Sounds like Schenectady
There's a trailer online now for Synecdoche, New York, the Charlie Kaufman film that's both partially set in Schenectady and plays on the city's name. (Synecdoche? You remember from literature class, right?) The film is coming out at the end of October.
What's it about? Well, it's a Kaufman film so that's not exactly an easy question to answer. Here's a bit about it from Slashfilm:
Synecdoche, New York stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director named Caden Cotard, whose life in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife Adele has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. A new relationship with the alluringly candid Hazel has prematurely run aground. And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his body's autonomic functions. Worried about the transience of his life, he moves his theater company to a warehouse in New York City. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the city outside. Catherine Keener, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton co-star.
The early reviews have been relatively positive. Though as A.O. Scott commented in the New York Times, Synecdoche makes the Kaufman-written films Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind look "almost conventional."
The trailer is embedded after the jump.
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Comments
> Synecdoche, New York stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a
> theater director named Caden Cotard, whose life in
> Schenectady, New York is looking bleak.
This message brought to you by Captain Obvious.
... said Sebastien on Sep 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM | link
Don't you knock Schenectady, Sebastien! I grew up there and they've got a beautiful college campus to roam around on, the stockade, central park, killer italian restaurants, danny's confectionary right next door to the elementary school, and jumping jacks across the river. Yeah, there's gangs and guns and pregnant teens, but Albany's got 'em too.
Don't make me throw down on the dancefloor :)
... said Glenna on Sep 19, 2008 at 3:57 PM | link
Super-G: don't roundhouse kick me, Capoeira style! Yes, it has all that, and really, how could I hate a city that offers Nutella pizza and crepes!
B said he was sorry for the guns (and the pregnant teen too).
... said Sebastien on Sep 19, 2008 at 4:46 PM | link
I'm sorry to report this Glenna, but I think Danny's Confectionery has been gone for a few years. But if you're inclined to make a trip home to the Electric City occasionally as I do for my monthly haircut, you'll be glad to find that the food is still the best around here as long as you know where to go. I love Albany but I sincerely wish that I could get a pizza anywhere near as good as the Fireside's sausage and mushroom with extra cheese that I grew up on, or a fish fry as good as Jumpin Jacks or Ankers (with lots of the red sauce!) Perecca's bread, Garofalo's sausage, the Italian pastries and coffee at Villa Italia... Is Schenectady bleak? For a history and food nut that grew up there like me it is in the best possible way.
... said Tim on Sep 19, 2008 at 8:17 PM | link
I said I was sorry for the gum. It got totally blown out of proportion. Tim may have hit on the real cause of all of the problems: wherever freshly baked cookies are not, people become disgruntled. I did hear that Grand Theft Auto 5 will be set in a fictional city based on Schenectady though.
In other news, GQ picked up on this film and says it's something not to miss in their latest issue.
... said B on Sep 22, 2008 at 10:38 AM | link
Objectively, Schenectady (without GE) should never have become as large as it is. Given that GE is 95% gone (and never coming back), the city's best hope is a tactical nuclear device and rebuild. That would solve the issue of all of the derelict houses and shrinking tax base - a town requires a lot less resources than a city does. I would miss Cappiello's, though.
... said AP on Sep 28, 2008 at 11:54 AM | link
I have chosen to take the offensive and help support Schenectady as a great place. I used to be bleak on my outlook on the city, but if you want something to improve you must take part in it and not wait for others to do so for you. That is why I moved back to Schenectady after being out of the region for ten years, I am a culinary instructor at SCCC.
There are amazing things in Schenectady as Glenda stated (yes Danny's is gone, I used to go there with my grandmother when I was a child). Yes crime has gone up, but crime has gone up in many places. We need to frequent the small businesses more often, promote the great restaurants, stroll the streets of downtown in groups and go to Proctors or have a cigar at the new tobacconist and appreciate our city. Things can only improve if we work at it, and not wait for others. If we keep waiting for it to improve, then yes it will decline further. I recall ten years ago downtown Schenectady being dingy, it seems with investors like Angelo Mazzone (Apertivos) putting their money where their mouth is, great things will happen, we just need to support their efforts as well which is why I choose to be a tax payer in Schenectady.
... said Christopher on Sep 28, 2008 at 3:22 PM | link