Word: kaufman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...would you like to fall down a tunnel, land inside actor John Malkovich's body for 15 minutes, then be dumped next to the New Jersey Turnpike--all for $200 (tolls included). That's the weird, beguiling premise of writer Charlie Kaufman's absurdist romance. Jonze, a music-video whiz and an actor (Three Kings), has the vexing habit of forcing his attractive stars (John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener) to deliver their big scenes through clumps of matted hair. But he keeps the wheels spinning on this funny-peculiar story of people so desperate that they would...
...barely five feet tall. Though watching Cusack stoop down and stumble around the office hallways is funny, the film knows how dull these sorts of gags could become, and puns lamely on the "low overhead" of the floor enough to make the lameness itself the joke. Fundamentally, Charlie Kaufman's offbeat screenplay is less interested in visual punning than in sickly toying with the characters themselves...
...worked on the movie seemed to wear many proverbial hats. Plainspoken wunderkind director Spike Jonze is basking in the glow of his meaty supporting role acting in Three Kings. The producer Michael Stipe is also the frontman for R.E.M.--and, incidentally, likes to wear sparkly eyeshadow. Curlyheaded screenwriter Charlie Kaufman doubled as the executive producer of the film (and has a slew of strange projects in development). John Cusack likes to direct himself. Cameron Diaz likes to change the color of her hair - for the interview, long brunette tresses, in case you wondered. And then there's the real John...
...Charlie Kaufman, the screenwriter: I don't know. At the time when I wrote this film it was the only choice, and it never changed...
...lest you think that in their old age R.E.M. may show signs of slowing down, think again. New song "The Great Beyond" from the upcoming Andy Kaufman movie Man On The Moon rang with sheer cinematic beauty and youthful optimism. Early '90s tracks like "Find The River" and "Sweetness Follows" were brooding, tear-inducing and gorgeous. And their positively manic and explosive finale of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" had more energy than a bawitdaba and a nookie combined...