Just a few minor things today.

Howard Karren at Premiere wasn't too keen on Synecdoche when he caught it at Toronto:

Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York, despite a quietly despairing performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman, sassy support from Samantha Morton, and Kaufman's usual wit and structural inventiveness (this is his directorial debut), is really just an overlong shaggy-dog story about mortality, and a good excuse for a snooze. (Source)

While from the Cleveland Free Times, Milan Paurich quite dug it:

I was particularly taken with Synecdoche, which features a dream cast (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Hope Davis, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Jason Leigh) in a Hellzapoppin' comic phantasmagoria that felt very much like Kaufman's personal spin on Fellini's masterpiece 8 1/2. (Source)

Apparently there's going to be an interview with Charlie at /film in October. I'll probably forget, so someone remind me if it seems I'm not gonna link to it, eh? Says Peter Sciretta:

I caught Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, last week and I'm still not sure what to make of it. It's either brilliant or a disaster, I'm not sure which. I think I'll need to watch the film a few more times before I even begin to understand some of the complexities and develop my final opinion. (Source)

In case you missed it, Wired have posted mp3s of a 2.5hr interview Jason Tanz conducted with Charlie - definitely worth a listen, because it's rare that we see a candid interview with Charlie that hasn't been condensed or edited down to a handful of quotes. (I mentioned this at the end of an earlier post, but it seems a few of you didn't spot it... so I've changed that post's headline.)