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Synecdoche, New York (2008)
like a Jackson Pollock...
I read a Jackson Pollock quote somewhere. When questioned about the purpose of his paintings, he stated - to paraphrase - that you don't feel a need to interrogate why you find a flower bed beautiful, you just recognize it as aesthetically pleasing. The colors of the daffodils act as a visual metaphor, evoking such-and-such emotion. His compositions were similarly fragmented, yet organic. 'Synecdoche, New York' is very rare because Charlie Kaufman had the clout to persuade a major motion picture studio to back this amorphous bolus of emotion. I don't think I've ever been this affected by a film that doesn't make strict narrative sense...
Nothing Is Private (2007)
How 'Crash' really should have felt.
I figured well before the credits that the writer and/or director was extraordinarily gifted - and I was correct. (Can't wait to see what he's up to next.) Even though 'Crash' was just palatable enough for the AMPAS, it seemed a bit hackneyed. This is the film America really needs to see. As a screenwriter, one of the first exercises in creating honest characters is to examine the antagonist's motives as deeply as the protagonist's. Ball did this so effectively and affectively in 'American Beauty' that there ceased to be antagonists - and left only catalysts for change. 'Towelhead' (or 'Nothing is Private') does this masterfully. I learned early on in life that the seed of each emotion and action lies somewhere dormant in our hearts and heads. When I was inserted into Aaron Eckhart's mind, I started to emote with him - and it was scary. And not a popcorn-eating type-of-experience. Same can be said for our young female protag - I wasn't a teenager that long ago. Even those these sentiments aren't 'politically correct', they still exist - and are much more common than our media is permitted to let on. Even though this movie probably made no money, and similar films won't for the same reasons, I'm very glad it exists. It is a wonderful document for our times and huge stepping- stone. In fact, can you think of a better film that defines 'real' post-911 America? I'm sure there are a few - but not too many.
I'm Reed Fish (2006)
Sweet. But trying to do too much.
If it weren't for the attempt to turn this into some pseudo-Charlie Kaufmann narrative, this film would have been much more successful. The tiny Wisconsin town became a character in itself. Jay Baruchel is quite capable, while Schuyler Fisk is magnetic. If only the writers/director chose not to indulge in that silly 'movie about a movie' approach, going so far as to give writing credit to protagonist "Reed Fish", the escapism so easily bestowed by the film wouldn't be so abruptly and painfully shattered. And for what ends? If the filmmaker insisted on Fish making a film to achieve some cathartic realization (which I can understand), the muddled fashion its presented, such as reintroducing central characters as actors and actresses playing the 'real' ones, is just absurd. It's rushed and handled sloppily. Even the central love interest, who we all fell in love with, is actually only some friend. The 'real' love interest ends up being some partially developed chick. So who cares when they get together in the end? I wasn't even sure who it was. Oh well. I loved this movie except for the third act - which is rather rare.