As filmmakers, Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman have distinct styles without a lot of obvious overlap, but Anderson’s new ASTEROID CITY and Kaufman’s 2008 directorial debut SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK share a central concern — the struggle to create art — that invites a degree of self-awareness and metatextuality that plays well with both of those distinct styles. So after attempting to pull apart the layers of ASTEROID CITY’s play-within-a-play-within-a-TV-production-within-a-movie, we return to SYNECDOCHE to compare the different ends to which these filmmakers apply their respective meta moves, the ways they deploy their sprawling ideas and even more sprawling casts, and how each navigates the overlapping worlds of theater and film. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we share a few thoughts on another film we considered for this week’s pairing.
Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, ASTEROID CITY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Next Pairing: John Carney’s ONCE and Celine Song’s PAST LIVES
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#390: Clique, Clique, Boom Pt. 1 — Heathers
#389: Throupling, Pt. 2 — Passages
#388: Throupling, Pt. 1 — Sunday Bloody Sunday
#387: Fantasy Women, Pt. 2 — Barbie
#386: Fantasy Women, Pt. 1 — Enchanted
#385: Play Time, Pt. 2 — Theater Camp
#384: Play Time, Pt. 1 — Waiting For Guffman
#383: Separate Ways, Pt. 2 — Past Lives
#382: Separate Ways, Pt. 1: Once
#380: Heavy Meta, Pt. 1 — Synecdoche, New York
#379: Film Criticism, Pt. 2 — You Hurt My Feelings
#378: Film Criticism, Pt. 1 — Lovely & Amazing
#377: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 2 — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
#376: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 1 — Island of Lost Souls (1932)
#375: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 2—Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
#374: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 1 — Welcome to the Dollhouse
#373: Our Favorite Films of 2023 (So Far)
#372: Shoe Me the Money, Pt. 2 — Air
#371: Shoe Me the Money, Pt. 1 — Jerry Maguire
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