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Princess Buttercup fills us in on Kaufman's SYNECDOCHE, NY, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU from the TIFF!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Princess Buttercup has seen a slew of movies that I'd strangle some Nazis to check out, especially Charlie Kaufman's SYNECDOCHE, NY. She says it'll be a love/hate film and I'm fine with that. I love films that force you out of the middle, I just hope on the right side of that. And I'm very much looking forward to NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU. PARIS JE T'AIME really, really, really worked for me. And we have a Danny Boyle movie covered below! Too much desire to see movies... can't... stop... frustration... Here's Princess Buttercup with the good word!
Princess Buttercup, back again with a few more films.
Today was Slumdog Millionaire. Shallow Grave is one of my favourite films and I've enjoyed everything I've seen Danny Boyle direct, so I was looking forward to this. By the time I got out of the theatre, I was pretty sure I'd be adding this to my list of favourite films. It lives up to the advance buzz which came out of Telluride; I think that pretty much anyone watching this film would enjoy it. It's very accessible - the basic plot is a young Indian boy from the slums (Jamal) who grows up and winds up on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? with a chance to win the grand prize. The film weaves past and present together so we see Jamal's entire life and what brings him to the brink of winning this prize. The story deals with universal themes: there's a love story, an underdog story and the story about the relationship between the two brothers. One of the most affecting things about this movie is its treatment of India, particularly the slums (shot primarily on location). There's a vibrancy and sense of joy - when we're taken into the slums at the beginning of the movie, we see a place full of life. During the Q&A, Boyle mentioned that when they went to film in the slums, they spoke to the people while filming and the people living there didn't want to be portrayed as poor or pitiful, they wanted the good side of their home to be shown, and that's exactly what the film does. There are definitely some darker moments in the film, but we're always brought back to a place of hope. The actors are fantastic, particularly the young Jamal and heroine Latika. The soundtrack is also great (by A.R. Rahman) as is the script. The movie was uplifting and fun and just plain good. I'm looking forward to seeing it again. (BTW, Boyle is in the very early stages of his next project, an animated film based on a Terry Pratchett novel, possibly working with the scriptwriter from Millions - Boyle mentioned that this is all quite uncertain at this point though, b/c it's very early in the process).
Yesterday I saw Synecdoche, NY. I think this will be a love/hate film depending on how much you like Charlie Kaufman. I love Charlie Kaufman and I thought this film was fantastic. The plot is.... a bit mad. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is theatre director Caden Cotard and married to Adele Lack (Catherine Keener), an artist who paints teeny tiny paintings. Caden and Adele have marital difficulties; Adele decides she needs some space and heads to Berlin with their daughter Olive, leaving Caden to his own devices in Synecdoche. Caden wins a prestigious arts grant to create a work of genius and moves to New York City to create his masterpiece. Once Caden moves to NYC he starts creating this "play" which is meant to reflect real life but then the lines between reality and fiction become increasingly blurred as reality is piled upon reality. Um, frankly I have no idea how to explain this plot. It's a Charlie Kaufman movie. There's so much packed in that it's a bit difficult to absorb everything in one viewing (I know I'm not the only one who felt this way - I heard other audience members commenting that they'd need to see the film again). But at the same time, it's really good - you start the movie in this normal, suburban world and then spiral further and further away from it. I think that Kaufman did a good job as director; the film felt like a complete package, there wasn't anything about it that seemed out of place and I liked how the cinematography was kept quite simple. I will definitely be watching this one again.
Saw New York, I Love You a couple days ago. I'm not sure what to think about this since it wasn't actually finished when we saw it. I think music, titles and transitions were all subject to change. It was about what I expected though - some of the short films were better than others but I thought they did a nice job overall with the transitions between the short films. Scarlett Johansson's film was the oddest one - everything else was shot in colour except her film, which also had minimal dialogue. My friend didn't like it; I didn't mind it but thought it was a bit jarring since it was so different than the others. The short directed by Natalie Portman was better than the one she acted in; I quite liked the one Ethan Hawke was in, I thought it was funny. And my friend and I both agreed that the Shia LaBeouf/Julie Christie segment was a favourite. Oh, Shanghai is next for the Cities of Love treatment, then Jerusalem.
And if you come across a documentary called Unmistaken Child, check it out, it's quite good. It follows Tenzin Zopa for 5 years on a quest to find the reincarnation of his master. You get to see the different tests they use to look for the reincarnation; Tenzin is engaging and it's really interesting to see this part of the world.
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And I'm looking forward to all three films. Slumdog sounds like it's an Oscar contender.
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synecdoche. excruciating to sit through. i can honestly say i'll never see it again in my life. the cinematic equivalent of torture. interesting sure. pretentious absolutely boring you bet. insane of course. fantastic no.
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has never let me down.
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And it's not even a contest. The love story in Slumdog just never clicked for me. In fact, I didn't like any of the sections with them as adults. To me, they had a whole different tone than the rest of the film. They were like a bad Indian version of Scarface. And constantly cutting back to the game show killed the momentum of the film. There was no suspense there. We already know he made it to the final question. Where's the suspense in watching him answer the questions to get there?
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All of these sound pretty cool.
And I'm glad they're doing other 'Cities of Love'. -
Sep 11, 2008 10:20:08 AM CDT
Natalie Portman seems to be pretty serious about directing latel
by knuckleduster
Anyone seen Eve yet?
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I thought it was pretty damned funny. But it is rather absurdist... though I mean, you knew that going into it right? It's Charlie Kaufman.
Anyhow it's box office poison no doubt. My wife hated it.
BTW, I was a little concerned I didn't have a ticket for Slumdog considering all the reviews from Telluride on, though one of the reasons I didn't select it during the draw was I was so ambivalent about Millions I decided to give something/someone else a shot. Seeing the suggestion that Millions was better, makes me feel better about missing it at the fest. -
Insane movie... Only problem I had is the supposed dramatic moments (him with his dying daughter, Dianne Weis' tearful little breakdown in the end) were hard to take seriously with little to no development.
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