tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post201516089953715754..comments2024-01-03T19:09:09.739-05:00Comments on THE OBENSON REPORT: FILM REVIEW - Synecdoche, New YorkThe Obenson Reporthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12327489832781036602noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-23257151428147972402008-12-23T05:24:00.000-05:002008-12-23T05:24:00.000-05:00Well, I suppose this comes down to that subjective...Well, I suppose this comes down to that subjective matter of taste place. I thought the second half built beautifully on the first and I was engaged all the way through. The movie continues to be so inventive all the way through it's final scene that I wasn't bored at all. <BR/><BR/>The fact that this movie is being ignored by all the end of the year critics circles as so many genuflect over piffle like Slumdog Millionaire makes me very depressed.Geniusbastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274359893230656010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-35779583387682693472008-12-22T10:40:00.000-05:002008-12-22T10:40:00.000-05:00GB - I was almost as moved by the film as you were...GB - I was almost as moved by the film as you were in the first hour or so... but into the second hour, I felt like screaming, "<B>ok, I get it, I get it, I understand... now please move on</B>." <BR/><BR/>It meanders on laboriously, unnecessarily I'd say, making it feel monotonous (although, one could say that was the point), and could have been much more effective with some snipping here and there.The Obenson Reporthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12327489832781036602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-68015166178531127232008-12-22T00:21:00.000-05:002008-12-22T00:21:00.000-05:00I disagree with all of y'all. Synecdoche, NY is m...I disagree with all of y'all. <BR/><BR/>Synecdoche, NY is my favorite film of the year thus far. It is the best thing Charlie Kaufman has ever done and I thank the gods Spike Jonze didn't direct it. <BR/><BR/>This is the cinematic equivalent of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (which makes a brief cameo). It tackles all of the big issues of life with wit and more imagination than Spike Jonze and Paul Thomas Anderson have in their entire bodies. <BR/><BR/>You want to talk about directing, how about an opening scene wherein weeks elapse (which you'll miss if you aren't careful). That takes skill to pull off, and not just as a writer. <BR/><BR/>Philip Seymour Hoffman is outstanding, as is the rest of the cast (but since he isn't impersonating a famous person there'll be no nomination for him). Samantha Morton has never been more charming or appealing. <BR/><BR/>I've never seen a movie tackle the sad up and down, waxing and waning of love and life. Most films are not this ambitious, and for good reason. This kind of ambition is seldom rewarded; people would rather go see Slumdog Millionaire. <BR/><BR/>Admittedly, as someone who is going through a divorce right now, I am predisposed to relating to this film. But I really don't think a better, more challenging, more brilliant, more original film has come out this year, or last year for that matter.Geniusbastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17274359893230656010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-75131200333035929632008-12-21T18:03:00.000-05:002008-12-21T18:03:00.000-05:00TWW - I see you changed your name after all :P I w...TWW - I see you changed your name after all :P I was really looking forward to seeing this as well, and should have seen it much sooner, but kept procrastinating. 8 1/2-esque? Maybe... it is about 1 man and his harem... a much more somber version... minus Fellini's trademark visual flair - cinematography and camera work especially. I wish it was 8 1/2-esque actually - would have made it much more of a joy to watch. <BR/><BR/>But I'd say more Lynch and less Fellini.<BR/><BR/>PB - I'll check out your review.The Obenson Reporthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12327489832781036602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-56401728844223695752008-12-20T21:59:00.000-05:002008-12-20T21:59:00.000-05:00Feel you 100% on the reaction to this film. One pa...Feel you 100% on the reaction to this film. One part of me thinks another director would've tightened up the all-over-the-place screenplay. Another part appreciates the irreverence. <BR/><BR/>My review: http://prometheusbrown.com/blog/2008/12/synecdoche-new-york-charlie-kaufman-2008/Prometheus Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06439709816698778273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7186698165589554338.post-74200751232970116962008-12-20T21:16:00.000-05:002008-12-20T21:16:00.000-05:00You took the words right out of my mouth when you ...You took the words right out of my mouth when you said he lives in his head. And maybe he's a better screenwriter than director. As someone who tends to have such outlandishly obscure yet fascinating ideas, maybe he needs a director to navigate the unfamiliar narrative and make his stories more viewer friendly. <BR/><BR/>So perhaps it isn't that Synedoche NY is his weakest work to date as a screenplay, but maybe he was too close to the work to do it any justice as a director. Ater all it was, as you pointed out, his directorial debut. <BR/><BR/>Regardless, I've been looking forward to seeing it since it was at Cannes earlier this year and will certainly go and see it when it opens here, in London. <BR/><BR/>I'm not expecting it to be straightforward Hollywood fare (it's Kauffman, afterall) and, from what I've heard about it so far, I'll go in with the same 'watch it and see' attitude with which I saw Coppola's last opus, Youth Without Youth. I came out of the cinema after that thinking... hmm, OK... but I can't say that I hated it. <BR/><BR/>So I expect to at least like Synecdoche NY the way I liked Youth Without Youth... wanting to ask questions of the writer/director that would probably best be addressed in a long 'meaning of life' conversation. Not a bad thing, in my book.<BR/><BR/>Actually, I'm almost expecting a Felliniesque 8 1/2 but without the Italian 60s flair. I love/d 8 1/2.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, thanks for not giveing away the plot... or maybe it's just that you wouldn't know where, or how, to start!The Wendilicious Wonderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06380114669771631713noreply@blogger.com