"Some boys take a beautiful girl,
and hide her away from the rest of the world..."

*SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW AS THIS WILL BE MORE OF A
DISORGANIZED DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS THAN REVIEW*

Another note about the film's ending: Lisa does not use the term "Anomalisa" in the final scene of the film, but rather says that she looked up "Anomarisa," in a Japanese-English dictionary and that it translates to Goddess in Heaven. Now, "Anomarisa" isn't the Japanese phrase for Goddess of Heaven, though the actual term is a rather similar sounding phrase (Ama Terasu) and the origin of this term makes sense in the context of the film's themes. Ama Terusu (or Amaterasu Omikami) is "the Great Goddess Spirit Shining in Heaven....…

So I rewatched Anomalisa, one of the top 5 films of that embarrassing “100 movies in one summer” video I did 2 years ago, and after an hour long discussion with the people I watched it with that ended in me deciding once again that CMBYN is insanely irresponsible, I’m coming to terms with the fact that this isn’t the “masterpiece” I made it out to be. What a long sentence!

It could be that I watched Synecdoche New York after seeing this (and FAMOUSLY was more blown away by that) or it could be me being forced to try and make sense of it to a room full of people who hated it, ultimately and unsurprisingly losing that debate.…

"In a dream, you came and held my hand;
our love was perfect in that sphere.
No, I never met you, my sweet dear.
And my friends, they say you don't exist.
But friends are cowards, full of fear,
afraid to look at what they missed."

**THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN
THEMATIC & SCENE-CONTENT SPOILERS**

The ending is the real gut punch because you've been living in Michael's own, disturbed world/mind for so long that you might forget to consider the effect his behavior might have on another individual also suffering from immense loneliness (but for entirely different reasons, his a result of mental scarring and hers possibly a result of being repressed by a world judgmental of physical disfigurements, a scar…

Ideas about this film I am willing to entertain:
1. We are supposed to think of Michael Stone as an awful human being.
2. Everyone is poorly written on purpose, that's the point. Michael can't see anyone other than as a sketch of a human being that exists in relationship to him.

Arguments about this film I am not willing to entertain:
1. This film has any insight or anything of significance to say about Michael, the male psyche, masculinity crisis, or anything else.
2. Writing a movie poorly on purpose means that the movie doesn't suck in part for being poorly written.
3. Being completely unadventurous and refusing to try to be smart, interesting, new, insightful, specific, interesting, enjoyable…