@Dzimas
I thought The Fight Club was utterly ridiculous. Is that enough?
No, it’s not. But are you saying that everything I’ve written in this thread is tantamount to saying “WA is utterly ridiculous?”
@Nathan
I haven’t seen Darjeeling. All this talk of WA has provided some motivation to give him another shot, so we’ll see.
Nathan M.
FWIW, I think WA’s stories can seem loose because of the quirkiness of the characters and the art direction. He invites us to pay attention to small details, which might be perceived as a distraction by some. Also, I think that strength of narrative depends on what film we’re looking at. TRT is, in my opinion, very strong. It might be hard for people to see that, though, because there are so many threads at work; and some of those threads – Dudley, for instance – seem far less important than others.
@Jazz – Have you seen The Darjeeling Limited? Its story is pretty focused on the three brothers. You might find that one more to your liking. I rank it just below TRT.
RE: Kaufmann – Synechdoche, NY is his worst film, imo, because it lacks humor. I’ve heard some people say that it’s funny, but I couldn’t find anything to laugh about. Could be my fault there. Otherwise, I’ve found all of his films very satisfying. Adaptation is a hilarious send up of the writing process and the conventions of art v. entertainment conventions in storytelling. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a great movie about romance and memory. BJM is just strange and funny, but it works for me. Human Nature is probably his worst, though.