In continuing from my last column, I still have not seen any new releases in January. January is normally a dumping ground for studios to release movies they don’t believe in financially, and this lack of faith from the studios usually comes from the lack of quality in the movie. Because of this, I try to stay away unless there is something that really catches my eye.
However, box office success and release dates do not always determine the quality of the film, as the movie I am about to review was a box office flop when it was released in 2008. I like to try to review movies that are brand new that people can either go see, or that I can help to keep people away from seeing. This movie is not exactly the most available, but if you can find it, this movie is 100% worth 123 minutes of your time. Anyway, I’ve stalled long enough.
The movie I am reviewing is “Synecdoche, New York.”
Some of you may be thinking, “wow, that was a big build up to what ended up to be a movie I have never heard of before.” Believe me, this movie deserves to be placed upon the highest pedestal. “Synecdoche, New York” is written and directed by Charlie Kaufman. I would give a summary of the movie, but it is honestly best to go in blind. Kaufman deliberately crafted a movie that is intended to be a new and personal experience for each viewer, even if you have already seen it multiple times. I have only seen it once, but it already has me wanting to watch it again so I can come up with new interpretations on what the movie means to me. This is one of those movies that you cannot just watch and let your brain run on autopilot. It requires your full attention and constant analysis because it is about you. I am aware hyping up this movie might build up expectations just for some of them to be let down, but I’m not sure if you can be let down by this movie. If you do go and watch it, which I highly encourage that you do, here are some of the movie’s themes to meditate on before, during or after you watch it.
Death
Death is a scary thing to contemplate. The thought that your time alive will just abruptly end, even though you may have unfinished business to attend to is, at least to me, terrifying. But, there is something beautiful in that realization. That no matter how we live our lives, we all end up in the same place. Our stories all end the same way. All the decisions we make in life lead us to where we are now, and those decisions, plus the new ones we will make in the future, will lead to the end of our lives. This is not to say that our decisions do not matter, they matter more than anything. This is the only life we have. We have to make those decisions count.
Time
Time is constantly moving, whether we would like it to or not. Consider how much time has passed between now and since you began reading this column. You may not have even realized that minutes have been hurrying by, seconds slipping through your fingers. All time that is lost forever. Most of us hopefully still have a lot of time left, but we cannot waste it on things we think don’t matter. How have you been using your time today? How about this week or this month? It has already been three weeks since we have been back to school. The New Year was over a month ago. We started this academic year 24 weeks ago, all the way back in August. Time is constantly moving around us, and we need to make sure we are keeping up with it.
There is plenty more I can get into with this movie, but I don’t know if I have the time. This review was a little off the beaten path, but I think movies like these are important to talk about and discuss. Themes such as these are hard things to cope with, but are some of the most important things to try and wrap our heads around. I really hope you get the chance to watch this movie. It is one of the most brutally honest and perfect movies I have ever seen. Please go check this movie out in any way that you can. After all, this movie is about you.
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