Birdman (2014) – Death Approached via Delusion

Birdman, subtitled The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, is a difficult film to categorize in terms of genres. Here is a sampling of some of the characterizations I discovered while reading film reviews: “a giddy fantasia of themes and genres, not all of which fully cohere”, “part sex farce, part Broadway satire, part magical-realist fable, part …

Synecdoche, New York (2008) – Approaching Death via Denial

The film Synecdoche, New York [1,2] has been highly acclaimed by film critics, appearing on numerous “best films of 2008”, “best films of the decade”, and even “best films of all time.” [3] But the film was a commercial disaster, costing over $20 million to make, but grossing only about $3M [4]. The reasons for …

Melancholia (2011) – Approaching Death via Depression

The film Melancholia [1] begins with a lengthy prologue, set to Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, as the screen overflows with lush slow-motion images of life on earth and views of another planet. This sets a mood of celestial harmony, but also a foreshadowing of doom because, as we learn shortly, earth might be threatened by …

SYNECDOCHE, NY @ CSL

Fellow Film Club Members & Movie Buffs: The Producer’s theme for November is “Struggling With a Plan”.  Wow, the weather shift has been pretty dramatic, sunny & cold, with heavy winds in the South Sound--had two power outages already today. Let’s assume all this wind business will be curtailed by this Friday when the Tacoma Film Club …

MELANCHOLIA @ CSL

Fellow Film Club Members & Movie Buffs: The Producer’s theme for November is: “Struggling with a Plan.” Well, here we are deep in Autumn, as November & the Holidays are soon upon  us. It has been raining enough lately that we are already missing the onerous heat of our long hot summer. Get out of the …