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Poll

What's your favorite by Spike Jonze?

Being John Malkovich
13 (23.6%)
Adaptation
18 (32.7%)
Where the Wild Things Are
9 (16.4%)
Her
10 (18.2%)
One of his Music Videos (Specify please)
4 (7.3%)
One of his Short Films (Specify please)
1 (1.8%)
other
0 (0%)
haven't seen any
0 (0%)
don't like any
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 54

Author Topic: Jonze, Spike  (Read 6477 times)

roujin

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Re: Director's Best: Spike Jonze
« Reply #30 on: August 25, 2014, 07:35:11 PM »
1. Adaptation (2002)
2. Being John Malkovich (1999)
3. Her (2013)
4. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Totoro

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Re: Director's Best: Spike Jonze
« Reply #31 on: September 01, 2014, 06:38:39 PM »
I recently made several revisits. I have yet to like a screenplay by him.

Buddy Holly (A)
Weapon of Choice (A)
Where the Wild Things Are (B+)
Drunk Girls (B+)
Adaptation (B)
Being John Malkovich (B)
I'm Here (C)
Her (C-)
Flashing Lights (D)

1SO

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Re: Director's Best: Spike Jonze
« Reply #32 on: January 20, 2015, 12:59:24 AM »
Is there anyone else out there who wouldn't recommend Being John Malkovich? I was disappointed when I first saw it in the theater, and thought I was perhaps let down as a reaction to the extreme tidal wave of positive buzz. Started watching it again and am immediately struck by how much more elegantly Charlie Kaufman's ideas developed in later scripts. This has all the subtly of a splat of jam.
1. Puppetry is an easy target to poke fun at. A puppeteer who insists on his own importance as an artist is hitting that target with a cannon.
2. Same with having a character who keeps a lot of animals around.
3. The hairstyles help this. Everybody has hair that's aggressively trying to push away other people.
4. I've never been a fan of John Cusack. He's not a bad actor. I just can't think of many performances where it seemed like he cared about being in the film.

Being John Malkovich
* 1/2

One of the most highly-praised films I've ever been disappointed by. Re-watching it today after seeing other films by Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, it's even worse. The film is praised for the constantly surprising story, the tone of surreal realism and the many rich comic performances. "Original" is the common word applied to this film. People have never seen anything like it and are amazed by the sheer intelligence of it all.

I can agree with all of that, but that originality is attached to one of the meanest, most unlikable films I've ever seen. Except for Malkovich, the characters are all morally ugly, petty, shallow and seem to enjoy inflicting cruelty on each other. Jonze was probably going for  an unsafe, uneasy, uncomfortable comedy, but he over-succeeded. After a scene of a woman getting locked in a cage, I became just bummed out by the film's hostility. Jonze isn't yet capable of making sad dramatic moments fit with the humor.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #33 on: May 14, 2015, 11:11:02 AM »
Where the Wild Things Are
Her

Adaptation
Being John Malchovich


DarkeningHumour

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #34 on: June 08, 2015, 04:33:02 AM »
Her
Being John Malkovich
Where the Wild Things Are
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

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chardy999

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #35 on: June 08, 2015, 04:36:08 AM »
Her
Adaptation.
Being John Malkovich

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Corndog

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #36 on: March 29, 2016, 08:22:41 PM »
1. Adaptation. (4)
2. Beastie Boys: Sabotage (4)
3. Scenes from the Suburbs (3.5)
4. Her (3)
5. I'm Here (3)
6. Where the Wild Things Are (3)
7. Being John Malkovich (3)
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #37 on: May 04, 2017, 03:28:22 AM »
How do you say his name? I've met Americans with dissenting opinions. Is it Jonzee or Jonz?
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Corndog

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #38 on: May 04, 2017, 08:04:01 AM »
I always assumed it was pronounced like Jones.
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

MartinTeller

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Re: Jonze, Spike
« Reply #39 on: May 04, 2017, 10:27:59 AM »
Jones. It's not his real name, it's a reference to Spike Jones.

 

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