charlie kaufman film festival
Recently saw "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". I guess it came out in 2002, but I thought it was more recent. Great cast.. Sam Rockwell! Drew Barrymore! Julia Roberts! that guy who plays the cousin on CYE! great script... Charlie Kaufman! great director... George Clooney! Well, maybe not so great directing. You can tell from the DVD special features that he was really trying to prove himself. Lots of film dork stuff: oners, no post-production effects, storyboards up the wazoo. I think Clooney did a good job, but, he definitely comes off as a bit too earnest in the commentaries. Interesting that Clooney's other directorial credit is a biography: Good Night And Good Luck.
But enough about Clooney, Kaufman! Kaufman! Maybe it's time to review "Malkovich" I've only seen it the once. I'm just now putting "Human Nature" on my Netflix queue, so I'll be up-to-date in all my Kaufman film viewings. I know some might dismiss his stuff as "too cute by half"; he's brilliant. Even here, where the adaptation from the book isn't nearly as meta as "Adapation" --duh-- he sets up this wonderful dichotomy between Barris's straight self and secret self. Then worlds collide... but there's also this meditation on self-worth and self-image. So here, in fact, Kaufman is in his element. A writer brooding over his own contributions via the character of a writer brooding about his own contributions.
...and it's entertaining.
"Ladies and Gentleman! This next act." *clap* "This next act. How do I describe it? You just gotta see this." *clap* <point>