SYNECDOCHE, NY: Quick Bite

SYNECDOCHE, NY: GREAT PLACE TO VISIT, BUT I WOULDN'T WANT TO LIVE THERE

Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary defines "synecdoche" as: "a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole (as fifty sail for fifty ships), the whole for a part (as society for high society), the species for the genus (as cutthroat for assassin), the genus for the species (as a creature for a man), or the name of the material for the thing made (as boards for stage).

Was that confusing for you? Try watching the film. From the man who brought us Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for your entertainment pleasure, welcome to Synecdoche, NNY. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Caden Cotard, a theater director given a grant to produce his life's opus. A dream becomes a dream which becomes and dream and so on until the boundary between reality and fantasy disappear. Giving up the fight for meaning and structure, the once confusing movie became clear. It is a search for the meaning of life and trying to understand ourselves. But, the meaning comes from the search, not an answer.

Half-Bite: Purely an existential movie, not for the faint of heart or mind.

WRIST CUTTERS

WRISTCUTTERS DARK EXISTENTIAL LOVE STORY
Welcome to the land of the dead, or more precisely, the land of those who have killed themselves. Needless to say this is a very dark comedy. It is an "indie" film and the cast is mildly recognisable. Patrick Fugit (Who was great in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous) played the lead role of Zia. The lead actress, beautiful Shannyn Sossamon as Mikal coincidentally played a character from the bland film, Rules of Attraction, who suicides in perhaps the most graphic of suicide scenes. There is potential here for a great expressive film but it is just one one razor blade short of a pack of razor blades. It tries to address the theories on life after death, but it's almost too deep for its own good. When I thought I understood the symbolism and meaning of the plot and characters I was turned upside down and then everything looked pretty silly. It was an interesting story but after a while of not finding a traceable plot, I lost interest.
NOT a pick: Interesting but also tiresome. I might see it again for a dollar.