Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Anomalisa" (2015)

 

Scene from Anomalisa

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Review: "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is a Special Kind of Frustrating

Scene from I'm Thinking of Ending Things

If you were to describe Charlie Kaufman's filmography in one word, it's headache. Not cerebral or surreal, just headache. Over a career spanning 25 years, he has taken a look inside the human condition and asked the profound questions about how our brain works. With Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, he explored romance in one of the most creative dramas of the 21st century. More recently, he explored loneliness in Anomalisa by turning a hotel full of people voiced by only three actors. He's an oddball who takes risks, but at the end of the day, you'll understand why these ideas make your head ache at night, causing you to toss and turn at night. He may not always say it directly, but those willing to listen will find something satisfying in his frustration, finding profundity in the mundane conversations as we transition to the next phase of life.

This is what makes I'm Thinking of Ending Things a particularly unique ride even within his filmography. While every story has these twists and turns that reveal themselves to us, this Netflix collaboration is one that requires an insubordinate amount of patience, requiring audiences to get through a 20-minute car ride full of seemingly inconsequential conversations. Why does any of this matter? Kaufman has gotten to a point in his writing career where he sprinkles nuance so gradually that you might miss it entirely. It may be why this is a difficult film to understand, let alone enjoy. Is it actually a journey to visit family, or is this an attempt at Kaufman's grander existential crisis magnum opus? The answer lies somewhere in the middle, maybe blurred out in a cloud of snow in the rearview mirror. While the film eventually gets there, the road there requires an effort that not everyone will be willing to face. 

Charlie Kaufman Returns with the First Neurotic Trailer for "I'm Thinking of Ending Things"

Scene from I'm Thinking of Ending Things

On the one hand, this year is so screwed up that its impossible to have any idea at how to look at this awards season. Considering that we're months out from the usual launch, there's no surety that anything will even be out. Most of the big films have moved to 2021 at the hopes that this pandemic will be over. For now, we just have to treat everything with a certain sensitivity, treating what would be a longshot as a serious contender. Given that streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ have been releasing quality work, there's a good reason to argue that this year's winners will be digital.

Following in the path of Da 5 Bloods, Netflix is releasing their next high profile movie I'm Thinking of Ending Things. No, it's not a title meant to imply how we feel right now. It's the latest film from Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Considering that his neurotic gifts have made some of the most interesting existential dives into the human condition over the past 20 years, it's always a delight to know that he's back out there doing stuff. After watching this trailer, that uncertainty clearly shines through. The only question is if audiences will be ready for a neurotic, depressing family get together. For those who are, this is a great and refreshing film in a sometimes dour period.

Charlie Kaufman Disliked Working with George Clooney on "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"

Scene from Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

When historians look back at the past 20 years of film, there is a great chance that they will see the greatest screenwriter not as someone like Quentin Tarantino, but more in line with Charlie Kaufman. One doesn't need to think too hard about why that is, especially since every screenplay he's written has been a challenging narrative that mixes the absurd with deep, philosophical challenges and often surreal imagery. He is a writer unto his own and whose latest Anomalisa is among his best work. However, he recently announced that there was a screenplay that he wasn't too happy with, and it's easy to see why once you know the story.

The First "Anomalisa" Trailer Features Kaufman Being His Typical Weird Self

Scene from Anomalisa

With it being already deep into Oscar season, there's a good chance that you've heard a lot about director Charlie Kaufman's stop motion film Anomalisa. Having become one of the most perplexing voices in 21st century cinema with the screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and his directorial effort Synechdoche, New York, it makes sense that he wouldn't take a conventional route on his latest film. Speaking as it's a nice change of pace from the other likely Best Animated film candidates (is anything beating Inside Out yet?), it's going to be fun to see if this film stands any chances. If nothing else, the first trailer promises to have more Kaufman-esque philosophy behind it. And that's not a bad thing at all.