Adaptation

[life_boy]

Hate this limited release shit. Dying to see this one and it won't come here, one of the many things that sucks about living in South Carolina.

I understand, living in a small town in Northeast Mississippi.  I'm still waiting to see so many great movies that aren't coming here yet.  We did get 'Punch-Drunk Love' though, to my utter shock!  It didn't do to well here except for me taking friends to see it.  Where in SC are you located?

[©brad]

Live on Hilton Head Island. Just found out that Adaptation is now playing in Savannah GA, which is about 45 min. away. Finally! Off to see a matinee tomorrow, and cannot wait!!
I love the TV spots for the film, very nifty.

[caliope]

great, great stuff.  you could watch the movie over and over again trying to pinpoint where the switch happens...

i just saw the movie tonight....it's fresh in my mind...

the first time laroche is in front of his computer, and starts talking about his porn site, is when i sort of felt like the story was changing, it was funny, but i found it a little odd, and (up to that point) out of character. plus the timing of the scene (or something i'm not really sure what) made it seem like a switch took place. the camera is sort of normally framing laroche, and orlean talking on the phone, then out of nowhere laroche mentions the porn, and the camera seemed to swing over (in a not completely un-pta like way) to reveal he was working on porn. because the computer came out oof nowhere too. if i rememer correctly they showed footage of him in that same room, and there was no computer. and then all of a sudden there it was. maybe he bought it, in between the time frame of scenes (i understood the timeline as a whole, but in my mind i can't really keep track of when certain scenes took place)

BUT! i haven't read the book, that could actually be part of the original story, and i will look like a fool. but i thought about it and that's where it felt like the switch came in .

buut yeah, this film was brilliant, best of the year. i was almost sad to bump pdl down a notch, but that's the way it goes.

[Duck Sauce]

Anybody read the Orchid Thief, does Laroche do the porn thing in that?

[bonanzataz]

EXTREME SPOILERS AHEAD!

I just saw the film as it came out in a theater close to me today. I can't say I hated it, but as a whole, I definitely didn't love it. I thought it was pure genius and was loving every second of it right up until the point where Orlean says, "We're going to have to kill him." I loved the line, but assumed it was just part of her drug induced crazy-talk and Laroche would say, "Hey, no we can't." Then they start to go through with trying to kill him and I'm like, "is this really happening or is this some big joke." I kept waiting for Charlie to wake up or something. Up until when this happens, it's all about life and frustration and the characters were starting to grow and it was wonderful. It's like, Jonze had everything going on a track, there were a few twists and turns on the track, but as a whole the story was pretty much a straight line. Then we have this thing happening and the track totally veers off course, leaving MANY people in the theater confused (Thanks to Columbia's beautiful release schedule (which worked so well for PDL) and due to the fact that the ending is so out of tune witht the rest of the film, this movie is going to fail at the box office). Double parentheses, how exciting! Anyway, after that weird thing happens, the track veers right back to the straight line again and it finishes very nicely.

Back when Being John Malkovich was released, I loved it, I thought it was great. I went online to read the original script and the ending was totally different. It was so weird and so out of place and I was so happy they changed it or the whole film would have been ruined. I felt the same way while WATCHING Adaptation, only this time I didn't have the alternate version with the good ending. The whole thing is about screenwriting so I was so let down when the ending was a cop-out. It was like, I don't know how to end this picture, so let's just have bizarre weirdness, just for the sake of bizarre weirdness, even if it doesn't fit in with the rest of the movie. So, as a whole, I didn't really like it. Everything before the last 20 minutes, excellent.

Also, why in the world would Orlean let Larouche post her on the porn site if she's such a revered journalist that's so protective of her reputation AND she (as far as I know) mentions the site in her book?! Especially when the Kaufmans were going to follow her to Florida ANYWAY to find out that she was having an affair with Larouche! That's just me being picky though.

Sorry for the length of this post.

[sphinx]

bonanzataz: what you have to understand is that ending is meant to be a cop-out, it's meant to disappoint you and make you pissed off that it was a hollywood ending, but there is an explanation.  just earlier in the thread we were discussing the actual moment the change occurs.  see, the ending isn't what actually happened in the storyline, it's what donald rewrote, or helped rewrite the script to be---the whole chase sequence just reeks of donald.  as soon as donald comes to new york to help charlie with the script, the movie switches to donald's rewrite.  it's supposed to be ironic and paradoxical, which is what makes it even better than if they had simply ended it on a straight non-fiction track.  it does completely the opposite and exactly what charlie wanted at the same time...do you get what i'm saying?

[bonanzataz]

MORE EXTREME SPOILERS

I get it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Wait, I kind of do like it, very clever. But for me, as a spectator, sitting in the audience and thinking, "this is just a script written by Charlie because there is no Donald in real life," it was frustrating. At the same time it's like, how am I supposed to make the connection that Donald wrote some of it? Like some big inside joke that you don't get until your friend turns to you and explains it.

Nevertheless, haha, funny joke. I can't wait to explain it to my friends who shared the same feelings I did.

[RegularKarate]

Unfortunately, Bonanzataz's opinion of the film is what a lot of people thought.

I thought it was pretty damn obvious that the ending was one hundred percent intentionally bad, but I've spoken to quite a few people who seem to have missed it as well.

[sphinx]

bonzatonaoztnoanta: acutally, know that i think of it, i can relate to you a lot in how irritating that section was in retrospective, but over my two viewings of the film, it's become washed over by the fantastic writing and i see it as an essential part of the film.  jonze/kaufman haven't succeeded in making a fully satisfying, entertaining film, but that's because they succeeded in what they were trying to do, which makes it entertaining and satisfying, kind of.  they sort of win a lot and lose just a little bit all at the same time.

[bonanzataz]

Unfortunately, Bonanzataz's opinion of the film is what a lot of people thought.

I thought it was pretty damn obvious that the ending was one hundred percent intentionally bad, but I've spoken to quite a few people who seem to have missed it as well.

RK, not an attack or anything, but I really don't appreciate when people say shit like that. Trying to make me feel like a shithead because I didn't get it and implying that my opinion is bull and passing me off as an idiot. The board is a community, treat everybody with respect. We don't want to be like the AICN boards, I don't think.

That having been said, ROCK ON FOR GOLDFISH! Best snack food ever!

And for anyone who cares, I still think it didn't really work, even knowing this now. The more I think about it, the more I think the whole movie is about Kaufman masturbating.

[Duck Sauce]

Not to rub it in, but I got what was happening as soon as things started going off track, but others in my group didnt. I think this movie was genius. You mention that you couldnt really get it because you knew there is no Donald in real life and its just Charlie Kaufman writing a screenplay. Could you explain this bonanzataz? I mean dont you have to kind of forget reality while watching a movie to enjoy it sometimes? If not, you would just be picking apart every movie because you know that its not real. Im not attacking you so dont pull that "i dont appreciate...." shit, I just want to know. All in good heart.

[Rudie Obias]

i really liked this film.  i remember first seeing the trailer for ADAPTATION before PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (i just had to mention PTA) and thinking it was something that didn't appeal to me.  then i saw it was directed by spike jonze then not knowing what to think.  i just couldn't get anything from the trailer.  so for about 2 and half months, i was debating if i should go see it or not.  then i saw it... and WOW!  what a weird lil' film this is!  i loved it!  the whole time watching it, i felt lost but after each scene i figured out what this film was about and what it was going for; until the end when i realized that this was something great.  it unfolded really well and spike jonze totally executed the balance between interest and scope.  WOW!  i'm still trying to get my head around this film.

ps.
i really love the end with the quote from THE 3 and the donald kaufman tribute!  genuine class.

[caliope]

i truly don't want to make anyone feel bad, but it's upsetting (not really) to hear people think the plot approach, and ending didn't work. because the more i think about it, the more perfect i reallly think it was. one of the best 'plot twist' films

it was the perfect middle road between the usual -- painfully predictable and obvious, or fucking ridiculously sublte and esoteric.

even once the ball got rolling and you could tell where it was going, it stayed completely entertaining and engaging (i think i stole that from a rreview)...

they didn't beat you over the head orr spell it out for you (like wtih some voice over explanation, ---that would be lazy--- )...but it all made sense, and was hinted at through the whole film.

it didn't feel uneven at all! just incredibly well written, and thought out.

and i thought it was much less of a cop-out story than the "it was all a dream' films....even though i enjoy some of those quite a bit!

but the ending didn't just pop up out of nowhere. (if the timeline in my head is correct) charlie had already admitted that he had written himself in to the screenplay. and about 3/4's in  to the film beore the big ending story change, he was dictating the films opening lines (not verbatim)  in to his recorder. they even prepared you for what would happen at the end through the whole film with his masturbation fantasies (which were really there for comedic effect, but i think they acheived that goal too). plus there were hints. like donald mentions to charlie how felini's 8 1/2 was the last film to create anew genre, the mockumentary, which is sort of what adaptation is. i dunno, i can't really write it out and have it make sense, buut i think that's what great about it! it's all there though.

i dunno, i'm sorry, this is long. i'll shut up.

[Newtron]

The more I think about it, the more I think the whole movie is about Kaufman masturbating.

NOT TO APPEAR LIKE A FREE THINKING INDIVIDUAL LIKE WE WERE ALLOWED TO BE ON THE OLD BOARDS BUT...

..the more I read your opinions the more I think you're an idiot.

NO OFFENCE! JAJAJAAAA

Not to rub it in, but I got what was happening as soon as things started going off track, .

Exactly, it was pretty obvious and that was the whole joke of the last act.

The last "Turning Point" would be Charlie attending the Mckee seminar in desperation.

[Dirk]

I also thought it was excellent. Gets better the more you think about it and see the intentions Kaufman had. Did anyone notice that Meryl Streep's "husband" (not sure if it's her husband or a guy friend or whatnot) is director Curtis Hanson? Another man at the table where they were eating dinner looked familiar also.