Friday, May 23, 2008

Indiana flop Jones, and Charlie my new favorite Kaufman

If you liked the other Indiana Jones, I am sure you will most likely enjoy this movie. All i can say about it is that the there were maybe two great scenes, a nuclear explosion of a small abandoned town (I am sure with how ever much just that one scene cost a dozen much better films could have been made) and the beautiful ending scene that was ruined by the characters talking. There were alot of one liners that were funny to laugh at but it was all to unrealistic and kitschy. You can tell that George Lucas was writing this stuff for his total disrepect for his audience inteligence. The film also had an older generation stench, there was no spirit or youth in this movie. There was not one thing i liked about Cate Blanchett playing the Stalin secret agent Irina Spalko and the youngest actor on the set Shia LaBeouf who plays the greaser seemed contrived. By the end of the movie i was getting really drowsy and was happy it was over.

I found out yesterday that at the world exchange, empire 7 there is a new student promotion where for 11.49 you get your movie ticket and a medium soda and popcorn. All you have to do is showthem your student card at the ticket booth. At this theater here the usual third row seat was to close so we sat in the 5th row, but i would be careful since the drink holder in the middle seat there is broken. The screening was alot of fun I went to the movies with Kat, Pete, Ira, Sara, Leah and Andrew. Ira was bringing forth a more objective view on the film, commenting on the audience a film like this has, the films only qualities is its constant one liners (Russians, they werent you...) and Kat was just thouroughly enjoying the picture laughing and being scared at the right moments, by the end i was resting my eyes a few times to be caught by her telling me to wake up and for myself to say i wasnt sleeping.

On to something more interesting... Charlie Kaufman. A genius. I think this guy so cool!
He is the screenwriter behind Spike Jonze Films being john malkovitch and adaption as well as michel gondry eternal sunshine and human nature.
I watched Adaptation a few days ago and it really got to me. I thought it was tragic Donald Kaufman died. I could not have believed it. On the cover of the dvd at the bottom it says written by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, at the End of the film there is a message dedicating the film in his loving memory, Donald Kaufman even shared and Oscar for best screenplay and in his filmography it says he wrote an other movie 3. I was convinced and sad to see how he tragically was shot and then flew out of the car window to his death. It ruined my night. But it turns out that Donald was just a fictional character Charlie created to help him finish his film. Once charlie decides he does not know how to finish his film, he brings him in to help him finish the adaptation of the orchid thief. There the movie gets its big ending that Robert McKee the big screenplay Guru was telling him the movie needed. It works perfectly.
The film is compared with Fellinis 8½, Godards Contempt and Truffauts Day for Night for being one the best films about film making. At the beggining he talks about how he beleives a film should be and it is just inspiring. Speaking about how films should be character and motivationaly driven instead of the traditional plot driven. He aims for a free flowing, fragmented narrative and at the same time there is a very formal structure to his film.
His newest film Synecdoche, New York has just premiered at Cannes yesterday and It looks great. From the clips it feels like a New York Woody Allen tale of romanticism and fear of death. Kaufman has cited Woody Allen as an influence on his work, Kaufman being brought up in a Jewish home saw Woody Allen as a person he could aspire to become. I cant wait for his film to come to town.

1 comment:

Tony Harrison said...

i like what's going on here, but can you make your font bigger? it's hard to read this haha.