YES, NO, MAYBE SO: Anomalisa
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 5:00PM Coco here, ready to talk about the trailer for Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa.
YES
- Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine... Even if you don't love Synecdoche New York, a Charlie Kaufman project deserves enthusiasm.
- We don't get enough stop-motion animation in our screens, and even fewer animated movies aimed at adult audiences.
- In a sea of computer generated mediocrity, it's always nice to see a strong voice be inspired by the medium of animation, which seems to be a good way for auteurs to find revitalizing force. Think, for example, of Wes Anderson's wave of success after Fantastic Mr. Fox.
- The reaction out of Venice and Toronto has been quite ecstatic, and the trailer reflects that in the form of raving critical blurs. Glenn Keanny calls it "one of those rare perfect movies", and most things I've heard have been along those lines.
- David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tom Noonan? Those are some robust voices right there.
NO
- So, the critical reaction has been mostly positive, but one of the film's most vocal opponents is The Film Experience friend and collaborator Nick Davis. Nick is a very astute moviegoer, so his agnosticism is a legitimate source for caution.
- A story about a depressed middle-aged man finding revitalizing solace? I think I've heard this one before... and from Charlie Kaufman, too.
MAYBE SO
- Am I the only one who is getting a Birdman vibe off of this? There are quite a few moments of surrealism in the trailer, and that moment with the christmas lights is almost identitcal to the liquor store scene in Birdman. I wasn't a big fan of that movie -- what to make of the similarities?
- There is something beautiful and yet uncanny valley-esque about the animation. Uneasy eerieness might work in the movie's favor, but it could also be too distracting.
Anomalisa will start its limited release on December 30. I'm a yes based on Kaufman's history and the fact that it's an animated movie, but now it's your turn. Watch the trailer and tell us which you are in the comments.
Reader Comments (16)
Saw this at TIFF and came out pretty mixed. Great ending, animation, and voice work, but there's a long middle stretch that seems very overextended, like a short film stretched out to feature length. And I'm not sure the ideas being explored really support a feature length run time. At 40 minutes, this might have been a profound, concise exploration of one man's depressive mind space. At 85 or whatever it is, it felt like a suffocating riff on ideas that Kaufman has explored in much more interesting ways elsewhere.
I am so glad I'm not the only one who saw Birdman in that Christmas lights shot (though I actually like Birdman, but I too see the similarity as not promising).
The uncanny valley of the stop motion isn't what bothers me for some reason. The cracks and lines do, though. Even while it's the only practical way to bring these puppets to life, it brings me out of the movie. It doesn't compliment the aesthetic at all.
On a good note... I love how tired Thewlis' voice is when he says "Our time is limited. We forget that." I replayed it the first time I heard it.
big fat YES for this one
Kaufman is an automatic yes for me.
Intersting- but if you are going to use realistic human puppets why not use the real thing instead?
I'm a firm yes, especially for visual feel that appears unique even with the stop-motion subgenre. There's definitely risk of shallowness and hollowness, though.
This is a no-brainer. I don't care whether people call it a masterpiece or are not impressed by it. I know why I like art and Kauffman is one of the living artists I mostly admire. It actually gets kind of annoying that every single movie that opens carries a reputation because of its festival run. I guess maybe because the coverage of everything is so excessive with the internet as a facilitator and everyone having an opinion that is definite about everything. Too many opinions. I take my friend's opinions with a grain of salt, so why would I even bother to give any credit to what someone I've never met have to say about anything? I miss seeing movies in the dark. Maybe I should completely quit reading reviews and watching trailers.
I'm a Yes, but would the movie still be considered great if it was filmed conventionally?
HELL YEAH!!!!
I mean, I'm mostly a yes, but something about the trailer felt a bit off to me, and I'm not just talking about the uncanny valley. I can't quite put it into words, but the whole things seemed a little.... precious? trite?... in a way i wouldn't expect and frankly wouldn't want from Kaufman.
Maybe I am overthinking this but the final shot and voice over in the trailer is kind of a gay panic moment.
The man tells the other man to let go of his hand rather abruptly as if two men holding hands for a nano second longer than necessary is weird or strange....
Is it though, Max? I kind of just took it as the guy is introverted and would rather not have somebody invade his space (he was a lot more abrupt with his "I SAID IT'S FINE" than he was with "you can let go now though").
That's just me.
Good point Max.
I suspect in the context of the film this is another episode of Thewlis rejecting human connection, underlined by Tom Noonan voicing all supporting characters, however in the trailer it came across as gay panic.
Overall I'm not sure about the trailer. All these title cards saying the film is brilliant, but none of them explaining why and the feeling that I've seen this (seemingly thin) story explored before.
Here in the UK it isn't out until mid March so at least it won't be in the middle of the prestige clutter and maybe will have time to breath in the arthouse cinemas.
Coco - any chance of doing a yes/no/maybe so on Chi-raq? That was a trailer that completely hooked me yesterday, even if it ends up being a disaster I want to see the film.
It was the Surprise Film at the London Film Festival, and the only reason I didn't walk out (unlike more or less 30 people) was because I'm cheap and I had already paid the £16. I HATED it. I honestly can't think of any other film I've hated more than this in a long time. Life's too short to watch Boring White Man Has First World Problems And Treats Female Characters As Props.
Anna - ha, your last line perfectly sums up my reservations about this.
Can someone please explain this "uncanny valley" phrase that keeps popping up here? I don't know what it's referring to. Thanks.
Yes I'm often suspicious of things that are mega-hyped and this film confirms that I'm right to be so. Apart from the technical achievement in animation there isn't very much to be impressed with here. The whole thing is gimmicky rather than original. CK seems to have a limited range of things to say and simply searches for new quirks and conceits to dress up the same things over and over.
I've seen a good number of comments on the film now - reviews, blog posts, iMDB etc. Interestingly, there seems to be a bit of a male/female divide, with women giving a somewhat less positive rating than men. Let's work out why that is, lol.