Definitely the most difficult film to have watched! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a Daredevil Season 2 Episode on Friday and The Mandalorian (Season 1) on Saturday Enjoy the day!
The idea of the burning house comes from a Tennessee Williams quote "We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it."
@@patrickmassonne1919 He just released a film this year named "I'm thinking of ending things" on Netflix. Definitely worth checking out. It's my favorite movie of the year so far.
@@guts1258 Just finished "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". Utterly brilliant! I found it in turns reminiscent of "2001", and the poem by T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of Alfred J. Pufrock". Absolutely floored, thanks so much!
I'd definitely second that. YMS certainly succumbs to over-analysis (like that whole segment about the fade, which even he retracted later), but there's just so much in this movie to be explored, and it's completely (and thematically) appropriate that he painstakingly inches his way through it with such a fine-toothed comb. One day, maybe he'll even finish it. And then die.
This is the only film that really captures the feeling of time slipping away through your fingers. So many other complex themes of the stripping of identity, the production of art and its relationship to the artist, DEATH, social anxiety and ineptitude, so many more.
In the opening scene when he is having breakfast with his family, if you pay attention to the details you will notice that days are passing in mere moments, Caden is unaware of how much time is passing. This film has so many details its mind boggling. The entire movie is about death and how we are all hurtling towards it. Also, it's Syn-neck-doh-key
God I almost started crying again just watching your cutaways from this. I have been struggling with existentialism for a long long time as I catch myself aging, and seeing this film really broke me down in ways I cannot repair after watching. I had a mechanic tell me after I showed concerns for oil leaks from my car, "Just keep adding more oil when it leaks out until the engine stops running. It's not worth the effort to fix, and adding the oil will keep it going for now." I think of that often in regards to myself. I am beyond repair, but keep adding oil (friendships, family, music, etc.) and await my inevitable end. I fear love and intimacy now due to the gut-wrenching emotional agony it has caused me. I'm afraid of spending more time with my family after my father died quite rapidly from cancer. I feel trapped due to my own mistakes in life and my unwillingness to improve. Life at first is perceived as a road trip to Disneyland. Things will be great when we get there. The road trip only becomes a carjacking with a maniac behind the wheel with no clear intent on his distination.
One of the genius things about this film is how you can interpret it. In one perspective you can look at it as a nihilistic movie which makes you confront a foreboding existential dread, or you can view the movie as a hopeful call to action to make your time on this Earth worth living instead of worrying about details and missing opportunities ( Like Caden and other characters do throughout the film).
@@guts1258 lol that's crazy cause I could say exactly the same as you. btw now that I think about it I think we exchanged messages in some other video(s) or at least you sound familiar haha
“It’s allmost as if it’s a surrealist story about his life and how he’s trying to deal with mortality” You managed to summarize the essence of this movie in one simple sentence. One of my favourites of all time btw. Loving this channel!
@@JamesVSCinema Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of the best movies ever. And as a bonus it shows that Jim actually can act, not just as a clown.
The real sadness is that he finally had an epiphany at the end there. "I think I finally know how to do this play." And then receiving his final direction "Die." However, this film stresses the relationships between beginnings and ends. Perhaps his dying creative spark is really the birth of something new.
Well, he is saying that throughout the entire film. I think the point of it was that what he was making was never going to be good enough. That he struggled in vain trying to make a play that resembles real life and truth all the while missing real life and truth.
I genuinely can't watch Synecdoche, New York without breaking down. Even watching these bits and pieces left me in tears. It's probably the work of art that encapsulates all of my deepest fears, insecurities and dread most.
This is the kind of film that definitely needs multiple watches. As Roger Ebert so eloquently put it in his review: "The surface may daunt you. The depths enfold you. The whole reveals itself, and then you may return to it like a talisman."
OH MY GOD!! OK IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYONE STAY CALM!! Seriously, this is in my top 10 favorite films, Charlie Kauffman is a genious. Everytime I watch this mvie I listen to Time by Pink Floyd, it actually match the themes of this movie.
I am very excited that you've taken on this movie. It's my favorite Kaufman film and one of my favorite films starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Great actor, dearly missed. One of the things I love about Synedoche, New York is that, beneath the darkness of depression, mortality, and family dysfunction, there is a soulful beauty that connects to us on a meaningful level. Something that eludes Caden despite his efforts to capture the complexity of life in the form of a play.
It's pronounced sin-neck-doe-key (sounds like Schenectady, a city in New York). It's a word that means referring to a part of a thing as a metaphor for the whole thing.
Great video! Denis villeneuve once said something about mulholland drive (and i think it applies here as well) that his favorite films are ones where the first time you watch, you FEEL them. even without really knowing how to explain them you, understand them emotionally in your heart. the second time you apprciate them intellectually. this one is just that. amazing movie.
I know it's sad to say but I relate with this movie very deeply. I wish i didn't, but watching it made me feel comfortable that I wasn't the only one that felt like Caden often. It made me look deep within myself, because Caden shouldn't be someone one aspires to be, he is a personality and mentality that should be viciously avoided, and I don't know If i could have grown as a person without this film. Imo it's a masterpiece
What's so fascinating about this film is that there is no audio commentary because the director wanted people to see if they can figure out their own interpretation of the film.
There's definitely a Charlie Kaufman Cinematic Universe. I'd love if all his films were somehow mashed up into one big story, and how insane that would be. Can't say that about a lot of filmmakers.
If you’re interested in more Kaufman films, I highly recommend checking out Adaptation and his latest I’m Thinking Of Ending Things. Two of the most brilliantly executed, original scripts I’ve ever seen.
I would love for James to watch anything by Lars Von Trier! To me a modern Bergman. And the histrionics about him personally, I believe, are more about people not wanting to discover themselves to be lesser than the sum of their character. But of course, I also can be a bit of a pain in the ass.
@@JoeyBongas Breaking the Waves was the first Von Trier movie I watched. Saw it in a theater and was immediately hooked. Although, very disturbing to some, I find The House That Jack Built to be his Magnum Opus. What some people view as self aggrandizement I see as an utterly devastating deconstruction of His art. To me it is looking into his personal psyche. Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart.
Watching this multiple times is essentially like watching a different movie each time. Such a fantastic movie. First time, found it depressing af, now I see it as a very uplifting movie.
YOOOOO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! This is one of my favorite films ever and shows off Charlie Kaufman's genius. Rest In Peace to Philip Seymour Hoffman, this is one of those films that makes me question my existence and cosmic existentialism afterwards haha.
This is an amazing film, one of Seymour Hoffman’s best performances, this and The Master. It really is one of those movies though where if you’ve only seen it once you haven’t really seen it. Just my opinion though. Great reaction tho.
Just watched this for the first time tonight. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks and goddamn am I glad I finally put it in. What an experience. That’s something I love about this channel and this Patreon community, motivates me to watch things I’ve never seen before and revisit films that mean so much to me.
Such an honest portrayal of subjective human experience. I absolutely love this film. I admire it’s willingness to be tragic and talk about death as well as to show how those of os who are “creatives” tend to live in our own heads. It’s absurd that this was Kaufman’s Debut as a director. Masterpiece! Next to Barton Fink! Love Your channel!
I appreciate you and this content. It just hits the spot right now :) Kaufman's films are always such a deep dive. This film is like channeled footage from the spirit world :)
Charlie Kaufman wrote and directed this movie, he also wrote Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and many other "confusing" movies, but i think that he is kind of brilliant with what he makes (Sorry for the misspelings, English is not my native language) By the way, nice video
You have to watch this movie more than once to even grasp most of it's themes and concepts. You will miss most of what the movie offers on the first viewing, but in subsequent viewings you will pick up on a lot of things you missed.
I'd like to recommend some belgian films for you… they're dark, they are great: Misfortunates by Felix van Groeningen (includes the Tour de France as a drinking game… pure awesomeness) Man Bites Dog by Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel The Brand New testament by Jaco Van Dormael Bullhead by Michaël R. Roskam Ex Drummer by Koen Mortier (my favourite. To quote a friend: Really great film - I don't want to see it ever again) They have their own game on in Belgium. Love it.
Few people seem to ever point out how fucking FUNNY this movie is. Yes, it's dark and depressing, but, like life, it's also bafflingly funny - A wonderful tonal tightrope-walk.
@@JamesVSCinema You definitely should, love to see all the films you've seen. Also would make it easier for film recommendations (because it's just film not tv)
I think this was supposed to be based on "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett...the play dealt with an aging narcissistic protagonist who doesn't have the means to understand his own mortality, who starts playing tapes he recorded in his earlier life, ego istic rationalizations and falsehoods to explain his own shortcomings, smear the imperfect world that is responsible. As the rationalizations become more evidently false and transparent, the number of tapes he is able to believe/rationalize becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually, it comes down to 1 final tape, his last rationalization. Can't remember if there is redemption at the end or he dies in this delusion...I think Kaufmann's genius is his ability to dismantle the "consented to" or presumed shared reality, the flawed practicalities, what Erving Goffman might call "front stage" or projected self image.
Hey man. Great reaction!!! I'm so thrilled that this incredible film I saw years ago when I was in law school actually garnered attentiveness in the movie reaction universe. It's an extraordinarily complex and difficult film to understand. Also, this film along with many others is by far the best film in HORROR HISTORY.
Also if you ever wish to spend probably months or even years that it would only begin to take just to understand literally the first 10 to 20 minutes at the beginning let me know!
Will need a rewatch on this one. You definitely need to be on its emotional level but the presentation is something that can truly only be done on film.
Charlie Kaufman (who wrote and directed this) is an amazing screenwriter. Everything he has written is gold, and steeped in humanity with an otherworldly feel. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is my favourite movie of all time. Being John Malkovich is just brilliantly insane, while the other 2 movies he's directed - I'm Thinking of Ending Thingsand Anomolisa (which is stop-motion) will also blow your mind!
"Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So the way he sees it, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it, that's all. So don't worry, okay? Okay?" Great reaction James, I've seen this film once and that was it, I felt I didn't have enough patience to figure it out, so I just accepted what I don't know is ok, keep em coming man!!!
This is on the very, very short list of films I just couldn't bring myself to finish. I felt like the film was structured to aggressively keep me locked outside of it. Not a feeling I've almost ever had before and eventually I sort of agreed with the film, "yes, you're right, I don't want me watching you either" and gave up. Points to you for being able to get thru it.
Highhhhly recommend YMS's ongoing film analysis of this movie her on youtube (5 parts as of right now), it's one of my favorite movie analyses on youtube going. You got so many things right on your first watch, it's great to see. :)
I'm not sure if it's the best movie to react to and do commentary on, bc in my opinion you have to be entirely absorded into the film. this film is overwhelmingly full of important dialogue and scenes full of nuance and details and commenting over it (I get that this approach is necessary for the format of reaction videos) feels incongruent to what this film demands from its viewer: being hyperfocused, present and alert throughout the runtime. even though you could still come out of this loving it, I still feel like this could restrict your viewing experience.
the mind of someone suffering with dementia? things get blurry, memories mixed up, thrown in and out of place, some missing, others added.. yet the emotions remain..
I fell in love with the trailer for this movie. I was so excited to see it. Then I saw it and was completely bewildered by it. I can't say I love it but I want to understand it better. I have no what I am meant to feel or why anything in the movie happens.
This is a really weird coincidence I just felt like bringing up. It's so weird to me that you ended up watching both Magnolia and Synecdoche back to back since a few months ago I bought both of those movies together on blu-ray. Since I don't buy movies too often to conserve money, I don't know, I often just remember which ones I bought for my collection at which specific times. Anyway, so glad you watched both films! I think this one I like more than Magnolia, it's just so rewarding on repeated viewings even with how brutally honest it is.
Glad you liked it james it's one of my favourites. Do check it out again it warre its more viewings and you get so much room that. Also check out yourmoviesuck analysis on RUclips of the film he does great videos on it.
If you liked this please watch the new netflix film, I'm Thinking of Ending Things from the same director! It's a similar film with surreal elements but in my opinion much easier to understand.
You really need to check out “Adaptation” another Kaufman film. It is still very meta but much more linear and a bit less surreal. I think you would really appreciate it
Highly recommend trying out Kaufman's latest film "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" on netflix. It didn't work for everyone, but I think you'd dig it. Another incredibly cerebral metaphysical journey. The novella it's based off is amazing in it's own right as well, and the audiobook version does a fantastic job translating.
![[Special Clip] ATEEZ(에이티즈) 홍중 'Why Do You Love'](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6XYXQKN_pY/mqdefault.jpg)
Definitely the most difficult film to have watched!
Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Have a Daredevil Season 2 Episode on Friday and The Mandalorian (Season 1) on Saturday Enjoy the day!
More difficult than Come and See?
I mean in terms of comprehending.
@@JamesVSCinema I agree. This is the kind of movie that would produce years of analysis.
Go watch YourMovieSucks' series on Synedcoche, New York. It is the best taken on this movie that is out there. Long but totally worth it
@@Nick_CF also unfinished
The idea of the burning house comes from a Tennessee Williams quote "We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it."
I love how Charlie Kaufman isn't afraid to make dark crazy weird out there films. Very inspiring. This film definately stuck with me after watching it
Thanks for saying that the director's vision is usually like this. I love these kind of movies and will be exploring further!
@@patrickmassonne1919 He just released a film this year named "I'm thinking of ending things" on Netflix. Definitely worth checking out. It's my favorite movie of the year so far.
I love these things honestly!!
@@guts1258 Thanks! I'm ready to watch it tonight! And already bought this movie on Ebay! Carry on!
@@guts1258 Just finished "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". Utterly brilliant! I found it in turns reminiscent of "2001", and the poem by T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of Alfred J. Pufrock".
Absolutely floored, thanks so much!
One of the most detailed movies I have ever seen. I recommend watching "The Genius of Synecdoche New York". Really great analysis.
I'd definitely second that. YMS certainly succumbs to over-analysis (like that whole segment about the fade, which even he retracted later), but there's just so much in this movie to be explored, and it's completely (and thematically) appropriate that he painstakingly inches his way through it with such a fine-toothed comb.
One day, maybe he'll even finish it. And then die.
Watching that now actually!
@@JamesVSCinema Awesome breakdown, he still hasnt completed dissecting the film still after 5 years or so lmao.
@@OuroborUC420DG "okay buhbye... we're all gonna dieeee, synecdoche"
More loneliness to check out... 'Lost in Translation' and 'Magnolia'
This is the only film that really captures the feeling of time slipping away through your fingers. So many other complex themes of the stripping of identity, the production of art and its relationship to the artist, DEATH, social anxiety and ineptitude, so many more.
Being a filmmaker, you should check out Adaptation as well.
Adaptation would be the perfect film to watch next. I’d also recommend Anomolisa from Kaufman
That’s my favorite movie of all time 😀
In the opening scene when he is having breakfast with his family, if you pay attention to the details you will notice that days are passing in mere moments, Caden is unaware of how much time is passing. This film has so many details its mind boggling. The entire movie is about death and how we are all hurtling towards it. Also, it's Syn-neck-doh-key
God I almost started crying again just watching your cutaways from this. I have been struggling with existentialism for a long long time as I catch myself aging, and seeing this film really broke me down in ways I cannot repair after watching. I had a mechanic tell me after I showed concerns for oil leaks from my car, "Just keep adding more oil when it leaks out until the engine stops running. It's not worth the effort to fix, and adding the oil will keep it going for now." I think of that often in regards to myself. I am beyond repair, but keep adding oil (friendships, family, music, etc.) and await my inevitable end. I fear love and intimacy now due to the gut-wrenching emotional agony it has caused me. I'm afraid of spending more time with my family after my father died quite rapidly from cancer. I feel trapped due to my own mistakes in life and my unwillingness to improve. Life at first is perceived as a road trip to Disneyland. Things will be great when we get there. The road trip only becomes a carjacking with a maniac behind the wheel with no clear intent on his distination.
Hey there, I know this is an old comment, but if you ever want to talk I'll listen. No one should have to deal with life's struggles alone.
Hey, I just wanted to say that was beautiful. Wow. I think that was the best comment I've ever read. Write more things like that. It was amazing.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the greatest actors. RIP.
no it's not
RIP! 🙏🏽
@@amine-sn4ii i think what you meant was "no HE'S* not", Phillip Seymour Hoffman isn't an inanimate fucking object, you fool
@popados aight lmfaooo that cracked me up. well done. dark humor always wins fuck me right
It was a sad day when he passed. He just got over he’s drug problem only to go back on it.
One of the genius things about this film is how you can interpret it. In one perspective you can look at it as a nihilistic movie which makes you confront a foreboding existential dread, or you can view the movie as a hopeful call to action to make your time on this Earth worth living instead of worrying about details and missing opportunities ( Like Caden and other characters do throughout the film).
A movie about what you watch movies to avoid. The struggle of being human.
I have a headache. The struggle of forming sentences.
glad to see another berserk fan appreciating this movie
@@fitterhappier2666 It's my favorite film of all time after all. Whereas Berserk is my favorite story of all time.
@@guts1258 lol that's crazy cause I could say exactly the same as you.
btw now that I think about it I think we exchanged messages in some other video(s) or at least you sound familiar haha
@@fitterhappier2666 It's a possibility. I've been around here and there, and it appears we have similar interests.
“It’s allmost as if it’s a surrealist story about his life and how he’s trying to deal with mortality”
You managed to summarize the essence of this movie in one simple sentence. One of my favourites of all time btw.
Loving this channel!
Yes. More Kaufman movies please!
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
@@JamesVSCinema Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of the best movies ever. And as a bonus it shows that Jim actually can act, not just as a clown.
Nevermind, found it. 74 movies in your playlist and that one gets blocked in my country for copyright reasons.
The real sadness is that he finally had an epiphany at the end there.
"I think I finally know how to do this play."
And then receiving his final direction "Die."
However, this film stresses the relationships between beginnings and ends. Perhaps his dying creative spark is really the birth of something new.
Well, he is saying that throughout the entire film. I think the point of it was that what he was making was never going to be good enough. That he struggled in vain trying to make a play that resembles real life and truth all the while missing real life and truth.
6 years later real Philip dies
the funeral monologue towards the end of this movie is one of my favorite scenes in film history. left me speechless when i first saw it.
I've watched this movie three times and still don't understand it, but I still like watching it and love the way it makes me feel.
Best way to describe it. Glad to hear!
Don’t feel bad for laughing, it is supposed to be funny in a subtle, dark, twisted kind of way
I genuinely can't watch Synecdoche, New York without breaking down. Even watching these bits and pieces left me in tears. It's probably the work of art that encapsulates all of my deepest fears, insecurities and dread most.
Dude, I love your comment section. It's like I'm not on youtube anymore.XD
Hahaha isn’t it awesome!? 😂
This is the kind of film that definitely needs multiple watches. As Roger Ebert so eloquently put it in his review: "The surface may daunt you. The depths enfold you. The whole reveals itself, and then you may return to it like a talisman."
OH MY GOD!! OK IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYONE STAY CALM!!
Seriously, this is in my top 10 favorite films, Charlie Kauffman is a genious.
Everytime I watch this mvie I listen to Time by Pink Floyd, it actually match the themes of this movie.
I am very excited that you've taken on this movie. It's my favorite Kaufman film and one of my favorite films starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Great actor, dearly missed.
One of the things I love about Synedoche, New York is that, beneath the darkness of depression, mortality, and family dysfunction, there is a soulful beauty that connects to us on a meaningful level. Something that eludes Caden despite his efforts to capture the complexity of life in the form of a play.
It's pronounced sin-neck-doe-key (sounds like Schenectady, a city in New York). It's a word that means referring to a part of a thing as a metaphor for the whole thing.
Thanks for the explanation!
Great video! Denis villeneuve once said something about mulholland drive (and i think it applies here as well) that his favorite films are ones where the first time you watch, you FEEL them. even without really knowing how to explain them you, understand them emotionally in your heart. the second time you apprciate them intellectually. this one is just that. amazing movie.
I know it's sad to say but I relate with this movie very deeply. I wish i didn't, but watching it made me feel comfortable that I wasn't the only one that felt like Caden often. It made me look deep within myself, because Caden shouldn't be someone one aspires to be, he is a personality and mentality that should be viciously avoided, and I don't know If i could have grown as a person without this film. Imo it's a masterpiece
You’re not the only one. It’s a masterpiece for sure.
What's so fascinating about this film is that there is no audio commentary because the director wanted people to see if they can figure out their own interpretation of the film.
One of the most intensely human movies ever conceived. The feelings it evokes are so unpredictable. PSH was astonishing. As was the soundtrack.
There's definitely a Charlie Kaufman Cinematic Universe. I'd love if all his films were somehow mashed up into one big story, and how insane that would be. Can't say that about a lot of filmmakers.
If you’re interested in more Kaufman films, I highly recommend checking out Adaptation and his latest I’m Thinking Of Ending Things. Two of the most brilliantly executed, original scripts I’ve ever seen.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is based on a book. Great film still!
The second time you watch this is a completely different experience
The "it's been 17 years..." line has stuck with me for years.
Yaaaaay time to drown in existential dread yet again!!
Hahahaha yayyy!
we are watching some of the best films of all time
OH! Has anybody recommended Dogville?
I would love for James to watch anything by Lars Von Trier! To me a modern Bergman. And the histrionics about him personally, I believe, are more about people not wanting to discover themselves to be lesser than the sum of their character. But of course, I also can be a bit of a pain in the ass.
Or "Breaking the waves".
@@JoeyBongas Breaking the Waves was the first Von Trier movie I watched. Saw it in a theater and was immediately hooked. Although, very disturbing to some, I find The House That Jack Built to be his Magnum Opus. What some people view as self aggrandizement I see as an utterly devastating deconstruction of His art. To me it is looking into his personal psyche. Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart.
oh shit dogville is absolutely brutal.
Umph. Dancer in the Dark. I almost forgot about that one.
Impressed that you kept noticing the stalker, I missed him completely on my first watch.
Watching this multiple times is essentially like watching a different movie each time. Such a fantastic movie. First time, found it depressing af, now I see it as a very uplifting movie.
This is by far my favorite movie and it is a masterclass of filmmaking, also YMS has a great series about this movie you might enjoy
One of my all-time favorites and probably the most unique movie I've seen
Can't wait for the 25k subs to turn into 225K sub's for you. Keep up the great work
Man thank you so much!
I never actually noticed Sammy in the beginning of the film, so thank you for that!
Definetlty my favourite film of all time , Charlie kaufman is such a talented screenwriter
YOOOOO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! This is one of my favorite films ever and shows off Charlie Kaufman's genius. Rest In Peace to Philip Seymour Hoffman, this is one of those films that makes me question my existence and cosmic existentialism afterwards haha.
Hahah I’m happy that this film was able to give you that feeling Toby!
This is an amazing film, one of Seymour Hoffman’s best performances, this and The Master. It really is one of those movies though where if you’ve only seen it once you haven’t really seen it. Just my opinion though.
Great reaction tho.
This is probably my favorite movie ever. We really don’t see many RUclipsrs reacting to these kind of movies like you. Keep it up man!
Just watched this for the first time tonight. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks and goddamn am I glad I finally put it in. What an experience. That’s something I love about this channel and this Patreon community, motivates me to watch things I’ve never seen before and revisit films that mean so much to me.
Best movie of all time.
Did Adam from YMS requested this?
lmao i was gonna say the same thing!
Such an honest portrayal of subjective human experience. I absolutely love this film. I admire it’s willingness to be tragic and talk about death as well as to show how those of os who are “creatives” tend to live in our own heads. It’s absurd that this was Kaufman’s Debut as a director. Masterpiece!
Next to Barton Fink!
Love Your channel!
I appreciate you and this content. It just hits the spot right now :)
Kaufman's films are always such a deep dive. This film is like channeled footage from the spirit world :)
This movie brutalizes you, takes a shit in your mouth, laughs at you, and then shakes you saying "wake up".
this remains my favorite movie of all time.
Charlie Kaufman wrote and directed this movie, he also wrote Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and many other "confusing" movies, but i think that he is kind of brilliant with what he makes
(Sorry for the misspelings, English is not my native language)
By the way, nice video
That’s incredible!
"This is film is fascinating." yeah, basically. I agree that the film can be frustrating on first viewing with how jarring it seems.
Agreed but I was all in for it!
You have to watch this movie more than once to even grasp most of it's themes and concepts. You will miss most of what the movie offers on the first viewing, but in subsequent viewings you will pick up on a lot of things you missed.
For sure!!
Look up "the genius of synecdoche new york" by YMS... it will blow your mind
This reaction would make no sense if i didn't watch that first xD
Top 5 trippiest movies ever.
This is one of my all time favorites. Perfect levels of wtf and an endless source for thought and analysis.
One of my top 3 favourite films!!!
I'd like to recommend some belgian films for you… they're dark, they are great:
Misfortunates by Felix van Groeningen (includes the Tour de France as a drinking game… pure awesomeness)
Man Bites Dog by Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel
The Brand New testament by Jaco Van Dormael
Bullhead by Michaël R. Roskam
Ex Drummer by Koen Mortier (my favourite. To quote a friend: Really great film - I don't want to see it ever again)
They have their own game on in Belgium. Love it.
Few people seem to ever point out how fucking FUNNY this movie is. Yes, it's dark and depressing, but, like life, it's also bafflingly funny - A wonderful tonal tightrope-walk.
This movie changed me forever
I just watched this movie in my college Intellectual Heritage course
Hey, random question do you use letterboxd, it's a website where you can log films
I can make one!
@@JamesVSCinema i would love to follow you on it if you do!
@@JamesVSCinema You definitely should, love to see all the films you've seen. Also would make it easier for film recommendations (because it's just film not tv)
I think this was supposed to be based on "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett...the play dealt with an aging narcissistic protagonist who doesn't have the means to understand his own mortality, who starts playing tapes he recorded in his earlier life, ego istic rationalizations and falsehoods to explain his own shortcomings, smear the imperfect world that is responsible. As the rationalizations become more evidently false and transparent, the number of tapes he is able to believe/rationalize becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually, it comes down to 1 final tape, his last rationalization. Can't remember if there is redemption at the end or he dies in this delusion...I think Kaufmann's genius is his ability to dismantle the "consented to" or presumed shared reality, the flawed practicalities, what Erving Goffman might call "front stage" or projected self image.
Hey man. Great reaction!!! I'm so thrilled that this incredible film I saw years ago when I was in law school actually garnered attentiveness in the movie reaction universe. It's an extraordinarily complex and difficult film to understand. Also, this film along with many others is by far the best film in HORROR HISTORY.
Also if you ever wish to spend probably months or even years that it would only begin to take just to understand literally the first 10 to 20 minutes at the beginning let me know!
You should watch Being John Malcovich. It is weird too but understandable enough and really good.
YMS has a whole analysis series on this film. You check it out in your free time.
Will need a rewatch on this one. You definitely need to be on its emotional level but the presentation is something that can truly only be done on film.
Charlie Kaufman (who wrote and directed this) is an amazing screenwriter. Everything he has written is gold, and steeped in humanity with an otherworldly feel. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is my favourite movie of all time. Being John Malkovich is just brilliantly insane, while the other 2 movies he's directed - I'm Thinking of Ending Thingsand Anomolisa (which is stop-motion) will also blow your mind!
I've been a big fan of Phillip Seymour Hoffman since The Talented Mr Ripley. A great film.
“The meaning of life is that it ends.”
Franz Kafka
Adaptation is another one that is so fantastic and real in its surrealism
BACK 2 BACK BANGERS!!!
I love you?
Have you ever watched The Last Black Man in San Francisco?
Hahahaha I have not!
4:32 Philip Seymour Hoffman is not Matt Damon. But both are Jesse Plemons.
there's a japanese movie called One Cut of the Dead that's a must see for anyone who loves making movies!!
Absolutely 100% agree!
"Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So the way he sees it, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it, that's all. So don't worry, okay? Okay?"
Great reaction James, I've seen this film once and that was it, I felt I didn't have enough patience to figure it out, so I just accepted what I don't know is ok, keep em coming man!!!
This is on the very, very short list of films I just couldn't bring myself to finish. I felt like the film was structured to aggressively keep me locked outside of it. Not a feeling I've almost ever had before and eventually I sort of agreed with the film, "yes, you're right, I don't want me watching you either" and gave up. Points to you for being able to get thru it.
Highhhhly recommend YMS's ongoing film analysis of this movie her on youtube (5 parts as of right now), it's one of my favorite movie analyses on youtube going. You got so many things right on your first watch, it's great to see. :)
>3 years ago
>ongoing
>5 parts
that hurts a lot
Should check out The Place Beyond The Pines
Written by Charlie Kaufman. I reccomend his debut novel, Antkind.
I'm not sure if it's the best movie to react to and do commentary on, bc in my opinion you have to be entirely absorded into the film. this film is overwhelmingly full of important dialogue and scenes full of nuance and details and commenting over it (I get that this approach is necessary for the format of reaction videos) feels incongruent to what this film demands from its viewer: being hyperfocused, present and alert throughout the runtime. even though you could still come out of this loving it, I still feel like this could restrict your viewing experience.
Absolutely LOVED this film hard
Always the good shit, Charlie Kaufman is the homie.
Factual!
It's also Charlie Kaufman's birthday
this is my second favourite film, i love it so much
finally! this is my favourite movie of all time
Jon Brion did the score who is notably famous for being a constant collaborater of Fiona Apple.
great choice as always, hope you get into some sci fi soon! i have tons of recs lol
Will do brotha!
Rented this one night; needed a few days to think about it...
This channel called YMS has the best analysis of the film.
the mind of someone suffering with dementia? things get blurry, memories mixed up, thrown in and out of place, some missing, others added.. yet the emotions remain..
I fell in love with the trailer for this movie. I was so excited to see it. Then I saw it and was completely bewildered by it. I can't say I love it but I want to understand it better. I have no what I am meant to feel or why anything in the movie happens.
This is a really weird coincidence I just felt like bringing up. It's so weird to me that you ended up watching both Magnolia and Synecdoche back to back since a few months ago I bought both of those movies together on blu-ray. Since I don't buy movies too often to conserve money, I don't know, I often just remember which ones I bought for my collection at which specific times. Anyway, so glad you watched both films! I think this one I like more than Magnolia, it's just so rewarding on repeated viewings even with how brutally honest it is.
Glad you liked it james it's one of my favourites. Do check it out again it warre its more viewings and you get so much room that.
Also check out yourmoviesuck analysis on RUclips of the film he does great videos on it.
If you liked this please watch the new netflix film, I'm Thinking of Ending Things from the same director! It's a similar film with surreal elements but in my opinion much easier to understand.
RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Christopher Evan Welch.
This is one of only a handful of films 2000 or later that is on my favourite films list.
You really need to check out “Adaptation” another Kaufman film. It is still very meta but much more linear and a bit less surreal. I think you would really appreciate it
Highly recommend YourMovieSucks Analysis videos on the movie.
James, you should watch The Talented Mr Ripley - it has both Phillip Seymour Hoffman AND Mat Damon together. It be a good film too x
charlie kaufman is one of my biggest inspirations. this film is very high in my favorites
Highly recommend trying out Kaufman's latest film "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" on netflix. It didn't work for everyone, but I think you'd dig it. Another incredibly cerebral metaphysical journey. The novella it's based off is amazing in it's own right as well, and the audiobook version does a fantastic job translating.