Definitely the most difficult film to have watched! Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a Daredevil Season 2 Episode on Friday and The Mandalorian (Season 1) on Saturday Enjoy the day!

@suncore598

3 жыл бұрын

More difficult than Come and See?

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

I mean in terms of comprehending.

@suncore598

3 жыл бұрын

@@JamesVSCinema I agree. This is the kind of movie that would produce years of analysis.

@Nick_CF

3 жыл бұрын

Go watch YourMovieSucks' series on Synedcoche, New York. It is the best taken on this movie that is out there. Long but totally worth it

@travislathangue2219

3 жыл бұрын

@@Nick_CF also unfinished

The idea of the burning house comes from a Tennessee Williams quote "We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it."

I love how Charlie Kaufman isn't afraid to make dark crazy weird out there films. Very inspiring. This film definately stuck with me after watching it

@patrickmassonne1919

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for saying that the director's vision is usually like this. I love these kind of movies and will be exploring further!

@guts1258

3 жыл бұрын

@@patrickmassonne1919 He just released a film this year named "I'm thinking of ending things" on Netflix. Definitely worth checking out. It's my favorite movie of the year so far.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

I love these things honestly!!

@patrickmassonne1919

3 жыл бұрын

@@guts1258 Thanks! I'm ready to watch it tonight! And already bought this movie on Ebay! Carry on!

@patrickmassonne1919

3 жыл бұрын

@@guts1258 Just finished "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". Utterly brilliant! I found it in turns reminiscent of "2001", and the poem by T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of Alfred J. Pufrock". Absolutely floored, thanks so much!

“It’s allmost as if it’s a surrealist story about his life and how he’s trying to deal with mortality” You managed to summarize the essence of this movie in one simple sentence. One of my favourites of all time btw. Loving this channel!

One of the most detailed movies I have ever seen. I recommend watching "The Genius of Synecdoche New York". Really great analysis.

@OuroborUC420DG

3 жыл бұрын

I'd definitely second that. YMS certainly succumbs to over-analysis (like that whole segment about the fade, which even he retracted later), but there's just so much in this movie to be explored, and it's completely (and thematically) appropriate that he painstakingly inches his way through it with such a fine-toothed comb. One day, maybe he'll even finish it. And then die.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Watching that now actually!

@LuxRoyale

3 жыл бұрын

@@JamesVSCinema Awesome breakdown, he still hasnt completed dissecting the film still after 5 years or so lmao.

@GLENNACHEEMS

3 жыл бұрын

@@OuroborUC420DG "okay buhbye... we're all gonna dieeee, synecdoche"

@FatherHall

3 жыл бұрын

More loneliness to check out... 'Lost in Translation' and 'Magnolia'

This is the only film that really captures the feeling of time slipping away through your fingers. So many other complex themes of the stripping of identity, the production of art and its relationship to the artist, DEATH, social anxiety and ineptitude, so many more.

Being a filmmaker, you should check out Adaptation as well.

@chops5853

3 жыл бұрын

Adaptation would be the perfect film to watch next. I’d also recommend Anomolisa from Kaufman

@amandabroom9878

3 жыл бұрын

That’s my favorite movie of all time 😀

Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the greatest actors. RIP.

@amine-sn4ii

3 жыл бұрын

no it's not

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

RIP! 🙏🏽

@LowTempDabr

3 жыл бұрын

@@amine-sn4ii i think what you meant was "no HE'S* not", Phillip Seymour Hoffman isn't an inanimate fucking object, you fool

@LowTempDabr

3 жыл бұрын

@popados aight lmfaooo that cracked me up. well done. dark humor always wins fuck me right

@nickkurtz512

3 жыл бұрын

It was a sad day when he passed. He just got over he’s drug problem only to go back on it.

A movie about what you watch movies to avoid. The struggle of being human.

@kreuz7sieben

3 жыл бұрын

I have a headache. The struggle of forming sentences.

@fitterhappier2666

2 жыл бұрын

glad to see another berserk fan appreciating this movie

@guts1258

2 жыл бұрын

@@fitterhappier2666 It's my favorite film of all time after all. Whereas Berserk is my favorite story of all time.

@fitterhappier2666

2 жыл бұрын

@@guts1258 lol that's crazy cause I could say exactly the same as you. btw now that I think about it I think we exchanged messages in some other video(s) or at least you sound familiar haha

@guts1258

2 жыл бұрын

@@fitterhappier2666 It's a possibility. I've been around here and there, and it appears we have similar interests.

In the opening scene when he is having breakfast with his family, if you pay attention to the details you will notice that days are passing in mere moments, Caden is unaware of how much time is passing. This film has so many details its mind boggling. The entire movie is about death and how we are all hurtling towards it. Also, it's Syn-neck-doh-key

One of the genius things about this film is how you can interpret it. In one perspective you can look at it as a nihilistic movie which makes you confront a foreboding existential dread, or you can view the movie as a hopeful call to action to make your time on this Earth worth living instead of worrying about details and missing opportunities ( Like Caden and other characters do throughout the film).

God I almost started crying again just watching your cutaways from this. I have been struggling with existentialism for a long long time as I catch myself aging, and seeing this film really broke me down in ways I cannot repair after watching. I had a mechanic tell me after I showed concerns for oil leaks from my car, "Just keep adding more oil when it leaks out until the engine stops running. It's not worth the effort to fix, and adding the oil will keep it going for now." I think of that often in regards to myself. I am beyond repair, but keep adding oil (friendships, family, music, etc.) and await my inevitable end. I fear love and intimacy now due to the gut-wrenching emotional agony it has caused me. I'm afraid of spending more time with my family after my father died quite rapidly from cancer. I feel trapped due to my own mistakes in life and my unwillingness to improve. Life at first is perceived as a road trip to Disneyland. Things will be great when we get there. The road trip only becomes a carjacking with a maniac behind the wheel with no clear intent on his distination.

@JosetheDopeLPs

2 жыл бұрын

Hey there, I know this is an old comment, but if you ever want to talk I'll listen. No one should have to deal with life's struggles alone.

@edwarddawson42

Жыл бұрын

Hey, I just wanted to say that was beautiful. Wow. I think that was the best comment I've ever read. Write more things like that. It was amazing.

Yes. More Kaufman movies please!

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

@martenfredin213

3 жыл бұрын

@@JamesVSCinema Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, one of the best movies ever. And as a bonus it shows that Jim actually can act, not just as a clown.

@martenfredin213

3 жыл бұрын

Nevermind, found it. 74 movies in your playlist and that one gets blocked in my country for copyright reasons.

I've watched this movie three times and still don't understand it, but I still like watching it and love the way it makes me feel.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Best way to describe it. Glad to hear!

Don’t feel bad for laughing, it is supposed to be funny in a subtle, dark, twisted kind of way

the funeral monologue towards the end of this movie is one of my favorite scenes in film history. left me speechless when i first saw it.

OH MY GOD!! OK IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYONE STAY CALM!! Seriously, this is in my top 10 favorite films, Charlie Kauffman is a genious. Everytime I watch this mvie I listen to Time by Pink Floyd, it actually match the themes of this movie.

The real sadness is that he finally had an epiphany at the end there. "I think I finally know how to do this play." And then receiving his final direction "Die." However, this film stresses the relationships between beginnings and ends. Perhaps his dying creative spark is really the birth of something new.

@CGMiller

2 жыл бұрын

Well, he is saying that throughout the entire film. I think the point of it was that what he was making was never going to be good enough. That he struggled in vain trying to make a play that resembles real life and truth all the while missing real life and truth.

@deepdream19

Жыл бұрын

6 years later real Philip dies

This is the kind of film that definitely needs multiple watches. As Roger Ebert so eloquently put it in his review: "The surface may daunt you. The depths enfold you. The whole reveals itself, and then you may return to it like a talisman."

Dude, I love your comment section. It's like I'm not on youtube anymore.XD

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Hahaha isn’t it awesome!? 😂

It's pronounced sin-neck-doe-key (sounds like Schenectady, a city in New York). It's a word that means referring to a part of a thing as a metaphor for the whole thing.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the explanation!

I am very excited that you've taken on this movie. It's my favorite Kaufman film and one of my favorite films starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. Great actor, dearly missed. One of the things I love about Synedoche, New York is that, beneath the darkness of depression, mortality, and family dysfunction, there is a soulful beauty that connects to us on a meaningful level. Something that eludes Caden despite his efforts to capture the complexity of life in the form of a play.

Great video! Denis villeneuve once said something about mulholland drive (and i think it applies here as well) that his favorite films are ones where the first time you watch, you FEEL them. even without really knowing how to explain them you, understand them emotionally in your heart. the second time you apprciate them intellectually. this one is just that. amazing movie.

I genuinely can't watch Synecdoche, New York without breaking down. Even watching these bits and pieces left me in tears. It's probably the work of art that encapsulates all of my deepest fears, insecurities and dread most.

One of the most intensely human movies ever conceived. The feelings it evokes are so unpredictable. PSH was astonishing. As was the soundtrack.

I know it's sad to say but I relate with this movie very deeply. I wish i didn't, but watching it made me feel comfortable that I wasn't the only one that felt like Caden often. It made me look deep within myself, because Caden shouldn't be someone one aspires to be, he is a personality and mentality that should be viciously avoided, and I don't know If i could have grown as a person without this film. Imo it's a masterpiece

@filmfredrik

3 жыл бұрын

You’re not the only one. It’s a masterpiece for sure.

If you’re interested in more Kaufman films, I highly recommend checking out Adaptation and his latest I’m Thinking Of Ending Things. Two of the most brilliantly executed, original scripts I’ve ever seen.

@cynical_insight

3 жыл бұрын

I'm Thinking of Ending Things is based on a book. Great film still!

Just watched this for the first time tonight. It’s been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks and goddamn am I glad I finally put it in. What an experience. That’s something I love about this channel and this Patreon community, motivates me to watch things I’ve never seen before and revisit films that mean so much to me.

There's definitely a Charlie Kaufman Cinematic Universe. I'd love if all his films were somehow mashed up into one big story, and how insane that would be. Can't say that about a lot of filmmakers.

This is probably my favorite movie ever. We really don’t see many KZreadrs reacting to these kind of movies like you. Keep it up man!

One of my all-time favorites and probably the most unique movie I've seen

Can't wait for the 25k subs to turn into 225K sub's for you. Keep up the great work

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Man thank you so much!

Yaaaaay time to drown in existential dread yet again!!

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha yayyy!

This is one of my all time favorites. Perfect levels of wtf and an endless source for thought and analysis.

YOOOOO I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! This is one of my favorite films ever and shows off Charlie Kaufman's genius. Rest In Peace to Philip Seymour Hoffman, this is one of those films that makes me question my existence and cosmic existentialism afterwards haha.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Hahah I’m happy that this film was able to give you that feeling Toby!

Such an honest portrayal of subjective human experience. I absolutely love this film. I admire it’s willingness to be tragic and talk about death as well as to show how those of os who are “creatives” tend to live in our own heads. It’s absurd that this was Kaufman’s Debut as a director. Masterpiece! Next to Barton Fink! Love Your channel!

I appreciate you and this content. It just hits the spot right now :) Kaufman's films are always such a deep dive. This film is like channeled footage from the spirit world :)

we are watching some of the best films of all time OH! Has anybody recommended Dogville?

@patrickmassonne1919

3 жыл бұрын

I would love for James to watch anything by Lars Von Trier! To me a modern Bergman. And the histrionics about him personally, I believe, are more about people not wanting to discover themselves to be lesser than the sum of their character. But of course, I also can be a bit of a pain in the ass.

@JoeyBongas

3 жыл бұрын

Or "Breaking the waves".

@patrickmassonne1919

3 жыл бұрын

@@JoeyBongas Breaking the Waves was the first Von Trier movie I watched. Saw it in a theater and was immediately hooked. Although, very disturbing to some, I find The House That Jack Built to be his Magnum Opus. What some people view as self aggrandizement I see as an utterly devastating deconstruction of His art. To me it is looking into his personal psyche. Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart.

@GLENNACHEEMS

3 жыл бұрын

oh shit dogville is absolutely brutal.

@RustinChole

2 жыл бұрын

Umph. Dancer in the Dark. I almost forgot about that one.

This is by far my favorite movie and it is a masterclass of filmmaking, also YMS has a great series about this movie you might enjoy

Definetlty my favourite film of all time , Charlie kaufman is such a talented screenwriter

The second time you watch this is a completely different experience

Hey man. Great reaction!!! I'm so thrilled that this incredible film I saw years ago when I was in law school actually garnered attentiveness in the movie reaction universe. It's an extraordinarily complex and difficult film to understand. Also, this film along with many others is by far the best film in HORROR HISTORY.

@richardeduardoscott3413

2 жыл бұрын

Also if you ever wish to spend probably months or even years that it would only begin to take just to understand literally the first 10 to 20 minutes at the beginning let me know!

I never actually noticed Sammy in the beginning of the film, so thank you for that!

This is an amazing film, one of Seymour Hoffman’s best performances, this and The Master. It really is one of those movies though where if you’ve only seen it once you haven’t really seen it. Just my opinion though. Great reaction tho.

"This is film is fascinating." yeah, basically. I agree that the film can be frustrating on first viewing with how jarring it seems.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed but I was all in for it!

The "it's been 17 years..." line has stuck with me for years.

Will need a rewatch on this one. You definitely need to be on its emotional level but the presentation is something that can truly only be done on film.

Absolutely LOVED this film hard

One of my top 3 favourite films!!!

Look up "the genius of synecdoche new york" by YMS... it will blow your mind

@pumkinplays8328

3 жыл бұрын

This reaction would make no sense if i didn't watch that first xD

Best movie of all time.

Did Adam from YMS requested this?

@olivia-lc5mi

3 жыл бұрын

lmao i was gonna say the same thing!

Adaptation is another one that is so fantastic and real in its surrealism

finally! this is my favourite movie of all time

this is my second favourite film, i love it so much

Charlie Kaufman wrote and directed this movie, he also wrote Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and many other "confusing" movies, but i think that he is kind of brilliant with what he makes (Sorry for the misspelings, English is not my native language) By the way, nice video

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

That’s incredible!

You have to watch this movie more than once to even grasp most of it's themes and concepts. You will miss most of what the movie offers on the first viewing, but in subsequent viewings you will pick up on a lot of things you missed.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

For sure!!

Top 5 trippiest movies ever.

holy wasn't expecting this

Watching this multiple times is essentially like watching a different movie each time. Such a fantastic movie. First time, found it depressing af, now I see it as a very uplifting movie.

I fell in love with the trailer for this movie. I was so excited to see it. Then I saw it and was completely bewildered by it. I can't say I love it but I want to understand it better. I have no what I am meant to feel or why anything in the movie happens.

this remains my favorite movie of all time.

Hey, random question do you use letterboxd, it's a website where you can log films

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

I can make one!

@travislathangue2219

3 жыл бұрын

@@JamesVSCinema i would love to follow you on it if you do!

@maxmartin2420

3 жыл бұрын

@@JamesVSCinema You definitely should, love to see all the films you've seen. Also would make it easier for film recommendations (because it's just film not tv)

What's so fascinating about this film is that there is no audio commentary because the director wanted people to see if they can figure out their own interpretation of the film.

great choice as always, hope you get into some sci fi soon! i have tons of recs lol

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Will do brotha!

This movie changed me forever

I'd like to recommend some belgian films for you… they're dark, they are great: Misfortunates by Felix van Groeningen (includes the Tour de France as a drinking game… pure awesomeness) Man Bites Dog by Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel The Brand New testament by Jaco Van Dormael Bullhead by Michaël R. Roskam Ex Drummer by Koen Mortier (my favourite. To quote a friend: Really great film - I don't want to see it ever again) They have their own game on in Belgium. Love it.

I've been a big fan of Phillip Seymour Hoffman since The Talented Mr Ripley. A great film.

MY DUDE! YES!

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Highhhhly recommend YMS's ongoing film analysis of this movie her on youtube (5 parts as of right now), it's one of my favorite movie analyses on youtube going. You got so many things right on your first watch, it's great to see. :)

Charlie Kaufman (who wrote and directed this) is an amazing screenwriter. Everything he has written is gold, and steeped in humanity with an otherworldly feel. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is my favourite movie of all time. Being John Malkovich is just brilliantly insane, while the other 2 movies he's directed - I'm Thinking of Ending Thingsand Anomolisa (which is stop-motion) will also blow your mind!

YMS has a whole analysis series on this film. You check it out in your free time.

This movie brutalizes you, takes a shit in your mouth, laughs at you, and then shakes you saying "wake up".

I just watched this movie in my college Intellectual Heritage course

BACK 2 BACK BANGERS!!! I love you? Have you ever watched The Last Black Man in San Francisco?

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Hahahaha I have not!

This is on the very, very short list of films I just couldn't bring myself to finish. I felt like the film was structured to aggressively keep me locked outside of it. Not a feeling I've almost ever had before and eventually I sort of agreed with the film, "yes, you're right, I don't want me watching you either" and gave up. Points to you for being able to get thru it.

"Eckhart saw Hell too. He said: The only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you, he said. They're freeing your soul. So the way he sees it, if you're frightened of dying and... and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it, that's all. So don't worry, okay? Okay?" Great reaction James, I've seen this film once and that was it, I felt I didn't have enough patience to figure it out, so I just accepted what I don't know is ok, keep em coming man!!!

RIP Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Christopher Evan Welch. This is one of only a handful of films 2000 or later that is on my favourite films list.

This channel called YMS has the best analysis of the film.

This is a really weird coincidence I just felt like bringing up. It's so weird to me that you ended up watching both Magnolia and Synecdoche back to back since a few months ago I bought both of those movies together on blu-ray. Since I don't buy movies too often to conserve money, I don't know, I often just remember which ones I bought for my collection at which specific times. Anyway, so glad you watched both films! I think this one I like more than Magnolia, it's just so rewarding on repeated viewings even with how brutally honest it is.

This movie is amazing, really wrecked me. The themes are very reminiscent to Fellini’s 8 1/2 which is a must to any film lover. I can only highly recommend it. Apparently Kaufmann never saw that film before shooting syndecoce. Therefore it is really interesting comparing/analysing the two movies together.

there's a japanese movie called One Cut of the Dead that's a must see for anyone who loves making movies!!

@jgarcia4721

3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely 100% agree!

charlie kaufman is one of my biggest inspirations. this film is very high in my favorites

James, you should watch The Talented Mr Ripley - it has both Phillip Seymour Hoffman AND Mat Damon together. It be a good film too x

I'm not sure if it's the best movie to react to and do commentary on, bc in my opinion you have to be entirely absorded into the film. this film is overwhelmingly full of important dialogue and scenes full of nuance and details and commenting over it (I get that this approach is necessary for the format of reaction videos) feels incongruent to what this film demands from its viewer: being hyperfocused, present and alert throughout the runtime. even though you could still come out of this loving it, I still feel like this could restrict your viewing experience.

Always the good shit, Charlie Kaufman is the homie.

@JamesVSCinema

3 жыл бұрын

Factual!

If you liked this please watch the new netflix film, I'm Thinking of Ending Things from the same director! It's a similar film with surreal elements but in my opinion much easier to understand.

I would love to hear a follow up on the movie if you have the time. I agree that it takes multiple viewings because I didnt really understand alot of the main points until I think the 3rd time I watched it. I still dont understand everything but thats when my brain kinda opened up to alot of the themes.

You should watch Being John Malcovich. It is weird too but understandable enough and really good.

Glad you liked it james it's one of my favourites. Do check it out again it warre its more viewings and you get so much room that. Also check out yourmoviesuck analysis on KZread of the film he does great videos on it.

Few people seem to ever point out how fucking FUNNY this movie is. Yes, it's dark and depressing, but, like life, it's also bafflingly funny - A wonderful tonal tightrope-walk.

This is such a wholesome movie, not depressing in the least bit. It ends so well. ...Oh who am I kidding? We're all gonna die, Synecdoche, New York. (Also, I'd like to recommend Your Movie Sucks's multi-part review for this movie, that's where I got this joke from.)

Watching someone go through the same gamut of emotions I did (and struggling with the unpronounceable title) was heartwarming.

I think this was supposed to be based on "Krapp's Last Tape" by Samuel Beckett...the play dealt with an aging narcissistic protagonist who doesn't have the means to understand his own mortality, who starts playing tapes he recorded in his earlier life, ego istic rationalizations and falsehoods to explain his own shortcomings, smear the imperfect world that is responsible. As the rationalizations become more evidently false and transparent, the number of tapes he is able to believe/rationalize becomes smaller and smaller. Eventually, it comes down to 1 final tape, his last rationalization. Can't remember if there is redemption at the end or he dies in this delusion...I think Kaufmann's genius is his ability to dismantle the "consented to" or presumed shared reality, the flawed practicalities, what Erving Goffman might call "front stage" or projected self image.

I always mean to watch this movie and then forget its name and existence

You really need to check out “Adaptation” another Kaufman film. It is still very meta but much more linear and a bit less surreal. I think you would really appreciate it

I'd love to see you check out a few (much) older films. I think you'd really enjoy Seconds (1966), Citizen Kane (1941), and for something really grim check out Kiss Me Deadly (1955).

Rented this one night; needed a few days to think about it...

Synecdoche, New York is on my top 10 list of the best movies of all time. You should check out a Roy Andersson movie if you liked this. Roy has such a unique style of directing and storytelling. Watch his "Living triology". It begins with "Songs from the second floor" to "You, the living" and ends with "A pigeon sat on a branch reflecting on existance". Here's a shortcut to understand the greatness of Roy Andersson. kzread.info/dash/bejne/lIB31qykd67Llrg.html

Should check out The Place Beyond The Pines