charlie kaufman
WGA Noms ‘Burn’ Charlie Kaufman and Jenny Lumet
5:30AM Kyle Buchanan | As shocked as we were by The Spirit being shut out of the Razzies, we’re a little more surprised to see two of Hollywood’s most high-profile writers snubbed in today’s WGA nominations. More »
Why Not to Miss ‘Synecdoche, New York,’ The Best Film of 2008
7:10AM STV | Charlie Kaufman’s directing debut Synecdoche, New York is the most inaccessible, challenging, infuriating, stupefying, heartbreaking film of 2008. It’s also the best American movie we’ve seen this year, and as noted here this morning, it’s required viewing this weekend for anyone who wants to be on our good side. Or history’s good side, for that matter — and here are five reasons why. More »
Today in Cannes Hell: Spike Lee vs. The World, ‘Che’ Unveiled and Mouthbreathing Over Penelope Cruz
2:55AM Defamer Hollywood | Only a few days remain before Cannes ends and we can roll our bleary eyes from the backs of our heads. In the meantime, the rubbernecker in us can’t help but take an interest in Spike Lee’s latest sortie against the Hollywood establishment — this time as personified by Cannes darling Clint Eastwood, whom Lee railed against while promoting his upcoming Afro-centric World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna:
Today in Cannes Hell: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Breast, Critic Riots and a Word with Charlie Kaufman
8:50AM Defamer Hollywood | With the minor exception of missing out on Jim Toback’s documentary on Mike Tyson (which will screen here this fall anyway — we can wait), the only regret we have so far about sitting out the Cannes Film Festival is our absence at the mini-riot that preceded the press screening of director James Gray’s drama Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow. That’s when we’re at our best, as were Lou Lumenick and the “major U.S. film critic” (*cough* Manohla Dargis *cough*) who apparently exclaimed, “I’m not going to wait an hour for f—-ing James Gray” before an ensuing screening delay, shoving match and seating free-for-all. Like his resilient cousins in the roach family, Roger Friedman naturally outlasted the meltdown and later delivered his sterling, tasteful review, “Gwyneth Paltrow Bares a Breast in Film”: You don’t really think of Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow as the racy type. But in her new film, Two Lovers, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival Monday night, she quite surprisingly bares a single breast. The shot is, shall we say, head-on into the camera. And it’s for more than a couple of seconds. This is no wardrobe malfunction. It’s on purpose. (To paraphrase a great Seinfeld quote: “They’re real … and they’re spectacular!”) More »
