Charming Craziness Runs Rampant In Spike Jonze's Debut Directorial Effort Being John Malkovich

I'll be right upfront and proclaim myself as a total Spike Jonze fanboy. When I saw Where The Wild Things Are as a thirteen-year-old, I had no prior experience with his filmmaking but the movie itself was so captivating and incredible that I knew I would never forget Spike Jonze's name. Just a few yeas later, Jonze managed to surpass his 2009 achievement with the masterpiece Her, one of the best movies made in the 21st century. Since seeing those two in their theatrical runs, I've also gone back and watched the superb Adaptation and have no finally rounded out Spike Jonze's feature film directorial catalog by finally viewing his debut effort Being John Malkovich, which paired him up with writer Charlie Kaufman, the writer of Adaptation.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind Can Only Be Described As Beautiful, Profound And....Nice

A lot has happened in the past six months for me but perhaps one of the most formative things that have transpired is that my opinion of Jim Carrey as an actor has been completely altered by watching movies like I Love You, Phillip Morris, The Truman Show and now Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind for the first time. Carrey is a truly talented individual with an incredible amount of range and I'd wager no other motion picture (despite Morris and Truman Show containing some top-notch work from Carrey) so eloquently shows off the level of talent Carrey is capable of commanding as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, a 2004 Michel Gondry effort that's really...well, something else.

Anomalisa Review

So, uh, what the hell is Paramount Pictures doing handling the distribution of Anomalisa? The same studio responsible for ushering in the Transformers sequels, as well as the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film and Terminator: Genisys, are now in charge of a stop-motion animated Charlie Kaufman film dealing with pervasive loneliness and its effects on the human psyche. Versatility is the name of the game, and to be fair, Paramount also financed Nebraska and let Darren Aronofsky go hog wild on the tale of Noah's Ark.

Synecdoche, New York And The Futile Pursuit Of Control

SPOILERS FOR SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK AHEAD

There are some movies that, once they conclude, leave me with the inescapable feeling of euphoria over seeing something incredible. Others leave me with a stormy cloud hovering over my head, with certain films being so absolutely dreadful that the only proper response to such movies existing seems to be tracking down all existing Blu-Rays of the motion picture and smashing them to dust. And then there's a film like Synecdoche, New York, which, upon ending, left me more perplexed than anything else. I couldn't figure this one out; had I watched something transcendent or a noble misfire?

Adaptation Review (Classic Write-Up)

Adaptation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery

A meta approach to a film or TV show or any piece of media is not uncommon, but it is unique for it to be embraced as heartily as it is by Adaptation, a 2002 Spike Jonze directed feature that goes absolutely all in when it comes to utilizing this style of storytelling. How exactly does the movie engage in a meta narrative you ask? Why, by focusing on an exaggerated version of the films screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage).