Anomalisa
Welcome to Movie Night with Brandon, which is basically my excuse to discuss and review any film I feel like. Whether it's a brand new film or an older one, it's whatever I feel like doing. With all that out of the way, let's talk about some movies.
Anomalisa is a film I heard a lot of things about last year but never had the opportunity to see. By the time 2016 rolled around the film slipped my mind and I sort of forgot about it until I saw the Blu-Ray at Best Buy and knew I had to finally check it out. The film is written by arguably the best screenwriter working today; Charlie Kaufman. His films are very complexly written and I wanted to write my review after I had seen it twice rather than just after one viewing. I watched the film about two weeks ago and today I finally re-watched it.
First thing I have to say is this film is brilliant, sincerely brilliant. After my first viewing I noticed I had seen something very special but after my second watch I picked up a lot more subtext and subtleties that make me want to watch it a third time and many more subsequent times. It wasn't to my surprise how brilliant this films screenplay was because it was written by Kaufman who's works include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Synecdoche, New York. His films are all genuine masterpieces and this one absolutely lived up to the hype.
As the IMDb description reads; A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. That's all I really want to say about the plot because while the film isn't necessarily spoil-able, it is better going in not knowing too much. Some of the choices made in the story are very unique and will make for a better experience if you go in as blind as I did.
The film is created using stop-motion animation and boy did the visuals blow me away. The cinematography here is excellent and you can really feel the films care for this genre. Long takes with stop motion would takes months to create and the slightest mis-step could've taken even longer to fix. Although CG animation is very beautiful and does take a lot of hard work, seeing a movie created in this fashion is very refreshing. The voice acting is also striking as well. David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh both do remarkable jobs in the film and make their characters feel so real you at times forget it's only a puppet on screen. Duke Johnson was brought in to co-direct due to his experience in stop-motion animation. Johnson and Kaufman direct this film with precision that is genuinely Oscar worthy which is amazing since this is Johnson's first full length feature film.
Not to sound like a broken record, but the main thing that makes me love this film so much is the screenplay. The script of this film and really the film itself manages to convey a lot of authentic character emotion as well as make statements about humanity itself. Many critics have stated that this is one of the most human movies ever made and I cannot agree more. The substance in the screenplay leaves me in awe as I sit here thinking about it's contents. It has so much to say about love, relationships, actual connections with people, and the overall human experience. Anomalisa manages to hit all these notes while still feeling very cohesive and straight-forward enough to keep a general audience on board. While this isn't his most outlandish film, it is still a bit strange at first.
This has been occupying my thoughts for weeks now and after my second viewing it created more thoughts that will stick with me for even longer. Anomalisa is so breath-taking while also remaining quite subtle, thanks to it's figurative and sub-textual storytelling. Had I seen this last year, it would've easily made my number one spot on my top ten list. This film is a masterpiece and you should seek it out as soon as possible.
First thing I have to say is this film is brilliant, sincerely brilliant. After my first viewing I noticed I had seen something very special but after my second watch I picked up a lot more subtext and subtleties that make me want to watch it a third time and many more subsequent times. It wasn't to my surprise how brilliant this films screenplay was because it was written by Kaufman who's works include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, and Synecdoche, New York. His films are all genuine masterpieces and this one absolutely lived up to the hype.
As the IMDb description reads; A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary. That's all I really want to say about the plot because while the film isn't necessarily spoil-able, it is better going in not knowing too much. Some of the choices made in the story are very unique and will make for a better experience if you go in as blind as I did.
The film is created using stop-motion animation and boy did the visuals blow me away. The cinematography here is excellent and you can really feel the films care for this genre. Long takes with stop motion would takes months to create and the slightest mis-step could've taken even longer to fix. Although CG animation is very beautiful and does take a lot of hard work, seeing a movie created in this fashion is very refreshing. The voice acting is also striking as well. David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh both do remarkable jobs in the film and make their characters feel so real you at times forget it's only a puppet on screen. Duke Johnson was brought in to co-direct due to his experience in stop-motion animation. Johnson and Kaufman direct this film with precision that is genuinely Oscar worthy which is amazing since this is Johnson's first full length feature film.
Not to sound like a broken record, but the main thing that makes me love this film so much is the screenplay. The script of this film and really the film itself manages to convey a lot of authentic character emotion as well as make statements about humanity itself. Many critics have stated that this is one of the most human movies ever made and I cannot agree more. The substance in the screenplay leaves me in awe as I sit here thinking about it's contents. It has so much to say about love, relationships, actual connections with people, and the overall human experience. Anomalisa manages to hit all these notes while still feeling very cohesive and straight-forward enough to keep a general audience on board. While this isn't his most outlandish film, it is still a bit strange at first.
This has been occupying my thoughts for weeks now and after my second viewing it created more thoughts that will stick with me for even longer. Anomalisa is so breath-taking while also remaining quite subtle, thanks to it's figurative and sub-textual storytelling. Had I seen this last year, it would've easily made my number one spot on my top ten list. This film is a masterpiece and you should seek it out as soon as possible.
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