As a Directorial Debut, Just Not as Good as "Blood Simple"

Written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, "Synecdoche, New York" is the most disorienting and disconcerting movie that I've seen since "Eraserhead". Yeah, yeah, that one's a cult classic. C. K. wrote "Adaptation" (o.k.), "Being John Malkovich" (good), and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (lousy, and ruining our great physical comedian, Jim Carrey). Syn... is loaded with good actors, but it still got ruint. Roger Ebert said "See it twice". I wish I wouldn't have seen it once. This is a story about a paranoid who spends about 100 years filming in a New York City replica. Touchingly stupid. The film seems to be 100 years in length. Even Philip Seymour Hoffman didn't save this one for me.
Speaking of which P. S. H. is my new fave actor. Good gosh, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper are as senile as I am. Philip is never brilliant, just great. Effective is his modus operandi. I guess his first major flick was "Boogie Nights". I don't remember him, just Burt and the girls. This guy is in his early 40's, so we hope to see much more from him. Can you imagine the same person playing Truman Capote and a parish priest (no, not in the same movie) equally effectively? Philip pulls off anything that he tries.

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Let's do (David) Lynch, His Best

"Wild at Heart" is his best in my opinionated vision. Nicolas Cage's best too. Why it wasn't well received (except at Cannes) is something I do not understand. It has great energy, especially the violent beginning. It's just Sailor and Lula (Laura Dern) in a love story. Wow.
"Blue Velvet" showcases weirdness and Dennis Hopper. Wait, that's the same thing. Laura Dern, a Lynch favorite, is in this one, as she is in "Wild at Heart". D.L. got an Oscar "Best Director" nomination for this great & disturbing film.
"Lost Highway" has a brilliant soundtrack and Patricia Arquette has never looked better than in this surrealistic film. Can she act? I don't care. Robert Blake has never looked worse-creeeeepy. This was Richard Pryor's last act, from a wheelchair.
"Mulholland Drive" has great chemistry between Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring and lots of twists. Lynch got a "Best Director" Oscar nomination for this dream sequence, unusual for the genre.
"The Elephant Man" is based on a true story, Lynch style. John Hurt is tremendous as the deformed star. This film garnered Lynch his first "Best Director" nomination in Hollywood, in 1980. He should have gotten the award.

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