Here's an interesting and somewhat depressing article on the critical success and box office failure of Sidney Kimmel's recent film projects.

Kimmel has the opportunity to do better with his newest film, “Synecdoche, New York,” which marks the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman, the scribe behind “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Distribution sources say they've been waiting so long to see the finished film that they have no idea what to expect, or how Kaufman's singular voice as a writer will transfer to a film he directs.

Most distribs read the script long ago, when SKE was looking for one of them to come aboard as financing partner. But nobody stepped up back then on a film with a budget north of $20 million and populated with specialty film regulars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Samantha Morton.