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Podcast 99% Invisible--almost always a great listen--did a recent episode about the birth of the megaplex in the USA (a movie theater complex housing multiple screens within a single complex) and how it helped to create the films of 1999, often seen as a high-point year in cinema. It's a great listen, and one film they talk about as a major example? Being John Malkovich.

Give it a listen below or at the link. Had to use YouTube as I couldn't find a decent way to embed the audio player. Bleh.

It's a new adaptation of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Charlie's not involved in any way, but I figured I might as well mention it.

Apple TV+ isn't gonging a new project with Justin Timberlake.

Fresh off of Palmer, the well-received tearjerker starring the "Mirrors" singer, the streamer is developing a new drama series based on The Gong Show creator Chuck Barris' memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Timberlake is attached to star as Barris, who claimed in the book to have been an assassin for the CIA. The series will mark his first regular TV role.

[...] David Hollander (Ray Donovan) will serve as co-showrunner on the series with Jon Worley (Justified, SEAL Team), who penned the pilot. A premiere date has not yet been set. (Source)

Here's a gorgeous, short documentary from 2020 in which explorers wade through the Florida wetlands to try and find the elusive Ghost Orchid and to learn how those orchids are pollinated. Chasing Ghosts was a Vimeo Staff Pick and has screened at various film fests.

Super cool. Here you can watch Charlie, Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons and Toni Collette take us throught that excruciating dinner scene in I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

The video is part of the "Scene at the Academy" series on the Oscars' official YouTube channel, which seems a bit of a backhander since the film WASN'T NOMINATED FOR ANY OSCARS.

Great video, though!

)NEAT. The Eternal Sunshine soundtrack is coming out on vinyl! July 17's the date.

Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, the 2004 movie follows an estranged couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) who have erased each other from their memories. The soundtrack features score, composed by Los Angeles musician Jon Brion, as well as songs from artists E.L.O., The Polyphonic Spree, The Willowz, and Don Nelson. Beck, in a collaboration with Jon Brion, provides a cover version of the Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime". Jon Brion has composed music for numerous motion pictures, including Magnolia, Synecdoche New York, and Lady Bird. Orange Swirl 2LP.

1. Theme - Performed by Jon Brion
2. Mr. Blue Sky - Performed by ELO
3. Collecting Things - Performed by Jon Brion
4. Light & Day - Performed by The Polyphonic Spree
5. Bookstore - Performed by Jon Brion
6. Section 2 (It's The Sun) (KCRW) - Performed by The Polyphonic Spree
7. Wada Na Tod - Performed by Lata Mangeshkar
8. Showtime - Performed by Jon Brion
9. Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes - Performed by Beck
10. Sidewalk Fight - Performed by Jon Brion
11. Some Kinda Shuffle - Performed by Don Nelson
12. Howard Makes It All Go Away - Performed by Jon Brion
13. Something - Performed by Willowz
14. Postcard - Performed by Jon Brion
15. I Wonder - Performed by Willowz
16. Peer Pressure - Performed by Jon Brion
17. A Dream Upon Waking - Performed by Jon Brion
18. Strings That Tie To You - Performed by Jon Brion
19. Phone Call - Performed by Jon Brion
20. Nola's Bounce - Performed by Don Nelson
21. Down The Drain - Performed by Jon Brion
22. Row - Performed by Jon Brion
23. Drive In - Performed by Jon Brion
24. Main Title - Performed by Jon Brion
25. Spotless Mind - Performed by Jon Brion
26. Elephant Parade - Performed by Jon Brion (Source)

Charlie has signed on as an executive producer (not writer, not director) for Ryan Gosling's film The Actor, based on Donald Westlake's novel Memory. Duke Johnson aims to direct it.

In a competitive situation, Parasite distributor Neon has come out on top for North American rights to Ryan Gosling package The Actor, the next movie from Anomalisa director Duke Johnson. We hear the pre-buy is in the mid seven-figure range.

Oscar-nominee Gosling will play actor Paul Cole who becomes stranded in 1950s Ohio after a brutal attack. Suffering from severe memory loss, he struggles to find his way back to his life in New York and reclaim what he has lost.

The hot virtual EFM project is based on the best-selling noir novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake. Johnson penned the script alongside Stephen Cooney. Johnson’s Anomalisa collaborator Charlie Kaufman has newly boarded as executive producer. (Source)

In this New York Times profile from last July, it was stated that "in April, [Kaufman] busied himself a little, taking a job adapting a short story for Ryan Gosling’s production company." I don't think Memory has anything to do with that, unless the Times got "short story" wrong.

Gotta say, Donald Westlake is one of my all-time fave writers. Primarily he wrote hardboiled crime novels and comedic crime capers, nothing you would typically associate with Kaufman. He co-wrote the screenplay for the original The Stepfather film. (Terry O'Quinn was freaking great in it.) Point Blank with Lee Marvin was based on one of his novels, likewise 2013's Parker with Jason Statham. Memory was released by Hard Case Crime, who have the best covers in publishing. I have it on my shelf but haven't read it yet.

Thanks to BartonCotard on Reddit.

Half an hour well spent: I'm Thinking of Ending Things composer Jay Wadley on The Film Scorer podcast, where he talks about his approach to the film's score, the memory of music, and what it was like working with CK. One thing Wadley talks about at length: the music in the movie is largely meant to represent what Jake remembers (or misremembers) of tunes that he has heard--the ballet, for instance, is supposed to sound almost-but-not-quite the same as ballets you (or Jake) might have heard.

There's an audio version and  Youtube version. Take yer pick!

Thanks to whitebearpr1 over on Reddit.

Human Nature! The one nobody talks about! Shout Factory are giving it the Blu-Ray treatment on June 21. No info on extra features, but I doubt there'll be anything beyond a trailer.

David Hernandez has done what the rest of us are too lazy to do, and annotated Antkind. Amazing. You can check out the 7400-word document here, and if there's something he has missed or goofed, you can let him know in this Reddit thread.

So, I hope you’ll enjoy skimming these references that took me many hours to annotate. For readers who finished Antkind, maybe you’ll enjoy revisiting; for new readers, perhaps this can be a companion.

Comment in this thread with any references I’ve missed and I’ll do my best to amend. Some references I may have plainly got wrong. There are several apocryphal quotes, genuine quotes, and genuine quotes that have been misattributed. (Source)

Also, over on Letterboxd, Jack Moulton has catalogued all the films referenced in Antkind.

I've always thought Antkind deserved something like the Pynchon Wiki, and now we have this.

This is a neat concept. Station 451 (or Станція 451) is a Ukrainian podcast that discusses filmmakers who've also published books (Cronenberg, Alex Garland, Martin McDonagh etc.), and of course CK has been given the Station 451 treatment! BCK and myself get a mention @01:06:25, WOOHOO.

SoundCloud is below, or you can check it out at Apple Podcasts.

Thanks to host Oleksandr for the heads up!