Comments on: Synecdoche, NY

Synecdoche, NY

defenestration — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:36:30 -0800

Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part. It's also the title of the directorial debut of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, set to begin filming in Summer 2007. He's proven his writing chops and shown us his creative ingenuity with Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but this will mark the first film that will showcase his vision from page to screen. The story centers on an anguished playwright and several women in his life, and is set to star Philip Seymour Hoffman and Michelle Williams.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:43:07 -0800

But will his sword be mightier than his pen?

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:45:50 -0800

"What's that you say? You mean you don't know what a 'synecdoche' is? " I hate it when stories presume ignorance on my part. Of course I know what synecdoche is.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:53:05 -0800

What's that you say? You mean your ignorant ass don't know what a synechdoche is?

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:54:22 -0800

(Whereas my ignorant ass apparently can't spell it...)

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:57:47 -0800

You may be lysdexic. Sceintology will cure that.

By: snofoam

snofoam — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:02:54 -0800

synecdouche

By: defenestration

defenestration — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:05:47 -0800

I hate it when stories presume ignorance on my part. Of course I know what synecdoche is. Yeah, I thought that was sort of lame, too -- but it was the most informative story I could find for the time being.

By: notmydesk

notmydesk — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:08:26 -0800

Thanks for letting me know about this movie that hasn't started filming yet, or even secured financing. I'll rush right out to a location that might someday contain a movie theater.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:11:45 -0800

Cynicdouche.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:14:45 -0800

The old dictionary definition trick is the exclusive providence of mothafuckin' hacks. Claude Brodesser-Akner, you are a goddamn hack! Anyway, this trick is intended to set the tone of the piece thusly: Charlie Kaufman is a crazy writer type! Oh no, teh big words! What will he come up with next? It's really hacky to belittle yourself and the readers without a shred of humour. Now the positive part - Kaufman is a clever writer, and I think this can be a wonderful film, let's hope he hires a good DP. I would love to see more writers directing, and fewer directors writing, if you know what I mean.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:30:59 -0800

Damint, I thought I was all cool when I found out what that obscure word meant. Now every punk-ass idiot will know what it means! I guess I'm stuck with metonymy. Weak.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:35:47 -0800

How 'bout chthonic, Delmoi? Or is that one played?

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:38:10 -0800

psst... the IMDB is shit. Shit, shit, shit. Poorly designed, and accompanied with awful, user-written reviews. There is an alternative.

By: stammer

stammer — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:44:08 -0800

Wow, this sounds pretty bad.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:44:46 -0800

Cynicdouche. Wahey!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:47:16 -0800

Thanks for letting me know about this movie that hasn't started filming yet, or even secured financing. I'll rush right out to a location that might someday contain a movie theater. I must admit I had similar thoughts when I saw the post, but I'm glad I didn't try to produce actual snark, because I wouldn't have done as well as that. (That said, it does sound like it might be an interesting movie, even if Charlie Kaufman is way, way too full of himself.)

By: Amy Phillips

Amy Phillips — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:59:16 -0800

Well, we can still feel superior to people who didn't know the word before the movie when everyone inevitably tries to pronounce it phonetically.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:02:20 -0800

psst... the IMDB is shit. Shit, shit, shit. Poorly designed, and accompanied with awful, user-written reviews. There is an alternative. But AllMovies doesn't integrate film records with television records in the same way that IMDB does. From looking at Harrison Ford's AllMovie profile, for example, you'd never know that he played "Beach Patrol Cop" opposite Richard Pryor in the Mod Squad episode "Teeth of the Barracuda." Of what use is a movie profile site if it can't exhaustively reveal the bizarre and embarrassing roles that stars took when they were starting out?

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:02:35 -0800

Languagehat and notmydesk: Here's where you go for info on movies that are in a more advanced state of development.

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:17:16 -0800

I'm more a fan of metonymy.

By: riotgrrl69

riotgrrl69 — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:21:59 -0800

Dismissing the IMDb because of the user reviews is like dismissing the New York Times because of the letters page.

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:25:35 -0800

(tangent) I read somewhere that "The Three," the screenplay written by the protagonist's brother in Adaptation, was inspired by Kauffman's experience writing a screenplay for A Scanner Darkly.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:28:28 -0800

But the New York Times (a) isn't all letters to the editor, and includes some decent, careful reporting and work; and (b) doesn't look like shit. Seriously, numerous layout changes at IMDb haven't apparently dealt with this. Automating everything has its price. IMDb needs more oversight.

By: sparkletone

sparkletone — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 10:34:32 -0800

One of the many ways in which I'd annoy my Latin teacher in high school was by insisting on pronouncing the word, "See-neck-doh-chay" in a ridiculous faux-Spanish accent. Poetickal devices are fun.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:28:21 -0800

Interesting to see if the name stays. Nabokov wanted to title his memoirs Speak, Mnemosyne but the marketing department wouldn't have it. As to Kaufman- two strikes and one home run in my view. Curious to see what he (might) come up with.

By: Mister_A

Mister_A — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:36:21 -0800

WHich were the strikes indigo? Personally, I thought Adaptation was a mess, liked Eternal sunshine, and loved Malkovich. Ms. Keener made MAlkovich IMHO.

By: defenestration

defenestration — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:57:11 -0800

Just so people who aren't familiar with Kaufman aren't misled by the post, he also wrote Human Nature and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:59:07 -0800

He also wrote for Get A Life!

By: weston

weston — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:25:50 -0800

Also a fan of the metonym.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 12:36:45 -0800

Looking at the imbd and elsewhere, it seems that the title of the movie isn't Synecdoche; it's Synecdoche, New York (as with the title of this post). There's something admirable (?) about using a dumb pun as the title of your directorial debut.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:19:39 -0800

Litotes isn't bad either.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:20:09 -0800

See what I did there?

By: First Post

First Post — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:02:37 -0800

That's too booky a title. How about "Chicks on a Writer"? (I do like his other movies so I'll probably see this one too)

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:54:03 -0800

WHich were the strikes indigo? Same order as given. Malkovich I thought tried way too hard (screenwriter too present, too, as LH said, full of himself) and the ending seemed added on and kind of gratuitously nasty. Adaptation, as you say- a mess. (Though I did like Chris Cooper's performance.) Sunshine was the homerun. Generally I'm not a Sci-Fi type (yeah, I know, my bad), but this one credibly (so to speak) sidelines the mad scientist/technology bits and instead focuses on interesting questions of free will, of playing God not just with others but also with oneself, of moral rectitude, generosity, cowardice, selfishness, the nature of love over time. And that the protagonists were believably unpleasant, both pitiable and moderately appalling, pushed it above the commonplace.

By: facetious

facetious — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:59:35 -0800

I didn't like Malkovich, Spotless, or Adaptation (I find that guy more annoying than clever), but anything with The One True Hoff has gotta be good.

By: Iridic

Iridic — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:08:34 -0800

He knew all the tricks. Dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and...satire...

By: atrazine

atrazine — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:17:22 -0800

But will his sword be mightier than his pen? posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 4:43 PM GMT on September 8 [+] [!] That's a metonym, not synecdoche :(

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:28:09 -0800

"Nabokov wanted to title his memoirs Speak, Mnemosyne but the marketing department wouldn't have it. " I'm trying to imagine what kind of silver-tongued marketing droid could persuade Nabokov, of all people, to change his mind. I just can't see it.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 05:10:31 -0800

I just can't see it. The operative word might be silver. It ain't cheap living in Monteaux....