Spike Jonze

Lili’s Pick: Her

Lanie’s Pick: Adaptation

With a surrealistic filmography of films that can best be described as “only somewhat coherent”, my sister and I happened to pick two of Spike Jonze’s most watchable films for this week. It’s my impression that Her and Adaptation are meant to be viewed by lovers of film, as both showcase the asymmetrical nature of of the art. Her constructs a far simpler and more linear narrative when compared to Adaptation, but both, at their core(s) are love stories. The whimsy and humanity in these films are admirable and intoxicating, and egotistically, because I am a writer, I love that both of these films have writers as the protagonists. Any film, even one about a man who falls in love with AI software, can feel personal if you know how to tell a story, and Spike Jonze knows how to tell a story. He takes complicated routes and sometimes makes things like Being John Malkovich but he ultimately creates captivating films, that somehow do not belong in genres like romance or comedy, but a category entirely of their own. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Nicholas Cage star in their most sympathetic roles to date here (looking hard at you, Joker) and it’s really hard not to fall in love with them, despite their instantaneous nerdiness. I dare you to watch both of these and try NOT to be inspired to write a screenplay.