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Old 07-15-2016, 04:59 PM   #89
teh b0lly!!1
Braindead
 
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Synedoche, New York

originally planned to be a Spike Jonze film (who eventually opted out in order to direct Where The Wild Things Are, unfortunately - could have been intersting), this is yet another Charlie Kaufman installment. prior to watching though, i forgot all about that, and basically wanted to watch it based on Philip Seymour Hoffman, and a comment disco king made on some movie thread a while back. plus i'm in a shit mood and this seemed like a good movie to get mopey to.

so, hmm. this one is a real curveball. on the one hand, it's the kind of movies i wish they made more of - completely idiosyncratic, artful, winded way up into its own universe, avant garde, well written and executed. as with other Kaufman features, it feels absolutely packed with profoundly intelligent ideas, creative and unpredictable storytelling devices, and an inner logic that you have to admire, if only for its persistence to be completely true to itself without worrying about audience response, acceptance, etc.

but the thing is, i feel like it's so smart and relentless in its progress that you can't help but feel like you never get a tight grasp on it. it introduces wild new ideas at every turn, and i'm the anal kind of guy who likes to revel a little bit more in every meaningful thing, rather than jump quickly from one to another. it's almost certainly a movie that really rewards multiple viewings, but i don't see myself mustering up the energy to go through it again anytime soon.

why? enter philip seymour hoffman. the guy delivers such a painfully awkward and emotionally shattered person that it makes you cringe. it's not his first time playing a withdrawn, damaged kind of character - but here it gets taken up several notches. his greatness is in making you see his vulnerability and project it on the character he's portraying, of course, but it often made me think about his own death six years later, and how much of that character was, perhaps, real to him.

Kaufman's script is, as always, undeniably brilliant and brainy. i really fucking love how surreal the entire film is. and i love how Kaufman breaks rules that are so elementary, i would never even consider breaking them. for example, one of the locations in this movie is an eternally burning house that one of the character buys. and they fully acknowledge it! you can see when she buys it, she tells the real estate agent or whatever, "oh, i don't know, i sure am very scared of dying in that fire." great stuff.

as i said on other films of his though, i do, however, always get the feeling with kaufman flicks that he could greatly benefit from some restraint in his work.

Disco King, if you're reading this, i'd love to hear what you thought about it.

Last edited by teh b0lly!!1 : 07-15-2016 at 05:05 PM.

 
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