.phxfilmsociety.com/

[chairmenmeow47]

Here is the link

http://www.phxfilmsociety.com/

whoa, i've been there!

[tessalasset]

So Twilight made 7 million dollars just in midnight screenings last night.

As of early this morning Fandango has been selling five Twilight tickets per second.

– Fandango sold out more than 1,000 Twilight midnight show times on Thursday night, in advance and online

– It’s the company’s fastest-selling film since The Dark Knight in July of this year

– Twilight takes the #3 spot on Fandango’s list of Top Advance Ticket-Sellers, surpassing the Harry Potter, Pirates, and Lord of the Rings movies; Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and The Dark Knight remain in the #1 and #2 spots, respectively

[amyzzz]

It got 2 1/2 stars in my local paper. :(
Also, I found out the director of Thirteen directed Twilight. I really really like Thirteen. Cerys wants to go (but I think she wants to see Bolt more).

[sbessiso]

Bolt 3D looks fucking AWESOME

[shakermaker113]

So Twilight made 7 million dollars just in midnight screenings last night.

that's absurd.

[RotationSlimWang]

Thirteen was unwatchable, you dolt.

[indietron]

My girlfriend went out and bought Blue Velvet simply based on the recommendation of you boardies... So it better be good :)

[paulb]

so what is so good about this Twilight? I havent heard anything about it...

[tessalasset]

They're on track to make 30 million just in the opening day today.

Just got back from my 4th viewing. 5th one tomorrow with a q&a with the director afterwards. It gets better each time I see it.

[tessalasset]

paulb it's a really good romeo and juliet love story where the reason they can't be together is that one of them is a vampire and sort of wants to kill her all the time even though he is extremely attracted to her.

[sbessiso]

How can you NOT wanna see it now, Paul??^^^^

[tessalasset]

don't mock me, biatch. my favorite books/movies of all time are the hopeless romantic ones. Emma and Somewhere in Time, for starters.

[ivankay]

Bolt 3D looks fucking AWESOME

i just saw it. The 3D is awesome. The movie is really good. Put those together and i would say it is a good night at a movies. It's exciting how cool looking the 3D is; and how the filmmakers let their imaginations flow when composing shots. Neat stuff. Bolt does get a little drag with the sentimentality, but that's minor and it has great action sequences and some funny parts. The cast/voices are great. Some of you may know i have had a problem with Miley since she snaked the original Board Member Day at Disneyland with her birthday party screwing things up, but i'll give into her for this movie (as corny as it is, i thought the duet with her and John Travolta over the credits was fun and i expect they will sing it at the Oscars....but it will be no where near as awesome as Alicia Keys and Jack White's performance will be).

The 3D trailers were sweet too. The one that got me all anticipating was the new Henry Selik movie, Coraline. That could be a classic.

[wmgaretjax]

My girlfriend went out and bought Blue Velvet simply based on the recommendation of you boardies... So it better be good :)

perfect date movie.

[sbessiso]

don't mock me, biatch. my favorite books/movies of all time are the hopeless romantic ones. Emma and Somewhere in Time, for starters.

I do not mock! But please admit it, 5 times in one week deserve a little playful jesting. Much like PaulB's Official Justice Belt Buckle.


and oohhhhhh, JW and Alicia Keys @ the Oscars sounds SEXY

[indietron]

perfect date movie.

I cant tell... Are you being serious or sarcastic??

[paulb]

paulb it's a really good romeo and juliet love story where the reason they can't be together is that one of them is a vampire and sort of wants to kill her all the time even though he is extremely attracted to her.

interesting...is there alot of press for this movie? I hear everyone talk about James Bond at work...but not this film.

[stinkbutt]

Let The Right One In>Twilight

Although I heard recently that someone is making an American remake of LTROI (even though it just got released in the US today) so much for it actually being good.

What the hell is with this Vampire fad?

[Down Rodeo]

I cant tell... Are you being serious or sarcastic??

Oh you'll find out, my friend.

[stinkbutt]

snhiofL2Rh4

Favorite scene from Blue Velvet

[Gonshman]

I do not mock! But please admit it, 5 times in one week deserve a little playful jesting. Much like PaulB's Official Justice Belt Buckle.


and oohhhhhh, JW and Alicia Keys @ the Oscars sounds SEXY

That Bond song was trash. I hope they don't get nominated.

[indietron]

Oh you'll find out, my friend.

Haha thanks.

I watched 28 Weeks Later for the first time last night. I have not seen the prequel, but that movie was crazy.

[stinkbutt]

It's not a prequel if it came first

just sayin but 28 days>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>28 weeks

[indietron]

It's not a prequel if it came first

just sayin but 28 days>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>28 weeks

Lo siento.

How much better? I hated the chain of events in 28 weeks, it was horiffic...


SPOLIER???


Are they making another movie, since at the end of 28 weeks there was infected people in Paris?

[wmgaretjax]

28 Days is a Danny Boyle film...

[stinkbutt]

Well I think 28 days is prolly the greatest "zombie" maybe even horror movie in the past 15-20 years. 28 weeks just was an action film rather than scary that and the first was a lot prettier. I heard they are making another 1 titled "28 Months Later" big surprise there.

edit: also they both have a different writer and director

[indietron]

Well I think 28 days is prolly the greatest "zombie" maybe even horror movie in the past 15-20 years. 28 weeks just was an action film rather than scary that and the first was a lot prettier. I heard they are making another 1 titled "28 Months Later" big surprise there.

Sweet thanks. Ill rent it next time i get the chance.

Haha yeah I assumed they would go with the next time period after weeks...

[humanoid]

/\ 28 Days Later is much, much better than the phrase "zombie movie" implies

[tessalasset]

interesting...is there alot of press for this movie? I hear everyone talk about James Bond at work...but not this film.

i keep thinking that you're joking but i don't think you are. and maybe it's not as big in canada. altho the two leads in twilight were on much music a week ago and thousands of girls spent like two or three days in line, just so they could look in the windows and see them being interviewed. the male lead Robert Pattinson was just interviewed on KROQ a few days ago and there were hundreds of girls waiting outside the studio - and they KNEW he was actually in new york and it was a phone interview. people are waaaayyyyy more obsessed with it than i am. i think once you know about it, you start to see it everywhere. it's way more pervasive in los angeles. i see a billboard every few streets here. tons of tv spots. the girl lead was on letterman last night, the guy was on ellen. there's just been a ridiculous amount of press coverage here. they even did a hot topic mall tour, and thousands of people waited in line overnight in every city; san francisco even had a riot and they initially had to cancel it so everyone would go away.

to somewhat explain my seeing it five times this week - i initially bought my tix for today, cause there was a Q&A with the director Catherine Hardwicke (lords of dogtown, thirteen) afterwards. then my boss got us tix for the midnight showing on thursday. then i found out i was going to the premiere. and then our friend hooked us up for a special press screening. and then my mom wanted to see it so i went with her last night. i definitely wasn't originally planning on seeing it this many times in a week.

[wmgaretjax]

28 Days Later is not a horror movie.

[bleep]

tessalasset, is this Twilight thing a domestic phenomenon? have you heard of tweens in Japan getting riled up over this?

[tessalasset]

let me tell you more about twilight.

[shakermaker113]

outside of tessa, I've seen one (maybe two) billboard posters for twilight and a review in the paper on friday.

[paulb]

i keep thinking that you're joking but i don't think you are. and maybe it's not as big in canada. altho the two leads in twilight were on much music a week ago and thousands of girls spent like two or three days in line, just so they could look in the windows and see them being interviewed. the male lead Robert Pattinson was just interviewed on KROQ a few days ago and there were hundreds of girls waiting outside the studio - and they KNEW he was actually in new york and it was a phone interview. people are waaaayyyyy more obsessed with it than i am. i think once you know about it, you start to see it everywhere. it's way more pervasive in los angeles. i see a billboard every few streets here. tons of tv spots. the girl lead was on letterman last night, the guy was on ellen. there's just been a ridiculous amount of press coverage here. they even did a hot topic mall tour, and thousands of people waited in line overnight in every city; san francisco even had a riot and they initially had to cancel it so everyone would go away.

to somewhat explain my seeing it five times this week - i initially bought my tix for today, cause there was a Q&A with the director Catherine Hardwicke (lords of dogtown, thirteen) afterwards. then my boss got us tix for the midnight showing on thursday. then i found out i was going to the premiere. and then our friend hooked us up for a special press screening. and then my mom wanted to see it so i went with her last night. i definitely wasn't originally planning on seeing it this many times in a week.

interesting...ya, I just dont pay attention to those forms of media... Im assuming they were on Much On Demand.... fuck that show. I dont watch Letterman or Ellen.... I did see a poster of it outside a shop, but didnt think twice about it... havent heard anyone talk about it...so meh.

was it that good?

[wmgaretjax]

it's a kids movie...

[suprefan]

Its a movie for Teens, thats it. But the studio loves it cause they are spending A TON of money on this so sequels will be coming. Its going to make about 80 million this weekend. It made 35 million yesterday alone.

[paulb]

oh, i see.... ok, so skip?

[suprefan]

Skip it by all means Paul. The reason I can gather from all your co workers not knowing anythign about the movie, is that they are not teenage girls. You are not the audience its trying to reach. Watch the trailer and see that you wouldnt want to see it. And considering Vampires shouldnt even be able to walk in daylight, kills it by many means.

[Gonshman]

See Let The Right One In if you want a good vampire movie currently playing.

[humanoid]

oh, i see.... ok, so skip?

my 13 yr old daughter and 20 yr old sister just saw it yesterday, but I think you can skip it

[tessalasset]

yeah paulb i by no means expect you to see this movie. had my boss not pushed it on me back in august i would not be seeing it either.

it was kind of funny tonight. there was a q&a with the director afterwards, and i kind of called her out on the movie and she didn't like it. i asked her why she decided to add in new scenes developing the relationship between the main girl and her father, which weren't in the book to begin with, and which seemed so pointless and took up so much time that the whole development of the relationship between the main girl and the main guy felt rushed. i said had i not read the books, had i just gone into the movie blindly, i would not have believed them falling in love with each other and it was only the extra back story from the book that made it work for me. she just kind of started nervously laughing and was like "can we get her escorted out of the theater?" and then everyone burst out laughing. after it quieted down she was like "i dunno...yeah...." and then they moved on to the next question. it was super awkward and sad that she couldn't even answer it. i kinda felt like i called her out when i wasn't really meaning to. i like the movie! i'm a fan! i should have told her i've seen it five times already and then maybe she would have given me a straight answer.

[kroqken]

I guess the male lead from Twilight is bigger now than Zac Efron. Efron must be jealous, but at least he sleeps with Vanessa Hudgens occasionally.

[BlueDevil50]

just say twilight and i really liked it, surprisingly. just one question tessa...why did they have to play baseball in the lightning? didn't understand that, besides the added effects. paul b, go see it...you'll like it and the female vamps are sexy.

[kroqken]

I wish Nikki Reed had a bigger part. She is an actress to watch.
Nikki Reed > Ellen Page
Katt Dennings > Nikki Reed

[tessalasset]

they could only play baseball in thunder cause when they hit the ball, it was so loud and echo-y that humans would think something was up if that sort of noise was coming from the forest and the sky was clear.

[BlueDevil50]

gotcha...thanks.

that's where one of my favorite scenes happen, when they meet the "bad" vampires.

[ivankay]

yeah paulb i by no means expect you to see this movie. had my boss not pushed it on me back in august i would not be seeing it either.

it was kind of funny tonight. there was a q&a with the director afterwards, and i kind of called her out on the movie and she didn't like it. i asked her why she decided to add in new scenes developing the relationship between the main girl and her father, which weren't in the book to begin with, and which seemed so pointless and took up so much time that the whole development of the relationship between the main girl and the main guy felt rushed. i said had i not read the books, had i just gone into the movie blindly, i would not have believed them falling in love with each other and it was only the extra back story from the book that made it work for me. she just kind of started nervously laughing and was like "can we get her escorted out of the theater?" and then everyone burst out laughing. after it quieted down she was like "i dunno...yeah...." and then they moved on to the next question. it was super awkward and sad that she couldn't even answer it. i kinda felt like i called her out when i wasn't really meaning to. i like the movie! i'm a fan! i should have told her i've seen it five times already and then maybe she would have given me a straight answer.

ouch.

[rage patton]

I just saw Quantum of Solace. I enjoyed it. Not as good as Casino Royale, but entertaining nonetheless. I dont know about everyone here... but I felt like this entire movie was just a set up for the next Bond film.

[kroqken]

Quantum of Solace is one of the shortest James Bond movies ever while Casino Royale is one of the longest.

[humanoid]

I just saw Quantum of Solace. I enjoyed it. Not as good as Casino Royale, but entertaining nonetheless. I dont know about everyone here... but I felt like this entire movie was just a set up for the next Bond film.

I saw it the other day, and while I like Daniel Craig as Bond, I don't feel like these are really James Bond movies anymore. He's barely a spy anymore, he's just a pissed off assassin who kills every person he encounters. It's fun to watch all the ass kicking violence, but they've taken away any of the charm of what used to be a Bond movie. Of course there was some cheesiness to the band franchise, but that was part of the fun. In my opinion, they killed all the fun. Bond is now indistinguishable from any number of other modern action movies. For all I care, it could have been any one of the Transporter movies.
They try to act as if Bond is still the charming and smooth spy that he's always been, but what unfolds on the screen doesn't match that at all. Daniel Craig does his brooding, blue eyed stare, then frantically kicks several asses and kills a few people. Also, they don't have any of the cool gadgets that were part of the whole Bond experience.
While I was entertained, I feel the new movies are lacking the fun that Bond movies have always had. I know they're trying to keep up with what they think today's audiences want, but I think that's detracts from what's always made Bond unique.

[rage patton]

I understand what you mean... but I think they are building Bond back into the spy character he was always meant to be. Now that he finally has closure about Vespa, he is able to move on and not be so hell bent on revenge. In the next movie, his mission will be to take down Quantum, and it wont be by killing everyone.
Also, I am glad Bond doesn't have all those gadgets. Some of them were cool... but a lot of the time they were just plain stupid.

[SoulDischarge]

perfect date movie.

I actually made a date watch Blue Velvet once. Or half of it anyway.

[MeowMixer]

I might score some hate for this, but I like the Pierce Brosnan Bond.

[humanoid]

I actually made a date watch Blue Velvet once. Or half of it anyway.

did your date escape halfway through?

[Somewhat Damaged]

I saw Synecdoche, NY last night. I left the theater feeling sort of depressed, something that inevitably happens after I see a Charlie Kaufman movie. He has a particular talent for tapping into emotions unlike pretty much any other writer and getting you to feel them just as intensely as he must. I saw more of an influence from Michel Gondry than Spike Jonze (going off directors he's collaborated with) but it still bore the unmistakable imprint of Kaufman.

SPOILERS



I think Caden dies when he's cleaning the basement after his wife and daughter leave for Germany. I didn't feel that way immediately, but rather had the thought when he was shown cleaning Catherine Keener's hotel room as "Ellen." It seemed like a really subtle scene in which his death could sort of be inconspicuous. If I recall correctly, he collapses onto the floor after scrubbing the tile, presumably from exhaustion. What I thought could do it was that he was inhaling all those chemicals, obviously for a long period since he was scrubbing every surface in the room clean, and there wasn't very good circulation in the room. (I've never been in a house that has a basement but I would imagine they don't air out as well as rooms above ground.) When the film showed him cleaning the hotel room again and seemed nearly just as fixated on his thoroughness as it was the first time, it struck me that that may have been when the shift occurred.
I refrained from reading everyone's comments until just now, and it didn't occur to me that the seizure Caden has when he's home alone was the death, but that was because the seizure came after the scene where he cleaned the basement. I feel like a putz for not remembering this better considering how recently I saw it, but did Samantha Morton buy the house before the seizure or after? I think it was after the basement scene, which was another reason why I thought that was the moment of death. I mean obviously the house on fire shouldn't be taken to be literal, yet it's responded to as though it's just a slight nuisance, which suggested to me that the film was no longer occurring in the "real" world.
I also don't believe that Caden was ever awarded the genius grant, that he ever mounted the play, and that the war was going on outside of the studio space. The fact that he aged and very few other people throughout the rest of the film did seems to support this interpretation. (Besides Samantha Morton, only Olivia gets older. Caden marries Michelle Williams and has a daughter with her, but Williams doesn't look a day older even though 5 years would have had to elapse. None of the other actors ever seem to be older either, particularly the one who's playing Willie Loman in the "Death of a Salesman" play that Caden's directing at the beginning of the film, even though it's said to have spanned 17 years.)

I would really like to see this again because while I never felt the sort of frustration and confusion that others in here have expressed, I think what it has to say and some of the nuances will be better appreciated upon a revisiting. Unfortunately, the theater it's playing at is a 40-minute drive from my house and the people in Scottsdale really are that fucking obnoxious to be around, even in a movie theater. (I was one of maybe 5 people in the audience who were under 30.)

[indietron]

I would really like to see this again because while I never felt the sort of frustration and confusion that others in here have expressed, I think what it has to say and some of the nuances will be better appreciated upon a revisiting. Unfortunately, the theater it's playing at is a 40-minute drive from my house and the people in Scottsdale really are that fucking obnoxious to be around, even in a movie theater. (I was one of maybe 5 people in the audience who were under 30.)

That is a very interesting take on the movie, I never even thought about all of that.

And I would highly recommend seeing it again. I also felt frustrated and confused after the first time I saw it. Just the other night i saw it for the second time though, and i left feeling happy and emotional. I really liked this movie the first time, but after seeing it again I am now in love with it.

[Somewhat Damaged]

Depending on how late we finish dinner on Friday night, I'm planning on seeing it again. Hopefully it's still playing at the theater. (I'm not sure how many prints there are or how it's being rolled out across the country. The good thing was, the theater was pretty full, so perhaps it's successful enough that they'll keep it for at least another week.)

Some remarks from Ebert's blog (http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/o_synecdoche_my_synecdoche.html):

"Of all the arts, film is the one that's hardest not to take literally. (We see the events happening onscreen, therefore the events are actually happening.) Still, I think it's a fool's errand to interpret *anything* in SNY literally. For me, it's a deathbed movie, evoking a line from Springsteen: "A dream of life comes to me, like a catfish dancing on the end of my line." The movie opens in darkness, with a little girl's voice; the movie ends in light, with a woman's voice. Everything that happens between these two moments is Caden's "life flashing before his eyes", as it were, in the moment before he dies.

I love this reading of the movie, because it's about his own mind trying to organize the events (the failures?) of his own life, thru the only filter he knows: the theatre. (Aha! Another meaning for the title!) A Life is, of course, too big a subject for what he's trying to do -- which is what Caden (the movie character, not my imaginary offscreen Deathbed-Caden) finds out throughout the movie. This reading also allows us to view the on-fire apartment much more easily, perhaps even as symbolic as an "old flame"."

"I'm thrilled that you feel the same way I do about this film. I've seen so many negative reviews from reviewers I respect, I began to doubt my initial response -- that the most interesting filmmaker in the world has made the most interesting film of the year. In ’Adaptation’, Kaufman took us through the looking glass. In ‘Synecdoche’, he goes a step further, creating the cinematic equivalent of holding a mirror up to another mirror.

The title provides plenty of evidence as to what kind of film Kaufman delivers. The word “synecdoche” is a trope, a rhetorical figure of speech that consists of a play on words. The definition is akin to a metaphor: a term denoting a part of something which is used to represent the whole, or a whole of something which is used to represent a part. In Kaufman’s hands, it’s used in several respects –- people who replace one person with another in their lives, the way in which writers use characters to substitute for real people, the way actors use themselves (and are used) to represent other people. It's metaphorgasmic!

Added to the layers of meaning is the fact the movie takes place in Schenectady, New York, which may be spelled differently then "Synecdoche, New York", but is pronounced very similarly. That's yet another trope. Or rather, a trope within a trope -- yet another clue to the storyline: Kaufman is telling us in the title that nothing here is quite what it seems, everything is standing in for something else, which might also be standing in for something else.

The entire film is like Kaufman's vision of the M.C. Escher's painting where people ascend a staircase in a continual loop. Escher's work is a trick of the eye, Kaufman's his a trick of the mind. He's clearly drawing from his own creative feelings, worries about obsession, navel-gazing, paralysis by analysis, mortality, and probably a whole host of things which flew right over my head, and milking it for all the perverse pleasure imaginable."

"Charlie Kaufman (no relation) says people keep asking him what the Burning House means. It seems obvious to me: It's our mortal body. We, all of us, move into a burning house from the moment of conception. We wrangle over viability of the fetus, forgetting that viability is a short-term concept. As one of the characters (The same one who moves into the house?) says, "The end is built into the beginning."

It's comical to see Hazel walk around the burning house with her realtor, and buy it and move in. Why would someone do that? It seems crazy. Charlie is reminding us we all do that, and asking how do we forget that? How do we carry on with our lives when we're standing in a burning building?

I think this is the big challenge of our age. As we evolve to the point that religious faith becomes untenable, what do we replace it with? How do we now comfort ourselves against mortality? So far it’s been hedonism, but I hope we can do better."

"I suddenly recall the moment late in the film in which Caden-as-Ellen is given a small microphone he inserts in his ear. From then to the end, he receives instructions via this device, and follows them. The director at last speaks directly (sorry) to his character, who in acting out his instructions reaches a satisfactory conclusion, making peace with himself and those around him. Is Caden listening to his "god" finally?
In classic male/female divisions of characteristics, male is drawn as active, and female receptive/passive - that's Caden! Caden, an unusual name, is an anagram of Dance, and Caden + Dance = Cadence, or rhythm. Perhaps this character is in search of a rhythm in his life, hence his attraction to the theater where rhythm is overt (Shakespeare's iambic pentameter etc).
Cleaning is a metaphor for creating order, for putting the past in perspective, for revealing the original nature of things.
The order Adele created (her paintings) was so small as to require special glasses to observe, while at life size she was an agent of chaos, while she lived with Caden.
And yet, when he becomes her cleaning lady, there's not that much to clean - her toilet, her sheets - her apartment looks pretty good. Perhaps her sloppiness was intended to torment him (she confesses to Dr. Gravis & Caden her dream that he would sicken and die so she could start afresh guilt-free) - to weaken his attachment?"

"Now a developing theory on the burning house:

***Spoiler Alert***

It felt, in part, like a comment on the nature of Hazel (The box-office woman who became Caden's Production Manager and the primary love of his life). She accepted everything as-is. She bought the house, even though it was on fire, she married Derek (the realtor's son who lived downstairs) despite him being presented as a bit of a schmuck, and she desired Caden despite all of his issues and oddities. It could be argued this was her tragic flaw -Derek was a temporary filler, Caden was a mess, and the house, as she herself predicted, eventually killed her. But all of us do this to ourselves -whether by staying in toxic relationships or unsatisfying jobs, etc... It's human nature.

I also thought it interesting to note that while Hazel's house was perpetually on fire, Adele's apartment had water running. When Caden first enters, the shower is running even through no-one's home. I sense some sort of elemental theme at play here."

"There were lots of little thematic connections that link various parts of the film to others, but one moment that made me feel rather smart was when Caden goes to Adele's apartment, there is a name on the board outside. The name is "Capgras". Capgras Syndrome is a neurological condition in which the sufferer believes that his or her loved ones have been replaced by actors or robots."

This comment is particularly interesting to me because one of the other potential explanations I thought of for what transpires is Caden's mental health. When he's walking Olivia to school, she inquires about the blemishes on his face and he says it's sycosis. Olivia of course thinks that he means "psychosis," and eventually he says something along the lines of, "I have sycosis, not psychosis." To which Olivia remarks, "But you could have both."
I don't think this is to mean that Caden was just insane and everything that happens in the movie is a byproduct of his madness, although it is a viable interpretation. But who the fuck knows? When I see it again, I may dispense with my previous theory that he dies in the basement. Or maybe I'll feel that way about the film even more strongly.

Did anyone else think that, at the end, when Caden's walking through the war-ravaged streets and passes through the tarp to enter the building, it was sort of reminiscent of him re-entering the womb?

"I've read about a million reviews, and I'm surprised that none of them have discussed the potential theme of Caden as a closeted gay man. I can't quite commit to this theory myself - SNY strikes me as less any one identifiable story than strand after strand of life's emotions, sewn together as wonderfully, confusingly, and fleetingly as life itself. But after two viewings, I've noticed so many hints of latent homosexuality that, if someone had told me on the way into the theater that this was a movie about a gay man coming to grips with a lifetime in the closet, I think the film would live up to that description:

--there is zero sexual tension between Caden and his wife, who is frustrated enough to eventually leave him
--each time his wife begins a discussion about their relationship, he flees
--when he's finally in bed with Hazel, he can't seal the deal, and he apologizes by saying "I had a nice time...I think you're a great person...", nothing about the fact that she's babe-a-licious
--he is uninterested in the sexy marriage counselor's advances
-when he's about to get it on with Claire, the one woman he seems able to screw, he leads into it with the odd line "you're so pretty, I have to f* you..." like he is forcing himself
--when the actress who plays Hazel offers herself to him, he is unenthusiastic and almost dutiful in his acceptance, and she repeatedly asks if or implies that he is gay
--in the same scene, he tells the actress that he always wanted to be pretty, and when she calls him "pretty Caden," he says "thank you"
--toward the end of the movie, when Caden allows Millicent Weems - a woman - to step in and play Caden The Director, the previously languishing play instantly finds its message
--Caden then assumes the Ellen character and releases control of his actions to the woman's voice in his ear
--at about this time, the film repeatedly flashes an Adele painting from her collection "Women I Love", and the painting is of Millicent Weems, the woman who ended up playing Caden - suggesting that Adele, whose artistic skills stem from her ability to "see truth", saw the woman inside Caden

Of course, it could be that Caden's clumsiness with sex is just a caricature of how we all tend to stumble and experience frustration in that department. And perhaps he dissolves so easily into Ellen as an illustration of how his issues are universal and transcend gender."

"1. Do you think the film starts in the "real world" and later leaves it entirely? If so, do you think the turning point is when his wife leaves? (the world does seem to get a LOT stranger after that)

2. Do you think that, somehow, Cadon is really Ellen? If so, do you think that the entire film has been a fantasy/dream of hers?"

An interesting comment pointing out something I didn't catch:

"Something I noticed the first time and again this time was that the movie starts and 7:44 and ends at 7:45, which I'm guessing is meaningful in a way. The clock reads 7:44 when Caden wakes up in the beginning and there is a clock shown on a building wall at the end of the film when he is talking with Ellen's mother from her dream. He also apologizes to her from something that happened in that dream which means he must knew about somehow. The film possibly ending 1 minute after it began could mean that nothing that we think happened actually happened. That minute could have been the last minute of Caden's life and everything we see is his life flashing before his eyes. Everything that has happened to him and possibly some of his nightmares coming to fruition."

"The day after I saw it I was letting myself mull over the film in a distracted way and the thought burst into my head in a flash: Cadon is really Ellen, and the story is her dream or fantasy or willed creation. She bears the same relation to Cadon as does Charlie Kaufman to his various protagonists. (Did anyone notice, by the way, that Ellen's husband has the name of the gay lover his daughter accused him of having? I think this little joke of Kaufman's is also a telling point.)"

I noticed that Ellen's husband was named Eric.

Anyway, it's been a terribly long time since I last bought a DVD but I think this will be the next one I pick up. I hope there are some sort of extra features but knowing Charlie Kaufman's tendencies, that probably won't be the case. (Although he did contribute to a commentary for Eternal Sunshine, so perhaps there's hope yet.) Oh yeah, and I definitely feel this is the best film of the year.

[suprefan]

I might score some hate for this, but I like the Pierce Brosnan Bond.

Goldeneye was his best one..



Oh and all those teeny boopers just created movie sequels and more angst to theater owners for years to come.

Twilight Weekend Gross = $70,000,000

[Down Rodeo]

I just watched Holy Mountain and it absolutely blew my mind. Seriously fucking crazy.

P.S. Great analysis, Somewhat Damaged. I really feel that Synecdoche, NY is going to be a defining movie for this generation, and people will be talking about it for a long time.

[kroqken]

Did anyone like Timothy Dalton as James Bond? He is vastly underrated.

[Backwater]

I liked Benicio Del Toro as the villian in License to Kill.

[wmgaretjax]

I just watched Holy Mountain and it absolutely blew my mind. Seriously fucking crazy.


Sante Sangre... See it next.

[kroqken]

Benicio Del Toto is supposed to be good in that "Che" movie, but it is 4 and a half hours long.

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

I need to relax. Should I watch The Royal Tenenbaums or High Fidelity tonight?

Benicio Del Toto

[wmgaretjax]

I need to relax. Should I watch The Royal Tenenbaums or High Fidelity tonight?

is there any contest....

[shakermaker113]

Did anyone like Timothy Dalton as James Bond? He is vastly underrated.

george lazenby! george lazenby!

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

is there any contest....

...

I enjoy both films, both got strong reviews when released theatrically, both films come from interesting filmmakers, so...

[kroqken]

High Fidelity > the Royal tenenbauns
Control > High Fidelity

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

What does Control have to do with anything?

[kroqken]

What does Control have to do with anything?

If I was going to watch a movie about music, Control is tops. This is not a knock of High Fidelity, I just like Control better. Of course, between the two choices, I would choose High Fidelity, it has a Belle & Sebastian reference.

[PotVsKtl]

The best part of Risky Business is when that high school student is doing the hooker and the french doors blow open to deposit a flurry of fall leaves in the area.

[kroqken]

Wally George's daughter is in Risky Business, and she plays the hooker. Anyone who does not know who Wally George is should put in his name on Youtube and watch hillarity ensue. I miss Wally, even though his political views were absurdly right wing.

[Gonshman]

george lazenby! george lazenby!

George Lazenby was by far the worst Bond, in probably the worst Bond movie.

I was on the mountain in Switzerland where they filmed On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and they are still milking that movie for Bond tourism.

[bleep]

all this joking about Blue Velvet being a great date movie reminds me of my first awkward viewing of this movie - it was with mum, dad, aunt and brother @ home one Sunday evening many years ago. we got all the way to the part where the Roy Orbison song is played. then my Dad faked intense back pains and paused the movie. we never did finish the movie that night.

[shakermaker113]

I was on the mountain in Switzerland where they filmed On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and they are still milking that movie for Bond tourism.

ha! I wonder if people make pilgrimages there.

[indietron]

Can someone explain to me why Blue Velvet is being joked about as a good date movie. All i have heard is that there is "bizarre sexual situations." Can someone please elaborate??

[bmack86]

I saw Let the Right One In tonight. It was awesome.

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

Still need to see that one...

[kroqken]

Crash (with James Spader) > Crash (Academy Award winner)

[bmack86]

Still need to see that one...

I'd highly recommend it. It was also incredibly heartening to see the theater almost completely sold out. WE struggled to find a seat. Twilight's good for something, it seems.

[kroqken]

I will see Twilight next weekend when the theatre is less crowded.

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

I'd highly recommend it. It was also incredibly heartening to see the theater almost completely sold out. WE struggled to find a seat. Twilight's good for something, it seems.

Really? That's great. This was at the Laemmle, no?

[boarderwoozel3]

So I saw From Russia With Love all the way through for the first time last night. That's what James Bond and a Bond film is supposed to be, the action flick shit currently being presented to us is an abomination.

[kroqken]

Whatever happened to that movie that was supposed to be made about Sam Kinison? It was to be based on the book "Brother Sam", written by Sam Kinison's brother, I think Howard Stern was going to be executive producer.

[Neutral Milk Hotel]

So I saw From Russia With Love all the way through for the first time last night. That's what James Bond and a Bond film is supposed to be, the action flick shit currently being presented to us is an abomination.

I agree. I always thought From Russia With Love was the best Bond film. Rosa Klebb is a character for the ages, and it has some of the best, most suspenseful action sequences in the history of the character.

[bmack86]

Really? That's great. This was at the Laemmle, no?

yeah it was. I was surprised initially, until I thought about Twilight.

[kroqken]

Octopussy was a great Bond film. Also, it is the best name ever for a Bond movie.

[Down Rodeo]

Sante Sangre... See it next.

Most definitely.

[Backwater]

Yeah, Santa Sangre is great. That's the only one of his films I've seen.

[kroqken]

Sante Sangre is something I am going to have to look up. the feedback sounds excellent.

[wmgaretjax]

Can someone explain to me why Blue Velvet is being joked about as a good date movie. All i have heard is that there is "bizarre sexual situations." Can someone please elaborate??

it's not a joke.

[iv3rdawG]

I saw Let the Right One In tonight. It was awesome.

The more time passes the less I like that film.

[wmgaretjax]

Sante Sangre sounds good but will never be in AZ

what? huh?

[chairmenmeow47]

i watched rebecca (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032976/) for the first time this weekend and fucking loved it. joan fontaine was amazing. i'm sure selznick is the reason for such an ornate set too. i know the script calls for it, but he's so good at portraying that grand lifestyle. i just hate how my dvr generally ends up cutting off the last few minutes of movies like this.

[wmgaretjax]

there are settings in your DVR to correct that generally...

[chairmenmeow47]

there are settings in your DVR to correct that generally...

i know i can adjust the start and end time, but i have no way of knowing when i decide to record the movie if it will start early or run later than scheduled. also, if the movie is schedule to record from 6-8 and i have two other recordings at 8, i can't set the 6-8 movie to record a minute or too after 8 because it will conflict with the other two recordings, so i generally won't set something for a few minutes over unless it's a tv show that i'm used to having run late or something. kind of annoying. i'm sure techonolgy will fix this some day. but for now, i'm missing the last 2 minutes of a lot of shit, lol.