Another Year

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: An old married couple (Jim Broadbent & Ruth Sheen) deals with all the tragically desperate single people around them.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, David Bradley, Martin Savage, Karina Fernandez, Michele Austin, Phil Davis, Imelda Staunton

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. It's tragically long and desperately tragic, but the acting is so mesmerizing, that it's almost worth enduring.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Isn't "desperate" a quality that's always funny?-- I mean, when it's another person's desperation.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Okay, you're right, desperation is tragically depressing regardless of whose it is.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: This film may actually contain this year's Best Performance by a man or a woman. But Leslie Manville will probably get screwed out of her deserved Academy Award because Natalie Portman's got all the hype. My advice, go for Supporting and win!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: A series of well executed subtle and not-so-subtle shared looks and glances tell stories more complex than any words ever could.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: In making movies like Happy-Go-Lucky and Topsy-Turvy, Mike Leigh has tried to fool us into thinking that he makes upbeat spirited movies, only to lure us back into his original world of movies with the word "Bleak" in the title. Thankfully, he puts hyphens in the titles of his upbeat movies, and not in the titles of his downbeat ones, so in the future, we'll have to pay closer attention to that, if we don't want to find ourselves in a 2hr 20mn exploration of desperately tragic loneliness.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The dialogue is well written and perfectly executed by the actors, but the ending doesn't give you a lot of hope for these tragically desperate characters... which I guess is the point, since after all, it's not called "A Pivotal Year," it's just Another Year.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The Brits are known for having bad teeth, but some of the teeth in this film are distressing enough to be showcased in some kind of bizarre human museum, like Ripley's Believe It or Not. Even the normal-looking teeth are shown filled with scraps of food for entire scenes at a time.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Another Year Trailer

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Synecdoche, New York

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman), whose life starts out fairly normal (bad marriage and a kid), gets a chance to direct his life's work-- quite literally-- as the play gradually becomes a metaphor of his own life examination, and at the same time a carbon copy of his life experiences. The project takes the rest of his life to complete, as he's constantly trying to figure his life out, although it's ambiguous enough that at certain points you wonder if he's already dead... I don't know, it's Charlie Kaufman.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, Tom Noonan, Sadie Goldstein, Paul Sparks, Daisy Tahan, Robin Weigert

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Don't go to this movie if you're one of those people who likes to understand what's going on. And if you do go, bring a friend, preferably one who likes psychoanalyzing poetry and extracting from it esoteric innuendo. You'll need that someone there to discuss it with you (read: explain) afterward.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: If not for Charlie Kaufman's offbeat brand of humor, this would be a David Lynch movie.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but it may move your mind. Sometimes to boredom, sometimes to confusion, and sometimes to insight-- or a headache.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Kaufman is the only person in Hollywood who's allowed to do anything original... so probably.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Emma Watson plays Samantha Morton, and you literally don't know which is the real one and which is the fake at times. As for the rest, if I may refer you to the list of talent under FAQ #2, you'll rightly presume that everyone else is great, too.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Charlie Kaufman directs from his own script, and it still looks like a Charlie Kaufman film. Unfortunately, I think it's less strong than some of his previous scripts, most likely due to the lack of an outside eye/director cutting and shaping the insanity into more comprehensible terms for those of us who don't live inside Kaufman's mind.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I sat through a Q & A to find out just that, and what I learned is that Kaufman himself isn't quite sure what it's about. It conveys certain ideas about life, or dream-states, or maybe after-life, or stream of consciousness... all of which you won't be tested on.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Cleavage. Lots of it. But not the perky kind, either. More like the fleshy kind. In any case, I think our award winning screenwriter may be a breast man.

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