Wednesday, November 11, 2009

all jacked up on jolly ranchers and mountain dew




where the wild things are is flat out a beautiful movie: visually and thematically, not to mention it has one of the best and most fitting original scores/soundtracks since there will be blood or the life aquatic. (im guilty of loving anything wes anderson does) karen o from the yeah, yeah, yeahs along with carter burwell score the entire picture, directed by spike jonze, which opened to critical and commercial success a few weeks back. the score expresses the wide range of confused emotions that are experienced throughout childhood; and along with the cinematography, that captures max's point of vision through amazing hand held shots, really put you in max's shoes.

wild things, originally written as a childrens book by maurice sendak, had an enormous amount of hype and critical accolades despite negative rumors and speculation during the production process. this movie is every where but here in chico. a surprising amount of people never saw it despite being fans of the book-at least in the circles i travel in. i had been waiting for this movie for about two years and saw it opening weekend, and was hoping to have my normal movie-dork conversations about this film and havent really had the chance.

the review i read in the ny times summed up the movie perfectly, "this is not a movie for children, but a movie about childhood, for adults." which was fitting. wild things has a deliberately slow pace once max reaches the island but jonze, his cinematographer, and karen o formed a nostalgic and touching film that expanded on the short, wonderfully imaginative original. this film is worth seeing, but keep an open mind especially when it comes to the pace. i've almost enjoyed thinking about the movie in retrospect than i did watching it. the visuals were stunning and it put me in a thoughtful place remembering my childhood and my continued love for this great book.

go see it while it's still here and take yourself back to the days before the stresses of life consumed us and unplug for awhile and turn on your imagination.

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