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.

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.