Saturday, October 11, 2008

VINYL IS PODCAST #3: Synecdoche, Eustache

by Ryland Walker Knight and Mark Haslam


looking out
looking around
looking through

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RWK here. We're back this episode to talk about some films we've seen but haven't finished writing about despite our due diligence (we promise) and a certain setback specific to Mark, which you'll just have to hear to believe. The episode starts with a talk of a recent advance screening in Berkeley of Synecdoche, New York that Mark was able to attend, which leads to a host of issues, including that trope of the/a title. In fact, I make passing reference to Michael Sicinski's review of Hunger, in which he makes passing reference to Charlie Kaufman's "regrettable" appropriation of the term as opposed to Steve McQueen's "mindbogglingly simple" solution to making the "Issue picture" viable though "cinema as synecdoche," which I then turn into talk about Bresson's cinema of metonymy, even metonymy of sensation, which somehow leads into (an altogether too brief) talk of our recent adventures with the current Jean Eustache series at PFA, which continues this weekend with, yes, a soft-titled presentation of Numéro Zéro on Sunday evening. There's also room for more talk of On Dangerous Ground and the Jia Zhang-Ke films I've been seeing, too, with special attention (at the close) to The World, which I hope to write about soon. Oh, and, there's two songs this episode, which you can find on my imeem page right here. (Again, if you want them gone, just shake a hand via email.) So, please, listen and tell us things. First, though, while our words (down)load, maybe look at these things--



3 comments:

  1. This was the nudge I needed to pick up an album by TV on the Radio. Thanks, guys.

    I also enjoyed the chit chat. Synecdoche, New York has left a nicer glow in my head than I expected while I was sitting in the theater. Part of my reluctance to embrace it may be its similarity to other Kaufman projects, which may be unfair. If this had come out of nowhere it might have had more of an impact.

    This surprising glow, by the way, reminds me of my conflicted feelings about Speed Racer -- i.e. for something that feels easy to dismiss, there's weird stuff to sink into.

    Sorry my comments aren't any better than this -- too tired. I'm enjoying the 'cast.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by, Rob, and listening, too. Glad you're getting something from this goof. And, yeah, I think _Return to Cookie Mountain_ is pretty great; better than the new one.

    I look forward to seeing _Synecdoche_ when it comes out. Hopefully pick up some of this conversation again. I like what you hint at with the nod to _Speed Racer_, too.

    And, of course, I hope you had a happy birthday.

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  3. I haven't watch the film yet, but I read some good reviews that mention that it is must see film, so must see it then.

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