Review: Synechdoche, New York

Note: So, I wrote this review right after I watched the movie, about 8 months ago. I just noticed that I never posted it. So, here you go!

Review: Synechdcohe, New York
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.








.....what....the....fuuuuuuuuuuuuck?

 This is one weird movie. It's packed to the gills with imagery and symbolism. I actually liked it quite a lot. I think Charlie Kaufmen does a tremendous job of using his weird plot devices to capture something significant about life*, love**, art***, death****.

Unfortunately, as a consequence, I'm not sure I have much more to say. I mean, the symbolism of the film is fairly transparent. The acting is fine***** (but is really not the point), the highlight of the film is really the background detail: the various clues as to what's going on in the world as we zip forward into the future, the ever increasing detail of the warehouse.

So, lacking anything more profound to say, I want to talk about the poop. One of the things that makes this movie remarkable is that it talks about human feces. This is kind of remarkable, because outside of the sub-sub genre of gross-out comedies, I defy you to find feces discussed in any serious film, and yet it's hard to argue that it's not an important part of the human existence. I mean, every one produces it on a near daily basis. And so, I present this as a microcosm of why Synechdoche is so successful. Synechdoche doesn't shy away from any part of the human existence, no matter how taboo.

Afternote. I am tremendously glad I watched this movie BEFORE I saw this episode of community. Bravo, Mr. Harmon.

* Being John Malkovich
** The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
*** Adaptation (my personal favorite)
**** And, finally Synecdoche. Not that each of these movies are about only one thing, of course...
***** I think I'm just getting tired of Phillip Seymore Hoffman, I mean, he's been in, like, everything. I have to say though, the guy that plays his double was outstanding.

Review: Hell and Gone

Hell and Gone by Duane Swierczynski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sigh. This book was no where near as good as its predecessor.

I mean, it takes some doing to be even less realistic than Fun and GamesFun and Games but here you have it.

In summary (some mild spoilers for Fun and Games): After royally pissing off The Accident People, Charlie Hardie is abducted and sent to a bizzaro kafka-esque prison. There he interacts with the various guards the prisoners and plots his escape.*

So, one of the things that made Fun and Games so engaging was the claustrophobia invoked by the Hollywood Hills. Ironically, the claustrophobia induced by the prison where most of the action in the book takes place has the opposite effect. The Hollywood Hills are sufficiently accessible that new characters could be introduced or removed, where as the prison was static and as a result the stakes felt waaaaay lower.

Plus, I don't know, the way my brain is wired I'm willing to accept that there is a secret society of assassins that, for the right price, commit murders and make them look like accidents, but i'm not really willing to accept that those same people would own an underground prison**. Nor still would they at the very end.***

* Major pet peeve here: the conceit of the prison was _both_ bewilderingly obvious, and tremendously badly explained.
** (Mild Spoiler) Let alone one affiliated with a major university.
*** If you've read the book (or even the synopsis of the sequel you'll know what I mean.)



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Review: This Crooked Way

This Crooked Way by James Enge

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This might be the most uneven book I've ever read.

Part of it is obviously due to it's structure. The novel is made up of a sequence of short stories. Some of them were probably going to be duds.

Don't get me wrong. Some of them are awesome. "Where Nurgnantz Dwells" is amazing, for one thing. For another, despite his general weakness in characterization*, James Enge does a surprisingly impressive job with his female characters, and the two stories with female narrators are certainly the best of the middle sequence.

On the other hand, Morlock is something of a Mary Sue. He's _always
_ one step ahead, always has the magic to win the day, or just happened to have built the bridge your standing on and knows how to knock it over. This isn't bad in and of itself, but the book gets a little tiresome, when for the 15th time, Morlock concentrates, does something impressive with Tal**, summons his magic sword and.... Yup, Morlock wins again.

I liked Blood of Ambrose because it gently and subtly rose the stakes from "oh, political intrigue." to "is Morlock and Friend or a Foe?" to "holy shit zombies!" But this book had none of that escalation. I will give some consideration to reading the next Morlock book, since I already own it,*** but probably not for a good long while.


* Part of this is a problem of the medium. It's hard to introduce good characters in a short story...
** The magic systems sucks. There, I said it.
*** Bought on the strength of Blood of Ambrose alone. Oops.



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Review: Angelmaker

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



With only two books out, Nick Harkaway has rocketed to near the top of my favorite authors list. This is the best book I've read in a while. It is fun, complex without being convoluted, has great action, and Something to Say. I love Nick Harkaway's writing. I love the intricate sentences and the extraordinary amount of detail given to the characters, the settings, the scenes.* And as I was reading Angelmaker and writing other reviews, I would notice over and over again just how much Nick Harkaway's writing has influenced my own. Even though he's ONLY WRITTEN TWO BOOKS!**

But.

Yes, unfortunately, there's a sizeable:

But.

I loved this book, but I didn't love it as much as I loved The Gone Away World. The ambiance was great, but some of action didn't quite fit the tone. Every scenes moves forward at a brisk pace, but in between scenes I would put the book down for months at a time with no apparent desire to pick it up again.*** Nick Harkaway is near the top of my favorite authors list, but he was before Angelmaker ever came out.

So, I declare: Go out and buy this book. Support Nick Harkaway. Join me in eagerly waiting his next novel.**** Read his blog.*****

But get the Gone Away World first.


* Aubergine porn. 'Nuff said.
** Technically not true; I think he has a nonfiction book out, but I haven't read it. . .
*** Which is why I wrote so many reviews in the interim.
**** Which I think might be coming soon due to delays in publishing Angelmaker? Here's hoping that's true.
***** Nick Harkaway writes some fabulous essays on his blog. For example, http://www.nickharkaway.com/2012/09/mistruth-and-the-lexicon/




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