Over at the always interesting Moon in the Gutter blog, Monsieur Richey is holding a Charlie Kaufman film poll in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Kaufman/Spike Jonze feature Being John Malkovich… our first real encounter with these (still) extraordinary filmmakers.
So head on over and vote. I’m curious to see what the results are myself. I’m choosing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York for my two faves. Who’s with me?!
New York Observer film critic Rex Reed, whose overwrought verbiage and sloppy analysis makes Armond White seem lucid and well… sane, tells us all what he thinks of Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut Synecdoche, New York.
Considering his loathing of Kaufman, Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, et al, I’m sure he’ll love my book about said filmmakers.
You can be assaulted by Reed’s review here. Be warned, though, to wear protective goggles.
For the last few weeks Wired magazine editor and writer Jason Tanz has been previewing the magazine’s upcoming Charlie Kaufman profile on their Storyboard blog. Basically, in true meta-Kaufman style, Tanz has made the entire writing process (or most of it, at least) transparent to the reader, showing us what goes into an article like this from initial conception, editorial emails, contacts with Kaufman’s publicist, the full audio interview with Kaufman himself, and all the rest. Tanz got a hold of me via email a few weeks ago and interviewed me as well… though it doesn’t look like I made the final cut. Perhaps there will be more about Kaufman and his directorial debut in the actual hardcopy issue of Wired when it hits the stands in a few weeks. Or not.
Meanwhile, here’s the official trailer to Kaufman’s new film Synecdoche, New York which opens in the US on October 24:
My first book is out today in the UK! It will be published in the United States in September.
It’s a study of contemporary (mostly) American filmmakers Richard Linklater, David O. Russell, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Spike Jonze, and Michel Gondry. There are a few other surprises inside, as well, such as a look at Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko, Steven Soderbergh’s Schizopolis, PT Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, and Roman Coppola’s CQ.
My hope is that it will appeal to film lovers of all stripes, from those with a more scholarly bent to the pop-culture subgeniuses to the novices who don’t know their Godard from their Gondry.
The book is available from the usual suspects, including here.
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