I’m Thinking of Ending Things

[Drenk]

Full of misgivings, a young woman travels with her new boyfriend to his parents' secluded farm. Upon arriving, she comes to question everything she thought she knew about him, and herself. Based on Iain Reid's acclaimed novel.

September 4.

Another transition story, Charlie? 

[csage97]

No comments on this? Looks awesome too me.

[WorldForgot]

[Axolotl]

Was lukewarm about anomalisa but I'm excited about this. Let's see.

[Drenk]

Was lukewarm about anomalisa but I'm excited about this. Let's see.

He didn't want to make Anomalisa. It was a short radio play with an idea that only works in that medium. The lukewarm result isn't surprising.

The new movie has received stellar reviews. But that could mean anything. I was excited. I'm still excited.

[Axolotl]

Comes out today

[WorldForgot]

Freaking funny melancholy.
Plenty of nods and homages, and although the 'characters' cite their references there's bound to be more that went over my head.

Ouch. Heartbreak at home. On a farm

A lush, ominous spiral of memory, compassion, all that longing and knocking about your noodle that won't ever quit - you don't know why the memory or heart pang came up - beating back against time.

Will be a bit overlong for some, I assume, but Kaufman colors the film with plenty of stylistic interludes, glimpses into both 'characters' deteriorating sense of anchor in the blizzard tide and our endless want for distraction.

[Axolotl]

Almost couldn't finish this even though it felt way more significant than Anomalisa and and at least like it was made by the same guy who made Synecdoche NY, but without any of the latter's emotional richness, depth of meaning, humour and untrammeled ambition.

The constant cultural references felt pat and distracting even though I'm usually a sucker for when characters talk about movies and books i like (although they felt true to how newly dating people talk about such things). Even though it's an adaptation every interaction after the first half landed with such an ineffectual thud that they felt like the output of a poorly programmed Kaufman bot.

Gonna chalk its failures to the source material and my mood at the time of watching. Will maybe give it another try because I felt something was there but for now it just made me feel bummed out (and not in a good way).

[csage97]

I'll probably watch this tonight or tomorrow. I watched Eternal Sunshine last night to get into the spirit ... and man, what a great movie Eternal Sunshine is. One of my favourites (and I assume many others'). A notable thing about Eternal Sunshine is the practical effects. I feel like so many of today's films and shows are overwrought with crappy digital effects. They become so unwatchable. And people eat it up.

I have massive gripes about sound mixing too, and it seems people are having trouble with Tenet. I am super overly sensitive to the overdubbed "massive" sounds in shows and films these days to the point that I just shake my head and shut them off. It's a shame, but I can't stand insanely bogus sound effects, like a footstep that has unrealistic levels of bass or phone ringing that sounds like it's recorded in a deadened chamber way outside of the realm of the movie.

Sorry for the way off-topic rambling. Just erring my gripes and commending Eternal Sunshine. Not that I'm saying this one will have bad sound mixing, as it probably doesn't. I'm tempted to go back to Synecdoche before this one though as I'm going through some "older" favourites lately.

[Rooty Poots]

I... appreciated it. I know I'll need to watch it several more times before I'll really 'get' it—which isn't a problem in and of itself! Inherent Vice definitely required multiple viewings, as well—but my problem is, if a movie requires multiple viewings, then hopefully they're enjoyable, and I just didn't enjoy this enough to watch it a second time. There were moments I really liked, though. The car ride to the parents' house. Meeting the parents. The Tulsey Town visit. The dumpster full of Tulsey Town cups. The dancing at the end. But I felt like I was sitting through the most dreadfully boring scenes to get to these little moments of loveliness, and I can only imagine the scenes I was bored by the first time will be even more boring the second time.

I kind of wonder how long he'll get away with being given the money and resources and permission to make movies like this. I do appreciate that. And clearly a lot of thought went into this. I can't even give it a bad review, it just wasn't for me.

[jenkins]

it's whatever for me right now, because it doesn't align with my current life perspective, so during some of it i'm in a state of complete disagreement, and during some of it i'm like okay enough already, and by the end i'm more than ready for the end. so my thoughts echo tooty and axo, but also i think wf is in possession of a full and healthy perspective. if the movie is there for you it's there for you, but i didn't need it, which is the way things go and well this movie would agree

you know it's fun to hear criticism against cassavetes but of course the same applies to this movie. in fact, dare i say, it applies to this movie more than cassavetes: you're not seeing the characters you're seeing kaufman. every bit of this movie is people acting according to the needs of kaufman. which isn't necessarily a criticism but an observation

[Alexandro]

About twenty minutes in it became clear what was ahead, and I started an internal debate: should I skip this for the moment?
I decided to man up and see the whole thing. I admired it but can't say I enjoyed it.

My hopes were perhaps too high since I'm reading Antkind and even though is pure Kauffman, and despair and sadness and confusion show themselves in every page, is also often hilarious. As in laughing out loud, non stop smiling hilarious. So for some reason I expected a similar vibe here, but apart from the Robert Zemeckis joke, most of the scenes are just dull.

I remember seeing Synechdoque NY back in 09 and not liking it yet deciding right there that I should see it a second time, which I did in the moment. That immediate second viewing made me feel it was a masterpiece. But I have never returned to it. Or Anomalisa (¨which I liked). I'll give it a second watch, maybe tonight, but damn, this guy really loves to test the audience's patience.

[jenkins]

like with Shirley, and Buffet Froid, its perceived failures are failures of the viewer from the perspective of the creator's intention being achieved. this movie means to be what it is, and there's craft but there's art too

[csage97]

it's whatever for me right now, because it doesn't align with my current life perspective, so during some of it i'm in a state of complete disagreement, and during some of it i'm like okay enough already, and by the end i'm more than ready for the end.

Do you mind expanding on this? I don't know if you could "disagree" with the thematics (loneliness, memories, isolation, aging, wasted time, suicide). The film and characters seem to serve all of this through and through. On the other hand, I see how you could disagree with how technical choices were made for the film, meaning all the writing, direction, performance, editing, et cetera choices. I can understand too if what the film is exploring is just something you don't need right now and how you could shrug your shoulders at it and consequently have been bored throughout.

Edit: To clarify about Synecdoche, what I mean is that no attempt to "make conventional sense" of it has satisfied me (mine or otherwise) in the way that it can't be fit into a nice bow like this movie, I'm Thinking About Ending Things, can. And perhaps that's the point, or one of the points of Synecdoche -- that it defies typical criticism and interpretation.

I guess I'm more in line with WorldForgot's perspective. I actually wasn't bored by any of it -- though it is quite a long film with drawn-out car scenes. The only thing I guess I'm disappointed by is that once I realized what was going on with the "gimmick" or "twist" or whatever you want to call it, the narrative becomes kind of "boxed in" to that singular purpose -- though I think everything in the movie serves this well and allows for some complexity in exploring the aforementioned themes. But I'm just not sure I'll want to watch it again soon or that it "demands" I watch it again since I feel satisfied in understanding that point at least.

In terms of the multitude of the cultural references feeling distracting or somewhat contrived, that seems to be the point, as Jake is using these to construct the women and fantasy, and these reference points are his own intellectual touchstones and fascinations that never got to be used professionally or take on a bigger role or be shared with others enough in his life.

My hopes were perhaps too high since I'm reading Antkind and even though is pure Kauffman, and despair and sadness and confusion show themselves in every page, is also often hilarious. As in laughing out loud, non stop smiling hilarious. So for some reason I expected a similar vibe here, but apart from the Robert Zemeckis joke, most of the scenes are just dull.

I remember seeing Synechdoque NY back in 09 and not liking it yet deciding right there that I should see it a second time, which I did in the moment. That immediate second viewing made me feel it was a masterpiece. But I have never returned to it. Or Anomalisa (¨which I liked). I'll give it a second watch, maybe tonight, but damn, this guy really loves to test the audience's patience.

I'm reading Antkind too right now (about 125 pages in) as I've been on a kind of Kaufman kick lately and also needed something to read. Oh boy am I glad I picked it up. It is indeed monstrously funny and I've caught myself grinning like an idiot and laughing out loud many times so far. And the story moves along too, which is to say the pacing is good, yet it has a level of length in the stream of consciousness and spoken ramblings of the protagonist, which becomes a joke in itself. I was giddy at the early mention of Christopher Nolan (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've read it) and the references kept coming in thereon.

Anyway, Synecdoche is one that I'm still baffled by and hasn't added up to much for me in the way that I'm Thinking of Ending Things came together and made sense. I'm still probably missing something with Synecdoche and none of the interpretations of it I've read have really satisfied me.

[jenkins]

i disagree with, for example, its perspective on hope. i feel tired by the way it presents a relatively simple idea, time as fluid, as if it's a revelation. serving the theme doesn't mean that it's a very expanded theme in the first place and, as the movie states this way or another way, perspective is everything. so to phrase it in a simple way: i don't like how it approaches its themes, and i don't find it a particularly illuminating film. it has to touch your sense of self to work, and i'll have to find myself more at odds with the world to feel touched by this