So now I know what I look like on Blu-ray. Coulda been worse.
Beating Girlfriend Experience to market is "Infectious Diseases In Cattle: Blogger's Roundtable," an extra on the DVD and Blu-ray disc of Synecdoche New York, which streets next Tuesday. Therein, a few bloggers—handpicked, apparently, by Synecdoche writer/director Charlie Kaufman and producer Anthony Bregman—sit in a cozy Manhattan apartment and get all highbrow about the film. My cohorts in this effort:
...and Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central.
We yammer on for, like, 40 minutes, and I refer to someone as a "fucking hippie." Good times. Enjoy.
Are you and Grant wearing the same clothes?...
Posted by: The Chevalier | March 05, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Pretty much. We were going for that "twin sons of different mothers" vibe.
Actually, it was a coincidence.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 05, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Oh good, because I hate fucking hippies. But then you probably knew that.
I genuinely want to see "Synecdoche, New York", and I think I could have worked up the nerve to deal with the subject matter under normal circumstances, but I'm reading a LOT of Philip Roth lately, and adding "Synecdoche" to the mortal despair of so much of his work might just spell curains for me.
Posted by: bill | March 05, 2009 at 12:16 PM
wow: good job marketers: way to rope a sucker like me in... (where's the hook up?)
Posted by: Ryland Walker Knight | March 05, 2009 at 04:09 PM
Synecdoche is a masterpiece. I'd love to watch this extra feature but I pretty much detest Karina. So...
Posted by: nick | March 05, 2009 at 04:17 PM
Karina has always spoken very highly of YOU, Nick.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 05, 2009 at 04:27 PM
I thought this was one of the most engaging and intellectually stimulating DVD supplements I'd seen in quite awhile, congratulations. All of the participants did very well. Have given the whole disc a rave in the next VW, but this featurette made we wish I could have been a fly on the wall after the filming ended. Interesting space they provided for your pow-wow, too: the increased ability to scan the titles of books on the shelves and the intricate design of Karina's stockings make it worth splurging on the Blu-ray edition!
Posted by: Tim Lucas | March 05, 2009 at 05:44 PM
Thanks, Tim. That means a lot.
Alas, not much happened after the shooting, which was in Tribeca; everybody had to pretty much go their separate ways, except Andrew and I, who repaired to a local bar and traded wardrobe tips.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 05, 2009 at 06:07 PM
Why do people hate Karina? I don't get it. It's not like she courts controversy or writes anything particularly objectionable. It must be the glasses. People, don't confuse the fashion with the film critic, hmm?
Posted by: S.F. Hunger | March 06, 2009 at 12:14 AM
Seriously, what's to "hate" about Karina. Unless you don't like reasoned, smart women who love films and write really well. Ughhh...they're everywhere....
Posted by: don r. lewis | March 06, 2009 at 12:36 AM
My reaction to seeing these photos (especially #2) was exactly the same as George C. Scott's in Hardcore (and in the same voice) - "Turn it off! Turn it off!"
Posted by: Filmbrain | March 06, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Filmbrain, I can only respond by paraphrasing "Casablanca:" "If I can stand it, you can stand it."
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 06, 2009 at 11:55 AM
Dang, I saw Synecdoche twice in the theater and will now apparently be renting the dvd. This looks very cool! Congratulations, Glenn!
Posted by: Erin Donovan | March 08, 2009 at 08:08 PM
People "hate" Karina because (to state the unspoken obvious) she's an ugly hag who mistakenly believes she's "cool." She wears those outre glasses to de-emphasize her hideous face.
I'm sure the roundtable was a massive ego-rub to all the no-talents involved. If "Filmbrain" had any integrity at all, he'd call himself Nobrain.
Did the beer help you to stand one another?
Posted by: Who's Got the Spaghetti? | March 08, 2009 at 10:57 PM
Can the snark, Denby. That alias fools no one. You're just jealous, anyway.
For the record, I drank water.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 09, 2009 at 12:25 AM
Wow...good thing I lack integrity!
Posted by: Filmbrain | March 09, 2009 at 01:14 AM
"Karina has always spoken very highly of YOU, Nick."
Spoken like my father, Glenn.
I don't hate Karina as a person (how could I? I don't know her). It's just that I hate her snarky, know-it-all writing tone and the general air of "I'm better than you" that comes with every single piece of writing that spews from her laptop. That's all.
Posted by: nick | March 09, 2009 at 02:25 PM
"handpicked, apparently, by Synecdoche writer/director Charlie Kaufman and producer Anthony Bregman"
What's with the "apparently" - why the big mystery?
For some reason this makes me think of Mulholland Drive, with Kaufman as LaRocque enclosed in his dark little room while Bregman, channeling Angelo Badalemnti, hunches over photos of Glenn and Karina mumbling, "This is the blogger..."
Posted by: MovieMan0283 | March 11, 2009 at 12:41 AM
MovieMan: Don't read too much into my "apparently." That's my old school print journalist talking. That is, I was told that we were handpicked by Kaufman and Bregman, and that I never bothered to independently confirm that fact. No biggie, and sorry to have stirred you up.
SInce I'm here, let me state unequivocally that I am not down with the Karina Longworth haters. I like her just fine personally, and while I might take issue with a lot of what she writes, and while she might take some of my objections in that area more, well, personally than I mean them, I don't stand by the ad hominem attacks on her, and I don't think they add much to any constructive dialogue. Just to be clear.
Posted by: Glenn Kenny | March 11, 2009 at 12:53 AM
No problem - I'm still relishing the idea of blogger's headshots being passed around a Hollywood studio for approval.
Karina's likable enough, to quote Obama. Seriously, though, I think why she's being singled out is that, unlike you and Filmbrain (I'm not familiar with the other guy) her focus is more "trendy," plus she kind of has a hipster image. Probably not much to do with her actual writing, except inasmuch as it reflects those qualities (which maybe people are reading into it anyway).
Posted by: MovieMan0283 | March 11, 2009 at 01:04 AM
I'm distracted by trying to read the titles on the books behind your heads. And totally crushing on Walter Chaw! Glen Kenny, I miss Premiere - glad I found this blog.
Posted by: salmonarm | March 14, 2009 at 01:54 PM
I quite enjoyed the round table discussion - particularly comments made by Andrew and Walter; very intellectually stimulating.
To the post who above who has questioned Andrew's integrity: do you ever read Andrews blog? IMHO, his writing is honest and informative. Andrew is quite obviously very enthusiastic about films without being presumptuous.
Let's keep the conversation civil shall we?
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