 Ladies and gentlemen, what I offer you today is maybe one of the most artsy films I've ever been witness to. And I'm talking about, of course, Sinecta Key, New York, a film that only one person saw and decided to make me watch it. Mark this as the final time I utter the word Sinecta Key. As I don't really know how to pronounce it, I have to constantly look it up and it's not based on any real place in New York. Even though the film is called Sinecta Key, New York, implying that it is in fact a city in New York. It's not, that I could tell, I looked it up like a million times, it's not. The definition for this name that shall not be said again is substituting apart for the whole. Yeah, even the definition of this word is artsy as shit. An example would be, say Billy gets a new car, but instead of saying, hey mom and dad, check out my new car, Billy says, hey, mom and dad, check out my new wheels. That's a Sinecta Key. I said it, I said it. Why now, Adam? Talk about this 2008 film directed by Charlie Kaufman. Well, because Brian Davis is a Patreon user at the Mithril level and he recommended it. And so I by law had to watch and review it and shout him out. So thank you, Brian Davis, for making me feel like the dumbest guy in the world. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Caden, a theater director in New York. He's been making brilliant plays year after year with some of the most talented individuals in the industry, yet he cannot seem to appreciate his own work. He doesn't feel fulfilled and that's because he hasn't made anything from the heart, anything with real soul or substance. It's all just greatest hits from other authors. So he has set out to make the play of all plays, which requires rebuilding New York City in its entirety. Okay, maybe not entirely literally, but nothing in this film is. Everything is an illusion. It's a story beat, it's a frame of mind, it's a piece of art. And when all is said and done, you won't really know what's real and what's not. What Caden has imagined, what Caden has envisioned, and what Caden has actually produced. This is a movie that can be watched and dissected a million different ways. There will be spoilers, kind of, but I don't really know what I watched. I know what I think I watched and I know what I interpreted and I have to say this might be the most depressing I've ever felt after finishing a movie. And not because it was bad, I wouldn't say I loved it. I certainly was interested in it, I was certainly fascinated by it, and I could certainly watch it again to see what else I could kind of glean from it. What makes this movie so depressing to me? It could be the fact that I just turned 40, so the midlife crisis has officially begun. Yay! Life is meaningless. It could also be the fact that Caden, up until death, has felt incredibly unfulfilled with his life, and every relationship he's come into contact with has been toxic or destroyed because he is so self-obsessed. He will pass up on true peer love and go back to someone who clearly can't stand him anymore. Such as the one he has with his estranged wife Adele, played by Catherine Keener. He will be tempted by forbidden fruits, such as Claire, played by Michelle Williams. He will often go years and years, even decades, obsessing over one specific portion of his life, ignoring the good things right in front of him. Hell, he's working on a play that's been going on for 40 years, and they haven't gone past rehearsal. This movie's chock full of symbolism, it's chock full of metaphors, it's chock full of words bigger than the ones I can even fathom, because I don't have the education or capacity to do so. To me it all boils down to reflection. At some point or another, Caden died. I'm guessing it's early on. It doesn't really matter, as time is a construct in this movie. It has no real bearing on the storytelling at all. In fact, this movie has such an obscure, non-conformative approach to storytelling, it's almost mind-boggling that this thing was put to paper to begin with. Which won't be a shock to you if you're familiar with Kaufman's past work. I mean, the guy did eternal sunshine of the spotless mind of the Jim Carrey. Well, to say the least. To me this movie is about self-reflection, it's about breaking down one's life, the achievements, the failures, really dissecting, studying, coming to terms and eventually finding peace, solace in the choices you made. And Kaufman plays this character so expertly, just a wave of melancholy over the guy the whole time. Dark humor is throughout, which I appreciate it. I like some of the jokes. I like some of the references to previous scenes coming back into play. And overall, it just has such a unique vibe to it that you don't find in any other movie. The cinematography is great. It's visually striking. The makeup department did a hell of a job aging these actors up, showing the passage of time. The music's very beautiful. It's not overpowering, but it's always known, it's always present. It's definitely a movie a film student could sink their teeth into and really go over with a fine tooth comb, talking about what each scene and what each item and what each character represented because I guarantee you, Kaufman thought all this through. And Patreon Brian Davis clearly thought this through and he gave me the recommendation. I thank you, sir. This was an interesting watch. Definitely one I'll recommend to people that like this type of movie, but certainly not one the mainstream audience is going to appreciate. And I'm sure most haven't seen, including me up until this point. Thanks again Brian and all Patreon and YouTube Join members out there. Please subscribe if you haven't, if you somehow stumbled upon a review for this movie all these years later. Like the video if you had a good time and hopefully I'll see you around. Oh wow, what a gift. You're still here. Since I still have you, maybe think about joining me on Patreon at patreon.com slash Adam Does Movies becoming a YouTube Join member right here on YouTube via that Join button. And I'm also on Twitch live streaming a podcast with my buddy, Bless, every single week going forward. It's a fun time. I'd love to have you there.