Been on a bit of a Charlie Kaufman endeavour lately so last night I watched Synecdoche, New York.

Whoof.

I think I still need time to process my thoughts and feelings on it. To call that 'just a film' would be like calling an encyclopaedia 'just a book'. The sheer depth and breadth of subject matter it attempts to encompass is astounding. The grand theme above it all is death itself, and alternatively life and how it is lived, and how each individual life is bigger and fuller than any of us can fully realise. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives the performance of his career I believe - no wonder Roger Ebert said if ever a film about his life would be made, he'd want PSH to play him.

I don't know that I could say I enjoyed it exactly, since as it descended deeper and deeper into Kaufman-esque surrealism it became more difficult to gain a footing. I think what you need to do with this film is from the very first moment of weirdness you have to just let go. Stop attempting to understand what is precisely going on, or make logical sense of it, but instead try and pick up on some of the grand messages it is sending out.

It is an epic. I've seen it described as the perfect desert island film, because it manages to be equal parts comedy/romance/tragedy etc. Apparently it came about when Kaufman and Spike Jonze were asked to make a 'horror' movie. Evidently, in Kaufman's eyes, nothing is more horrifying than the idea of a man so occupied with his own genius he lets his entire life flit before him.

I honestly don't know that I could promise somebody they'd like the film, in fact I think lots of people would hate it, but just wow. Kaufman is one of, if not the, most brilliant mind in cinema today.

A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE,
PARTLY WRITTEN BY STEVEN SPIELBERG WHO WAS ALSO
THE DIRECTOR.
REGARDS J .

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sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye.

I've seen a few films lately, particularly because I've been on a number of long flights. I won't list them all, but they include:

the live-action Kiki's Delivery Service. It's cute and fun to watch but the story takes a different route from the Ghibli version, and the plot chosen for this one was kinda cheesy.

Hard Ticket to Hawaii, a terrible and therefore hilarious action B-movie. If you like campy and unintentionally funny 80s movies you'll probably enjoy it.

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Catfish.

So... clever, so strange, so disturbing. There's 3 TV series following this story all about similar incidents to others. Wow, there are some very disturbed people on the internet, and some ridiculously gullible and desperate ones too.

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

I saw another hilariously bad film a little while ago, a more notorious one - Troll 2. It really lived up to the hype! Everything about it was ridiculous and half-baked, and the dialogue was wonderfully awful. There's a documentary about it too, which was pretty interesting.

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Wallace and Gromit: The Were-Rabbit...

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We took some of the Japanese exchange students to see The Maze Runner last night.

Ha... haha... Probably wasn't a good idea, the girls were laughing so nervously and were totally confused.

I saw "Big Hero 6" today and I enjoyed it. Cgi by Pixar and Disney... Lots of action...

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An oldie, "Gone to Texas' with Sam Elliot...

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The last movie I saw was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I. The movie was awesome, Jennifer as usual did an awesome job of playing Katniss Everdeen. The whole cast was able to take it to the next level and I am so excited for the finale next year.

Welcome to the Tavern, Kailie Brambani, Looking forward to hearing more from you. We are an International bunch in here and enjoy meeting new people.. We all hope that you will like it here, Again, Welcome.

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Hi Kailee - awesome forum name BTW!

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

Yesterday I saw both From Up On Poppy Hill and The Wind Rises.

I loved them both, though at this first watching I definitely preferred The Wind Rises. I was a little unsure beforehand of how much I was going to enjoy it, and was very pleasantly surprised. I found it an interesting and beautiful film. It seems to me to be the most adult film to have come from Studio Ghibli, similar in some ways to Grave of the Fireflies, not just for its setting but its... tone, atmosphere, content. Mr Miyazaki can certainly be proud of his last film. I loved it. It was good too to see Goro Miyazaki having produced a much better film, in my opinion, than Tales From Earthsea.

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So pleased you enjoyed them. Kaze Tachinu I think is a masterpiece and should have slaughtered 'Frozen' at the Oscars. That is did not tells us only how incompetent and conservative the Oscar judges are.

I have a special place in my heart for Poppy Hill; its a fairly outlandish and fantastical tale all told but the setting is perfect and the attention to detail makes this film a delight. The characters are so-so in quality and depth but I liked the humour as well and... what can I say... I'm a complete sucker for a sweet romance story, and this one twists and turns along perfectly, with great pacing and for that I can forgive the moments of unlikely co-incidence.

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

I watched the Rurouni Kenshin live action trilogy (well one movie and one 2-part sequel). I didn't know what to expect, but I think it was a pretty decent adaptation. The fight scenes were intense! They cast the whole movie really well - felt like I was seeing all the familiar faces from the manga/anime. And it was fun to see more of a consistent emphasis on Kaoru and Kenshin's relationship.

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Went to see "Strange Magic" tonight and there were only about 12 adults and 6 children attending. (It was a school night and I caught the 6:45 showing)

I did enjoy it and often sang along with the songs (softly usually)...

It was all CGI and used the songs of my era...At first it seemed kinda corny, but as I got into the movie and what was happening, I enjoyed it more. I was able to figure out what was going to happen in the end and I was generally correct.

One family had brought in 5 kids, aged abt 4-10 with i boy... I had engaged them all in a short discussion abt the movie and the girls loved it (of course, lol, it had fairies and love) The boy, abt 6?) his reaction was 'yuvk'... lol

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The last movie I saw was “American Sniper” a movie that is causing uproar recently. I can totally relate to this as I am a Navy wife. Soldiers don't always agree with the government or the wars but they do it to protect the ones they love and to give others a peaceful life which others always take for granted.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone...

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Watched another Harry Potter last night. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

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I watched "Tales from Earthsea" for the second time yesterday having received the DVD from Santa. I first watched it at a Cambridge arts festival when it was released.

I was underwhelmed by it in Cambridge and I was even more unimpressed yesterday. The story is full of loopholes, unexplained events, weird character mood changes, illogical societies, very simple and 2-dimensional good/bad characters, an un-Ghibli female lead whose character is cluttered with western anti-feminist weaknesses and weak artwork.

I remember reading that Miyazaki walked out of the staff screening of the movies first showing part way through and I understand why. Ghibli's weakest offering by far.

I also watched "Eve no Jikan" again for about the 10th time (another gift from Santa) and this amazing movie never fails to impress and delight me. Everything about it is wonderful.

It's an "I, Robot" story with the twist that its the humans who learn and develop. I've reviewed it before on the Tavern and the animation and camerawork alone are worth the cost of the Blu-Ray. Beautiful work. Writer and director Yasuhiro Yoshiura deserves to be better known. He made the 25 minute OVA "Pale Cocoon" in 2004 which was stunning as well, and more recently "Patema Inverted" which I haven't seen but screen shots of it look stunning too.

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"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)