4 ms·

Charlie Kaufman’s Defense of Film

71 points by prismatic 6y ago

jolux 6y ago
I wondered when they were going to mention Richard Brody.
hardwaregeek 6y ago
Charlie Kaufman writing a book about a film critic who hates Charlie Kaufman is pretty on-brand. Also Richard Brody is hilarious to read. He's such a grumpy old man. I love reading him just for his disgust with modern acclaimed films and championing of smaller obscure films (some of which are genuinely great!). And his absolute adoration of Godard.
- jolux 6y ago
  I find Brody completely insufferable myself.
  - hardwaregeek 6y ago
    Oh totally. He's insufferable and absolutely hilarious. I don't read him to get a decent judgement of a film, I read him for "old man yells at cloud" vibes.
    - mushufasa 6y ago
      I read brody's review of Pixar's "Inside Out"and came away thinking I should avoid the film. He claimed it was a saccharine oversimplification of inner mental health, with all the nuance of Michael Bay (my paraphrase). https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of-the-pixar-universe https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of... Months later when I told this to a friend, they looked at me like I was crazy, because the whole point of the movie was the exact opposite!
      - hardwaregeek 6y ago
        Occasionally he'll fawn over a movie that I like, or despise a movie I dislike, which is nice. Most of the time he'll take a perfectly good film and twist it, give some uncharitable socio-political reading (inevitably invoking Brecht, Godard or Marx), and complain that someone else did it better. That being said I do respect his opinions in the same way I respect Kael's. They may be abrasive, unfair and inconsistent, but hey, at least it's their own unique view. It gets old reading the same positive review of Parasite (even though I loved it).
      - adamsea 6y ago
        Thank you for the link - just read it and love the review. I loved "Inside Out", but I have to say, Brody convinced me: "The film is on the wrong track from the beginning, when the first view of the world, through the eyes of the infant Riley, is taken by Joy, and Joy becomes, from that point on, the default leader, Riley’s emotional captain. Given the smack on the bottom that brings Riley and all of us into the world, and the lusty howl that follows, I’d say that something altogether different is in the driver’s seat. Anyone who hears a baby scream at the slightest quiver of need or discomfort knows better than Pixar that primal forces, entirely more hirsute and imperious, are in control from the start, and those forces only slowly and grudgingly make room for the five cutesy minions of emotional negotiation. "
- prvc 6y ago
  Yes, one of the few current film critics who bring occasional originality and insight to their writings. Film reviews seem to be almost universally idiotic and insipid (also ideological, although Brody is not excepted from partaking in this last quality) these days. Another occasional exception in the same vein is Armond White. Writing an entire book to spite a critic for writing a bad review strikes me as being a bit of a "self-own" so to speak. From the summary, there also seem to be some borrowings from better imagined fiction, such as the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, and the short story The Aleph.
  - zerocrates 6y ago
    Armond White's writing is almost 100% ideological, though.
jhbadger 6y ago
Anybody remember "Lady in the Water"? That was M. Night Shayamalan's attempt to get back at mean critics with a mean critic who meets a bad end.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  This sounds like what Michael Chrichton would do with the "small penis rule": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_penis_rule https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_penis_rule
  - cafard 6y ago
    In Dune, Frank Herbert named the assassin for the bad guys Piter DeVries, something I noticed not all at twelve or so when I first read the book. When I picked it up again over forty, I had read a couple of books by Peter DeVries, and immediately wondered what book of Herbert's DeVries might have savaged.
culturedsystems 6y ago
This is a strange and IMO unsatisfying book review, as it's largely a summary without much in the way of analysis or evaluation (except for the explanation of which real-world critics Kaufman is targeting). But perhaps this is an attempt at a demonstration, by its absence, of the value of criticism - which would be an appropriately meta way of responding to Kaufman.

71 points by prismatic 6y ago

I wondered when they were going to mention Richard Brody.

Charlie Kaufman writing a book about a film critic who hates Charlie Kaufman is pretty on-brand. Also Richard Brody is hilarious to read. He's such a grumpy old man. I love reading him just for his disgust with modern acclaimed films and championing of smaller obscure films (some of which are genuinely great!). And his absolute adoration of Godard.

jolux 6y ago
I find Brody completely insufferable myself.
- hardwaregeek 6y ago
  Oh totally. He's insufferable and absolutely hilarious. I don't read him to get a decent judgement of a film, I read him for "old man yells at cloud" vibes.
  - mushufasa 6y ago
    I read brody's review of Pixar's "Inside Out"and came away thinking I should avoid the film. He claimed it was a saccharine oversimplification of inner mental health, with all the nuance of Michael Bay (my paraphrase). https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of-the-pixar-universe https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of... Months later when I told this to a friend, they looked at me like I was crazy, because the whole point of the movie was the exact opposite!
    - hardwaregeek 6y ago
      Occasionally he'll fawn over a movie that I like, or despise a movie I dislike, which is nice. Most of the time he'll take a perfectly good film and twist it, give some uncharitable socio-political reading (inevitably invoking Brecht, Godard or Marx), and complain that someone else did it better. That being said I do respect his opinions in the same way I respect Kael's. They may be abrasive, unfair and inconsistent, but hey, at least it's their own unique view. It gets old reading the same positive review of Parasite (even though I loved it).
    - adamsea 6y ago
      Thank you for the link - just read it and love the review. I loved "Inside Out", but I have to say, Brody convinced me: "The film is on the wrong track from the beginning, when the first view of the world, through the eyes of the infant Riley, is taken by Joy, and Joy becomes, from that point on, the default leader, Riley’s emotional captain. Given the smack on the bottom that brings Riley and all of us into the world, and the lusty howl that follows, I’d say that something altogether different is in the driver’s seat. Anyone who hears a baby scream at the slightest quiver of need or discomfort knows better than Pixar that primal forces, entirely more hirsute and imperious, are in control from the start, and those forces only slowly and grudgingly make room for the five cutesy minions of emotional negotiation. "
prvc 6y ago
Yes, one of the few current film critics who bring occasional originality and insight to their writings. Film reviews seem to be almost universally idiotic and insipid (also ideological, although Brody is not excepted from partaking in this last quality) these days. Another occasional exception in the same vein is Armond White. Writing an entire book to spite a critic for writing a bad review strikes me as being a bit of a "self-own" so to speak. From the summary, there also seem to be some borrowings from better imagined fiction, such as the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, and the short story The Aleph.
- zerocrates 6y ago
  Armond White's writing is almost 100% ideological, though.

jhbadger 6y ago

Anybody remember "Lady in the Water"? That was M. Night Shayamalan's attempt to get back at mean critics with a mean critic who meets a bad end.

oh_sigh 6y ago
This sounds like what Michael Chrichton would do with the "small penis rule": https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_penis_rule https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_penis_rule
- cafard 6y ago
  In Dune, Frank Herbert named the assassin for the bad guys Piter DeVries, something I noticed not all at twelve or so when I first read the book. When I picked it up again over forty, I had read a couple of books by Peter DeVries, and immediately wondered what book of Herbert's DeVries might have savaged.

culturedsystems 6y ago

This is a strange and IMO unsatisfying book review, as it's largely a summary without much in the way of analysis or evaluation (except for the explanation of which real-world critics Kaufman is targeting). But perhaps this is an attempt at a demonstration, by its absence, of the value of criticism - which would be an appropriately meta way of responding to Kaufman.