I'm Thinking of Ending Things

[Ezee E]

WIKI (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'm_Thinking_of_Ending_Things_ (film))

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2f/I%27m_Thinking_Of_Ending_Thing s_poster.jpeg/440px-I%27m_Thinking_Of_Ending_Thing s_poster.jpeg

[Ezee E]

This is masterful when it's within the house, but trying so hard to be when it's outside the house, to which eventually you just want the movie to get on with it.

There's a lot to discuss on this movie that requires spoilers, so without spoiling anything, I'll just say that we know what to expect from Charlie Kaufman at this point, and it's no different here.

[DFA1979]

If my wifi connection ever becomes stable again I'll try to watch this one.

[Peng]

One of the rare occasions that I wish I'd read the book or spoiled myself beforehand, as I would have spent more time marveling at how Kaufman goes about this premise by superbly swirling the reality-scape through disorienting tonal shifts and suggestive edits of unease, rather than wondering about what the hell is going on now. Also, I agree with Ignatiy Vishnevetsky hard about Kaufman's ideas being "generally better interpreted than illustrated", whether through other directors like Jonze and Gondry or another medium like animation (with Anomalisa by far being his best solo effort).

Most of the car ride stuff here fall squarely in the "illustrated" section, with dynamic camerawork and great actors unable to overcome how much it just feels like Kaufman monologuing straight at us (the reason why I was so put off and tedium-outed by Synecdoche, New York long before it ended). The reality shifts and familial discomfort insides that farmhouse are magnificent though, maybe the best stretch of Kaufman's directorial work ever. The ending is also captivatingly beguiling and so, so sad. This is one to rewatch now that its true premise isn't kept in the back half; I admire the restraint to abstract it to not make the story hacky or too thuddingly literal, but I feel the gambit hindered my appreciation of the film a fair bit. 7/10

[Ezee E]

I want more people to see this.

I've seen so many theories, but it's much better when discussing with people I know.

[Pop Trash]

AA Dowd's (another a/v clubber along with IV) positive review is interesting. He goes into CK's long history of simultaneously criticizing and indulging in cinema's obsession with "dissociative identity disorder" (formerly "multiple personality disorder") that's been de rigueur since at least Fight Club, or even earlier, including using it as a general umbrella disorder for things like schizophrenia in A Beautiful Mind. He also mentions the James Mangold movie Identity, which is nearly uhhh, identical to the supposedly hacky script Donald Kaufman is writing in Adaptation ... but then there are certainly elements of the disorder here, even if it exists in more fiction / literature "life of the mind" type world.

[Skitch]

Will be watching today or tomorrow.

[Ivan Drago]

Will be watching today or tomorrow.

Roulette pick?

[Skitch]

Roulette pick?

Yep. I try to watch all Charlie Kaufman's stuff anyway.

[Skitch]

There's a lot to discuss on this movie that requires spoilers, so without spoiling anything, I'll just say that we know what to expect from Charlie Kaufman at this point, and it's no different here.

This is a very apt description.

As with Unpronounceable, New York, I feel I appreciate this movie for what it does more than actually enjoying it.

I feel like this is Charlie Kaufman's The Notebook from a first person perspective? Am I in the ballpark of what was going on?

[Idioteque Stalker]

Charlie Kaufman's The Notebook

Whoa. Yes.

Kaufman as a director is too depressing for me, and this certainly didn't change my mind. I admire him for telling bold and unusual stories, and there's plenty to like here (Jessie Buckley for starters), but good lord his scripts handled by other directors were a lot more fun.

[transmogrifier]

The past is a grotesque animal

I was really with this for the longest time (it is quite obvious what is going on as soon as the janitor appears for the first time), but the dance scene and what follows pushes everything too far into "yeah, we get it" territory and the unsettling, melancholic tone seeps away. But the first two-thirds is excellent.

[DFA1979]

I did like this quite a bit even if the final act is a tad messy and the film takes a while to really get moving. Oddly this pairs up with Palm Springs in a certain way.

[Pop Trash]

Oddly this pairs up with Palm Springs in a certain way.

How so?

[DFA1979]

How so?

I was going with weird movie featuring two people who may or may not love each other. But maybe then again perhaps not considering the young woman was all in Jake's mind.

[DFA1979]

I'm not 100% clear on the ending to this movie. The pig was a funny touch though.

[Grouchy]

I should give this one another watch. I loved, loved, loved most of it but I was also (like trans) a bit overwhelmed by the final third. Kaufman is still one of the most adventurous filmmakers out there, and I believe he deliberately wanted to put an extra spin even on the already surreal structure.

[Rico]

I didn't like it upon first viewing, and really I still don't like it. But thinking back on it there are elements that stick with me.