Catherine Keener in Jurgen Faust's biggest disappointment
Just like Christmas advertising, year-end top-ten lists seem to come earlier and earlier each year. Maybe it’s the profusion of blogging critics, trying to beat everybody else into print, er, electrons, uh . . . pixels. Whatever the case, there are a few of the big boys out there already.
A couple of them have been brought to us by the invaluable girish: James Quant’s from Artforum has ten films so non-commercial (obscure?) that to see all of them (one commenter complains), you’d have to go to several international art festivals a year (you can see the list at girish’s place). Another, from John Waters at Artforum, has — I kid you not — Vicky Cristina Barcelona tied for first, with another Woody Allen film (Cassandra’s Dream) at number 10. All of this has sparked a fine discussion in girish’s post about the purpose of year-end lists, which is doubtless not the last such discussion we’ll see this year.
Roger Ebert has thrown off the yoke of critics top ten lists!!! Instead, he’s given us a top 20 list. And as if that weren’t enough, he’s given us five documentaries. And to further the revolution, he’s alphabetized them! Oh, the avante garde-ness of it all . . .
Finally, the first of the inevitable ant-lists, Jurgen Faust’s Most Disappointing Movies of 2008, smack-dab at the top of which is Synecdoche, New York. Mr. Faust has some fairly scathing things to say about it, including
Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut is this year’s movie to beat in terms of bloated, overarching ambition and joyless, suffocating self-seriousness. If you don’t like it, you just don’t understand!
Geez, sounds like it’s right up my alley.
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I have seen 4 films on Ebert’s list, though there are a few more that I want to see. But I really don’t like these things and generally make my readers cranky by not doing them (fortunately Rod does, but he also sees new releases and I hardly ever do). Witness the continuned wankfest that goes on among the film intelligensia; yes, please let’s put a 14-minute short from Bulgaria on our Top Ten list. It’s ridiculous. If you’re going to do a list for public consumption, it makes no sense to put films on it that have vanished into the night. It’s just another opportunity to play the snob.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Marilyn. And for much the same reason: just one more way for somebody to say “I’m more of a cinephile than you are. I go to maybe one new release every few weeks, myself, because I usually refuse to see movies I don’t think I’ll like. And the vast majority I don’t think I’ll like.
And for the record, I’ve also seen four on Ebert’s list, but given your predilection for documentaries, I’ll bet they aren’t the same ones.
Also, I like the word “wankfest.”
I’m curious to know what Jurgen Fausts’ list of the best films of 2008 would look like. His list of disappointments reads like it was put together just to be naughty and contrarian. And I say that even though I agree with him about “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
Pat, Jurgen obviously did do it to be a contrarian. But it shows how hype works: a film is hyped and hyped and hyped, and eagerly-awaited and everything else, and because it doesn’t live up to the hype, it’s no good. It’s not a coincidence that his list is biggest disappointments
To be honest, the only film on Jurgen’s list I’d want to see is Slumdog Millionaire. None of the others even tempted me, especially Charlie Kaufman’s new film – I’m NOT a fan of Kaufman.
And yes, I saw two documentaries and two features on Ebert’s list: Happy-Go-Lucky, The Fall, Man on Wire, and S.O.P.. I liked the features better than the docs, btw. It’s nice to see he’s scheduled The Fall for Ebertfest. It definitely needs another look.
You saw that Bulgarian short too, Marilyn!?!
I make a list every year, but mine has to wait until February because I have to wait for everything to take its sweet time getting to Minneapolis.
Jurgen’s could very well be another person’s Top 10 list. Funny how that works.
All of this has sparked a fine discussion in girish’s post about the purpose of lists
The purpose of lists?
They’re fun.
THE END.
p.s. My list will be posted on January 1st 2009, and Marilyn is totally excited about that.
Marilyn, I saw: The Fall, Iron Man, The Band’s Visit and The Dark Knight. I tend to like Kaufman, myself …
Daniel, of course I bitch all the time about living in Alabama, and you know what? I don’t feel sorry for you in the least living in Minneapolis, except perhaps for the cold …
I’ll probably make some kind of year-end something, but it certainly won’t be a “best of 2008″ list, maybe a “stuff I saw I liked list …”
Fox, thank you for the definitive word on that . . . I stand humbled and corrected. Oh by the way, did you note Marilyn’s use of the word “wankfest?”
I tend to like Kaufman, myself …
Rick, what movie was that?!?
And if you think about it, “wankfest” sounds like it could be a positive.
Fox – Your list could be funny simply because I don’t remember you liking ANYTHING this year. After Uncle Nate down the hall, you’re my favorite curmudgeon.
I was thinking about a list that I might want to do….nah!
There is actually one Bulgarian film I saw a few years ago that I would recommend highly and would buy if it were available: Whose Song Is This? I reviewed it on FonF.
Fox, so I don’t know how to turn off the italics
Wankfest . . . a new, hands-on experience at Disney World. Lots of drinking and lederhosen and …
Marilyn, Fox’s list will be funny regardless, but not necessarily “funny ha-ha”
I also generally dislike Kaufman, but I finally saw a trailer for Synecdoche, New York, and I think it looks like it’s at least worth checking out. But Being John Malkovich is one of the most overpraised films ever. EVER!
My top ten list would begin like this:
1. The Dark Knight
2. Burn After Reading
And then I’d struggle to come up with eight more movies from this year that I’d even seen.
Rick – My point was that this list seems kind of worthless to me. Anyone can get all cute and smart-alecky and say “Oh Look, I’m going to trash the top movies of the year!” If all ten of these are disappointments, then what films lived up to their promise? Isn’t Faust really passing judgment on the hype itself, rather than the films? I’m probably taking this all to serioously, but I’m sleep-deprived and grumpy this morning. : )
Bill, I probably wouldn’t put The Dark Knight at number one, even if I’d only seen one. The principle of the thing, you understand
And I like Kaufman, I think he’s one of the most inventive screenwriters around. Looking back on his films, i’d say Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ranks right up there with the best of the last decade or so. But how much is Kaufman and how much the director Gondry?
Pat, I get your point … and I think you’re right. He may just be tired of the hype, not the films. Working critics certainly must get fed up with the whole thing from time to time.
Look at Ebert’s list — it contains a lot of what Faust considers over-blown. But he likes everything …
Eternal Sunshine of the etc. is a film I only half paid attention to, and I wish I’d given it my full attention, because I think I might actually like that one. But otherwise, I think Kaufman is a too-clever-by-half smart-ass. Not only that, but he’s a jerk. He did a fake interview once around the time of Human Nature, which, I learned, was a spoof of an interview PT Anderson had done during the release of Magnolia. In the Kaufman fake-interview, he jokingly talked about how a lot of people in his family had recently been growing excessive body hair, and that’s what led him to write Human Nature. The corresponding question/answer in the Anderson interview dealt with the toll cancer was taking on Anderson’s family.
Stay classy, Charlie Kaufman!
The corresponding question/answer in the Anderson interview dealt with the toll cancer was taking on Anderson’s family.
I hadn’t heard that … that’s not good. Kaufman just came down a notch or two in my estimation.
Kaufman’s just a smarmy guy from the ironic school. I enjoyed Malkovich and quite liked Eternal Sunshine, but I think Gondry had more to do with the latter’s more exceptional nature. Adaptation was vile. I think Kaufman thinks he’s the new Virginia Woolf or James Joyce – he’s just another wanker, however.
I’ll keep finding new uses for the word “wank,” Rick – just for you.
The Kaufman interview can be found on this page (under HUMAN NATURE SCRIPT INTERVIEW):
http://www.beingcharliekaufman.com/index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=5&searchword=paul+thomas+anderson&submit=Search&searchphrase=any&ordering=newest
I’ve been unable to find the Anderson interview online, but it’s from the published Magnolia script, if anyone has it and wants to check my work.
Marilyn, I agree that Adaptation is vile. And you’re probably right: Gondry doubtless had a lot more to do with Sunshine than Kaufman. And it also had a lot to do with the acting, specifically Kate Winslet, who was magnificent.
Wank, wanker, wanking, wank-man, wankette. (This comment stream is descending to the level of one of Lapper’s …)
I felt so sorry for Chris Cooper, giving an Oscar-winning performance in such a crap film.
Bill, We all believe you, nobody wants to check your work . . .
And I just went over to that link, and that is one f**d-up fake interview. What an ego. It’s hard to know where the irony starts and the sincerity begins. What? Is he pissed because Magnolia was acclaimed and his wasn’t (if I remember aright, Human Nature is not all that good). What a wanker.
There’s one thing I’ve always loved about P.T. Anderson — there’s not an insincere bone in his body.
Marilyn, Cooper was fabulous . . . he added some class to the joint. But what was up with Streep?
Rick, as I remember it, Kaufman’s interview is basically a point-by-point spoof of the Anderson interview, with each question and answer corresponding in some way. But Kaufman inflates Anderson’s attitude at every step, making him sound pompous, even though Anderson originally didn’t come off that way.
There’s also this, from a REAL interview Kaufman gave. This passage means nothing, apart from that it provides further proof that Kaufman really seems to have a bug up his ass regarding Anderson:
He’s delighted at the reaction the film has had in the States. “All these people have been writing in to this website the studio created, saying, ‘this is me, this is my relationship!’, really emotional stuff, very moving. I think there’s an interesting phenomenon there. Don’t you?” But surely the kind of people who write in are a little… “Weird?” says Kaufman. “I agree with you. It’s not something that I would be motivated to do, although [he looks down demurely and smiles] I did see a movie, recently, that had a really intense effect on me. I was watching it on a plane, in fact, and I just started crying. So I wrote to the director, who was also the writer – I wrote him an e-mail, a very embarrassing one.”
So what was the film? His eyes – and this may just be a trick of the light – actually look a little wet. He’s still upset. “I can’t tell you, it’s too embarrassing.” It wasn’t Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love? Kaufman looks aghast at the suggestion: “Why would you think that? Do his movies affect you that way? Do you think his movies would affect me that way?” I say I only mentioned it because Anderson is a writer as well as director. “Ah!”, says an appeased Kaufman. “OK”.</B
Sometimes when I read comments threads, I start to wonder about myself. Why is my reaction to so many films so different from that of the bloggers I most admine?
I really love “Being John Malkovich,” always have. I find it imaginative and funny, and I get a kick out of the fact that Malkovich himself was willing to play along. (Anybody catch him on SNL this weekend? HIs reading of “The Night Before Chirstmas” was the funniest thing I’ve seen on that show in ages, Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impersonation notwithstanding.)
But those interview quotes from Kaufman are obnoxious.
Bill, thanks for the quotes, he does indeed seem to have a bug up his ass about Kaufman. But I wonder what the flick was that choked him up, or was it more theater?
Pat, I liked Being John Malkovich fine. I liked it’s imagination, and John Cusack, Catherine Keener and Malkovich were all three great, especially Keener. It’s Adaptation that, after seeing it a second time, I find offensive. And I even own it, I think.
Rick, here’s the follow up paragraph, which I maybe should have posted before (not that it’s all that enlightening):
I come up with all kinds of other names, but he won’t spill the beans. Why? “Well, he never wrote back.” Maybe he didn’t get it. “Oh, he did,” There’s a big sigh. “I got his e-mail through a friend of mine, and he told them he’d got the e-mail. I thought maybe I would get something when this movie came out, saying, sort of reciprocating, which, um, didn’t happen. But maybe he doesn’t like my movies.” He looks up, startled. “You know I really am beyond thinking about it. I don’t want it to seem like I’m dwelling on it.” Perish the thought.
Wow. He’s an insecure guy, isn’t he? (but we knew that from his screenplays). Insecurity drives people to try to tear down those whom, ironically, they admire. Kind of dangerous when one of those gets a soapbox; stuff like the fake interview slamming Anderson can result.
Did I tell y’all that my list will be up on TRACTOR FACTS on January, 1 2009?
It’s gonna be awesome. I’m confident that everyone will agree.
I’ll bet Marilyn is really looking forward to it. She’ll probably call it a name having to do with wanking.
Yes, I’m sure I will. Fox’s posts are always wank-friendly.
Jurgen Faust said, “Hey, we all have our guilty pleasures. And yet: if you haven’t seen these films yet, may I suggest you try something else instead?”
Hi! Rick,
I would really like to know what 10 films that he suggest movie goers go check-out!…. instead of,
Synecdoche, NY.,
Burn After Reading (Btw, which I kind of enjoying viewing, guess it was the “Clooney factor”…haha!)
The Dark Knight…I’am surprise that he didn’t throw in the film Iron Man, for good measure!)
Vicky Christina Barcelona, SlumDog Millionaire, Ballast, Elite Squad, W, Wall E, and (Christmas on Mars went right over “me” head.) I guess, I have to email and ask him what would he suggest? haha!
dcd