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Movie Discussion 6/30/10

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MrX
Well, this is probably the major disconnect between those impressed and those unimpressed by Synecdoche.
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I dunno. I just went through a lot of reviews at rottentomatoes.com and it seems to me that most of the rotten reviews were blaming the overly complex structure that took away from the actual plot, themes and acting. It seems to me that those who gave it two thumbs up conveniently ignored that aspect of the movie, writing it off as typical Kaufman quirk (where it was more deliberate intellectual self-indulgence this time around, again IMO)

There was a good movie in there. And a lot of tedious narrative gymnastics.

Just make a fucking movie, Charlie. Being John Malkovich was a movie. This, not really.
 
I remember finding the movie interesting but I can't remember why.

All I remember now is the annoying play that was about the main characters life, and it was catching up with his actual life. And the character was just too fucking pathetic.

............Wait, I remember now what I liked about it. It teaches the lesson: don't be a self centered prick. Yes that's it. very important lesson indeed.
 
Matt Rain
It completely falls into the artsy fartsy, the-form-is-the-content, boho intellectual type of thing. I don't think that Bread realizes he should hate this thing with a passion.
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Right. Because unless there are huge explosions, CGI super heroes or half-naked women, I am completely out of my realm. :rolleyes:

Matt Rain
I really don't think it's that deep Cougar. To me it was mostly a formalist piece that used a centuries old literary process called "mise en abyme" wherein the story folds unto itself and becomes self-reflexive, several layers deep. Just cause a guy cries and is despised by all the women he encounters doesn't mean that it's so artsy fartsy that it's not artsy fartsy anymore.

lolz. I thought it was enjoyable and very well acted, but also very pedantic.
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Welcome to Gamelive, newest member, Rogue Scholar II :rolleyes:

Matt Rain
BTW, just so I can prove I'm not the only asshole of my kind... that critic hated the movie a lot more than I did, but for the same reasons:

http://worldfilm.about.com/od/independentfilm/fr/synecdoche_2.htm

Kaufman is an old hand at this kind of meta-narrative, but without the visual inventiveness and comic edge of collaborators Spike Jonez or Michel Gondry, he seems lost. Synecdoche, New York wants to dig deep into its main character's soul to expose his existential struggles, but Kaufman's postmodern toolbox is ill suited to the task.
There are good reasons why the essential stance of postmodernism is ironic: when self-reflexive effects draw attention to the mechanics of the "text," the audience is distanced from the story's emotional core. Sometimes this distance is the point, and there are other ways to keep us interested -- postmodern masters like Pynchon, Wallace, and Eco dazzle with their humor, erudition, and encyclopedic detail, and even at his most indecipherable, Lynch's fever dreams are rich in evocative contradictions. But moment by moment, the surface of Synecdoche, New York stays drab and bloodless while Kaufman earnestly fishes for feeling in the middle of a surreal slipstream (with John Brion's score as bait).

[...]

And when it's all said and done, what exactly is it that Synecdoche, New York tells us about death, art, and all the rest? The best I could discern is this: art is difficult, love even more so, heartbreak is everywhere, and everybody has to die. Is any of this news? Face to face with mortality is where art begins, not where it ends: the infinite mysteries of life and love all lie the other way. The best stories tackle their themes obliquely, allowing them to emerge rather than forcing them onto a predetermined structure. Synecdoche, New York perfectly illustrates its own futility, and I suppose in that respect, it finally succeeds.
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No, it's not. So let's just stop making movies altogether. Was the fact that there was a mafia news to anybody? No? What a waste of time those silly 'Godfather' films were. :rolleyes:

MrX
Well, this is probably the major disconnect between those impressed and those unimpressed by Synecdoche.

Sure, none of this is "news", but I really don't think any art has to be "news." Yes, we know these things, but many (I'd say most) of us let these things flit around in the peripheral of our awareness, because they are just too unpleasant to stare at directly. I found Synecdoche did an amazing job of pushing these unpleasant truths into my head while still managing to entertain.
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And as I hit "quote reply" button, I see this response. Way to steal my thunder. :rolleyes:
 
Matt Rain
BTW, just so I can prove I'm not the only asshole of my kind... that critic hated the movie a lot more than I did, but for the same reasons:

http://worldfilm.about.com/od/independentfilm/fr/synecdoche_2.htm

Kaufman is an old hand at this kind of meta-narrative, but without the visual inventiveness and comic edge of collaborators Spike Jonez or Michel Gondry, he seems lost. Synecdoche, New York wants to dig deep into its main character's soul to expose his existential struggles, but Kaufman's postmodern toolbox is ill suited to the task.
There are good reasons why the essential stance of postmodernism is ironic: when self-reflexive effects draw attention to the mechanics of the "text," the audience is distanced from the story's emotional core. Sometimes this distance is the point, and there are other ways to keep us interested -- postmodern masters like Pynchon, Wallace, and Eco dazzle with their humor, erudition, and encyclopedic detail, and even at his most indecipherable, Lynch's fever dreams are rich in evocative contradictions. But moment by moment, the surface of Synecdoche, New York stays drab and bloodless while Kaufman earnestly fishes for feeling in the middle of a surreal slipstream (with John Brion's score as bait).

[...]

And when it's all said and done, what exactly is it that Synecdoche, New York tells us about death, art, and all the rest? The best I could discern is this: art is difficult, love even more so, heartbreak is everywhere, and everybody has to die. Is any of this news? Face to face with mortality is where art begins, not where it ends: the infinite mysteries of life and love all lie the other way. The best stories tackle their themes obliquely, allowing them to emerge rather than forcing them onto a predetermined structure. Synecdoche, New York perfectly illustrates its own futility, and I suppose in that respect, it finally succeeds.
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Well that pretty much said everything that I was thinking in a much more eloquent manner. I am not saying that I needed a movie that was uplifting or happy but this movie just didn't deliver to me. I guess my biggest problem with he movie is that it never really gave me a reason to care about any of the characters...yes the main character is an asshole...but who cares? Lots of people are assholes. At least he was a semi successful asshole....oh yeah I am supposed to feel bad for him because he is kinda successful but the rest of his life is a mess...his health, his head is a mess and his love life is a disaster. So what? I really agree with Matty in pretty much everything he has said in this thread...

Oh and I also really enjoyed Paris, Texas. It took a little while for me to get into it but I think that movie was much better done than this one.

MrX
Well, this is probably the major disconnect between those impressed and those unimpressed by Synecdoche.

Sure, none of this is "news", but I really don't think any art has to be "news." Yes, we know these things, but many (I'd say most) of us let these things flit around in the peripheral of our awareness, because they are just too unpleasant to stare at directly. I found Synecdoche did an amazing job of pushing these unpleasant truths into my head while still managing to entertain.
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I disagree if you are trying to make a film that "earth shattering" you better say something new, something different and it better jump out at you or else you won't connect with you audience. Art is great but if no one gets it....what is the point? An artist that makes things that no one gets is just a crazy person on the street....

Matt Rain
I dunno. I just went through a lot of reviews at rottentomatoes.com and it seems to me that most of the rotten reviews were blaming the overly complex structure that took away from the actual plot, themes and acting. It seems to me that those who gave it two thumbs up conveniently ignored that aspect of the movie, writing it off as typical Kaufman quirk (where it was more deliberate intellectual self-indulgence this time around, again IMO)

There was a good movie in there. And a lot of tedious narrative gymnastics.

Just make a fucking movie, Charlie. Being John Malkovich was a movie. This, not really.
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This right here....

reno cool
I remember finding the movie interesting but I can't remember why.

All I remember now is the annoying play that was about the main characters life, and it was catching up with his actual life. And the character was just too fucking pathetic.

............Wait, I remember now what I liked about it. It teaches the lesson: don't be a self centered prick. Yes that's it. very important lesson indeed.
Click to expand...

Maybe that is where it all went wrong to me.... I like being a self centered prick. :depom:
 
Bread
Right. Because unless there are huge explosions, CGI super heroes or half-naked women, I am completely out of my realm. :rolleyes:




Welcome to Gamelive, newest member, Rogue Scholar II :rolleyes:




No, it's not. So let's just stop making movies altogether. Was the fact that there was a mafia news to anybody? No? What a waste of time those silly 'Godfather' films were. :rolleyes:



And as I hit "quote reply" button, I see this response. Way to steal my thunder. :rolleyes:
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matty bury this fools with some intellectual shit

and make it sound nice
 
The irony of the fact that PSH's character was worried that he would die through the whole picture and outlived almost everyone is great. It doesn't matter. These are just opinions. I could spend all day explaining to Bread why Bud Light is awful. But at the end of the day, he'll still drink 10-22 of them.

It's cool to exchange ideas, but lots of people will still go see the new Twilight movie with a couple gay vampires and a bunch of CGI instead of going to see something that could change them. At least for a little while.

I gotta see this Paris, Texas movie apparently.
 
AMBy
I disagree if you are trying to make a film that "earth shattering" you better say something new, something different and it better jump out at you or else you won't connect with you audience.
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Can you give me an example of an "earth shattering" movie that said something new and different that jumped out at you?
 
MrX
Can you give me an example of an "earth shattering" movie that said something new and different that jumped out at you?
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Vanilla Sky...easily one of my favorite movies of all time and every time I watch it I see or often hear something new and different. I know it has Tom Cruise in it but he's actually pretty good.

Actually come to think of it, another Tom Cruise movie would also be on my list of "earth Shattering" Eyes Wide Shut would be another that would fit the bill.

MrX
Where The Wild Things Are, easily my favorite movie of 2009, was also all about simple unpleasant truths without easy answers. Maybe I have an unhealthy need for these things.
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Wow...this is another movie that I thought was absolutely dreadful...I guess we just have Much different tastes.
 
Bread
Right. Because unless there are huge explosions, CGI super heroes or half-naked women, I am completely out of my realm. :rolleyes:
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You're having the exact same, completely unfounded reaction you had the first time around. That is not what I mean one bit but fuck me if I'm going to try and explain it further. :cougarbait:
 
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