Spike Jonze

Synecdoche New York
$28.96
For me, this movie woke me up about a half hour in with the realization that I was watching and hearing thoughts that have been in my own head for years. If you find your inner voice keeping you up late at night, going over and over the same painful questions then I think you will be familiar with the experience of watching this film.

Keeping in mind that most sane people seek professional help and pharmaceutical relief from this experience, it does seem like an odd choice to market the experience in DVD form. That said, I find it strangely therapeutic to know that I am not alone in my head, Charlie is there to keep me company. I believe it was the philosopher, Pascal, who suggested that the strongest motivation in our lives is to distract ourselves from the reality that life is, for the most part, an horrible and painful experience. This film is not a distraction it is a mirror. For those out there that prefer to believe that life is a precious and beautiful miracle, and take their prozac and church services seriously... You might want to stay away from this movie.

To the nuts and bolts of the film. The only things that are taking some time to get used to are the obvious jumps out of reality. Living in a smoldering house for example, the airplane scene is another. My question is how these whimsical elements fit in film about the torture of life? Maybe that, as predictable as you feel life has become, occasionally you will be surprised by surreal moments? Or maybe it is just Charlie sticking his head in your face reminding you to smile?

If you're a person that should be on antidepressants but choose not to be because you believe life should be experienced rather than hidden from you might appreciate this film.. If you "don't get it" I guess you can be thankful? Or maybe you need to watch it again with the idea in mind that for a lot of people, this the reality that goes on between their ears.

Director's Series, Vol. 1 - The Work of Director Spike Jonze
$19.99
Spike Jonze is an amazing music video director and this DVD is a great collection of his groundbreaking work that dominated MTV for much of the 1990s. He is probably the most influential director of the medium, and this DVD serves as a great showcase for his diversity.

Charlie Kaufman and Hollywood's Merry Band of Pranksters, Fabulists and Dreamers: An Excursion Into the American New Wave
$16.95
The book exceeded my expectations. It's a brilliant overview of a small group of film artists that may or may not be connected through their language of film. The author gives just the right amount of historical background, delving shortly and poignantly into 60's French cinema and 70's New Hollywood to argue why exactly the re-emergence of semi-independent cinema in the US can rightly be called a New Wave.

The selection of films he focusses on is dead-on. In the limited space of the book he grabs the knowledgeable reader with just the right amount of trivia, background information and analysis. Fervently he argues for the quality of certain overlooked films, mainly Wes Anderson's, all the while providing the reader with a new understanding for beloved modern classics.

Filmmakers mainly dealt with in this book are Richard Linklater, David O. Russell, Wes Anderson, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Michel Gondry and of course Charlie Kaufman, with smaller parts reserved for the likes of Roman Coppola, Richard Kelly, Steven Soderbergh and PT Anderson. The latter are examined each through one of the movies, while the former group gets both an analysis of their bibliographic and filmographic resum��� as well as detailed and individual run-downs of their major cinematic achievements.

Only downside for me was that this extraordinarily entertaining read comes at only 170 pages. But with extensive lists of resources about related books and movies, I will certainly re-visit this book in the future.

If you're interested in the workings of cinema and have a soft spot for some of the aforementioned filmmakers, you owe it to yourself to get this book.

Adaptation (Superbit Collection)
$14.94
If this is critically acclaimed as a movie than we have New york critics who are
in therapy or need to be? I suppose there are two ways to look at this movie:
a through the looking glass comedy about intellectual instability
or just a play by someone who should probably be in prison for
the safety of the community? Something like van Gogh
cutting off his ear without the excuse of great art?
In the decline of the Roman Empire the ruling class just lost it.
That behavior seems to be the state of New York in the entertainment industry?
People get critically acclaimed for making trash and
calling it art.
I think the totally lost fellow who gives the screen writing class
kind of sums up how bad thing really are?