Favorite Scenes: Synecdoche, New York

Now here's a scene from a film all three of you who reguarly read this blog most likely haven't seen: Charile Kaufman's directorial debut Synecdoche, New York. Kaufman is better known for writing more popular films such as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (the latter two are personal favorites of mine). Synecdoche doesn't exactly hold up well with his previous efforts, but it is still a noble and interesting debut. It is incredibly hard to follow, and probably requires several views to get a decent grasp of it (even the title doesn't make sense). Nevertheless, there is a scene that struck me the first (and only) time I watched it, I guess you could say because I can relate to it. The odd part is, being the most powerful scene, it is a speech given by a character who does not appear for the entire film, with the exception of this one scene. It is depressing yes, but he seems to pull the words right out of my mouth, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels the same, at least at one point in one's life. I don't remember the full context of the scene, as in why they are at a fake funeral and such, but I guess that mean's if you like it, you should watch it to find out for yourself.

Favorite Scenes: The Big Lebowski

Thought I'd try something a little different today, although I admit, it isn't entirely original. Everyone once in a while I'll pick a scene from a movie, with a videoclip of it, and start kissing the scene's ass. My first ass-kissing scene will be the "Gutterballs" scene from The Big Lebowski. It's incredibly hard to choose just one scene, because it is one of the most quotable films of all time. If you haven't seen it yet, shame on you.

The scene doesn't make much sense and is very abstract, but that doesn't make it any less amazing. Everything from Jeff Bridges' slick dance moves to his wide, gaping smile upon looking at the endless shoe rack is terrific. I'm not exactly a big Kenny Rogers fan, but the song fits strangely well here, not to mention catchy. Why don't I have awesome dreams like this?

New Michael Cera Movie Looks Awkward...and Possibly Decent????

So Michael Cera has a new movie coming up, called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, based on a popular comic book series. The new trailer has recently been released, and as soon as Cera opens his awkward mouth with his awkward, squeaky voice, it looks like just another Cera-ish movie: about an awkward, shy teen who awkwardly attempts to win a cute girl (and usually does in the end, shamefully). Fortunately, I was wrong (at least partially). He does in fact star as an awkward teen, but it's as if they stole his character from Superbad or Year One or Arrested Development or Juno or...okay, any of his movies, and threw him into an epic, hardcore movie filled with of all the goofy moments that made the original Batman television show so great: lots of ridiculous and over-the-top action, sound effects, animation, acting, etc. That's exactly what the trailer screams: over-the-top. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, so I can't helped but be intrigued. Especially because Cera gets beat up in the trailer. A lot. No complaints from me, that's for sure.

Synopsis:

Everything is totally sweet.

Scott Pilgrim's life is so awesome. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," and dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, roller blading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. But the path to Ms. Flowers isn't covered in rose petals. Ramona's seven evil exes stand between Scott and true happiness. Can Scott beat the bad guys and get the girl without turning his precious little life upside-down?

Epic Trailer:

Antichrist

I really want to recommend this film for its originality in storytelling, but it is very difficult to do so. Love blood and gore? Death of children? Dead Fetuses? Unnatural treatment to sexual organs? Creepy forest animals? Well hold on to your hat, how I've got a treat for you!

Under Great White Northern Lights

Now here's a film I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. I'm not a huge fan of "rockumentaries", save The Beatles' films and another exception. Those are technically fake though, so they don't count! I'm not entirely sure why I don't usually like them, but it may be because very few of my favorite bands have ever made a documentary before, or at least until now. Watching the Metallica rockumentary, Some Kind of Monster, was just painful for me, because here is one of the "baddest" bands in the world, and they are all whining and sucking there thumbs throughout the entire film. Every time someone criticizes someone else, the person has a hissy fit and cries about it for ten minutes. This happened so much that the band actually needed a therapist to console them and put them in time-outs. I swear, that movie had more pointless girly drama in it than Meet the Kardashians. Needless to say, it changed my perspective on the band quite a bit, which I'm sure was their goal, but it wasn't for the better.

The Man Who Fell to Earth

David Bowie is not unknown to make strange movies. While that doesn't necessarily mean they are poorly made films, it just means they aren't always everyone's cup of tea. So I wasn't expecting anything different from him when watching this, and rightfully so. I will try to summarize it as short as I can: The Man Who Fell to Earth is based on the book of the same name, written by Walter Tevis. It features a man (Newton) from a distant planet (which isn't entirely specified in the film), who is sent to Earth to bring water back to his home, since his planet has run out of it, and they are apparently entirely dependent on it as humans are. Fortunately, Newton has a lot of knowledge of new, useful technologies which have not yet been discovered yet by Earth. He trades this knowledge for money and power, in hopes of being able to somehow get some water back to his dying people. In doing so, Newton is slowly corrupted by his newly-found wealth and fame, and it distracts him from his important mission, the reason he is on Earth in the first place. During his stay, he becomes an alcoholic (arguably) a sex-addict, and even a television addict. Eventually, the government finds out he is an alien, and they kill off his primary business partners, who were his only hope for funding his mission. They then hold him captive for several weeks for "testing", until, they eventually become bored of him and they let him go. After all the time that has passed Newton looks just as young as when he first arrives, and everyone around him is obviously aging and growing old. Despite this, Newton is now broke and alone in the world. Now that his secret is out, his girlfriend left him, his business partners are dead, and his friends have abandoned him. His once superior and valuable knowledge is now irrelevant. His mission eventually becomes a lost cause to him, and he gives up on it entirely.

Coco to Finally Hit the Big Screen?

Looks like Conan O'Brien's newly announced comedy tour, called "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny On Television Tour" may be filmed and documented, according to /Film. So it looks like although he won't be on TV for a while, films are a different story. Obviously, this is a great news for those of us who are suffering from Coco withdrawal and those who won't have a chance to check out the tour in person (such as myself). It also might be a nice introduction into O'Brien's world for those who haven't yet given him a chance, because The Tonight Show obviously didn't get that job done very well. Not that was anybody's fault, of course. Especially not you, Jay Leno. Totally not your fault. Nope. Not at all. The Jay Leno Show was just terrific.