Ben Stiller rarely motivates me into seeing a movie.  Even though he is in my favorite movie (guess what that is) and he did quite good in Tropic Thunder, I still don’t feel the need to see any of the movies that he makes.  This is an exception.  He looks quite good in this movie, although he looks like he’s lost a huge amount of weight.

This movie was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who is insisting that he is a good director.  He’s probably right, but it does seem quite forced sometimes.  He did write The Life Aquatic, and he had something to do with the Fantastic Mr. Fox.  He seems to excel at depicting lost 30 year olds (that seems to be a big theme in movie and TV these days).  Anywho, this is another movie with that same situation.

Click the (very small) poster to watch the trailer.

From Apple.

- izi

Cada vez que sale un trailer de una cinta con Ben Stiller no me tomo la molestia de verlo. No es que el tipo me caiga mal, de hecho me parece que ha hecho cosas geniales como Reality bites o Zoolander, pero en serio basta de actuar siempre como el goofy de There’s something about Mary. Sin embargo este trailer me llamó la atención

Y es que cada vez que Noah Baumbach hace una nueva cinta, merece como mínimo una celebración con fanfarrias.

No saben quien es este tipo? Pues es el guionista de dos pelis de Wes Anderson: Life Aquatic with Steve Sizzou y Fantastic Mr Fox. Aparte ha dirigido cosas como Kicking and screaming (no la de Will Ferrel), Margot at the wedding y una de las mejores cintas de la década: The Squid and the Whale.

Con ese currículum ya entienden porqué deben prestarle atención a esta peli. Y es que hay que tener talento para lograr filmar a Ben Stiller sin su cara de idiota de costumbre.

Homem-Ciência. Homem-Natureza. Homem-Máquina. Sob um ângulo tão inesperado quanto chocante David Cronemberg sinaliza com uma forma de terror ao alcance de todos. O homem não é apenas  uma cópula com adjetivos do dia-a-dia do conhecimento. É sim, e muito, mas apenas enquanto permanece estático. Como o homem é movimento o que surge, a princípio como nexo, evolui para a forma de um combate: Homem vs. Ciência. Homem vs. Natureza. Homem vs. Máquina.

O homem é um adversário inferior. Sempre perde.

Um jogo virtual e real, “Existenz”, é uma espécie de RPG jogado em rede. Os participantes tem um personagem de jogo interagindo num sonho coletivo. O show de Cronemberg fica por conta da quantidade de imagens metafóricas. Cinema puro, neste sentido, a concordarmos com a definição de que cinema “é sonho de olhos abertos”. Metáforas pesadas. Joysticks eróticos. Armas literalmente biológicas. Multiplicidade de ânus.

E há ainda um show paralelo de sedução. Temos um Cronemberg filosófico não muito comprometido com questões morais ou éticas. Moral e ética não são valores assumidos manifestamente pelo cinema. Nem devem ser. O caso é que o filme é apavorantemente verossímel. Faz do próprio cinema uma das armas do conhecimento contra o homem.

Talvez este filme seja o mais perturbador de David Cronemberg. Digo talvez porque  “Existenz” é o último filme que eu vi. A cinebiografia do diretor é um vasto leque de atrocidades tangíveis. Tão possíveis que chegam a provocar desejos contrários. Queremos que não seja assim. Queremos que o mundo da existência permita outros jogos. Outros jogos aonde podemos transcender para lugares como o céu. Não como o inferno projetado aqui.

Do you ever see a movie and recognize so many people in it that you wonder why you’re never heard of it before?  The was me watching ‘The Jacket’.  To be fair, I fell asleep half way through (I’ve been fighting a cold), so I really can’t tell you how the movie was.  The part I saw was disturbing…but sort of intriguing. 

The funny thing was that, before we turned the movie on, neither of us had ever even heard anything about this film.  The Direct TV synopsis mentioned Adrien Brody and Kris Kristofferson, so we expected them.  But as I watched the movie, I kept asking Jason “Hey, isn’t that….”.  This was hilareous because Jason could watch the year’s blockbuster starring the biggest star in the world and not remember what movie is was or who was in it.

It was a really strange mix of talent…some A-list, some not…but, yeah, it was stacked…..

Conozco a Noah Baumbach desde 2004 cuando hizo equipo con Wes Anderson en The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou y me pareció formidable la historia. Repiten equipo en Fantastic Mr. Fox este año y estoy muy ansioso de verla. Ahora bien si hubiera elegido esta peli por el director de pronto no la hubiera visto porque primero no lo conozco tanto y segundo no lo conozco tanto.

Esta peli la ví por Jack Black. Pueden actuar Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Turturro, Ciarán Hinds y aún así no hubiera entrado. Todos son excelentes actores, es más que reparto tan basto, pero el nombre de la peli y esta combinación de actores sólo podía ser característica de un género en particular que no me agrada tanto y es el melodrama. Pensé que con Black hubiera un chance de que fuera una tragicomedia o algo por el estilo, ya la había embrrado una vez en 2006 cuando vi The Holiday pero pues me podía dar esa oportunidad.

Mis sospechas se hicieron reales, la peli es un melodrama psicológico donde dos hermanas exorcisan sus demonios y se demuestran la una a la otra sus errores. Son las mejores amigas pero igual no son capaces de convivir. De lejos, su relación es melancólica, cálida, entrañadora y nostálgica. De cerca, son agresivas, pasivo-agresivas, bipolares y orgullosas.

No digo que sea mala, no llena mis expectativas, no me conmueve ese tipo de relaciones y situaciones. Baumbach decidió hacer una obra para ser actuada y escogió un reparto ideal. Todo está armado para resaltar las actuaciones y sus diálogos, incluso la cinematografía según ellos mismos explican (Baumbach y Harris Savides cinematógrafo de la peli) fue desarrollada en planos de una sóla toma para que al unirlos en corte de planos sencillos da una sensación incluso de un documental argumentativo. Perfecto. Llega a tal punto ese protagonismo la actuación que siento no hay un desenlace claro de la historia y más que un final abierto se deja la sensación de una obra inconclusa, a medio terminar.

Tomar la decisión de ver la peli por los actores es una acción correcta. Por mi lado, la próxima peli de Baumbach, que no sea en equipo con Anderson, me voy a dar el lujo de dejarla pasar y esperarla en TV o DVD.

Nota Personal. La aproximación y deslumbrante actuación de Nicole Kidman se ven completamente opacadas con el exceso de botox en su cara. Las escenas verdaderamente dramáticas muestran unas facciones y gestos en contra de natura perfectas para otro tipo de géneros fílmicos. Una lástima ya que una gran actriz se está perdiendo en su propia vanidad.

[first lines]
Ivan: Who are you?

Kaum wiederzuerkennen, so abgemagert und mit tiefen, blauen Augenringen auf totenblasser Haut. So hat man Christian Bale und wohl auch keinen anderen Hollywoodschauspieler je in einem Film gesehen. Fast 30 Kilo speckte der damals noch künftige Batman-Star für seine Rolle ab – Rekord. Alles andere als mager entpuppt sich jedoch der gut durchdachte Thriller.

Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) ist ein Maschinist, arbeitet in einem großen Fabrikgebäude ohne Abwechslung und ohne Flexibilität. Beziehungen zu seinen Arbeitskollegen führt er nicht, wenn überhaupt redet er vor und nach getaner Arbeit mit seinen Kollegen. Seine einzigen Bezugspersonen sind die Prostituierte Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), derer bester Kunde er ist, und die Kellnerin eines Flughafencafés Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón). Beide bezahlt Trevor gut für ihre gemeinsame Zeit, obwohl beide Frauen gerne mit ihm Zeit verbringen und sich große Sorgen um ihn machen.

Trevor leidet an akuter Schlaflosigkeit, nach einigen Angaben hat er seit einem Jahr nicht mehr geschlafen. Ganz blass ist er im Gesicht, abgemagert bis auf die Knochen, nach und nach mit immer tieferen Augenringen. Wenn er überhaupt mal etwas isst, scheint es ein Kraftakt für ihn zu sein, wie alles andere auch. Ohne Erholung und Energiezufuhr wirkt Trevor zunehmend müder und ausgelaugter. Dann trifft er auf dem Parkplatz der Fabrik den geheimnisvollen Ivan (John Sharian), dessen Treffen Trevor in ein noch tieferes Chaos stürzen als so schon. Mit der Zeit leidet er auch noch unter Verfolgungswahn, tatsächlich bricht jemand in seine Wohnung ein und hinterlässt Post-its mit kurzen Nachrichten an Trevor. Als er dann in der Fabrik einen Unfall versehentlich verschuldet, wodurch ein Mitarbeiter seinen linken Arm verliert, fangen Schrecken und Selbstzweifel gerade erst an.

Stevie: Trevor, I’m worried about you.
Trevor Reznik: Don’t worry. No one ever died of insomnia.
Stevie: [giggles] I hope not. You’re my best client. Can’t afford to lose you.
Trevor Reznik: Gee, thanks.
——————
Trevor Reznik: You lying whore!
Stevie: Get the fuck out of here! You fucking freak!
——————
Ivan: Oh, no. You look like you seen a ghost.
Trevor Reznik: Funny you should say that. The guys at work don’t think you exist.
Ivan: That’s why I can’t get a raise.

Quelle: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361862/quotes

The Machinist ist eine klare One-Man-Show vom heutzutage omnipräsenten Christian Bale. Die Berechtigung, große Rollen in Blockbusterfilmen zu übernehmen, unterstreicht er in der Rolle Trevors. Seine Leistung ist wirklich über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Nicht zuletzt, wenn man sieht, was sich Christian Bale für diese Rolle angetan hat. Fast ein Drittel seines Körpergewichts hat er abgenommen und er hätte von sich aus noch weiter gehungert. Diese Enthaltsamkeit beim Essen und die Leiden, die er in seiner strikten Diät (bestehend aus Äpfeln und Kaffee) sicherlich durchstehen musste, haben ihn  für die Rolle bestens vorbereitet. Er selbst sagt, dass er kaum geredet habe, wenn er nicht vor der Kamera gestanden habe, weil er einfach zu schwach dafür gewesen sei. Dabei sind einige Szenen nicht gerade ohne, was in Sachen Aktivität von Bale gefordert wurde, umso mehr Respekt muss man ihm für seine Rolle zollen.

Neben Bale muss insbesondere das Drehbuch hervorgehoben werden. Der Fokus liegt, wie oben schon angedeutet, vollkommen auf dem Charakter Trevor Reznik. Der Zuschauer sieht den gesamten Film, wie Trevor die Welt wahrnimmt. Dadurch geschehen einige verwirrende Ereignisse, die jedoch spätestens am Ende aufgedeckt werden. Es lohnt sich also, den Film von Anfang bis zum Schluss zu schauen und nicht zwischendurch auszuschalten. Denn erst wenn der Film als gesamte Einheit betrachtet wird, erschließt er sich dem Zuschauer. Das ist vor allem den gelungenen Plottwists zu verdanken, die zum Teil aber auch schnell durchschaut und vorhergesehen werden können. Das schmälert die hervorragende Leistung des Drehbuchautors aber in keiner Weise.

Nicht von ungefähr wird der Film mit David Finchers gesellschaftskritischem Film Fight Club mit Edward Norton und Brad Pitt verglichen. Der Protagonist hat ähnliche Probleme wie Nortons Figur (z.B. leiden beide unter Schlaflosigkeit, mehr sei hier nicht verraten) und auch die durch die Kondition der Hauptpersonen erzeugte Atmosphäre der Filme ähnelt sich. Die Hintergründe für die Probleme sind allerdings grundverschieden, wodurch The Machinist als sehr guter Psycho-Thriller eine Alternative zu Fight Club darstellt, ohne allerdings an die Klasse von Finchers Meisterwerk heranzureichen und wohl auch nicht an den Rekord von Christian Bale.

2004: El Maquinista di Brad Anderson

Un piccolo gioiello di produzione spagnola (tranne rare eccezioni accolto molto bene dalla critica specializzata).

Una atmosfera sinistra, una tensione perenne, un coinvolgimento continuo e totale da parte dello spettatore caratterizzano L’uomo senza sonno. Non sai se ammirare maggiormente la splendida fotografia livido-azzurrata (una delle cose migliori viste negli ultimi anni), le sofisticate immagini e inquadrature, l’accorta regia, la perfetta messinscena, la performance dell’intero cast (tutti gli interpreti sono da lodare senza riserve).

Un horror? Un noir? Certo, ma anche qualcosa in più.

Un film che indaga non banalmente nella psiche umana e che pone inquietanti interrogativi che riguardano un po’ tutti noi: una parabola sui sensi di colpa; sulle angosce e fobie che attanagliano gli esseri umani; sulla mancanza di vie di scampo alle inquietudini, alle paranoie, agli incubi, alle ossessioni di un’intera società.
Un’opera perfettamente dosata tra realtà e allucinazione, ambigua e rigorosa, intensa e ipnotica, cupa e disturbante, una inesorabile discesa agli Inferi  in cui ognuno può trovare i più svariati riferimenti, da Hitchcock a Polanski, da Lynch a Fritz Lang, da David Fincher a Cronenberg, da Kafka a Dostoevskij, ma del tutto originale  (Il Mattino scrive: “«L’uomo senza sonno» può essere definito un thriller psicologico con un uomo divorato da un’angoscia hitchcockiana che vive un incubo lynchiano facendo un percorso disseminato di trappole polanskiane”).

Incredibilmente perfetto un quasi irriconoscibile Christian Bale, stralunato e scheletrico, spettro di se stesso (ha perso davvero una trentina di chili per interpretare il ruolo, facendo il contrario del Robert De Niro di Toro scatenato). Un uomo sofferente e malato che, insieme al sonno, ha perso anche la capacità di affrontare i propri fantasmi. Assurdo che non sia stato considerato per una nomination agli Oscar: tutti i critici (anche quei pochi che non si sono mostrati benevoli verso il film) hanno giudicato sbalorditiva la sua prestazione.

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How Sean Penn got his start, by playing a stoner.

The film follows a school year in the lives of freshman Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh), freshman Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) and their respective friends Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) and Mike Damone (Robert Romanus), who believe themselves wise in the ways of romance and counsel their younger counterparts. The ensemble cast of characters also includes Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), a perpetually stoned surfer, who faces off against uptight history teacher Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), who is convinced that all of his students are on “dope.” Stacy’s brother, Brad (Judge Reinhold), is a popular senior who works to pay for a car.

The cult classic of all-time. If you want to see one of the first big high school party movies, well here you go.

There are so many scenes that are just unforgettable and also very quotable. The way these character interact with each other is exactly gold, each scene provide a great deal of laughs that will make you laugh for ends on end.

The film also has some very important messages in this film, that is overlooked due to all the crazy humor. It shows very well the little important messages, about love, work, and most of all school. With many scenes that are featured with sure stupidity but also hilarity, it also shares some insight on everything that’s important in high school.

There were times though when I think the comedy was a bit too stale if it even was there. Jennifer Jason Leigh’s story was kind of a bummer for this story and hummed down a lot of the humor and in a way became way too melo-dramatic about a comedy with Sean Penn playing a stoner.

Sean Penn is the main reason to see this film. His legendary performance is hilarious and every time he is on screen it makes the film a whole lot better. Though I didn’t get enough of him I still liked it every time he was on. Though the rest of the cast does a good job as well with acting its Penn who really does over shadow everyone.

This film’s cult status has surely been imitated about 500 times. I think that without the success of this movie there wouldn’t be any other of these coming-of-age high school films. Surely it doesn’t stand the test of time and will remain a classic among all.

Consensus: Very funny that features a legendary performance from Penn, the film does show the little details on what really matters in between the lines of high school.

9/10=Full Pricee!!!

Adriana Brodija atmiņas par trakokreklu. Klusajā namā iemitinājies varonis Deniels Kreigs, kurš funkcionē “kāds pārlaidās pār dzeguzes ligzdu” revolucionāra lomā. Abi kopā skandē – Long live the Organization for the Organized! Vismaz 10 minūtes no filmas ekrānā rāda Brodija porcelāna zobus, pats viņš no palātas numur sešdesmit seši konsultē, kā ārstēt mazu irākieti vārdā Babaks, neskatoties uz to, ka šis pats Babaks pirms gada viņam ielaida lodi galvā. Aktieris Kristofersons dzīvāks par visiem. Sižets – apšaubāma rakstura maindfaks par to, ka aizmigt ar cigareti gultā ir bīstami dzīvībai, jo izraisa vēzi kā minmums.

in 2009 martcore says
otrreiz nesaņemtos

It’s funny reading my past review on Crash, Cronenberg’s work before eXistenZ, to realize how the director moves from one register to a completely different one without effort, being the first weird, slow and suffocating, to a super dynamic and interesting  movie which fits into sci-fi genre perfect such as eXistenZ.

To be honest with many   Cronenberg’s films it takes me two times to really enjoy the product I’m watching, maybe I’m a bit short minded and I need an extra effort to get fiction-reality duality so often present and  relevant in his works. This happened again with eXistenZ, first time I felt completely indifferent and cold, however the more I watch it the more appealing and cool I find it.

Probably at the time it was released the concept of virtual reality was very hot, the possibility of enjoying a game as if it was for real was too shocking and sounded sci-fi to everybody. As time goes by, virtual reality is becoming more evident and is constantly evolving to reach the final goal, the perfect game in which the player feels as part of the game, as sourrounded  by the scenario with real characters and situations so greatly recreated as to feel you’re living that experience for real.

Stop wandering about virtual reality and let’s concentrate on the movie.

Antenna Research is about to release the  latest creation by the queen of virtual reality games, designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh). As a presentation, a select group of people are invited to have a session with the shy designer who will guide the chosen ones into the amazing world of eXistenZ.

Unfortunately during the session a young boy attempts against her life using a weird pistol made of bones which shots human teeth, hurting her in the shoulder. In the middle of chaos she’s able to run away with a young marketing trainee, Ted Pikul (Jude Law), and together hide in a motel room trying to recover from shock, analyze situation and decide what to do.

Are you friendly?

Allegra carries her freak pod with eXistenZ only version of the program and needs to check out whether the program has been damaged by playing eXistenZ with somebody friendly, however Pikul, has an aversion to being penetrated by a pod plug into his body and has no bio port installed at the back of his body, thus in order to help Allegra he accepts to look for a gas station boy (Willem Defoe) to insert it illegally.

Things won’t be easy for them to find out whether the program is ok for Allegra’s head has a prize  and many people are interested in getting the reward.

Obviously with the development of the movie you find out why everybody is trying to kill her, the explanation for the organic gun and you will understand so tiny details once you know how it ends. That’s why it is so cool to watch this movie several times, you keep on noticing and sensing details that for the very first time may you  think irrelevant or weird, but have sense once you see it complete.

eXistenZ  is an attempt to recreate a virtual videogame, in fact the scenes in which Pikul and Allegra are playing in the game are really cool, the way  after each scene the setting changes radically, even the behavior of the two players is exaggerated, the way they stand, how they are dressed…these are so bizarre and weird scenes so Cronenberg stamped!

It’s curious and I  hadn’t thought about it till last view, how the places they go to are just called what they are, the motel, the gas station, the Chinese restaurant…the way games were designed time ago, no brands nor names appeared at all, maybe nowadays this has changed for marketing strategies and sponsorship are beyond TV and press ads. Also names for main characters are very exotic, compared to daily life names such as Peter, Joe or Linda. These are a couple of examples of typical devices or features for videogames, also applied to the film.

Reminding of Videodrome,  Cronenberg exploits fiction-reality duality to its most, and he does it  brilliantly, not only allowing the audience to discover that the main plot was part of a game, but also ending the film with a conclusion that leaves the audience doubting if the “real” characters are still living in the reality of another game or the actual reality….Terrific!!

Psycho - Marion Cotillard

Dial M For Murder – Charlize Theron

North By Northwest – Seth Rogen

Rear Window – Scarlet Johannson + Javier Bardem

Több a törés után!

(Rebecca - Keira Knightly, Jennifer Jason Leigh /Vertigo - Renee Zellweger /Strangers on a Train- Emile Hirsch, James McAvoy /The Birds – Jodie Foster / To Catch A Thief – Gywneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr. / Lifeboat -Tang Wei, Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck, Eva Marie Saint, Ben Foster, Omar Metwally, Julie Christie.)

Vanity Fair

First of all, not to feed your bizarro Elton John love, MamaKitt, but I did hear the “Tiny Dancer” this morning, and stopped scanning to listen to it. Makes me think of one of the best-ever moments on “Friends” (“Hold me close, young Tony Danza”) and of the bus sing-along scene in Almost Famous. YES the latter is cheeseball. But my love for the cheesy is undeniable.

As is my love for the vaguely (or not so vaguely) icky, which was the subject of yesterday’s inadvertently deleted post. For instance, this morning my scan also hit on a little gem called “Talk Dirty to Me,” by a little group called Poison. LOVE. IT. Oh my goodness, terrible band, ridiculous song, I can barely type the title without feeling the need to go wash my hands, but dagnabbit if I don’t listen to that tune in full any time the FM gods bestow it upon me.

I don’t know why I love things that are icky like that, but I do. My love of Aerosmith, among the all-time icky bands, is well-documented in these pages. When MamaKitt and I shared our crappy but awesome apartment just after college, with the meat-cooking boys and the “Shut UP, Stevie!” neighbor and the hacking cougher, we had a little collage in our hallway–postcards, cut-outs from magazines of things we liked, etc. Among these were a clipping of Steven Tyler, looking good and skeevy, and a heart-shaped cutout of Alan Cumming in his getup as the emcee in Cabaret.

OHHHHH, Alan Cumming in Cabaret! Sweet delicious ickiness if ever I saw it! With the mincing and the pervy come-ons and the piercings! It is possible that, if I made MamaKitt watch a Tony Awards clip of The Lion King a dozen times, I made her watch the Cabaret clip a hundred trillion times. It is possible that part of my love of the icky is in large part just a love of icking MamaKitt out. And it is possible that we saw Cabaret at Studio 54 in NYC around 1999, with Alan Cumming (and Jennifer Jason Leigh!) in the sparkly slimy flesh, and that it was AWESOME.

I don’t know why I have this shameful attraction to things like Alan Cumming and Steven Tyler and Poison, but I do. The love for the lowbrow is strong in me.

This is why, even though I have expressed my disdain for the jukebox musical, I fear I might enjoy Rock of Ages. I mean, just check out the synopsis and song list. There’s no “Talk Dirty to Me,” but there are some GEMS.

2007: Margot at the wedding di Noah Baumbach

Uscito direttamente in dvd questo film che può vantare un cast di gran prestigio e un regista “cult” del cinema indipendente (film presentato con successo in vari Festival tra cui quello di Toronto).

La critica lo ha molto apprezzato: “Imperativo rifiutare la versione italiana e sfruttare l’unico vantaggio dell’uscita diretta in dvd: l’accesso alla banda originale ci permette di apprezzare la migliore Kidman di sempre e una Jennifer Jason Leigh di commovente bravura” (Gli Spietati), “Con il titolo italiano che gli hanno appioppato, questo film rischia d’essere confuso e trascurato tra le tante insulse commedie di argomento matrimoniale che impestano il mercato: ma, una volta di più, sarebbe un vero peccato” (Cinemalia), “Scritta in maniera intelligente, sagace e profonda dal regista, la pellicola è una tragicommedia che analizza con verità estrema, senza infingimenti di sorta, le tormentate dinamiche di una famiglia disfunzionale” (Il Sole 24 ore), “Una pellicola non facile ma che regala sicuramente forti emozioni” (Screenweek). Giudizi che mi trovano perfettamente concorde e che rendono alquanto inquietanti e preoccupanti i misteri della distribuzione italiana.

Il matrimonio di mia sorella (come sottolineato da più parti il titolo italiano è fuorviante) richiama i film “seri” di Woody Allen o molta produzione di Ingmar Bergman per l’analisi, a volte impietosa, della famiglia e delle relazioni umane. Perfetta la mescolanza di riso e pianto. Un po’ commedia un po’ dramma esistenziale, un’opera che delinea come poche la solitudine e la difficoltà del comunicare: una accurata sincera graffiante analisi della fragilità umana.

Dialoghi taglienti, svolgimento non banale grazie a una solida sceneggiatura (scritta ottimamente dallo stesso regista, Noah Baumbach) attenta più ai dettagli che alle azioni.

L’abbondanza di finezze psicologiche, il mirabile affresco di un’umanità dissociata (quanti di noi potranno riconoscervi?), nonché la particolare fotografia non retoricamente estetizzante e la funzionale colonna sonora fanno de Il matrimonio di mia sorella un film da vedere e assaporare. Fiore all’occhiello è soprattutto l’eccezionale performance dell’intero cast: dal sottoutilizzato Ciaràn Hinds (Dick) alla sempre convincente Flora Cross (Ingrid) già ammirata in Parole d’amore, da un sempre perfetto John Turturro alla rivelazione Zane Pais (Claude), da un sorprendente e insolito Jack Black a una Jennifer Jason Leigh che non smette di stupire per il suo notevole talento e a una Nicole Kidman tornata finalmente a recitare in un ruolo degno della sua bravura.

Toccante e ironico, profondo e leggero al contempo, Il matrimonio di mia sorella coinvolge ed emoziona pur con i suoi toni pacati e quasi dimessi.

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VERDICT:
3/10 Brain Aneurysms

Saw this after reading an article in the New York Times about how this movie put Benjamin Button to shame in regards to being 2008’s profound meditation on life and death. My ass it did.

Synecdoche, New York is about a small-time playwright going through a mid-life crisis as his marriage and his health begin deteriorating at an alarm rate with each passing day. Then one day, he gets a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Foundation (real thing) which provides him the funds to stage his grand opus that kinda sorta boils down to an epic, seemingly never-ending re-creation of his entire life. Sure, why not.

Two things to point out about this movie. First is that it’s written by Charlie Kaufman, and if you’ve ever seen anything written by Kaufman (like the brilliant, yet totally out there Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), then my plot synopsis really should be of no surprise. Guy likes to think outside the box.

The second thing to point out is that there is no place in New York called “Synecdoche”. And no, it’s not about Schenectady, New York either, which is a real place. The title actually serves as a kind of wildly confusing metaphor for the play the main character’s life, along with the play he stages. Kind of like the title on Pi, only Pi was awesome. Either way, I think we can all agree that it’s a crap title.

And in case your wondering, the definition of “synecdoche” is: A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special. I didn’t get it either until my good buddy Fred explained it as, “Like calling your car your ‘wheels’ rather than just calling it your ‘car’, because the wheels are part of the car as a whole.” Fred is smart.

I can understand if some of you out there reading this are already scratching your heads as to what the hell is going on with this movie, and while I’m really trying to make it as clear as possible, imagine if you will what it was like trying to watch this movie. My good buddy Fred lasted a good half-hour or so before giving up, and I don’t blame him. 

The things Synecdoche, New York has going for it are that it’s very original, it’s jam packed with a cast of some of today’s best actors, all of whom are quite nice in their respective roles, and this beautiful little song plays at various times throughout the movie. But unfortunately, it just doesn’t come together the way I wanted it to. I love Charlie Kaufman and I love what he was trying to go for here, but god damn does it turn into one outrageously muddled mess. I was paying attention really hard, but I still have no idea what happened during the last half hour of this movie.

So for those of you who heard the same thing about this movie that I did but still haven’t taken the plunge, save yourself the trouble. This is one dark and bizarre movie that’s got too much going on for its own good, not to mention that it’s nowhere near as insightful as Benjamin Button.

Maybe next time, Charlie. Maybe next time.

Margot at the Wedding is arguably Baumbach’s best film so far that he’s directed. Preceding the likes of Rachel Getting Married by a year or so, Margot at the Wedding examines the social and familial dynamics of a relatively dysfunctional family as they approach a wedding. The disdain for this film eludes me. The common complaints seem to pertain to the characters and how allegedly unlikeable they are. While I can’t say I found Nicole Kidman’s character, Margot, to be incredibly lovable, I don’t see her as quite as rote and despicable as most seem to. Watching as her intense self-loathing alienates her loved ones was uncomfortable and emphatic, but never less than naturally executed and strangely fascinating.

Baumbach’s dialogue is terrific. The banter and the arguments are so effectively moody and clever. Each character feels fully realized and, despite the plague of insecurity and bitter resentment that is infecting each of them, they’re hardly unrelatable. What ensues throughout these arguments and reminiscence is a complex tapestry of emotions and candidness run amok, far beyond what Rachel Getting Married attempted to accomplish. Both films achieved realism with ease, but Baumbach’s screenplay is simply superior in every aspect. It’s tinged with just enough dark humor and poignancy to provide a perfect tone. I’d wager it’s one of the most underrated films of the decade.

Desconfie no dia que alguém disser a você que este filme é legal. É muita vontade de querer ser bacanudo ou puro exibicionismo. Philip Seymour Hoffman vive um diretor de teatro abandonado pela esposa e obcecado com a morte que resolve fazer uma peça autobiográfica. A narrativa é não-linear, muita metalinguagem, peça dentro do cinema, tramas dentro de outras tramas, personagens trocam seus papéis.
O experimento seria super legalzinho se o filme não fosse tão tristonho, e principalmente se o texto não fosse tão ruim. Vide a cena em que a personagem que vive a personagem do Hoffman velho[na peça dentro do filme] diz enquanto o diretor faz as necessidades algo do tipo “seu cocô está cinza hoje”. Ou quando Hoffman após ter um caso com a personagem da Samantha Morton, ela chateada por ele ter feito sexo com outra mulher diz: “Você chorou depois de fazer sexo com ela?” Aim que forçado.
E o filme ainda tem um super elenco pagando mico, achando que estão encenando uma obra-prima. Só atores fodas que eu amo, tipo o já citado Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Hope Davis, Emily Watson, Michelle Williams, Dianne Wiest e Jennifer Jason Leigh.
A Morton e a Watson gordas fazendo nú artístico é mico total. Naturalismo fake, se é que dá pra me entender…
Sim, o Kauffman fez o filme mais chato do ano!