Now having seen it, I can say two things about this film...it is in fact great, but it shouldn't make any money. I would love nothing more than for WTWTA to become one of the most successful children's films ever, one that people of all ages are drawn to because of how masterfully it mirrors the passion and power of love to bind people together through the mess that is life, family, relationships. This I fear will not be the case, as the masses typically like their films to provide a way to escape their reality, to hide from the mess for two hours...and that goes double for a kids film, which technically this is. Not only that, but we like our films to have a story that builds to a nice tidy simple feel-good ending where someone learns a valuable lesson or falls in love with the right person. This film, while hinting at these things, is much more about the journey rather than the destination. Jonze' vision is dark, scary, full of raw humanity, and I highly recommend it...even if you don't shop at Urban Outfitters.
Showing posts with label Spike Jonze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spike Jonze. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are - Review
I originally felt apprehensive about Spike Jonze' adaptation of the infamous Where the Wild Things Are children's book. With super hip stores like Urban Outfitters merchandising for the film and a soundtrack by Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs lead singer Karen O, this movie just seemed to be working too hard to build its indie cred. Having seen Being John Malkovich and a few of Jonze' music videos, I knew that he was something special, but it wasn't until I read recently about Jonze journey into the industry and his fight with the studio to keep his vision in tact that I felt confident that this could be great.
Now having seen it, I can say two things about this film...it is in fact great, but it shouldn't make any money. I would love nothing more than for WTWTA to become one of the most successful children's films ever, one that people of all ages are drawn to because of how masterfully it mirrors the passion and power of love to bind people together through the mess that is life, family, relationships. This I fear will not be the case, as the masses typically like their films to provide a way to escape their reality, to hide from the mess for two hours...and that goes double for a kids film, which technically this is. Not only that, but we like our films to have a story that builds to a nice tidy simple feel-good ending where someone learns a valuable lesson or falls in love with the right person. This film, while hinting at these things, is much more about the journey rather than the destination. Jonze' vision is dark, scary, full of raw humanity, and I highly recommend it...even if you don't shop at Urban Outfitters.
Now having seen it, I can say two things about this film...it is in fact great, but it shouldn't make any money. I would love nothing more than for WTWTA to become one of the most successful children's films ever, one that people of all ages are drawn to because of how masterfully it mirrors the passion and power of love to bind people together through the mess that is life, family, relationships. This I fear will not be the case, as the masses typically like their films to provide a way to escape their reality, to hide from the mess for two hours...and that goes double for a kids film, which technically this is. Not only that, but we like our films to have a story that builds to a nice tidy simple feel-good ending where someone learns a valuable lesson or falls in love with the right person. This film, while hinting at these things, is much more about the journey rather than the destination. Jonze' vision is dark, scary, full of raw humanity, and I highly recommend it...even if you don't shop at Urban Outfitters.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are - everything you didn't think you wanted to know
I recently read an article in the New York Times magazine about how Spike Jonze got into the business, its an inspiring story about a guy bursting with creativity filming whatever he thinks is interesting and word spread. Previously directing guerilla skate videos, to music videos, to anti-hollywood films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, he now is doing his first big budget treat in Where the Wild Things Are. Here's a beast of a video (38min.) from the BBC that gives you an idea of what kind of person we are dealing with in Spike Jonze. Well worth it.
Big money means big pressure from the studio to create something that can be easily digested by a mass audience. Jonze was given a longer leash then most, because of his "indie" cred, but when the studio demanded a rough cut of the film they were scared (as were some children in pre-screenings) by what they saw. A fight ensued where Jonze almost left the film, but after conceding to make extremely minor changes (basically adding one scene and taking away another) the film is now complete and set to be released next week. Here Jonze talks about Where the Wild Things Are, his concept for the film, working with Dave Eggers and more.
This is some behind the scenes footage of Maurice Sendak, the illustrator and author of the original children's book, talking about his story vs Jonze vision.
In case you don't know who Dave Eggers is, he is a writer/publisher who is very similar to Jonze in the book world. He has written work such as his memoir A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius and a traveling story about frustrating generosity in You Shall Know our Velocity. He has founded his own independent publishing company called McSweeney's. He is also known for his non-profit work, which has resulted in funding tours that included musical artists such as Death Cab for Cutie and Sufjan Stevens. Here, he and Jonze, are faced with the difficult task of interpreting the scarce dialogue and artwork of the WTWTA children's book into a full-length screenplay, which has been released as the novel The Wild Things. Hear his thoughts in this video interview.
Here is an interview with WTWTA production designer K.K. Barrett. Barrett has worked with some of the hottest directors around (including Sophia Coppola, and Michel Gondry) to help bring their films to life. Here he talks about his history and WTWTA's unique vision.
A friend of mine, who has a child of his own, told me he had a feeling this might be the first great children's film since The Neverending Story. He just might be right.
Official HD trailer for the film.
Big money means big pressure from the studio to create something that can be easily digested by a mass audience. Jonze was given a longer leash then most, because of his "indie" cred, but when the studio demanded a rough cut of the film they were scared (as were some children in pre-screenings) by what they saw. A fight ensued where Jonze almost left the film, but after conceding to make extremely minor changes (basically adding one scene and taking away another) the film is now complete and set to be released next week. Here Jonze talks about Where the Wild Things Are, his concept for the film, working with Dave Eggers and more.
This is some behind the scenes footage of Maurice Sendak, the illustrator and author of the original children's book, talking about his story vs Jonze vision.
In case you don't know who Dave Eggers is, he is a writer/publisher who is very similar to Jonze in the book world. He has written work such as his memoir A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius and a traveling story about frustrating generosity in You Shall Know our Velocity. He has founded his own independent publishing company called McSweeney's. He is also known for his non-profit work, which has resulted in funding tours that included musical artists such as Death Cab for Cutie and Sufjan Stevens. Here, he and Jonze, are faced with the difficult task of interpreting the scarce dialogue and artwork of the WTWTA children's book into a full-length screenplay, which has been released as the novel The Wild Things. Hear his thoughts in this video interview.
Here is an interview with WTWTA production designer K.K. Barrett. Barrett has worked with some of the hottest directors around (including Sophia Coppola, and Michel Gondry) to help bring their films to life. Here he talks about his history and WTWTA's unique vision.
A friend of mine, who has a child of his own, told me he had a feeling this might be the first great children's film since The Neverending Story. He just might be right.
Official HD trailer for the film.
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