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WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE isn't where Massawyrm wanted to go...
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is not what any rational person would call a fun movie. It is not a happy joyous celebration of youth. It is not an adventure film. It’s not a family film. It’s not even a kids film. Oh sure, it looks fun as all hell. Big, fuzzy monsters, poppy hipster music and credits written like they were scribbled in on a Trapper-Keeper during 7th grade math class. The advertising speaks to your youth, your dreams, everything you thought childhood should be. Hell, my wife giggled excitedly every time the trailer came on.
But what Spike Jonze has done with WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is nothing of the sort. In fact, he took a magical, wondrous book and made a very somber, downright depressing film about what childhood is REALLY like. It is a film about the loneliness of being misunderstood and mostly unlikable, a film about that weird kid in your class who always acted out and who many parents nowadays instantly believe Ritalin can cure (or at least should be prescribed to.) I get Max, I really do.
When I was a kid, I was Max. I was that lonely weird kid who was always writing weird stuff in notebooks and reading at recess and acting out mostly for attention. There’s no doubt where this kid is coming from and I love that Jonze went there. This isn’t the typical “lonely misunderstood but secretly cool” kid that we see in most other kids films. Max is an attention starved brat, an uncontrollable pain in the ass that desperately needs to work his shit out.
Enter the Wild Things, which are of course the whole reason you want to see the film. At first they are fantastic – marvelous, wonderful beasts that bring to life everything you ever imagined they were like. Until, that is, you start listening to what they are saying. These beasts are wild. They are unruly. And they are also the whiniest, sorriest, most pathetic imaginary group therapy session of all time. The island Max has sailed to isn’t a magical land of wild beasts. It is a group home for malcontented creatures.
And I get it. What Jonze does here is put Max on an island and forces him to watch his whole home life play out before his eyes in terms he can understand. And whether you want to believe the island is real or something playing out in Max’s subconscious is up to you. And the way he does it is marvelous. The eloquence in which he boils down the loneliness we all experience at one time or another is nothing short of brilliant. I fully understand why the people who LOVE this movie love it. But everyone else?
They’ll be bored to tears.
Nothing happens in this movie. Nothing. It is one of those rare films that can be completely summed up in one or two lines without skipping any major details. When things get too boring, one of the monsters grabs Max by the hand and takes him somewhere on the island to show him something. Or one of the monsters throws a fit. Or we get another pop song fueled montage. And when the boredom passes, Jonze puts that back in his bag of tricks to randomly draw from again when things inevitably slow down. Again. Because really, nothing happens. The film is a two hour metaphor for a 9 year old boy working out his shit.
Spike Jonze has taken a relatively respectable budget and created an arthouse film about childhood that had our family-filled audience buzzing with chattering, bored children. Don’t get me wrong, as an arthouse film it is brilliant. If you go into it with that mentality, you’ll come out feeling like you’ve been taken on a profound tour of childhood that will take you back in (potentially) bad ways. But you won’t have fun. You won’t walk out humming a great tune and feeling like your life has been reaffirmed. You’re gonna walk out thinking about your own dejected, maladjusted childhood. Or that weird kid in your class who Max reminds you of. Or a brother or sister who acted the same way.
And that’s not the film they’re selling. It’s not the film people are expecting. People are ready to watch monsters joyously run through the forest with a little boy to the soundtrack of JUNO while feeling warm and fuzzy about being a kid. And while those moments are here, they are fleeting. What Jonze does, both brilliantly and frustratingly, is take the magical and over the course of two hours make it mundane. He seeks to strip every bit of magic out of the Wild Things and make them as patently uninteresting as a troubled bible study group.
Now, it can be argued that this is pretty much what the book is about and that Jonze simply added an extra layer of subtext to the original intention. But the book is 40 pages long, comprised of exactly 10 run-on sentences and in actuality only one of those sentences remains intact and relatively unchanged. There are a number of scenes that have been added that have nothing to do with the book not – not to mention those that were outright changed – so if someone were to ask “Couldn’t Jonze have added something interesting without compromising his vision of the theme,” the answer would be yes.
Instead, every conflict in this film is emotional and entirely banal. As a representation of a young boy’s psyche and the worries that trouble him, it is an achievement. But in the context of being a film outside of the arthouse circuit being marketed as a fun, adventure film? Absolute failure. There’s not a moment of adventure here. Not a moment of fantastic danger. Not an instance in which we feel our hero is in any kind of real jeopardy. Nothing that will bring audiences back again and again. This isn’t WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY or THE IRON GIANT or CORALINE or even WATERSHIP DOWN. This isn’t a transcendent family film that will become deeper and richer as you grow from child to adult. It is THE 400 BLOWS with monsters. It was never meant for families. It was meant for critics.
Lyrical in its poetry and beautiful in its melancholy, this will play strong to those going in with an understanding of what Jonze wants to show them. But anyone looking for a good time has signed on for the wrong boat ride to the worst possible island. Beautiful enough to see on the big screen, but not powerful or moving enough to recommend, I find myself very conflicted and foresee a film that will be lauded by critics and snubbed by the bored masses. But as the dust settles, I think I’m going to find myself with the masses on this one. I wanted to love it, I really, really did, but I was just too bored to.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
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Readers Talkback
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I'll check it out this wknd
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Finally a real review of this film.
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Nuff said
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THE DANGER in this movie, are the same people who kept talking about HOW DARK the new Harry Potter was. I guess compared to say your typical kids movie...maybe. But compare it to older kids movies like Never Ending Story its nothing. The only DANGER kids movie I think could be made, is if Eli Roth took the only interesting plot in the Hostel series, the little kids, and made a movie just about them.
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Glad someone is pleasantly dissenting against the "masterpiece" reviews this has been getting. At first I was happy about all the great reviews, but this review makes me even more excited, because now I want to know if I will like it or not. I am going in completely open now, not expecting a "masterpiece". I really enjoyed your review Mass, even if it was a little smug with all the Juno crap. I appreciate your honesty. Hopefully I can find time to see this tomorrow.
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My kids definately wouldn't want to see this. Thanks for the honest, everyday person's review.
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I have a bad feeling this will be like The Fountain. All the AICN reviewers falling over themselves to praise a fairly vapid fable of life and death. I hope WTWTA will not be a fascinating failure.
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IM THINKING ARBYS
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Max could have chased the monsters up a really tall building with 'splosions.
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...you describe. In fact, ever since that original little clip I've been hoping against hope to NOT get that movie.<P>This is sounding better and better.
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The only movie I have ever taken back to the store and exchanged. I got Robert Zemeckis' Contact instead. Now there's a movie with some heady themes about "life, the universe and everything" that isn't just an endless, confusing, pretentious wank. God I hated The Fountain.
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I saw a sneak screening on Monday, and unfortunately, this review couldn't be more accurate. : (
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Good luck on the fallout, "Massa." You chose the rougher road.
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No offense but I could care less what the masses expect going into this movie and kinda hope a bunch of these d-bag parents get side swiped by this film. Unfortunately most of them are so invested in their own day to day crap this movie will bounce off their shells of indignation and intolerance. Good job Spike, hopefully H-Wood won't freeze you out in the coming years.
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I had a feeling the critics were fluffing this thing a little too hard. Their whole marketing campaign is gonna blow up in their face and kill this flick. Why would someone make an film adaptation of a kids book that really is intended for kids and then market it as a kids movie? Epic fail on the horizon.
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I was worried about the uniformly positive reviews from the AICN crew, but now that Massawyrm has weighed in... I know it's going to be fantastic. Seriously, this guy is the South Pole to the North Pole of taste. I trust Harry more than I trust Massawyrm, incomprehensibility and all, and I now have zero reservations about how much I am going to fucking LOVE this movie. So excited. So, you know, thanks for that Massawyrm.
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The interesting thing about this review is he ends by saying he was "bored" and yet it is VERY clear that WTWTA got completely under his skin forcing him to reexamine his childhood something he clearly didn't want to do but to say he was "bored" seems bitter and disengenous Sounds like Jonze has crafted a masterpiece and the writer of this review resented the fact that it made him think about his youth and the child he used to be
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That the Beastie Boys should have done the soundtrack.
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...but this review is just as on the mark as the others. This IS NOT a fun, happy film. Its a very sad, thoughtful film. I think everything does depend on your mindset entering the film. If you are looking for a sad, thoughtful, slow art film - you will probably love the film. Everyone else will likely hate it. I've said from the first day I saw the film that 90% of the audience was going to hate the film while 10% are going to think its the greatest thing since sliced bread.
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Bingo! sounds like the film did it's job.
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I hate false advertising.
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...and a movie with people running around in giant dumb looking costumes is not going to make you re-examine your childhood. Some of you people are complete idiots. I swear.
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i'll watch the dvd, but my money goes to fantastic mr fox
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<p>I saw this last night at a screening at the MoMA. Massa's 100% right. It's NOT the film they're selling. Nothing really HAPPENS. The Wild Things ARE a bunch of malcontents with the social mentality of a 10 year olds. Kids WILL be bored to tears. </p> <p>Yes, the movie is visually stunning, and yes, it's nice to see the respect and love that Spike obviously has for Sendak's classic, but Harry went on record saying this movie was better than E.T. but it's not even close.</p> <p>It should be noted that Sendak's book was never a "feel good" book to begin with. And while I wasn't necessarily looking for a "feel good" Where the Wild Things Are movie, I wouldn't have minded a bit less angst and a little more fun.</p>
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Massawyrm is reviewing the trailer in comparison to the movie.
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Everyone knows AICN reviews are bought and paid for! Its so obvious. How much did Spike pay you for this one Massa!! <p> Seriously though, great review. I like to read dissenting opinions and am I still really excited to see this.
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Massa never claims that the film having that kind of impact on him is bad, he's just saying that a large majority of kids that go to see the film (lets remember, this is still a childrens book adaptation, and meant to be aimed towards children) will be bored. That seems honest and reasonable.
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I realized I had totally forgotten how hard it is to be a kid figuring out how to deal with your emotions until I saw this movie. This movie truly took me back to the uncomfortableness of being a kid like no experience I have had since.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 9:58 a.m. CST
Sounds like those marketing boys have been misleading again
by KEVIN_COSTNERS_RECYCLED_PISS
Like how Inglorious Basterds was marketed as a men on a mission movie along the same lines as Kill Bill or when Disney advertised Bridge to Terabithia as a Narnia/Harry Potter style adventure film.
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Harry and others keep saying kids are going to to be mesmerized by the magic and wonder of this movie, but from what I've heard (haven't seen it yet) it sounds to me like it's just a hipster indie version of a kids movie. In other words, something kids aren't gonna want anything to do with. Kids don't want intellectual stimulation. They want bright colors and silly characters. My friend has a kid and his favorite movie is Cars. You know why? Because he likes the character of 'Mater. You know why? Cause Larry the Cable Guy does the voice.
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I have seen "Wild Things" yet, but better than "E.T."? I find that hard to believe.
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Not a good sign.
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...including ET. ET deals with childhood, but also many other things. This is two straight hours of the most honest look at childhood I've ever seen on screen. Which is better is a personal preference, but this film examines childhood in ways ET just doesn't.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:03 a.m. CST
Yeah, people are clamoring for movies about angst right now
by Snookeroo
'Cos everything else is so rosy.
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Visual representation of Massawyrm's review: <P> http://tinyurl.com/yjrkxpc
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"Nice... Finally a negative review of this film." ?
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I never got the impression that this movie was for kids.
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Because when you get the opposite you just bitch about that too. Your review excites me. A meditation on youth via a boys psyche sounds right up my ally.
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I wish I could play doctor with her today. Fuck me.
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Weren't you the dude slamming others (me) in another review on this site for wanting/expecting a plot? A plot is where SOMETHING happens and, as you've noted, "nothing really HAPPENS." That's precisely what many of us feared.<p>Apologies for the nastiness in the last talkback from me to you, but you did get a little priggish when you immediately jumped to "shrinking dick" thing or whatever when some on that talkback offered the exact same criticism that you're now proffering.<p>Sure, sure, we hadn't seen it yet. Nonetheless, you and Massa have now shown we were correct.<p>A real shame as Where the Wild Things Are was a favorite of mine as a boy, but, re-reading it, I can certainly see that quite a bit of material would have to be grafted on to make a STORY.<p>Visuals are great. FX are great. But it's story that keeps asses in seats for 97 minutes, that makes classics, and that keeps us coming back for repeated viewings.<p>Anyway, sorry again for the vitriol.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:10 a.m. CST
Since when does audience expectation factor into a review?
by knowthyself
How does that in any way make a film bad or good?
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figuring out how to deal with your emotions??? <P> Really dealing with your emotions was hard as a kid? I guess you guys just didn't kill small animals like me to get your frustration out? Works everytime.
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Scathing Praise if ever there was!
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the trailers looked like what massa described, and I was against seeing it. he just confirmed my feelings again. Not going to this.
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I ma sure there is some appeal to folks about this movie, but it just looks to me like a bunch of guys in fluffy mardi-gras/mascot costumes and does not sell me on any illusion. Kind of like H.R. Pufinstuf in hell. I can't get into it.
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"When I was a kid, I was Max" You were weird and lonely kids awww I get it.
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Haven't seen the movie. I'm hoping for the best, but reading the reviews - both positive and negative - it's starting to remind me of certain "indie" comic books that receive a lot of praise (for, basically, not being about super-heros) but are, in fact, boring as shit.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:12 a.m. CST
Also I love how we just assume what kids will or will not love.
by knowthyself
My fav kids films were always weird, dark, and went way over my head until I got older.
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Thanks for the honest review here. Thank God for your dissenting voice. I'm sure that the thing will be an interesting exercise and visually cool (love me some Spike!), but Harry's over-the-top review should've been everybody's clue that this was going to be like watching the best 97 minute film school experiment ever.<p>As a side note, I'd love to read Harry's review of his own excrement - that "shit" would probably be the most vividly stunning masterpiece in all of history (until the next shit, of course) that reminded him of the time when he was eight that he, his dad, and his grandfather went down to the Alamo and blah blah blah... ;-)
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Was dumb. The soundtrack, however, is excellent.
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giant fucking fuzzy things that blow up may be the droid you are looking for...
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If they're sitting and talking that's still something happening.
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If you loved the book as a child - and who didn't - why would you NOT want to see and support this movie, advertising be damned. It sounds wonderful and surreal.
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The "Story" is a child learning to deal with his emotions by escaping to world inside his brain. Just because there is no a-z plot points for those with ADD, god forbid a film make people think for once.
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Sorry about that.
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I was almost pushed to tears after seeing the previews. I'll post my opinion later...
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I really feel bad for people who can't enjoy a visceral experience like The Fountain. Sure, a few lines by Weisz were forced and kind of embarassing, but 90% of the film was rich, meditative, and a beautiful parable on mortality.
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The "Story" is a child learning to deal with his emotions by escaping to world inside his brain. Don't judge it just because there is no a-z plot points for those with ADD. god forbid a film make people think for once.
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They should have made one of the monsters a character in the Expendables.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:17 a.m. CST
GOD FORBID WE GET A THOUGHTFUL FILM ABOUT CHILDHOOD
by BringingSexyBack
And not some vehicle to sell Happy Meals and assorted plastic contraptions.
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...with a neighbor girl when I was four...at a religious camp! You're a big fat prude.<P>Of course, a few days later she locked me in the attic and when the phone rang she told me it was the hospital and that my parents had died in a car crash. I had forgotten about that incident until this very moment. This explains a lot.<P>This movie is cathartic already.
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I don't even have to see the thing to tell you that.
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A movie about nothing.
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I love a good meditative art house flick thats low on plot but high on thought. Jonze took the high road and we'll be talking about this film for a long long long time. When the book came out it was panned by critics and misunderstood. Seems like the film followed the same route. Awesome.
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...good or bad, this sounds like a movie nobody should be lukewarm about.<P>I would be worried if everybody liked it.
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...that kids with ADD won't enjoy. The ironing is delicious.
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WTF is that true? That's crazy - sorry about your loss.
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...everyone is still alive and well. Thanks though.<P>Well, I assume the girl is alive and well...we broke up after that. We grew apart.
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Any word on a talk back upgrade?
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Spike fans and "indie" people will love the hell out of this, in current climes I think that's a winner. Jocks, take your kids to see the Expendables instead, guns, explosions, Dolph, Sly and that beer swillin' wrestler, just what they need.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:32 a.m. CST
Oh boy. Who would have thought. The studios execs were right.
by ricarleite2
Kinda sad, really. I wonder what Harry will say about this movie, and I suspect he will enjoy it, but that is really disapointing. And to think he passed on a Charlie Kaufman project for this... Oh well.
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It makes me hate the movie, even if it's actually good. I STILL wanna ring the necks of whoever plotted to shove Cronenbeg's 'Dead Ringers' down my throat as a medical/sci-fish thriller. That said, there ARE others who are talking honestly about WTWTA & saying it's dark, depressing, but good if you go in knowing that.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:38 a.m. CST
WTWTA IS SOMBER. YOU WANT TO LAUGH? WATCH THIS INSTEAD:
by BringingSexyBack
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/14/panic-face-king-japanese_n_320900.html
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It sounds like parents will say "Screw this thoughtful, emotional journey shit!" It will open big and drop off 70% the weekend after. Eh, no matter, BLACK DYNAMITE comes out tomorrow too!!!
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No wonder you always wanted to be an ice cream driver.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:40 a.m. CST
HA! The shit-blew-up contingent is finally heard from.
by Subtitles_Off
You knew they'd crawl out from under their rock eventually. Of course the Zack Snyder, Michael Bay, Roland Emerich and Christopher Nolan fans are going to hate this. That was never in doubt.<P>There are plenty of disaster-porn and giant toy movies for you guys. This one is for a different audience.
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...sharp. Very sharp.
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Throw that on the pile of wrongly advertised movies. Super Troopers? Uh more like Taxi Driver. Geesh.
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...I was four, but she was six...that's half again my age. According to the math I should be into fifty year olds by now.<P>Maybe that explains my infatuation with Virginia Madsen and Beverly D'Angelo.
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Fuck & You
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...little pussies back when you were 9. Seriously, its just a movie. Get over yourselves. I haven't seen it yet, and I will reserve judgment until I do. It may be the greatest thing ever or it may be tripe. who knows. But what I will say is that its being marketed as is a kids adventure movie when it clearly isn't. And why wouldn't people get the impression that its a movie for kids. Its being marketed that way and it based on a kids book. 1+1=2, duh!. I think you pretentious arthouse pricks need to remember that before you pass judgment on the people who are going to dislike this film and the kids who will be bored by it. Plus 9yo boys want to movies where shit blows up and there are fart jokes. A 2 hour therapy session is not going to capture their imagination.
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You gotta love it.
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Is not a trick in my book you're doing them a favor.
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...everyone else and calls it a review.
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"It was never meant for families. It was meant for critics." <P> I am fully with you. In retrospect, it is a good movie. But that's accepting it in hindsight, it's not a gut reaction. My gut reaction as I first saw was, yes, boredom and apathy. The Wild Things are MISERABLE. I don't know about other people, but my depression kicked in somewhere around high school. Elementary school was fun and games. <P> Little kids get briefly sad, they don't get depressed. <P> It's almost the exact opposite of a Pixar movie. Pixar movies are predominantly child-oriented but have all the eloquent subtext and multiple layers that make them thoroughly great films that adults can full enjoy, while WTWTA has a few bits of fun and excitement that kids will enjoy, it's predominantly dour and feels crafted for angsty and moody 30 year-olds. <P> Massa is absolutely right, there's not one moment of adventure. The book was about adventure. The island in the book, also, was Max's ESCAPE. It wasn't supposed to mirror his real life. That's WHY the book was one of my favorites growing up, because it taught that you can seek refuge in your imagination from all the bullshit of the day to day routine, but at some point you have to go back. Max goes back because he misses the love only his mother can give. In the movie, Max goes back because everything falls apart on the island and everyone is mad at each other. To me, that's not what the book had to say, and the movie suffers for it. <P> David Denby's review is also spot-on. Check it out. I do very much like WTWTA, but again, it's only because I've met the movie on it's own terms. And I'm bummed I had to do that.
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From the very first moment I saw hints of this movie way back when, and then began seeing images and then trailers, all I could think of was, 'This? They made a movie out of that creepy little dink kids book?' And then the enxt thought was, too bad it won't make a dime. Right or wrong, I just don't thin enough people are self-absorbed enough, or feel angst-ridden enough about their childhoods to have any super great nostalgia for this book. I always found it just plain creepy myself, and I suspect the 'masses' are probably going to feel the same way about this movie. It may have a decent opening weekend, but then, it will probably evaporate very quickly. It will interesting to see if that is how it really shakes out.
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I see him saying it's not what the marketing tells you it is. And that is what everyone is saying. I still want to see it, but I think I'm leaving my 9 and 12 year old at home. They are pretty sophisticated (we saw Zombieland a couple weeks ago and they loved it) but this sounds downright painful for a kid to sit through. This is a kid's book adapted into a PG movie. Why would anyone going off the trailers assume they were getting a 2 hour insight into the mind of a hyperactive 10 year old as opposed to an adventure movie?
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and fart jokes are well on the road to being total douches.
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Thanks Massa for keeping it REAL. Kids don't want that shit. This reminds me of Rattatoule. All the reviewers here fluffed it up to be the next great Pixar family flick. What the fuck did they watch? That movie sucked more ass than possible.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 11:14 a.m. CST
"It was never meant for families. It was meant for critics."
by ImMorganFreeman
No, Wyrm, it was meant for Spike Jonze, and nobody else alone. I'm glad to find someone else who agrees that this isn't the end all be all of motion pictures. It's very good, and well made, but ultimately boring, and in the end, I can't say I'm clamoring to rush out and see it again.
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Who here has drunk or drank alcohol before they should? Ever watch something that was for "older" people that you enjoyed and...gasp!....understood?
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I'll see this solo without the kid now. Anyone on here thinking that misleading a family into an arthouse film that the kids will find boring, answer me this: Have YOU ever sat near a bored 8 year old? In a movie theater? It sucks, and you guys would be the first to bitch about the snotty kid who wouldn't shut up during the Kid's Movie.
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I never read the book when I was younger, guess that's why I played sports, had friends and went outside, unlike the reviewers thus far and the majority of the fans it seems.<br><br>I don't know about you all, but I'm not shelling out money to go sit in a theater and feel sorry about myself. If I wanted to do that, I'd shell out the money in proper therapy -- which I would probably recommend for a lot you.
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...because while the book may have been something to an 8 year old, this movie looks like a puppet show to an adult. Sure, there are adult themes in there, but what was impressive at 8, is not impressive now.
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You're wrong, dude. "Beautiful enough to see on the big screen, but not powerful or moving enough to recommend, I find myself very conflicted and foresee a film that will be lauded by critics and snubbed by the bored masses." He says "masses". I doubt he only meant children. And there is a big contradiction in his making the statement that its not "powerful" or "moving" enough. Sounds powerful and moving enough that it made him look back at his own childhood while watching it.
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This fun junkie,s all they care is for movies to be simplsitic, dumb and easy to digest withan offering of the most mundane boring old cliches imaginable. What is the problem with this people? What is this fun fascism? Every movie has to be fun? and wors,t every movie has to be exactly to their very peculiar and particular definition of fun? What kind of bullshit fascism is this shit? And they call themselves movie geeks? A pretty limited way to be a movie geek, no?<br><br>You fun junkies should get a grip. No, not all movies are made to be "fun". Deal with it. But the vast majority of the movies are made to fit your definiton of "fun". So why the fuck you get so upset then one isn't? You have the vast majority of the movies made for you, let others who aren't be. Learn to accept some difference.
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What fucking angst did you all have when you were 8 or 9? I watched cartoons, played Star Wars, and ate shitty food. <p> Seriously, were some of you molested or sold into slavery. <p> The angst came with the teen years. And even then it was offset with girls, drugs, and parties.
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Basically it makes me want to see it: I don't want the sugar-coated childhood garbage. We have a tendancy to look back at "the good ol' days" through rose colored glasses. We lack the objectivity to actually impassionately observe our own actions and see things for how they truely were. There's a difference between how we look back at childhood as an adult vs. how it actually was, and I'm glad he had the honesty to go with the later.
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doesn't mean it has to be a happy dandy movie with dancing and singing cute "fun" "monsters". Pan's Labyrinth, anymore? If every movie had to play by holywood rules, Pan's Labyrinth would never exist.
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...About people's comments to this review is many on here have been saying for months/years that they wanted a children's film for a change that didn't dumb down its message or sugar coat what it means to be a kid. Probably my favorite "family" film of the 80's is Jack Clayton's Something Wicked This Way Comes. A disney film and probably their darkest live action effort to date. What makes that film so powerful is the honest way it deals with age and fatherhood. It sounds like Jonze did something similar and its the Wickeds, Nimhs and Wild Things of the world that truly stand the test of time. I have not seen the film yet but every review I read (even the bad ones) is making me want to see all the more. And Jonze is a genius. Period. And I commend Warner Brothers for giving him the marketing support and the backing to make the film he wanted to.
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That made me both laugh and shudder at the same time.
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There is nothing deceptive about the trailers. Tons of the trailers have the Wild Things crying. How many Muppet or puppet films have you seen in recent memory or ever where you saw creatures crying like that? Spike and the studio have been very honest about the film. Like I said I still haven't seen it but I take issue with this whole upbeat candy land description people are making on here about the marketing for the film. Anyone with a brain knew from the moment Sendak said it would be"controversial" in the featurette promotional materials currently being played in many theaters that this was not going to be a normal kids film. And thank GOD for that. The last thing any of us needs is another cookie cutter kids film. If it is indeed 400 Blows for kids then I wish I kids so my wife and I could take them to see it. I would rather a kids film be Truffaut like than Spielberg's fucking travesty called Crystal Skull. Fuck the Crystal Skulls and G-Force movies of the world. I want more films like Wild Things.
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who said it was supposed to be "fun"?? have you read the book??
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Dorothy bumps her head at the beginning of the movie, then reawakens moments later at the end. Yet it would be foolish to think Dorothy didn't have an arc that changed her by the end of the movie.<P>I suspect WTWTA is similar in that regard. Max must have an arc. Granted, I don't dispute that nothing happened -- technically, yet I'm certain he's a changed character in the end.
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This is gonna be fucking amazing!! http://sickpicks.blogspot.com/
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It's not a children film. That example is pure fail.
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is another film where 'nothing happens' yet is a powerful film. Moments of fun, but with lots of introspection and character arcs. I can understand 'Wyrm not wanting to 'go there.' Many people won't. But WTWTA is sounding more and more like a special film along the lines of The Breakfast Club, though the focus is on one character who is younger.
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If you are at all familiar with the book, why would you expect something happy and totally kiddie like? Seriously, I don't understand Massa's take on the movie. Look, he has the right to review the movie as he sees fit. But, this looks like a classic example of "I'm such a non-conformist that I'm gonna shit on this movie to show how much of a non-conformist I am."
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What do you mean nothing happens?? Max gets pissed and sails to an imaginary island where he has to deal with overtly emotional monsters. How the hell is that "nothing". <p> Anyway, I'm going to watch it tomorrow without the expectation of this movie having a Goonies vibe to it.
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"I never read the book when I was younger, guess that's why I played sports, had friends and went outside," Really? Sounds like you were really cool! Reading books is for nerds!
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Can't wait.
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Massa, I also saw this movie on Monday and I loved it. It was a melancholy look at the raw emotions of childhood. I wouldn't say that "nothing happened." What the Hell did you want out of the movie? Explosions? Meatballs falling out of the sky? I'm surprised you didn't see this is a thinly velied look at Communism considering the whole *SPOILER* they always end up eating their kings revelation*END SPOILER.
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...and it too was marketed rather deceptively (as a fantasy/family movie & conveniently sidestepping the whole THE GIRL DIES tack). But reviews hinted at that, and LOTS of the audience knew the source book (not us, though). But the reason my 8 yo didn't hate it...or us parents...was that they talked about the sad stuff & ultimately grew stronger. Seems to me that WTWTA just paints a sad picture of Max's life & asks you to look at it; no change, no growth. I'm not saying Terabithia was great, or that WTWTA will suck to me and/or my kid. But it sounds to me that these two flicks have a lot in common, save for the fact one is banking on the fact people will think it's a fun romp & the other didn't...that much.
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never really seemed to me to be aimed at children. I took it as a film for adults wanting to re-experience something personal from their childhood, perhaps sharing that perspective with their own children. Being used to Hollywood's idea of kid's films, there will be kids who will attach their own expectations when seeing monsters in the trailer. I see that, too. But I don't see the trailer being particularly misleading. To those who do, I ask them: "What should the trailer have been like?"
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You must have had a blessed childhood. Congrats. <p> I have a nephew who acts out quite a bit. My brother and his wife divorced when he was 5 years old. He often acts real bratty and gives both his mom and my brother all sorts of trouble. <p> For some reason, he's always cool and chill when he hangs with me. But, I can totally see how he could relate to Max in this movie. <p> I can completely see how he views everything to be "temporary" and that he feels isolated most of the time. Sailor, I congratulate you on such a blessed and perfect childhood. <p> But, in the real world, there are plenty of kids with issues due to the fucked up situations their parents put them in.
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...to people whose parents were divorced when they were young, who had an absent parent(s), or who experienced some childhood trauma. Breakfast Club is different because that spoke to teen angst, which most of us had, not childhood angst, which is not as universal.
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sounds like he didn't like it but still gave it props...any new well crafted art house type film is welcome here...better than another Tarnsformers or romantic comedy chick flick film
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thanks for the honest review...pretty much in line with what most people were thinking...only the die hard fans of the book with fucked up childhoods seem to dig this movie
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I have a hard time believing NOTHING happens. I'm still curios to see it. Some people like hiking, some people like a video game instead.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:04 p.m. CST
An honest and interesting review, Massa. And this film was neve
by Mr. Nice Gaius
...going to be aimed at today's kids (per se). IMHO, it was always going to be intended for the nostalgia class of Gen-Xers and latter-day hipsters who actually grew up with the book. (Just look at Jonze for crying out loud. Do you think his use of the Arcade Fire song in the trailer was a happy accident?)<P>As for whether this film was "made for critics", it seems that the praise is NOT unanimous. In fact, it appears rather divided. I find this interesting since there are several online critics who have been hailing this as a masterpiece even before they got to attend an early screening.<P>I'm fine with a mature "kids film". And if Jonze created something that's best viewed from a place of emotional memory and nostalgia, well...that's where I'll be coming from anyway.
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Kinda like AICN. Except here, every once in a while one of the monsters starts screaming epithets and profanity, until a giant hammer appears to smash them flat. And then the other monsters pick the bones clean. I hope that's in the sequel.
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Classic!
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I did, and still do, have awesome parents. I wish more people who have kids would realize what you teach and how you treat a child early on shapes them into the adult they become. It seems like a simple concept to understand but a lot of people either don't care or are just plain fucking twisted themselves. <p> That's why I hate all these ignorant bastards having multiple children they can't afford or give enough time to.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:13 p.m. CST
People here saying that little kids have no angst unless...
by FlickaPoo
...they were molested or something is ridiculous. I was TERRIFIED by the ERNIE'S TIGER HUNT record when I was little. I listened it it every day, but it scared the crap out of me.<P>Also, for some reason I grasped the concept of death much earlier than is typical and I worried every day that something would happen to my parents.I used to get little panic attacks about school...the idea of having to go EVERY DAY for twelve years...it was claustrophobic. I was sure I wouldn't make it. And I was good at school. <P>Point is, I had a happy childhood, but I was alternately a bold, wild boy...and a very anxious, worried little kid.<P>I think most people just don't really remember being little.
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Nothing happens, Malcontented Monsters, that sounds about like SGU so far.
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Opening wider then The Stepfather and Law Abiding Citizen? Yet the biggest theater has it spliting the screen with Paranormal Activity and LAC gets its own screen? <P> Let me clarify that, its not like the biggest theater around me is two screens. Its normal size theater, but it has two HUGE ass screens that have balcony seating, those usually show the big event pics. Granted is put Capitalism on one and Zombieland on the other, while Zombieland sold out. So they aren't always right.
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No fucking LAC reviews? Come on the great Kurt Wimmer directed it, and F. Gary Gary ain't half bad.
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Also has a bad ass trailer people like.
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Holy shit, I must have repressed that memory. The trusty, rusty telescope! I thought I was the only one who had that record. My sisters and I even had this elaborate pantomime to act out when we played it. Damn, thanks for that, Flick, I just had my own little fisher-price turntable acid flashback.
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look, that old book used to creep me out. it had a really strange sketched look that made me frightened to read it. and when i did read it i don't recall getting any joy out of it. but i ended up with a copy and i flicked thru it a fair few times. the book was somber. kind of made you stare at the wall when you put it down. sounds like this film has nailed it.<p>as for kids films i loved.... there was this strange cartoon called 'the point'. now THAT is my kind of dark film and I've never seen anything like it since.
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http://tinyd.net/tiger2.html
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I totally agree that there are going to be a lot of really disappointed people out there this weekend. I also think this will probably be a box office failure. I don't think most people think this movie looks entertaining. My wife and son mentioned wanting to see it, but they are being suckered in by the marketing campaign. There is no way we are paying money to see this. Also, I think the book is highly overrated. I wonder if the majority of the "fans" of the book really understand how dark and depressing it is.
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If there is anyone who makes my eyes roll back out of my head and onto the sidewalk when I see them jumping ahead in line at Austin Movie Premieres..it's the pudgy new balance wearing, self absorbed douche Massawrm. Ive felt the vomit hit the back of my teeth as you gloat about how you were hanging out with jay baruchel on set, near a pool, and a bikini clad Kate Bosworth, thought you were soooo funny, and was totally hitting on you, while Jay looked on Jealous. It's that and other things I've overheard you say to your geek toadies, that really make me don't give a shit about anything you have to say. If you kept up with any of the WILD THINGS news, then you knew this was coming, you knew the studio was upset that Jonze made it "too dark, and bleak" but man, if it was the other way around, you'd be bitching about how sun soaked in happiness the film was. There's never any pleasing you. When a director "takes a chance" or does something personal, or makes decisions "That You wouldn't make" you give them shit, and shit on their movie, but yet you give thumbs up to all this unoriginal stuido bullshit like Terminator 3. What's even worse, is you fight like a girl, a chubby girl, with long hair that "you think" makes you look young and cool, but in reality makes you look like your stuck in 1994. I stood outside the window during Fantastic Fest, smoking a cig, and drinking a stellas as I watched your pussy attempt at fighting another film critic in the ring, with boxing gloves. First of all that critic (i forget who it was) handed you your ass, during the verbal fisticuffs of the fight. Using quotes from some of your old reviews, he exposed you for the lame douche that you are. But during the fighting portion, I had never been so let down. Not one single punch thrown, all you did was curl up into a ball and man was it pathetic. Fat long haired pathetic. Even Harry in the front row looked bored watching you box. Your a classic example of a shitty critic. All you do is think about what "you" would have done differently, and how "you" would have made different choices. Well guess what Mass-o-warm shit, the studios don't give a shit about how you would approach it, because your not an actual filmmaker. Just because You've seen a lot of movies, doesn't mean you know how to make them. (Same goes for playing Mortal Kombat, and thinking you know how to use martial arts) Man if you ever did make a movie, I'm sure it would suck, and be completely unoriginal. I remember when you bitched about the ending of Watchmen because you said they changed the ending, and even though the same stuff got accomplished, it still sucked because it wasn't the same ending, and then you made some stupid Hamlet metaphor. Well Guess what, FIGHT CLUB, changed the ending, and it was amazing for it. Sometimes endings get changed, and sometimes they are better for it. Man I hate this guy.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:26 p.m. CST
IF MY PARENTS KNEW I WOULD END UP TALKBACKING SO MUCH
by BringingSexyBack
They would've hugged me more and spend more quality time with me. Fuck my childhood!!!!
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and Kate Bosworth. Sooo I guess Massawyrm is doing set visit's to direct to DVD movies now?
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:28 p.m. CST
ANYONE: WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL ENDING TO PARANORMAL ACTIVITY?
by BringingSexyBack
The last few seconds did feel a mite incongruous with the rest of the movie. Does anyone know how the original was filmed?
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I absolutely love it when filmmakers are able to hide a completely cohesive narrative inside what at face value appears to be a confounding mess of bizarre scenes. The Fountain, Mulholland Drive, and Spider are three of my favorite such movies. You can watch them again and again and each time you see another layer of subtle awesomeness.
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in my talk back about why mass-o-warm shit sucks more than a wet vac.
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And this review actually increases my desire to see the film. Thank you for helping to temper my expectations.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:31 p.m. CST
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3 HAD ACTION UP THE YING YANG
by BringingSexyBack
Yet I've never had a deeper sleep than during that movie. Action is not always good.
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Another boring movie where nothing happens. So I guess that's crap too eh? So glad Jim Henson created an art house muppet movie. So glad Jonze followed in his foot steps.
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I thought that was Mirajeff with Uwe Boll...or did Massa get in the ring, too?
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I'm still not sure I want to see this.<br> This is a fond childhood memory from a long time ago based on a very thin book.<p> I know the author is endorsing the upgrade<br> But I like my fond little memory and don't know if I want it upgraded...
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is just trying to be the one who sticks out, because everyone, and I mean everyone is loving on this movie. I had some friends here in Austin who saw the press screening on Monday, and they said "Spike does not let you down" Mass-o-warm shit is just trying to be that lil naysayer, so he can make it more about him, and not the movie.
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"My friend has a kid and his favorite movie is Cars. You know why? Because he likes the character of 'Mater. You know why? Cause Larry the Cable Guy does the voice.' And thats supposed to be a good thing?
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...Cookie Monster's journey to the top of Magic Mountain to find the cookie that would bring him EVERLASTING JOY AND HAPPINESS was on that one too.<P>The one with gnomes, and goblins, and six legged thunderbumble beasts. I always hoped he wouldn't eat the cookie this time...but he always did...
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when he said (in the talk backs) "Thanks for the honest, everyday person's review." Which is what you represent. The Everday (don't know shit about movies" Person. You represent the folks who pay money for NORBIT, or Operation Delta Farce. You speak to those who TIVO the blue collar comedy tour, your the mouth piece for people who liked "Empoyee of the Month". Your Like Ghandhi, for people who don't know who Ben Kingsley is, but know who Zac Efron is. Mass-o-warm shit, you should be reviewing movies for FOX NEWS.
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The last thing kids need are more Larry Cable the Guy children's movies. More Spike Jonze, Please God!
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hahahaha that was great.
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Tim League got into ring with Uwe Boll. Mass-o-warm shit, got into the ring with another critic, who lie i said, handed him his ass, in the verbal portion, before they both pussied around for 2 mins with no punches thrown. There was another match up, with another critic, and some girl who works at the HIGHBALL bar, I dunno much about that though.
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Massawyrm oviously has a very strong viewpoint on this particular film, founded in his personal experiences and it's very clearly expressed. Despite the machinations of the trailer brigade, the dull, sombre palette of this film had me thinking that it would be other than a Studio Ghibli fantasia of pure joy and innocence. And I thought Being John Malcovich was terrifying; a horror film about pure evil, cruelty and ignorance. So Mr Jonze remains as inimitable as ever; a truly sad and unsettling film-maker. And no amount of Arcade Fire on the soundtrack can change that.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 12:50 p.m. CST
Your Like Ghandhi, for people who don't know who Ben Kingsley
by knowthyself
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...love that character. Shitty dad.<P>I'd take him over lady Gertrude though.
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simply it doesnt have lasers and farts.the kids will be very disappointed. <p>in a more serious way,i find it really funny that grown up people make reviews about films targeting kids.oh well.
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Excellent review! Given that this is being marketed as a children's film it won't take long before word of mouth sinks it. This is what happens when you give an indie director something mainstream. It sounds like he really fucked up.
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...much else from that record. I think we just wore down the Tiger Hunt part until it was unplayable. We had that one and Sesame Street Fever, and I wish I knew where those were right now. That Cookie Monster bit sounds pretty psychedelic, though; probably best enjoyed with a heady sugar buzz and a kaleidescope, like laser-Floyd for little kids.
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Ok, maybe I'll pay for something else then sneek in and watch "Wild Things".
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...wants to get into a ring with Massa.
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...you'd remember. Sounds like you had a different compilation. I've always wanted to do a really dark animated version of TIGER HUNT. Or maybe a series of huge black and white paintings...make it epic.
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about the boxing match story...before they boxed (or more so didn't box) Mass-o-warm shit had one last chance to redeem himself, with his verbal antics against the other critic. He then, "busted out" some lame ass, second grader attempt at a rap song/ jingle, making fun of the other guy. The Rhymes were lame, and the whole thing sounded like something some lame politican would do to try and "Speak to the youth" Man it was bad, and not funny, and I can only imagine how clever he thought he was, when he spent the entire night typing it up on his netbook. It was more awkward than anything, and a lot longer than it had to be. It wasn't long before the crowd started to noticably shift in their seats, from boredom. Man if anybody has that footage please GOD POST IT!!! YOU KNOW YOUR OUT THERE, WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERAS AND YOUR YOUTUBE!! DO IT!
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:06 p.m. CST
Kids aren't that stupid if you give them half a chance.
by liesandpicturesofalsolies
I think there are some pretty sweeping generalizations about what children expect from movies going on. Some kids will probably not enjoy this because there are no farting dogs or whatever is in that crap nowadays. I don't know if this movie is good or not but trying to challenge children's worldview and give them something emotionally honest, I say that is a gigantic plus.
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This review by Massawrm only confirms how completely out of touch he is (or maybe something deeper) with analyzing children films when stacked next to his review of "Happy Feet". He guts "Where The Wild Things Are" for being exactly what he didn't like about "Happy Feet". It's beginning to become clear Massawyrm has issues that play out in these reviews. Give him a movie with guns blasting and explosions and he's happy and not "bored" but toss anything else his way and he can't quite get his head around it.
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Massawyrm's description is fairly accurate, it's not some by the numbers movie and that's why everyone else loves it so much. But I think unless there's some new advertising campaign I haven't seen they've been very accurate in all of the marketing, even literally spelling out the "inside all of us is a wild thing" subtext in the trailer. I just watched it again on youtube to check, and sure enough it starts out showing Max looking gloomy in class, spying on his mom, lonely in his bedroom before writing on the screen that inside ach of us we have things like "hope" and "fear." And it shows wild things running around throwing things, jumping, also looking wistfully into the sunset and looking sad, and then howling. It's exactly the movie.<p> There's also a behind the scenes thing they showed in some theater chain's pre-movie advertising shit that showed Maurice Sendak talking about how people hated the book when it first came out and that he loved the movie and thought it would be controversial. Which is kind of exaggerated I think but has also been what all the magazine and newspaper articles have been about. Is there some other ad that pretends it's Narnia or some shit?<p> I think Massa will turn out to be wrong and kids will love this movie, but I'm just guessing like he is so we'll just have to wait and see. His response is legit and I figured he'd hate it. But I'm curious to know if he thinks the movie would've been improved by a quest for a magical object or by a bad guy they have to stop or something like that. Because I think the "nothing happens" that he describes is why it's good.
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When a movie is big stupid fun, people complain that the characters are paper thin and the plot is nonsensical and they didn't give a shit about anything happening on screen. When a movie that really has something to say comes out, people complain that it's boring and "nothing happens." Yeah sure, there are some movies that blend both together - and hey, that's great. There are some real classics that accomplish both missions. But not every movie can, or should, be like that.
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is a much better film than that gene wilder film johnny depp was perfect as wonka
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:17 p.m. CST
Amazing how Massa bring out the phillistines and idiots
by IndustryKiller!
Anyone who would rather have the utter crap that gets peddled to kids daily shouldnt be allowed around them. The amount of boring passionless douche bags that art like that helps to create in adulthood is staggering. Its a fucking joke that there are so many people on here going "I know it, its gonna be booooooring." These classless mongrel can't understand that boring is the effect, not the cause, of an unenjoyable film, and that Massa does nothing to articulate a greater point to that end. Typical of his awfulr eviews though, which I heard he got thrown in his face at the debate at fantastic fest. I mean we are talking about the kind of clown who actually like What Happens in Vegas and Hancock and still calls himself a fan of cinema. He's got some ok reviews on this site but mostly he's a massive liability.
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which i highly doubt he will, all he needs to do is find me on the internet. A simple google search for "Jose Jones" should do the trick. (one last thing:) Please people don't listen to this Mass-o-warm shit, I see some of you leaving comments saying things like "well I guess i won't see this" but please, don't let this review (for lack of a better word) sway you from seeing something, that could touch your heart, or bring back memories (even if they are dark ones) of being a little kid. We NEED TO SUPPORT FILMS LIKE THIS, that aren't overly CGI and go back to basic visual effects. If Movies like this fail, then we can pretty much kiss the notion of seeing more of these types of films, goodbye. Films like Brazil, and Jim Henson Films, where the magic was created organically, not by a bunch of zeros and ones on a computer. God Forbid some parent takes their kid to see this, and it actually "opens" their mind, rather than just fill it with bright colors and noises.
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No problem man. I look forward to you challenging me next year at Fantastic Debates when you get to see how I box when I'm actually allowed to hit someone in the face (I wasn't last time.) Unless you're just some sad little internet troll who talks shit behind a name but would never speak up in person. But I know you're not that weaselly, right?
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Only stupid kids will be bored by this. The ones who like their movies littered with generic looking cg chipmunks spouting dated, tired, pop culture catch phrases.
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Wait, wait, wait. You weren't even there. The rap was ABOUT me, not the other way around. That was cute. For a second I thought you were a local, not a bullshit artist.
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I applaude The Wyrm for posting his opinion, and as he is an employed critic, I won't hate him for doing his job. I have yet to see the film, so if I agree or not with the review is uncertain. For all of you who disagree or agree, I applaude you too for sharing opinions. But you better have seen the film before opening your cookie-holes. Also, pulling descriptions of Massa, and his performance in a boxing match into the TB, hardly seems relevant. Or mature. Take that shit somewhere else. I want to read about movies, not the observations of a brainless brat.
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When I saw that as a young kid, I remeber feeling very lost as the little boy travelled around the world with those midget thieves, and then in the end, he never really gets his parents back. That film was like a childhood peephole into the adult world for me.
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Nice analogy. That was my favorite movie as a kid, and I remembered how shitbrick scared I got at my own emotions concerning that movie. If WTWTA channels even a smidge of that, it's just what I've been looking for.
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because he is such a non-conformist.<p> Seriously, do you even remember the book?
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kids are smart,they can be entertained with more complex,intellectual stimulus.dont understimate the children.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:38 p.m. CST
Parents will blindly take their kids to see anything...
by JacksBloatedPayroll
Except movies like Speed Racer and The Iron Giant, which were the perfect family movies. Those movies bombed, but I saw about 30 -10 year old's at the Transformers 2 screening.
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I was thinking just that. <p> Time Bandits is great, but the kid gets all sorts of fucked at the end. I remember feeling real sorry for him. It was not the ending I was expecting.
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Where's The JUGGFUCKLER when you need him?
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Harry Front Row, Uwe Boll wearing white shirt that said, "and the oscar goes to..." Tim League in American Flag Spandex. I was totally there, even if I got "who" the rap song was about incorrect, like most, I dazed out halfway through. And I am a local...78704
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Man, I saw a shitload of kids for TDK. I remember thinking, what the fuck are these parents thinking?<p> The kids probably shat themselves and had trouble sleeping that night.
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How about a naked oil wrestling match for a change?
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Do you mean did I come home from the screening, pull the book off of my bookshelf and kick back to read it again while digesting the film? Yes.
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about being a nine year old boy...was everyone telling me what i wanted...you're a nine year old boy...we know what you want<p>i was once a nine year old<p>maybe if i think real hard i can imagine what i was like<p>maybe i wanted nothing to happen
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So what you're saying was you were drunk, might be talking out your ass and you think "Mass of Warm shit" was clever enough to repeat over and over again. Do go on. You sound better every time you post.
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...is going to kill you for that new avatar ; ) Your lucky he probably avoids the internet like Calvin avoids girls.
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don't make me slap Mass-o-warms mound out of your mouth...Obviously you've never seen a talk back if your upset about the "trash talking". Are you fucking kidding me. People love confrontation, it's the sole reason talk backs like this exist. If the entire talk back just said "i agree" it'd be a boring fucking talkback wouldn't it. So just keep drinking your mocha, and watching your "Frasier" you high brow ass clown!
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They really are.
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...I take that back. He's my god. The rest of you don't get to have him.
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I was just thinking the same thing, Jarv.<P>Looks like Jose_Jones is trying to get JUGGFUCKLED!
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Face it dark and depressing is what we love. I sure love it. The darker the better. Bring on the prozac.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:50 p.m. CST
This is turning into the G.orgeous L.adies O.f W.restling...
by FlickaPoo
...around here. Let's get back to arguing about the movie almost none of us have seen.
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listen having 2 beers and a smoke doesn't make me nearly drunk. Talking out of ones ass, is your specialty, not mine, and it's Mass-O-Warm shit, not "Mass of warm shit"...get with it dude. And to show you a picture of KING PUDGY in the ring, in all his glory...heres a link http://bleutuna.com/paulgandersman/wp-content/gallery/ffday5/p1090774.jpg
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If you did do that, why were you expecting anything other than what you got?<p> What type of "action" did you get from the book that you felt the movie was lacking?<p> Did you not recognize that the book is "dark" in nature? Did you not realize while reading it (what there is to read, of course) that Max was little piss ant and that the monsters personified his own emotions?<p> That was the first book I ever read by myself. And, I understood what Max was about back then. In retrospect, I think my father bought that book for me because I was doing a bit of lashing out too. I remember feeling that I didn't want to be like Max.<p> That book left an impression on me that continues to this very day. Hell, I read that book to my daughter all the time now and I hope that she will one day soon make it the first book she reads by herself.<p> However, not once did I ever get a vibe that this book was "action packed" or that it was this shiny, happy-happy story where Max comes out looking like a hero.<p> I just wonder what you saw in that book that made you want the movie it is based on to be magical and full of happiness.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:54 p.m. CST
This is going to be one of those touchstone years for kids
by thelordofhell
Like how kids in the past were drawn to movies like The Dark Crystal and Wizards......I think in the future you will hear future adults wax on about the "kids" films this year like Where The Wild Things Are and 9. Something that your clueless parent(s) took you to thinking it was a complete kiddie film.
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...it's Thursday. AND it's my birthday.<P>What the fuck?
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Oct. 15, 2009, 1:58 p.m. CST
Boy In Balloon: 6-Year-Old Floats Away In "Homemade Flying Sauce
by fassbinder79
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/15/hotair-balloon-boy-6yearo_n_322639.html
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your right. personal attacks are dumb, and stupid. One should focus more on the movie and review itself rather than the beer belly of it's reviewer. That'd be like if Mass talked shit about the film cuz Spike Jonze is a shrimppy lil man, with a girls voice...which may be true, but the man has given us nothing but gold since his skate video days, and even early work like the "buddy holly" video are staples of time. So I apologize for that. I just don't like his views on movies, I think he completely misses the point most the time, and sways potential viewers when he talks ill of it. I think he thinks rather highly of himself, when he's surrounded by his geek army, waiting for their moms to pick them up outside the drafthouse. But your right, too mean. I stick by my ghandi line though. And this is in no way is me backing out of a potential boxing match ala the next fantastic fest. XOXO
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I am aware that many of the TBs are full of trash. That doesn't mean you should further that tradition. Confrontation is a good thing, presuming it holds relevant points. Your ravings do not. I drink my coffee black if I can, and do not care much for the show you refer to. Now please, lay off the speed and red bull, and if you feel inclined to share more opinions, try not to make a complete fool of yourself in the process. Do you have any opinions on the movie? Any thoughts whatsoever on the topic? If not, then do us all a favor and kindly fuck off.
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Eh, I wasn't gonna see it anyway.
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Nothin' but class.
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...a helium powered homemade balloon which he climbed into, and is flying out of control. Check TMZ.com.
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Can't trust his reviews - can't believe I even take the time to post this, but I cannot forgive him for that Taken review. I saw that piece of shit based on his review and will never forgive him.
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a while before seeing the movie here. I haven't even seen a release date in Norway. That, sadly, is the truth of many films here. Takes time before we get some of the best bits in the cinemas here. No wonder people are pirating like crazy in Scandinavia..
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a while before seeing the movie here. I haven't even seen a release date in Norway. That, sadly, is the truth of many films here. Takes time before we get some of the best bits in the cinemas here. No wonder people are pirating like crazy in Scandinavia..
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With Jonze, Keener, and Eggers.<p> http://www.avclub.com/articles/where-the-wild-things-are-roundtable-spike-jonze-d,34112/
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A 6 year lost afloat in a homemade flying saucer seems totally on topic with the rest of this talkback...so it seemed like the place to post it.
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Make this sound like a must see. It's funny to see people marking down for things that they should clearly be praising it for. Can't wait to see a dark tale of this little brat's imagination. Especially the emotional parable rather than action-packed event structure. Who wants a book that was about nothing more than a bratty kid having a tantrum and retreating into his imagination to be about huge epic events and plot twists? Apparently the critics who gave this a bad mark do, but screw them. Can't wait until Sunday when I get to see this.
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really hoping this is the jonze film i've been waiting for.
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...damn.
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is this the best news story ever?
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...of this flying saucer soaring through the sky. It's insane!!!!
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I agree with anyone who finds this review contradictory. I'm sorry, nothing can be "brilliant" and "profound" AND boring (except maybe a 24-hr Gerry marathon). Maybe if he had expressed enjoying fleeting moments of brilliance, but no, he maintains it's a brilliant arthouse film that is way too boring to tolerate. I don't get that at all.
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Completely negates all other opinions you may have. The fact that out of the Coen's entire catalogue, not one of them float your boat. You're a sad, dejected little man, you're taste in films is comparable to the kid that eats everything plain. You're afraid of the new and different, so you turn your head and pout. Please stop reviewing for this site. Aside from an ever chaning sig you don't really contribute much. Your a lame carbon copy of Harry, but without the good taste in films.
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My thoughts exactly. Good post.
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It's The Explorers come to life!
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Why are some of you suggesting that Massa would have preferred a Bay movie, or G-force or other such crap just because he isn't gushing over this movie. Is everything so black and white in your horrible little minds. Also I agree with whoever posted about Something Wicked This Way comes, that was a movie that entertained adults and wasn't condescending to kids. It was a bit of a mess compared to the book though.
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if the movie is as dark and bleak, and slow as he's saying, then we should rejoice that the studio re-shoots, and re-editing haven't taken away it's core. As that was always a big fear of mine. Remember there was a time when Jonze wanted to have his NAME REMOVED! They seem to have found a middle ground, one can only wonder if there will be a Directors cut DVD...but yea, i'm no all chubby insults, I know my shit. I may not know about sports,or politics, or even how to wipe my own ass, but I know movies, as I'm sure anyone whos reading this does too. (sigh) I hate Mass, but I love this site. (JOSE JONES HAS GONE BACK TO FUCKING OFF)
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http://tinyurl.com/yfre726 I thought the ending worked up except for when *spoiler* her face changes into the demon. That was a little...eh. I don't think the movie was as terrifying as people say. There were some intense moments, but overall, not that scary. What did you think?
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Anyone see One Crazy Summer?
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...while the adults freakout about the kid, the kid's probably like "Yippeeeeeeee!!!! Weeeeeeeee!!"
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I love THREE Coen Brothers films: OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, MILLERS CROSSING and BLOOD SIMPLE. Not like. Love.
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is great. man.
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raising arizona, man who wasn't there, no country for old men. and a serious man.
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when Bobcat Goldwaith gives a boy a balloon and he flies off.
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It's bad enough that you can't even recall the events of a night that you've been blathering on about (it was Scott Weinberg who rapped, not me.) But you can't even remember the review you're posting about. I never even wrote the words 'dark and bleak' here. It's not that dark, and it certainly isn't bleak. It's whiny and boring. I'll make you a deal, you go away and leave the discussion to the big kids, and I'll buy you a Porkpie Hat to complete your look and finally get your face on lookatthisfuckinghipster.com. Douche.
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...His name is FALCON. MSNBC.
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If you did do that, why were you expecting anything other than what you got?<p> What type of "action" did you get from the book that you felt the movie was lacking?<p> Did you not recognize that the book is "dark" in nature? Did you not realize while reading it (what there is to read, of course) that Max was little piss ant and that the monsters personified his own emotions?<p> That was the first book I ever read by myself. And, I understood what Max was about back then. In retrospect, I think my father bought that book for me because I was doing a bit of lashing out too. I remember feeling that I didn't want to be like Max.<p> That book left an impression on me that continues to this very day. Hell, I read that book to my daughter all the time now and I hope that she will one day soon make it the first book she reads by herself.<p> However, not once did I ever get a vibe that this book was "action packed" or that it was this shiny, happy-happy story where Max comes out looking like a hero.<p> I just wonder what you saw in that book that made you want the movie it is based on to be magical and full of happiness.
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how are they going to get him down? Are F-18's being scrammbled?
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John Cusack's little brother in Better Off Dead also builds a rocket and takes off at the end.
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Ah, it's been awhile since I saw that movie.
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Well that's pretty much the film I expect to see. Haven't been yet, but from my point of view the marketing seems to be fairly accurate.
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I think the mistake a lot of people are making is that there are only two settings for this film: Jonze or Bay. That's not the case. Once you see the film, you'll note that Jonze changed A LOT to make the film he wanted to make. For a book with so few details, few of the actual happenings in the book go down the way they do here to support Jonze's vision. So it isn't a stretch to assume that there could, in some way, be some kind of menace to the island that gives the film forward momentum. The book certainly doesn't give the monsters childlike emotions allowing Max to watch his family drama play out before him in furry form - so why would anyone assume that this would be what the movie is about either? I never inferred that this needed to be action packed. But completely lacking in anything but character drama fueled by the ravings of emotionally 9 year old characters? There's got to be a middle ground in there.
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Stephanie Jacobsen was on the new Melrose Place? Now I have to stock up on lotion.
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Myself included. This movie is weak and will put you to sleep. Even with my old lady's hand down my pants, I couldn't sit still and watch it.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 2:37 p.m. CST
If this kid lives it's the best story ever. If he doesn't...
by FlickaPoo
...it's one of the worst.
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And we just watched a ballon on live news for a half hour. Good job news people. Kid probably was never in there.
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what slim interest I had in this film has now dissipated.
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I think Avatar succeeding will! As it was told in the book of James. <P> Also the much harold Terry Gilliam seems to be ok with CGI effects now as well. His new movie (fuck trying to spell that thing) looks pretty awesome. Like what Tim Burton has been trying to do but failing.
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Carry on.
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HAHAHAHA-CLASSIC!!! It's the kid stuck in the well all over again, either this kid was a genius, or he fell out at some point....(going back to fucking off)
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...before the camera crew trained their eyes on it, and he's laying dead somewhere.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 2:43 p.m. CST
Hope Massy wrong but I doubt it. Plus Tony Soprano
by HollywoodHellraiser
being the voice of one the monster is damn annoying!
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i really hope he's in a barn somewhere, I'd hate to find out he was dead somewhere. (NOW fucking off)
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...it nicely distracted those people challenging each other to boxing matches.
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Shit.
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...probably saw a hay stack or something and figured it would save him like Wiley Coyote.
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I'll have to see for myself. I'll save the "massawyrm is always wrong" comment for after.
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...and then released the tether. The kid couldn't get in AND release the tether himself.
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Had saw Wild Things already and took the balloon to escape the harsh reality that is being a kid?
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I never inferred that it had to be either Jonze or Bay, far from it. But, you placed special emphasis on it being boring. What are we supposed to make with that, other than you wanted more "action" in the movie.<p> However, I'll wait until I watch the movie and then come back and tell you what I really think and if you were right on your review.<p> Still, I gotta say that this "hipster" bullshit stuff kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I wish you would have stated that differently.<p> I hope I get to discuss the movie with you after I see it tomorrow.
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...he was going to fly all the way to Mars so jumped out.
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...holding an umbrella.<P>Slows you down not at all it turns out.
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And there was nothing vapid about it. I have high expectations for this one too.
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...if the entire balloon landed or if part of it might be somewhere else. Or maybe he jumped. Or maybe he was never in it.
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All you weirdos love that movie.
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I loved it. Again, as you say, not intense - but extremely well done in all aspects, and very creepy. According to IMDB that was Katie Featherston's 2nd movie ever, which amazes me. She's a total natural.
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They waste their time on this shit, and don't even report all the facts.
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Cloudy with a chance of meatballs is the greatest kids book of all time.
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...Of Charles Darwin is the single greatest picture book of all time in the entire universe.
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That movie had a whole lot of nothing happening in it.
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Benjamin Button. It was incredibly boring. I can't understand what people like about it. I loved Forest Gump. FG was exciting. He did a lot of interesting things. BB didn't do anything interesting. The Benjamin character itself lacks personality. Talking with a crooked mouth isn't acting. It's making a stupid face while talking. The most overrated movie last year.
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...um, sorry.
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...of Herbert from Family Guy who says, "It must be my birthday."
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I'll be expecting that hat next time I see you in line for a film. You call me a Douche, sure, but I'm a douche who told you where to find me...I could have been a PUSSY and hurled insults and hid behind a fake name like some other people. And just FYI, I'm not a douche, I'm an asshole, at least my girlfriend says so. You know what girlfriends are don't you? They are females who let you touch them, and don't vomit when you take your shirt off.
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INGLORIOUS BASTERDS had an underlying menace in every conversation. Someone was always hiding something and there was always this lingering tension that they would be discovered. And to say "nothing" happened is to ignore all the various shootouts and murders that occur in the film.
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But the Trailers job is to get butts in seats; not accurately represent the movie! So we get a longish Tone Poem? Perhaps it might be a let down, but it at least looks like it tries to be something...
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I'm not allowed to have girlfriends anymore. But show yours your series of posts here today. I'm sure she'll be impressed with your maturity, just as many folks in the local film community have been today. Many of us are having a good laugh there, Mr. MEtv.
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Don't give Massawyrm shit for talking about Jay Baruchel while your own facebook photos include you hamming it up with Billy Bob, Ben Kweller, Tommy Chong, Janeane Garofalo, and talking about Wired magazine writing up your videos. 'Hipster Douchebag' doesn't even come close to describing how this makes you appear. Oh yeah, I forgot, zipcode dropping means you're either a) stuck in the 90's or b) a douchebag hipster wank. And if you don't know who the fuck Scott Weinberg is, you sure as hell haven't been paying attention to more at Fantastic Fest than just the boxing matches.
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Ah yes, the mantra of the internet bully moron. A guarantee that if presented with an actual face-to-face challenge, they would shit their underoos.
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Are the creatures mostly blue screen CGI or practicle effects? If they are CGI, it will suck..or should I say, the CGI will suck all the good out of the film.
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costume is so realistic.
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Re-read my post and this time try to understand what i wanted to say.
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well after some herbal modifications, I originally came back to state fatness nor thinness has nothing to do with greatness, ala Guillermo del toro, or the early peter jackson. And point out that the pudgy blows were evenly weighed by your hipster douche blows. Either or, I hope everyone as having as much as much fun as me, by hanging in the talk backs....my cover is blown...oh gosh darn it...theres no going up from here...so i might as well whore out.....IF YOUR GONNA BE IN AUSTIN or LA on OCTOBER 25th, make sure to check out the film "LAMBS" which I produced and shot. My friend Stephen Huff Directed it. It will be playing at the AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL as well as the HOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL on those dates....Hey Mass-o-whatever....why don't you try making a movie and stop dogging on everyone else's.
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3334586/
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Some movies ar emade on porpose, and forego all that "let's have fun" notion because they want to create a deep connection to the viewer. They don't want to provide escapism, but want to tell some truth, some point of view that has some deep connection to others in the audience. It's cinema as literature, in a way.>br><br> And the people who might seek a cathartic movie don't want so much to have an escapist moment, but to experience a connection, an udnerstanding that soemwhere else there's somebody who can talk directly to their hearts, understands them and make realise that there's others who think likewise, feel likewise, that we are not alone. If escapism makes up escape reality, catharsis help us deal with reality. And soemtimes, catharsis is more important then escapism. But it's not easier. But it's important. Very important. Probably, on a personal level and as an effect, more important.
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I was going to say, this sounds a lot like David Denby's review, which is the first that I read. What's funny is that this actually made me want to go see it MORE for some reason. I guess I want to see if I get any of those same feelings rushing back from childhood that I'd forgotten about. My only problem is that the whiny indie rock seriously makes me want to TEAR MY OWN EARS OFF AND STUFF THEM INTO MY AUDITORY CANAL. And that shit it's SO overused in commercials today. Have you seen this latest one where they take that song "Under the Milky Way" and 'Feist' it up? For some reason, that angsty, throaty, I'm not even TRYING to sing cause I'm too angsty shit makes me violently angry. I don't know what it is, I'm like a Pavlovian dog as soon as I hear that shit... so that might affect my take on this movie... or whether I can even sit through it. <p>By the way, after that 'Chaos Reigns' TB and revisiting clips of Gmork from Never Ending Story, I am gonna go rent that tonight. Now THAT is a profound kid's movie... I remember as a kid seeing Sebastion hiding in the attic of the school reading the book and thinking, "That's what I would do."
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You said just because a movie is about a kid doesn't mean it has to be happy and dandy and you used Pan's Labrynth as an example. I maintain that's a bad example because that movie is rated R and is clearly for adults. This film is PG, based on a children's book and is being sold as a film about childhood. That's where this whole debate in this talkback lies. Therefore, your example of Pan's Labrynth is pure fail.
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... so now we're supposed to review a film based on how well it matches the marketing? Really?
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Herr Jones is still breathing. I wish him well, and hope he lives a long life. Another part of me wishes he actually has produced and shot this movie, and that it utterly fails. Either way, fail or not, hopefully Massa will review it. What say you?
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That I don't see. I play them in my head movies.
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Oh yeah, didn't you get the memo? Apparently, you guys are also supposed to provide negative reviews after early, private screenings. This way, we all know you're not "on the take" and stuff.
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which copy of this book do you have?
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i only have the same copy i've had since i was a kid, and its around 15 pages.
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See; "Avatar." <p> See also; "Cloverfield."
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Amazon has a deluxe edition that is 48 pages long<br> I bet that it has double page illustrations.<p> My memory of it it's more of a phamplet than a book.<p> Still loved it as a kid though
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Studios only care about opening day profits.
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If McDonald's was advertising a new kind of hamburger, and they asked you to be part of the focus group, and during the testing they served you a salad, how would you review it? Regardless of the fact that no one here would be stupid enough (hopefully) to serve as a McDonald's focus group, this film is not as advertised. This movie isn't a family movie, like the trailers suggest. This isn't a kid movie, like the BOOK it was based on. This is a critic movie. An arthouse flick. The bottom line is, this is a movie about a 9 year old that NO 9 year old would enjoy or even comprehend. However, you wouldn't be able to tell that from the advertising.
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until its on disc..then i can turn the sound off
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Oct. 15, 2009, 4:36 p.m. CST
Unless this movie is SHINDLER'S LIST and all the Wild Things..
by FlickaPoo
...are systematically raped and gassed, then the marketing has been fair. I haven't read one article or seen one trailer that didn't indicate that the movie was emotionally heavy.<P>It's a movie ABOUT being nine. Nine year olds don't need a movie about being nine. THEY'RE FUCKING NINE RIGHT NOW.<P>This is clearly a mostly grown up movie ABOUT childhood. Childhood is the subject, not the target. Get it? There's a difference.
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or some gay title like that, so he's cool, right?
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I was really getting amped up for this film. I adore the book, and after Harry's review I was totally stoked, but I usually agree with Massawyrm so now I'm feeling kind of on the fence now.
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The book was also ABOUT being nine. How old were you when you read the book? I was probably 7 or 8. It's one thing if this was a complete Jonze original, but it's named after and based on a classic CHILDREN'S BOOK. Massa was simply pointing that out. It's a valid point.
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You said childhood is the subject, not the target. So are you saying adults shouldn't take their kids to this?
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I said that just because a movie has a children character front and center in a movie doesn't mean it has to be a kid's movie. Being Pg doesn't necessarily means it's a kid0's movie in that it's designed only for them. OK, let me give you another example, have you ever watched GRAVEYARD OF FIRELIES? By many standards, it would ba kid's movie, adn i even bet it has a PG rating. And it's one of the most sad, depressing movie ever made. And it's a cartoon. Again, another movie that uses kids at the center, as protagionosts,a dn yet, i doubt that it would be the infantile public whihc would understand and appreciate the movie best. I suspect Where The Wild Things Are is the same thing. Hell, i can thrown another example, Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. Satisfied now?
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This site was started with Harry not just writing a review but also describing his state of mind and expectations going in, so that we would know how colored his perceptions were. Movie marketing today is big business, where people gather for a major event surrounding just the release of a trailer for a film. The movie shouldn't match the marketing, but the marketing should damned-sure match the film. The reason I hated, HATED Pan's Labyrinth was that I went in expecting a fantasy, fairy-tale movie based on the marketing. What I got was a hard war movie about a child stuck in hell that I probably would have loved if I'd gone in with the right mindset. People are in here giving Massa shit, because they are already in love with this film based on the marketing, and he's got the balls to tell them the marketing is misleading and that he honestly didn't like the film. I don't understand why people have such fragile psyches that they feel physical pain when a critic pans something they're predisposed to love.
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I've seen it. It's terrible. It's a 200 word book stretched into 90 minutes with a lot of stoner-esque dialogue. It's nice to look at but the dialogue is obscenely bad and there's just nothing going on under the surface.
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In fact, Time Bandits was my example, so of couse it's better. With Pan's Labrynth, there's no question or ambiguity about whether or not it's a kids movie because the R rating answers that question.
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Let me give you yet another example: you ever seen the russian movie COME AND SEE? Whilethe protagonist is a 15 years old, you could say it's antoehr kid movie, since it's centered around such a young protagonist. and then as you see it, your ealsie it's one of the most depressing, darkly presented war movie ever made. Depressign is not a good yet strogn word to describe it. And it's about a child.<br><br>I gfuess is that what i'm trying to say is that just ebcause the protagonist is a child, and evne with a low certifciate, that oesn't mean that the movie is a kid's movie. Can you conceive the notion that a movie with a kid as protagonist about him espaint to a fantasy world populated by giant teddy bears might be a movie made and designed for adults? Again, catharsis.<br><br>Or maybe i'm the only fool here who doesn't remember his childhood as an all party full of play and joy and see this movie as adressing that, the part of one's childhood which was not an happy party.
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...well, kid's traditionally like to read books or see movies about kids slightly older than themselves. Max is nine, and it's PG movie...so I'd assume a parent should see it first.<P>The marketing seems targeted at adult fans of the book to me. I realize it's sort of a new concept.
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She shows her 12 year old totties on that movie but it most certainly isn't a kids film. But this is all a tangent. The fact remains that this film is based on a children's book, has a kid dressed up in a furry costume playing with a bunch of furry beasts. Sure, such a movie can and apparently is for adults, but I think Massawyrms review makes that clear. Comparing it to E.T. would imply that kids will love it.
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As always the most honest review comes from you.I wasn't gonna see this anyway but now I'll know to warn my friends with young kids not to see it either.
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...while Granny or a babysitter looks after them, they most certainly will NOT be seeing this movie. They'll see something which has nothing to do with kids.
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Dude, you don't have to go all private. Just don't be a twit and piss on someone for name dropping when you have a whole album full of pics w/you and celebs. Don't rag on how fat or ugly someone is in here and then advertise how easy it is to find pics of you w/o expecting someone to go look for them. By the way, we have a number of mutual friends, and you're cute & talented. I'd probably have friended you, but now I know to stay the hell away!
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I love a good art house movie. But compare Being John Malkovich to this movie and there's a genuine chasm between the cleverness/ingenuity of the two. Spike was in over his head here. He stripped the book to its basic elements and made a movie that will please no one save for the people desperate to love it. Visually, it's downright awe-inspiring at times. But Max is the worst kind of kid (not really what he was in the book, IMO) and NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE MOVIE. I never agree with Massawyrm, but he was right on here. It also got the most tepid reaction at the end of any advanced screening ive been to. Like 3 of out 300 people clapped. Everyone else (about 50% kids) just got up a left with weird looks on their faces.
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Stop making sense! Geez... the gall of you people. There's a Mark Twain quote that goes something like, "When you find yourself agreeing with the majority, it's time to stand back and reflect." Even when I LOVE something, I like to hear why someone else would hate it. And guess what... I get to go on loving it! Didn't get there overnight, but it builds character. Apparently I'm in the minority on that one.
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seriously. bunch a whiny/EMO BS reviews are just dumb. "I was just like Max"..blahblah. No mortgage, No bitchy spouse, No regrets, No job, No bills, World still yet to be explored...yeah, childhood was SOOO HARD. the wussification of America continues.
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Da Empire gots no clothes. Thank ya.
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But you've gotta be used to that by now.
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...it doesn't line up perfectly of course, but it's a movie a bout two kids and childhood, but it's clearly aiming at adult kids who grew up with Rambo. And had no business seeing it as kids.<P>This makes no sense. Never mind.
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When even a negative review makes it look good. This part: "Don’t get me wrong, as an arthouse film it is brilliant. If you go into it with that mentality, you’ll come out feeling like you’ve been taken on a profound tour of childhood that will take you back in (potentially) bad ways. But you won’t have fun. You won’t walk out humming a great tune and feeling like your life has been reaffirmed. You’re gonna walk out thinking about your own dejected, maladjusted childhood. Or that weird kid in your class who Max reminds you of. Or a brother or sister who acted the same way." I guess this is supposed to be whats wrong with the movie but I read it and Im like "awesome". From every review Ive read seems like WTWTA its a trip back to childhood, with its good and bad parts, happy but also sad, angry or confused. Whether thats a trip you'll enjoy, I guess thats up to each one.
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You ask people to google you--then get all weird when people actually do. You're an idiot. (I've seen the film. Liked it a lot, didn't love it. I think general audiences are going to be scratching their heads.)
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Oct. 15, 2009, 5:25 p.m. CST
It was never meant for families. It was meant for critics.
by cylon_conspiracy
<p>This movie just went from "I'll see it tomorrow" to "I'll rent it on netflix.</p> <p>Childhood sucks. I get it. We all get it. I don't need a bunch of smug artsy fartsy people saying "wow, we really showed how miserable childhood can be, we are so cool and hip."</p> <p>You want a medal for reminding everyone of how painful childhood is? How does this help society? Maybe instead of bumming people out, you could inspire instead?</p>
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...Jose was promoting his website and his movie. No publicity is yada yada yada.
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"9," District 9, Beatles box set, now this movie about "being 9"... I guess 9 is this years planet killing asteroid or Joan of Arc.
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..."too negative." My god the irony in here is at lethal levels. <p> Socrates would kill himself... oh wait.
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C'mon-the boxing, the 'What he said' style of blurting shit out, the 'I am Jeff Lyons to your Ebert and Drink your Milk Shalit' more or less. <p> Waiting for the inevitable Uwe Boll beat-down.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 5:53 p.m. CST
Props Massawrym, you didn't stroke it like everyone else
by Onin Solstice
I respect the lone voice who stands alone in his view. I got a solemn respect for underdogs
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Give it some breathing room and then see it again.
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WHO WAS PHONE?
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I bet Miyazaki's guys can design and spin a whimsical tale of childhood's triumphs and downfalls with fantastic imagery that'll please everyone! <br><br>That said, this thing still sounds pretty interesting and I'll see it... but it's sounds like it's not for distracting your kids or those expecting a feel good happy-happy joy-joy muppets movie, so the trailers give the wrong impression.
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Are you sure it wasn't New Moon you were watching? WTWTA was a billiant film. I just think you need to watch it again.
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I'd also use "The Tin Drum" as an example.
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Caught this @ the Arclight the other night -- sad to say, we only made it about half-way through before getting fed up and walking out. <P> I had laundry to wrap-up at home and, literally, the act of doing laundry was more satisfying than sitting through anymore of this snore of a film, this indie-rock, shoe-gazing bore of a film…</P> <P> First off, the kid is annoying. He seems too old, and he's not well cast... Max should be more of a protoboy, 'the everyboy' kinda kid. Instead, we get this kid who's too "model" looking replete with hipster haircut. This is not the kid to hang a two-hour movie on where liking the kid is CENTRAL to the ENTIRE THING WORKING.</P> <P> Second, the dialogue made me wince, and the script felt like an afterthought. If you're going to take a book with a 10-minute plot, and stretch it out to 2 hours, you better have the good sense to graft on a compelling act 1/2/3 structure and/or some needed conflict.</P> <P> Third, and maybe this should be first, the celebrity voices are AWFUL and take you out of the experience. Tony Soprano as Carol. That's what you get. No dig on James Gandolfini -- it's not his fault -- it just removes you from the experience of the movie. For some reason, this celeb-casting works for animation, but for the pseudo-real look/feel of the movie, the celeb voices clash and take you out of the experience. Lauren Ambrose plays… Claire from Six Feet Under... talking like Claire from Six Feet Under. Geez, at least have the sense to cast people against type. Catherine O'Hara is too... Catherine O'Hara. Doing her Catherine O'Hara schtick (which I normally love) in this movie just doesn't work, and for the first time in cinema history I -- gasp -- found myself "annoyed" by Catherine O'Hara. I hate this movie for that alone!</P> <P> Fourth -- and the Hollywood Reporter review nailed this -- the music is layered on too thick and too loud. My God. And I LOVE Karen O.! (Notice a frustrating, repeating motif here… this movie makes me dislike things I normally love.) Instead of counterpointing or offering a soft assist, the music is slathered on like they bought it in quantity from Costco. It bludgeons you with emotion. Everything is underlined, italics, bold print.</P> <P> This is basically one long Spike Jonze's music video starring a kid instead of the Beastie Boys. Try getting really, really, really high before you see it and it might help you get through the experience.</P>
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...but comparing the final product to the expectations built upon a classic book, marketing and buzz is more than fair. Especially since I also, you know, actually reviewed the film on its merits.
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Haven't seen it for years. Should I watch the CG updated version? Is it as bad as I think?
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<p>One thing I notice in a lot of comments is the polarization of tastes... "You didn't like WTWTA? Let me guess, you hope G-Force wins an Oscar" or "You liked TF2? I guess Watchmen was a bit over your head."</p> <p>I love indie movies. I really do. And they don't always have to have happy endings. But one thing that does bug me (and it seems WTWTA suffers from this a bit) is indulging in misery and emotional pain simply because wallowing in it may be perecived as "true" or "artistic".</p> <p>You can have a complex children's film that has depth to it, but IMO one thing that is almost sacred to a kid's film is the sense of adventure, knowing that the kid is on a journey and that while it may be difficult, he'll grow and learn along the way and that is how the happy ending comes about, usually has to do with accepting personal responsibility.</p> <p>That dynamic can play out in all sorts of movies, big budget or small budget, but simply wallowing in darkness almost always comes across as pretentious and self-serving. Forcing others to have a miserable view on life so you don't have to be alone.
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@cylon_consipiracy: You're in for a treat. E.T. holds up more than adequately. Watched it again in HD (on HBO) last year, and was spellbound by it as always. Amazing concept, flawless execution, and it has what WTWTA does not: flawless child acting and casting. Everything rings 'true' about the way Elliot interacts with his brother and sister. And the dynamic with his Mom is rich and compelling -- not cause for an akward, too short cameo that only (ie. Keener) succeeds in making the kid less likable, and thus, making you less invested in the story. Oh, and E.T. also manages to establish this ominous sense of dread -- and maintain it -- across the entire course of the film.
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well it didn't start out as intentional whoring out, but I figured might as well end it that way....anyway....I just booked a gig from all this hub bub, so I'd like to thank everyone for being a part of this lil' experiment. And Massa, Beers on me when I see you at the Festival Circuit. myblogsucks.com for some shenanigans. Anyone know if that kid in the balloon is dead?
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hmmm, which gig would that be? or do I already know? i bet you wouldn't want your potential employer to see all this talkback would you? hmmmm... sleep easy sir..... sleep easy.
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do you think that Massawyrm IS weinberg? did you really mix that up? please show me who is who in that image you linked.
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I watched it, and the moment the credits ended I watched it over again. Hadn't done that since childhood.
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I'd rather get my cock stuck on a frozen pole.
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Haven't seen it for like 20 years. Spielberg is just good at that stuff. I watch A.I. about once a year too.
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The last thing I expect when going to see his work is... fun. Strange, yes. Kinda dark, yes. Ironic, yes. Fun, no. So I can't wait.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 6:45 p.m. CST
thank god this movie WASN'T trying to appeal to the masses!
by LabattsBleu
Afterall, that's the reason we get shite like TF2 and T:$...I don't want to see that crap - who cares if it makes a billion dollars but is a steaming pile of poop? <br><br> I am just grateful the film was made the way Jonz wanted it made, and that we have the opportunity to watch it; to hell with the masses...they're anticipating 2012 and TF3 for god's sake...
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How was this review judging the movie by its own merits? By comparing the movie to what the movie's marketing machine led you to expect is to occupy the exact same position of the studio heads when they threatened to take the movie away from Jonze. And since when has Jonze cared what the critics have thought? The movie has been said to be Jonze's most personal film to date. Your comparison to the 400 blows sounds apt - but since when was this a bad thing?? I'm also very wary of the 'nothing happens' criticism, which usually indicates a film that challenges a viewer's very mode of enjoyment. Challenges to traditional Hollywood 'enjoyment' are the most radical challenge a film can make nowadays and they usually invoke the most resistance. To be honest, it sounds like the reviewer has a real confusion about his own viewing position: standing out on his own or falling back into popular opinion (or more accurately what we're supposed to think popular opinion is). Enjoyment is so associated with mass enjoyment (via hype) on this site, so much a part of the Hollywood marketing system, that it's no surprise that the reviews would start occupying the critical position of studio marketers. It's symptomatic of this site's aversion to anything 'art house', to movies that don't come with their own audience attached or aren't conducive to hype.
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has got to be more boring that plumbing the depths of a nine year-old dick head's soul. Everybody take a breath and drink a beer, maybe look up at the night sky and remember that this stupid conversation doesn't matter.
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this site does not have an aversion to "art cinema". Everyone else loved the flick, Beaks is always drumming up hipster enthusiasm, and Harry seems absolutely into films of all stripes.
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Trundle on over to filmsinreview.com and check out Victoria Alexander's review. Talk about the worst critic working on the internet.
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<p>Art house movies are where many film innovations come from. It's also where much of the pretension comes from too.</p> <p>Plenty of good movies are made in Hollywood. Plenty of bad, too. Plenty of good movies are made for that art house hipster set. A lot of total crap, too.</p>
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You douche. This movie IS trying to appeal to the masses. ALL movies do. It's playing in fucking IMAX! I fully expect to see an entire shelf of toys of this movie to be at Target the next time I walk in.
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Sure the film covers South Korean flicks and Coen Brother flicks, but usually these films have their own audience previously attached anyway. How about genuinely independent directors like Olivier Assayas or Michael Almereyda - two of the most exciting filmmakers working today for my money. You may see an occasional festival reference to them but I'd be surprised if anyone on this site had even heard of them. I don't mean to say AICN isn't capable of some decent championing of films (like the majority of Wild Things reviews here) or that it's some kind of conscious decision, but I think this conflict (between populism and stand-alone criticism) is something inherent to the site's nature and you do see it come up a lot (eg. Harry's so so review of Basterds because it wasn't what he was expecting)
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That said, I love the film. For the kids who get it - likely budding emo kids who will own the collected works of Tim Burton - this will be an all time favorite. For many it will be difficult because it's a little too spot-on. I said in an earlier post there is one scene that is both terrifying and comforting in a way unlike anything I have ever seen. That moment sums up childhood in a way, retreating to safety can be the scariest thing like when I child has to trust an adult to protect them from a bully. I'm a teacher, I see that every day and the great leap of faith a kid has to take that doesn't always work out. Frankly, I think this is the best, maybe second best (Hurt Locker), film of the year so far.
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I rest my case.
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Nice to see someone who, regardless of the merits of the review itself, bothers to point out to the movie-going audience that the film itself differs substantially from what's advertised.<br><br>I find when the trailers/film difference is too great I feel somewhat cheated, even if the film itself is terrific. I still remember how my first viewing of Blade Runner was soured because it was advertised as a Harrison Ford Action Spectacular - and I was geared up for that - whereas it was really something rather different.
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1-While I like to be surprised by a movie, a lot of people turn into leaking pussies if the flick doesn't exactly meet all of their expectations and if the trailer doesn't spell out the complete and EXACT plot and tone of the movie to their satisfaction.<P>2-Little Falcon might be a cool six year old who accidentally or intentionally launched his dad's UFO and got the fuck out of Dodge...or his parents might be attention seeking media whores who used their six year old for attention and should be tarred and feathered directly.<P>3-Austin has more douche-bags per square inch than New Jersey has assholes...and that's a remarkable achievement.
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Welcome back Balloon Boy!
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Have you actually read White's review? It's the most sensitive take of the film I've read yet: http://www.nypress.com/article-20471-kids-stuff.html
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What happened to the Gay/Bi New Moon review?
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.. make sure the kids get their Ritalin that day.
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"I'M GOING TO ACT LIKE A COMPLETE TOOL AND PAINT A PICTURE OF MYSELF AS AN IMMATURE ASSHOLE!!! - Btw, please go see my movie."
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Thank you God, AICN see's sense at last. Harry, know you are pissed off at talkbackers but jeez - you KNOW no-one visiting this site wants to hear anything about that twinkling abomination. So sincerely man - thanks for taking it down. AICN's 'cool' level just rose a bit. And Massa - good article. Interesting to hear another take on Wild Things. I get the feeling this is gonna be one that really polarises opinion. No middle ground.
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Peter Travers can kiss my ass. If you see him, tell him he's an asshole for me. Pretentious aging hipster.
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in the New Moon thread. With it gone of course some fag steals my thunder. Thanks a bunch guy 4 or 5 talkbacks up.
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Almost as good as any Trek article.
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...who gives a shit?
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You are pretty dense if yove been subject to the marketing of this film and weren't expecting everything you got.
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...you talking to me? I didn't visit that CANDY MOON thread.<P>And you can keep your ass thunder.<P>If you weren't talking to me please return to you bag of Skittles. I apologize.
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Massa is weird. Sometimes he likes to be intellectual, sometimes he likes to be his avatar. There are plenty of kids movies.
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This is what I've been saying this movie would be like since Day 1. A grimy art-house flick being sold as a kid's adventure movie. It'll be filled with bored kids who don't want to be there. Remember, a kid's movie can't just BE - it has to ENGAGE. Consider NEVERENDING STORY. When Artax goes down into the swamp, boys and girls were crying about an imaginary pony a little imaginary Indian boy has just lost. It was ENGAGING. Nothing's engaging any more. They've taken out the EN and the JING.
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You just made my groin reflexively hurt. I remember the pictures of the book this movie is based on, but I don't remember anything else. Based on what I've read about the movie, yeah it's a "wait for Netflix" event.
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"It is one of those rare films that can be completely summed up in one or two lines without skipping any major details."<BR><BR> So.....like the book, then? =D <BR><BR> I mean....isn't that what we all want from book adaptations? I know film adaptations are supposed to expand on their sources, but it really just sounds like you're angry about being mislead through WTWTA's marketing. Did the "chattering children" in the theater just sour your mood, or would you still have the same feeling toward the movie upon a second viewing alone?
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and someone got their PC panties in a bunch and pulled it. That fucker was indeed a Comedy Cornucopia....fuck.
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and other guy, sorry about the groin.
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...THIS WEEKEND! Except BLACK DYNAMITE!! Of all the crap opening this weekend, the one movie that I actually want to see, I CAN'T SEE! I would be used to this if it wasn't for the fact that so many theaters have room for it but are just using that space for dunb fucking things! All of them are playing that goddamned Toy Story double dip, and of the two theaters that I thought would be a lock to be showing it, both of them have mysteriously picked THE HANGOVER back up instead of BLACK DYNAMITE!!! So fuck WTWTA!!! Fuck LAW ABIDING CITIZEN!!!! I wants me some BLACK DYNAMITE!!!!
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I know how to spell, god damn it.
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at first.
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...after reading this review and some of the comments. Maybe that means the movie will speak to me all the more? I grew up with WTWTA.
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people are actually getting upset or annoyed or attacking him because his opinion isn't what they wanted. it seems most here are expecting this to be good or have seen it and liked it. so of course all the earlie glowing reviews were awesome. but now massa comes and gives his opinion and oh no...it doesnt jive with theirs, off with his head!! i guess "geeks" have to all like the same thing, otherwise you're attacked for it.
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And he's a douche.
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if this was a movie everyone expected to be shit, and all the other critics here said it was shit but massa came and said he liked it, he'd be attacked again. its lemmingtastic.
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Michael Jackson's soul lifting the boy high up. "Fly with me, fly!"
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Fuck that bullshit, it's hard to be an adult. The reason this site is populated with so many socially stunted man children is that they just want to remain kids.
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This isn't Facebook, bra.
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'Fight Club.'
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I need the mailing address you nonce fondler. just kidding man. i hate you. Where on earth did the new moon review go lmao. tut seems somebody got itchy. so seriously, i have lost the ability to use thoughts, i mean, i can have them, i just cant use them! I HAVE SEEN AVATAR. saw the screening last night. on the lot at weta. one word. ambitious. i have seen nothing like what happens in the last 30 mins. Asskicking of the highest quality. Cameron is back
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Massawyrm, you carry way too much baggage with you into a movie. Whenever it seems like you don't like a certain film it's due to some apparent hidden liberal agenda or some other such non-thematic reason. Granted, we all bring shit with us into a movie and that's why we all have different opinions, but if your reason for disliking a film is solely based on an unreconcilable, privately held belief, perhaps you should post the review on a site unrelated to movies instead
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Who let the retard out of its' cage?
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much cock was stabbed through many eyes.
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She assures me it tastes like chocolate. when does "chubby rain" come out ?
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Anyone?
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I felt the exact same way when I saw it last night & was so disappointed. It's a Peter Pan story - kid has an issue in the real world, retreats to a land of fantasy & adventure & learns a few life lessons before he realizes he doesn't belong there & has to return home to confront whatever it was that sent him packing in the first place.
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I think they found traces of white vader and shut it down.
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This is a very well thought out review. I am kind of surprised. I began to not expect this from Ain't It Cool.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 9:56 p.m. CST
I'm about to go get drunk so I'll make this quick
by Out of your element
1. Why ya'll getting so pissed off at one man's opinion? 2. I respect Massa's opinion, but I hope this movie proves him wrong 3. Time Bandits is one of the greatest movies ever made, and this film will never top it. "What did we agree on?" "No leaders in the group" "Right! Now shut up and do what I say" LOL
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why did this hateful prick steal my screen name? fuck. oh well. time to move on.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:12 p.m. CST
yea i noticed the talkback for the suck franchise is gone...
by supercowbell5THECOWBELLHASSPOKEN
good riddance!! though i wish i didnt miss the talkback i need some laughs today
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How DARE you? How...how fucking DARE you?! Magic! Children and childhood! Imagination! Warm, fuzzy monsters!<p> Seriously, it's a perfectly valid question to ask where the hell the "adventure" is in this flick. I mean, it's okay to make a movie about somebody working shit out (EDWARD SCISSORHANDS is another example). But I don't know if becoming less of a bratty little shit is something to get tears in your eyes over...
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Kid busted his parents on Larry King. The clip is on TMZ. I've watched a bit of their stint on the show wifeswap, and they're completely nuts. Search Heene family wifeswap on YouTube if you wanna see it. Attention starved wackos.
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your giving it the publicity those sick bastards wanted just by talking about it. now i am. fuck you!
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Could somebody point me to a trailer, poster, article or anything about this movie that implies it's gonna be some fun Narnia romp? I've seen the movie and I think the trailer exactly communicates the tone and content of the movie - the emotion, the visual style and yes, the running around smashing things. Maybe if you thought whatever that song was was gonna be in the movie you would be disappointed, but otherwise they get it exactly.<p> I can't argue with Massa being bored with the movie, but the "marketing is misleading" argument I don't think has any merit. They did a great job, for once.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 10:36 p.m. CST
ok that ballon boy on larry king clip was hilarious
by supercowbell5THECOWBELLHASSPOKEN
the dad was about to beat some ass when he said that. lol
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When the brat said 'you told me it was for the show' and the father's sphincter hit the floor, visibly, I nearly spat out my coffee. What a bust, by his own kid - brilliance. Enjoy jail, fucknut....you'll get plenty of 'attention' there!
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...bomb at the box office this weekend. :)
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It's not too often that I post here, anymore, and I really intended to when Harry published his intimate, wistful, beautifully revealing review -- the best he's written, in my opinion, in YEARS, and I've been coming here every day since the beginning -- of WtWTA... but I'm really, REALLY glad I DIDN'T, now, because Massawyrm's equally evocative, raw and thoughtful, but diametrically opposed analysis of this film is an absolutely ESSENTIAL perspective on what Jonze and Sendak have accomplished, here, which is, simply put, one of the most maddeningly, intelligently, unpredictably, evocatively, endearingly, unforgettably, uncategorizably original films I have ever seen... A truly cerebral -- no, that's not the right word: Think "cerebral", but for EMOTIONS, not INTELLIGENCE... "EMPATHIC", maybe? I don't know, and that's one of the loveliest and most inspiring things about this piece of art -- it forces you to struggle for words, to articulate the manifold and multilayered emotional and intellectual responses you feel... Dammit, I'm rambling, and I'm loving it. This film is what might have resulted from Terence Malick adapting Dr. Seuss' 'Butter Battle Book', or Shel Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree', or Jack London's 'The Call of the Wild', instead of James Jones' 'The Thin Red Line'... Part 'Open Your Eyes' / 'Vanilla Sky', part 'Natural Born Killers', part 'Solaris'... and, yes, part 'Adaptation.', 'WtWTA''s's immediate chronolical and, in a way, spiritual, predecessor and bunkmate.<br>I don't think it's a contradiction -- AT ALL -- to put both Harry's AND Wyrm's thoughts up in lights at the same time, and call them BOTH 'TRUE'. This is amphatically NOT a "kids' film", but a film ABOUT CHILDHOOD, a far more complicated and dangerous and unpredictable undertaking, in my opinion... A film about being unable, unequipped, unprepared to deal with the complex and closure-resistant and deeply unquantifiable realities of life, of glimpsing them only dimly and apprehending them incompletely and trying, vainly, to squeeze them all into the brain of a nine-year-old, like trying to push the ocean through a garden hose, and being utterly unsuited to the task, and having the pressure and mass cause an explosion that forces you to deal with it ALL, on ITS terms. Only you can't. Because you're nine years old, or nineteen, or ninety, and although we try to filter the Universe through cheaply polarized lenses, that doesn't stop the Universe from being broadcast in technicolor.<br><br> If Pixar's brilliant 'Up' was a foreward to the Book of Life, this is its Cliff's Notes, its Table of Contents, its write-up in the New York Times Book Review. There is no easy resolution, here, no "closure", no happy ending, no tachyon pulse or warp field remodulation or representative from the Q Continuum who will magically sweep away all the sharp edges and bad outcomes and petty discontents and massive, reality-annihilating epic-fail fuckupedness that is Max's forever shattered and inexplicably average life. This is not a film for kids, though some kids may love it, any more than 'Up' was a film for children. This is a film for those who did not enjoy childhood, but endured it... For those who only now, as adults, begin to apprehend the great and mysterious tidal forces, the tiny and insignificant butterfly wings, that make our lives the tapestry of unremitting sorrow, loneliness, unrequitedness, failure, rejection, imbalance, and vaguely gnawing dissatisfaction they are... and that make those rare moments of perfection, of insight, of contentedness, of achievement, of recognition, of beauty, of joy, all the more precious. This is a film for the person who is happily married but occasionally longs for the mysterious possibilities of what could have been, and never will be. For the mother who hangs on long enough in her battle against breast cancer to see her daughter walk down the aisle with her perfect match. For the father who holds his newborn son who was born with a defective heart and won't survive his first day, and experiences that moment of unparalleled love and loss all at once. For the child who learns more about their recently deceased parent by being greeted by lifelong friends at the wake than he or she ever knew while mom or dad was alive. In short, for all of us, at some point in our lives. Not, necessarily, the outcast, or the rebel, or the clinically depressed. This movie is for everyone who ever thought that the truth about life, about its pain and its passion, its searing banality and its explosive glory, was only half-glimpsed by Edvard Munch and Jean Boulogne and Billy Corgan, and that there was something more wonderful and terrible than can possibly be expresed in mere marble or acrylics or poetry. Here's another glimpse.<br><br> How, then, do I describe 'WtWTA'? It's inconsistenly brilliant. It's insightful. It's tedious. It's maddening. It's empowering. It's full of possibility. It's full or missed opportunities. It's joyful. It's melancholy. It's unfinished.<br><br> It's life. In Technicolor.
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Jail? Really? Where do you live? Iraq?
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...his Mom will beat him during fits of rage and will say, "it's all your fault this is happening to us. It's all your fault!!!!". His brothers will revel in the fact that he's no longer the favorite, and balloon boy will grow up leading an insecure self-loathing life. 20 years from now he'll watch Where The Wild Things Are for the first time, and will cry uncontrollably.
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I'm rather surprised how no one has compared 'WtWTA' to Dave Eggers' other, equally difficult-to-compartmentalize efforts, most notably his very autobiographical book 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' (which ought to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2001, since it's a sort of nonfiction 'A Confederacy of Dunces') and 'How the Water Feels to the Fishes', sort of an English-language approximation of some of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's best short stories and novellas, mixed with Douglas Adams and set to a soundtrack mixed by Beck. Eggers is all over this. I think there's a very good chance both he and Jonze will be on the dias during awards season.
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Oct. 15, 2009, 11:12 p.m. CST
It's called criminal fraud Lockes. Pretty sure jailtime...
by Hint_of_Smegma
....can be the end result, and let's face it - it won't be hard to crack the kid in interview about daddy's great idea, will it? Willful false reporting. Thousands of dollars of police budget down the toilet, not to mention the cops looking like idiots for not searching the house properly. You reckon they won't pursue charges? What planet do you live on?
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I mostly agree with you, the "reality" of the film is THERE, but you have to LOOK to see it, and if there's ANYTHING that's in ANY way "misleading" about the way this film is beign marketed, it's in the failure on the part of the studio to acknowledge that comparatively few parents (or, even, patrons) will look beyond the striped costumes and madcap run-that-way clips and moonlit group hugs and laughing snowball fights and perceive the sidelong glances, the fearful widening of the eyes, the shadows that lurk just beyond the campfire, the hurt that infuses the film's long takes but is harder to discern in a rapid-cut teaser trailer. The muted grays, the soft bitterness in Carol's voice, the torment on Max's face, are there, but they're obscured by blackboard-chalk titles and accolades and squeezed into a commercial long on, well, commercial appeal, and short on fear and loathing on Monster Island. The studio's either overestimating the vast majority of the viewing public, confusing them perhaps with the most discerning and insightful art-gallery intellectuals, or they're deliberatly obfuscating the film's true nature by counting on their ignorance. You make the call.<br><br> One thing I DO have to take exception to is the tagline, "There's one in all of us." IT OUGHT to read, "They're ALL in all of us."
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Oct. 15, 2009, 11:44 p.m. CST
Chakraborty that was hilarious and probably true
by supercowbell5THECOWBELLHASSPOKEN
And I'm sure dads who are estragned from their kids cry every time they see the wrestler. Or when they see walk hard.
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I just don't get it. It was a "mistake", maybe. Sure, I don't believe the guy's story, but really, CNN and FOX got their money from it. Hardly a crime.
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Or jump up and down in agitation, in their seats. They all have severe attention problems, and their useless parents never teach them to behave in a theater, or discipline them. I couldn't hear any of Ponyo from all of the restlessness, talking, bouncing, and questions being asked. DVD's have made them think that a theater is their living room. Their asshole parents even bring them to late showings.
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If the cops can prove he made it up, for one it's false reporting. Not terribly serious normally but in this case it's cost the police thousands so they will definately look to prosecute. Add a charge of wasting police time to that. If he tries now to sell the story, it's attempting to gain pecuniary advantage by fraud. With the kid dropping a bollock like that so publically, the dumbass local cops who evidently didn't follow rule one in a missing persons case - search the house thoroughly - might well look to gain back a bit of credibility by going after them. Maybe they'll drop it, but I'm willing to bet daddy's on the phone to a lawyer right about now.
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I haven't found that to be the case, and I'm at the movies with my ten-year-old daughter -- and, usually, one or more of her friends -- at least once a month, on average. It's true that teens are, substantially, obnoxious, loudmouthed, vacuous, oblivious twits, but, honestly, they always were -- I can remember watching "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" back in '82 at the age of eleven, not to mention "Top Gun" at fifteen and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" at eighteen, and being madder than Hell at the little bastards acting like tweaking chimpanzees, even as I recognized them as being classmates. Perhaps kids are becoming little assholes a bit earlier than I remember, and certainly behavior varies widely from theater to theater and neighborhood to neighborhood, but the only people I've had to rebuke in a theater of late were all over the age of twenty. Sorry to hear you've had such bad experiences, but, really, not all kids are bad, or ADHD-afflicted, or Ritalin-addicted. Though an increasing percentage of their parents ARE, as you put it, useless.
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than kids. 20-30 year old kids talk all the time, check their phones every 20 minutes, and think they're funny by shouting at the screen. I see it at nearly every midnight screening.
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Hey! Just venting. Not knocking ALL parents. Just the entitled, well-to-do yuppies in my area who seem cowed by their children (I live in a cheap apartment in a formerly quirky/relaxed area that's rapidly becoming gentrified). I realize kids naturally are noisy, and I don't want to inhibit fun, but the parents here let them do whatever, WHEREVER. Despite the fact that we are surrounded by many parks, they let them act like beasts in inappropriate places. Kid at the store came running around the corner and threw a basketball he was bouncing at my hand causing me to splash my drink all over my groceries.
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Tuesday or Wednesday. Avoiding kids at a kids' movie is a trickier prospect.
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I used to go during the day, but it was busy. But, I still have some trouble at midnight shows. Like the idiots who shouted IRON MAN right before the movie started, or the dumb ass girl that couldn't find her friend before Star Trek started. Don't be a douche people.
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debuted, some dipwad wearing a cape kept standing up in the front to make a sillouette on the screen.
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Kids, like dogs or politicians, ought to be regularly injected with a healthy dose of fear lest they crap all over the place. Too many parents these days are torn between being best friend and manservant to their bratty little spawnlets. There was about a year and a half when it seemed I had to spank my kid five times a day -- damn near broke my heart -- but that period ended six-plus years ago, and I've rarely even had to raise my voice since. If good fences make good neighbors, as Robert Frost once observed, Invisible Fencing makes for compliant and manageable children. So to speak.
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at the midnight show, and some douche actually shouted "YEAH!" when Kyle Reese came on the screen. Really? THAT gets a cheer? Damn.
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Moriarty, I read your review as Drew Mcweeny, and as always, you are spot-on with my feelings on movies. I'd say that you are at least in the 85 percentile with my taste, and maybe even more. You are sorely missed on this website. Chakraborty, the advertising has made me think of Time Bandits many times. Its even in the lighting! I seem to remember the boy's parents dead at the end of that movie. I was 9 years old, and I loved the darker stuff. I was being challenged by a movie, perhaps for the first time. I am waiting to see this movie with my 11 y/o nephew next week. He has had plenty of hard knocks, living without either parent. He lives with his grandmother and sometimes acts out. I'm guessing that that he will get this movie better than Massawyrm does. Perhaps he will even one day understand it more than I will.
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This movie is such a success because it made a meaningful film out of a story that is incredibly short. This film is a HEAVILY character...or should I say monster driven story. The monsters are used to study our own behaviors as humans, with each possessing an extreme character trait. I personally loved the film, but I can see how many will not because they will go in expecting something different than what they are presented. On top of the great achievement with the characters and story, the art direction, effects, and feel of the picture is something really special. Go, but be warned, a lot of you maybe disappointed.... I sure as hell wasn't.
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I got $20 on Massawyrm
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out of hibernation mode.<BR><BR>Are you kidding, Spaz? Moriarty probably has 30 IQ points on Massa (no offense, Mass--you're still above average imo).<BR><BR>Fun fact: whenever a film critic complains of being bored by a movie, I invariably love said movie.<BR><BR>Dream Song 14 <BR>by John Berryman<BR><BR> Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. <BR> After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, <BR> we ourselves flash and yearn,<BR> and moreover my mother told me as a boy<BR> (repeatingly) "Ever to confess you're bored means you have no<BR><BR> Inner Resources." I conclude now I have no<BR> inner resources, because I am heavy bored. <BR> Peoples bore me, <BR> literature bores me, especially great literature, <BR> Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes <BR> as bad as Achilles, <BR><BR> who loves people and valiant art, which bores me. <BR> And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag <BR> and somehow a dog <BR> has taken itself & its tail considerably away <BR> into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving <BR> behind: me, wag.
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of films he pans are ones I tend to like.
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Some parents might actually take their parenthood seriously and decide to check a movie before they expose it to their kids, you know, watch it before determine if it's appropriated for their kids and their idea of how they should be raised. Yeah, the notion of aparent taking up responsability instead of blidnly trusting a dubbious body of censorship as the MPAA. Mind-blowing, isn't it?
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And because i'm enjoying very much our little chats (and it's amazing how you can read anything beyond the typos i wrote in my yesterday posts makes you worthy of a medal), i'd like to coment on massa's review. I took from it that while he admired the movie, he laments that the movie is not a barrels of fun, it's not an easy movie to go through, that it was not a FUN movie. and i find this statement of his, well, troubling.<br><br>Why do i find it troubling? i guess the same way i foind troubling his opinion for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. While this two movies couldn't be more different, NCFOM and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, both hav eone thing in common: both movies made from filmmakers with their own visions, and movies which didn't decided to go fully into the road most travelled. and it seems that massa is resenting that.<br><br>Back to WTWTA, seems Massa resents the notion of a kid's movie which which is not a feast-a-rama. That it might include, you know, drama, and depressing moments, and cuddly characters who behave less then cute. Seems Massa resents the movie for not being more normal, for the lack of a better word. And not just him, but other talkbackers as well. And this attitude troubles me.<br><br>It troubles me because this is one movie that just don't play completly by the expected rules. Meawhile, there's dozens, a hundred movies made in Hollywood who totally play by the rules. We get 100 formula movies abut if one is made that doesn't it gets critcised? What is this attitude that makes people complain that one single exception exists and want it to conform with the rest? Is it not enough that the vast majority of the moves made are exactly like they want, conventional? They also want the less conventional to be conventional as well? And then they act all worked up because of one exception, when they have dozens, a hundred mpovies to their liking? Movies like WTWTA are a rarity. It's even suprising they get made. With luck, there might be one of those each year. With a lot of luck, more then one. and yet, one shows up, and people piss and moan that it got made, that it's not part of the rest of the formulaic products. And this, well, to put it kindly, troubles me.
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Maybe because some of my favorite movies could be classified as hybrids, movies which were made with a lot of holylwood like budgets, but have a peculiar sensebility and artiful vision which doesn't make them easily classify as either art-house or mainstream. Movies like Apocalypse Now or 2001. I do have movies which i like which can belong to either art-house or mainstream, however i like better when there's a fusion of both in a sigle movie. A mainstream movie made with a more artiful sensebility them what's average (The Dark Knight), or a art-house movie which makes an effort at acessibility even if they don't sacrifice a particular or peculiar vision (like Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive). WTWTA sems to sit in this type, the hybrid, a movie made for mainstream done with an artisitic intention and without a desire to sacrifice a vision. And that sounds good to me.
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...doesn't know the difference between "your" and "you're". That is all.
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Nothing like a bunch of geeks getting all upset. Someone didn't like it!!???? BOOOHOOOOO!
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becasue i'm portuguese and english is my second language, and because i tend to wrote too fast for my skills as a typist, i tend to write a lot of typos. A lot of typos! But ther eis one thng which i do happen to be a grammar nazi about, and it's the destinction between "your" and "you're". I really don't understand why people mix up the two. They not only have different meanings, they even sound differently. Can anybody explain me why this mix up is so prevalent? It's really the typo which most confuses me.
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The problem is not that they don't like the movie. That's irelevant. The problem is the reasons they present, which mostly is a variation of a complain that the movie is not more formulaic. And that, for me, is a pretty silly reason.
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The typical American pronounces "your" and "you're" the same way.
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Really? news to me. I learned the british variant of english with it's way of pronunciation, and there there's a subtle but noticable destinction in the way you say "your" and "you're". But evne taking that into account, both have so different meanings i can't understand why pewople would mix up. Many time si'm wondering what the people want to say when they write "your". Are they really saying "your" or is it "you're"? Again, i really shouldn't be the one to be complianing about grammar, but this is one particular case that gets me.
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any movie with a trailer with a song by the Arcade Fire is in any way being marketed as a "feel-good" movie.
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Your thoughts about the movie just filled my eyes a little bit up. If the movie drives me that way ... well done mr.jonze. well done. In germany it comes to theater in december (the same day as avatar) and i already had the "pleasure" to watch (hear) the (german) dubbed trailer. Oh boy ... does it suck. Aronofskys Wrestler i didn't even see in the theater because of the horrifying german dubbing.
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Gutten morgen, freude. How's everything in the Bundesrepublik?<br><br>I have heard that in Germany you dub the movies. They don't that here in Portugal, except if it's a movie COMPLETLY marketed at kids younger then 9 years of age. Which is cool by me, means i get to listen to the original dialogues in the original language. i don't care what language it is, and if i don't know it, i have noticed that if one watches the movie in the original language, the actors look like they are acting a lot better then it would look in a dub. Which is understandable.<br><br>On a funny aside, me and my friends once watched Starship Troopers in with the german dub, and we laughed like hell at it. Because it made the WHOLE HUMAN characters in that movie look like nazis.
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Oct. 16, 2009, 5:10 a.m. CST
The best negative review ever, you made me want to see it
by TheDark0Knight
1000x more, it sounds absolutely fucking brilliant. Putting a line like "its the 400 blows but with monsters" should be in the fucking trailers...I seriously can't wait to see this.
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... you'd all be bitching he dumbed it down and sold out. Fucking hypocrites! And I agree with TheDark0Knight -- this is a negative review that actually makes me want to see the movie even more, because it sounds exactly the kind of movie I was hoping it'd be! So build a bridge, Massawyrm and everyone else who was "bored". Go wait in line for Bad Boys 3... the rest of us will appreciate intelligent film making.
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Thanks for the honest review. You've just made me decide to spend my money on this. Sounds exactly like what I wanted.
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This Massa negative review makes me want to watch the movie more then the positive ones i have read so far. Reminds me of his negative review for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, his negative review made me realise that the movie must be really very good and a complete must see, and for the very reasons he disliked.
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Hast du nicht irgendwo in die Naehe ein Kino wo man die Originalversion spielt? Jedenfalls, das fand ich auch immer frustrierend ist in Deutschland .
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Intelligent filmmaking? Toy Story is a perfect film. Old Disney classics that cover the same ground, like Peter Pan, are intelligently made films. This is a movie that looks like a fantasy film but might as well be a cinematic therapy session. It's not for children.
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"to smell the man is to know the man".
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Our band Rammstein got a new album out this week and comedian Michael Bully Herbigs new movie runs in cinemas right now. So everything seems alright. We got some great voice actors here ... the german Harrison Ford voice in fact is even better than the original :) And movies like Star Trek have assembled a strong german voice cast. Its often the artsy movies or the not so well known actors (Max in wtwta) who suffers from the system.
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it does play the little -dubbed- movies that aren't running in my towns big cinemas. i remember the experiences i had there with the fountain, once or 2046. :)
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You saw a dubbed version of 2046? Dubbing 2046 is a crime against cinema! Ich finde es auch schade dass ihr Homer nicht auf Englisch anhören könnt.
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I sort of understand the criticism that films that do not match their marketing campaign are problematic. Even though the marketing doesn't change a whit about the film, what it does do is to bring in the wrong audience. It also puts you in the wrong mindset in which to view a movie. My standard example of this is Reign Of Fire. I truly, truly love movies in which I get to see humanity fall. It's part of the reason that I love zombie movies, and the whole big dumb "Apache choppers vs Dragons" thing worked for me. What I got was a king arthur movie in which two brits went to a castle to slay a dragon. I liked the movie in the end (bongos McConnohey was off the chain hilarious), but it chapped my backside that I was sort of promised another movie. <p> 0.02
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I learned german in my high school years. and while i don't recall it enough to have a conversation in the teutonic language, reading your german posts i get the impression those are phrases in english quick translated into german via Bablefish or something like that. It's the structure that denounces it, i'm affraid. German has a very peculiar way to constrauct sentenses that cannot be found in the english language. Or i could be totaly wrong and you are writing in colloquial german.
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What are you doing? Everybody knows you aren't allowed around kids (pun intended).
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in his PICTURE PROOF for MASS-O-WARM SHIT post ha.
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Ya saved me a few rupees!
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of English. <P>BECAUSE THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING THING YOU XENOPHOBIC GOATFUCKING TWAT. <P>Christ, I get tired of repeating that.
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you are one funny motherfucker (or goatfucker according to Jarv). Anyway, I’ve lived in Germany for two years and I've spoken German with people. Not fluently, but they can understand me. Moreover, my mother tongue is very close to German, just like Spanish is to Portuguese. Now, maybe your German is better than mine. Unfortunately I’m pretty sure you misspelled “Guten” and when you typed “freude” I assume you meant Freund.
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Check TMZ.com. LOL. This is wild. Parents must have done a number on him overnight after he ratted Daddy out to make him so nervous.
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I think those who love it are probably right, and it's most likely a great film, and I'm glad Spike was able to make his vision of the movie rather than the studio's....but I won't be watching it any time soon. It's kind of like if someone were to make a unique masterpiece about a woman dying of cancer...I wouldn't run out to see it. I have enough to deal with in my life. Don't need to go there until I'm in the mood, you know? Magnolia is a good film but I'm not gonna run out and buy the DVD to pop it in and watch it again on the weekend. When the mood hits me, I'll watch WTWTA...on DVD.
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and makes people run to go watch the movie. Somehow, i think that his review defeated it's own porpose.
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Oct. 16, 2009, 8:51 a.m. CST
21+ screenings for this movie would make me happy.
by Yeah I Wrote That
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Why are you calling me a douche? You have a different opinion than mine? That's fine. <br><br> the point I was making was separating creative vision, Jonz in this case, not seeking mass appeal; of course studios and distributors try to appeal to the masses.<br><br> but if you think Jonz actually believes his movie appeals to the masses, or if he cares if they go, you'd be wrong...otherwise he would have never taken the approach he did; American audiences suffer from ADD - you think a movie where nothing happens is actually meant for them?!
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It's not exactly like tha,t but i understand you. Maybe then it's the fact your german is "englishsized", so to speak. And that is common. The majority of foreigners who speak a foreing language do that. I latinize my english, it's a common thing among people whose native languages is a romance language, like portuguese, castellano (spanish), catalan, french, italian, romanian.<br><br>y language is relatively close to spanish, but not as much as an english speaking person would believe. In fac,t there ar emany, many differences. The similiaritutes are superficial.<br>br>English, if i understand it corectly, has more influences from french then german proper. While one of the languages that made modern english is of germanic origin, due to the saxons and the dannish invasions of the 8th and 9th century, english is today it's own language, as different from ancient germanic as it is from old briton gaelic. But if you know more of the subjec,t i'd love to learn more from you. I find this subject fascinating.<br><br>And to finish, i'd like to make this coment: i posted to you in spirit of good freindship, i just wanted to chat about this subject of languages. Seems i was not too far off in assuming that your gemran was not exactly the most correct and had english inflcunes, i just assumed, wrongly but naively, that you had just tranlated directly from bablefish. No, you just are an american or british tha tknows a bit of germna but speaks it a bit on the english fashion. but it seems you took offense of that, you seem to feel personally insulted, as if i had insulted your sister or some shit like that. and you decided to be on the pal side of that retarded fuck Lost Jarv. Well, i have no care if you ar epals with lost Jarv or not, but i care if that is going to influence your conversation with me, specially when i just wanted ot have a bit of a friendly chat with you on the subject on german. But if you decide to go on an attitude with me, i can pre-empty all that crap with a "go fuck yourself, buddy". so, what's going to be with us, mate? Are we going to be civil, or are you going to pull out stupid usless needless shit' I chose the first, the friendlyness, how about you?
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aka Whacked the Wild Thing, Spiked the Jonze, Boxed the Boll...?
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Oct. 16, 2009, 10:01 a.m. CST
Lost Jarv, what kind of english they speak in the UK, you fuckas
by AsimovLives
you think it's the same as the american variant, you fucking ignorant asshole? Go fuck yourself, you fucking DocPazuzu's bitch. Fuck off. Fucking asshole!
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Your band Rammstein is going to play here in Portugal, Lisboa to be exact, at the November 8th. Unfortunatly, i didn't bought tickets to that show, because i had to chose between Rammstein or Depeche Mode. And i'm a longer time fan od DM then of Rammstein. however, i would had loved to go to a Rammstein show. Me and all my friends love Rammstein, we are all fans of the band. But i had to chose between the two. Blame the fucking crisis!
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<P>To begin with, the word is "Anglicised" <P>Secondly, you know nothing about the evolution of English. Not a damned thing. So stop pontificating about it- it just makes you look like a know it all dick. <P>"latinize" is not a word. It means nothing. <P>There is no such fucking thing as BRITISH ENGLISH. Stop it. <P>One reason your English is diabolically bad is the high opinion you have of your own intellect. That and the almost offensively pretentious opinions you have would make it damned hard for a native speaker to express themselves clearly. <P>Not to mention that you obviously don't read your posts, so most of the time they devolve into gibberish. <P>I hate doing this- because I'm not a grammar nazi, but I'm actually helping you here. <P> You can express yourself perfectly well without using terms like "hybrid" or "fusion" that you don't quite understand. <P>To help you out, type into M/S word first. Set the Language to English (UK) and let it sort out your errors, then cut and paste into the box. <P>It'll help you out hugely, as I appreciate that typing in your third language (behind goat and Portuguese) is hard- I wouldn't try to do this in any of the other languages I speak, so I do respect your ambition, but you are making a right pigs ear of it. <P>Just take some care, use Word and you will become much more clear.
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In Merseyside most people speak Scouse- in Newcastle it would be Geordie. Queens English is the BBC News English that you should aspire to speak (if you're a twat or a politician). There is no "British English" dialect. <P>Christ, you're stupid. You must be aware that there are different dialects in Portuguese (for example, the difference between Porto and Faro). There are over 6 times as many people in the UK to Portugal, what makes you think that there wouldn't be different dialects? And in some areas they still have their own language. <P>Ignorant xenophobic cunt.
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This is why you are a complete dick: <P>1)You like Rammstein. <P>2)You are a pig ignorant cunt. There is no such thing as old Briton Gaelic. <P>3)You Criticised a (this is a bet)Scandinavian for making a mistake in German (after, hilariously, you mangled the language first), and then pontificated at him about how he must have used Babelfish. And you still seem to think he's German. Do you just not read other people's posts? The clue is "my mother tongue is very close to German". <P>This is what I got from Babelfish for you: <P>Baaa, baaa, baaa *grunt* baaaa, baaaa, baaaa, *squeal*, baaaaaa, baaaa, *poop* <P>I've just called you a tongue cleaning douchenozzle in your native language of goat.
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To your breed, your fleece, your clan be true. Sheep be true. Baa-ram-ewe.
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and that's where all ypour stupid assuptions about me begins, with a fallacy that has no bearing whatsoever with what i am. I have no big pretentions about myself. but know intelligence when i see it, and i ADMIRE intelligence. I admire intelligence above all things. I admire intelligence in a movie, and in a filmmaker. And i despise a dumb stupid movie made by dumb stupid people who think the audience are made of dumb stupid people. and i fell no need to respect the people who uphold and defend that type of dumb stupid shit. Do you get it?<br><br>And go ask an englishmen, or an asutralian,and tell them their english is exactly alike americna english, and they look at you funny. It's difference. Each can understand each other most of the time, but not ALL THE TIME. each country, has their own peculiarities with the language. And there's words which are writen differenly in UK or USA, like colour and color. The same phenomena can be verified between scastellano between Spain and mexico and portuguese between Portugal and Brazil.<br><br>i destest your ass, but i thank you for the things you said that made me learn new stuff. The difference eberween you and me is that i'm not goi ng to be a contrarian just for the sake of disliking somebody. i never had a problem knowing, acknowledge and even praising soembody who is my adversary if they are right or have some knowledge or quality i admire. This is why i'm on good temrs with Mr. Nice Gaius. and you know what? I love talking chatting him. But i doubt i can ever do that with you. Because you are such an ass. Prove me wrong. I'd like that. I'd love that. But i doubt you can. Not with the history i know of you here.
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"And go ask an englishmen, or an asutralian,and tell them their english is exactly alike americna english, and they look at you funny."<P> That's funny, seeing as I am born and raised IN FUCKING ENGLAND. <P>The irony of this is that you repeatedly berate Americans saying things like "I learned English from an English native" and by stubbornly persisting with using the term "British English" you are making a mistake some Americans frequently make. <P>It's either Queen's English or one of the local dialects. <P>Oh, I give up, this is like trying to teach a pig to unicycle.
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"Lost Jarv, i have no high opinion of my intellect" <P>Massive, massive bullshit. You lying cunt.
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We do spell and say schedule and color differently. That’s a huge gap.
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because those were uplifting. I saw it last night and this flick is a bore fest. It's just ugly and muddled. The whole thing felt like it was never fully thought out which is a shame.
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Again you prove you have the wrojg opinion about me because of the shit you create and pull out of your own ass. I never once said i learned english from an native native. NEVER! That's bulslhit you created and pulled out of your own ass. You beleive the bullshit you invent. Small wonder you have the complete wrong opinion about me. all the shit you think of me is crap you created in your mind and you now cann0t see the differenc,e and the shit that DocPazuz invents and you take it all unquestionaly as if God's Own Truth. Small wonder you know jack and shit about me. You got me COMPLETLY AND UTTERLY WRONG. TOTALLY. And then all gets evne futher distorted because you are always with your stupid hate glasses on. Pathetic. all you think of me means nothing. It's all wrong. all stuff created in your own mind, or the mind of an even bigger delusional fool.<br><br>You know nothing. And you will keep on knowing nothing. And it's quite releaving about your character. You are a dogmatic fool.
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Oct. 16, 2009, 12:12 p.m. CST
Lost Jarv, it's impossible to have a conversation with you
by AsimovLives
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And then there's the pronunciation. And the local colloquialisms. And that's nothing magic or byzarre about it, it's perfectly natural. It's a common thing for all the languages from coutnries which were once maerican colonies of european countries. The french spoken in Quebecq is somewhat different from the european french (so much so that French usually mock the shit out of the quebecquians way of speaking). The spanish in Latin America not only can diverge from Spain's spanish, but even from each country. Aparently, it's very difficult for a mexican to understand a salvadorean. In my own example, i have to deal with brazilian emigrants a lot in my line of work, and while most of the time we do understand each other, occasionaly there came someone who i can't understand what he says, because of the accent, or because they use their own colloqual expressions which are a complete mystery to us in Portugal. And they feel the same way about the portuguese. Which is understandable.<br><br>And all this mix up because some bitch (Lost Jarv) got all worked up because i ACTUALLY NOTICED that one of the posters wrote a phrase in german (in response to a german) which didn't looked exactly like it was writen by somebody either a native of Germany or too fluent on the ol' deutsch. Which i sympathise, because german is a difficult language to learn. I know it, i learn it for two years, and it was the quickest thing to forget once you stop practicing it. I think it was Mark Twain who once said that one could master english in 3 months, and french in 3 years, but one couldn't master german even in 30 years. He exagerates, but truly, german is quite a hard language to master for a foreigner. I also notice that in the Bourne movies, Matt Damon uses a very limited german with simple phrases, and he speaks in a very slow and controlled way. Reminds me and my high school collegues when we were learning it. The Bourne movies do bring me memories of when i was learning german, and how damn hard it was.<br><br>Basically, Lost Jarv ingrained himsef into a converstation that was not his damn business. As usual. And he din't wasted an oportunity to demonstrate to the world what an unsufferable conceited jackass he is.
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I actually though that the trailer tried too hard to be generic and to put the movie into a nicely recognizable box for an easy sell.
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we're on a message board. Does anyone REALLY "know" anybody here?
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...back when this was a TB about Where the Wild Things Are, and not a pontificatory rant about parochial pronunciations and linguistic definitions? Let the wild rump-heads desist!<br><br> Oh, and Series7? Brilliant. Bah. Ram. You.
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when a tb stayed on topic with the thread's headline? Me neither. BTW, this movie came out today. Happy?
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Oct. 16, 2009, 1:43 p.m. CST
VERN The Trailer for this that ran during Spongebob Squarepants
by Spacezilla
Was very misleading. Totally aimed at kids. They made it look like it is a very fun and funny movie with Max playing with these monsters. Made my 3 year old and 6 year old want to go see it. "That looks funny daddy." <p> So what the fuck? I can't take them or what? The movie will bore them, entertain them. This is some bullshit actually. I hate when they try to mislead us parents and put us in this lame ass position. This weekend would have been a good one to take the kids to a movie and I would have loved to see this one so now I guess I am fucked. Too bad Astro Boy isn't out this weekend (hopefully that won't suck) <p> So any other Dads here in a similar predicament regarding WTWTA?
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Yeah, i do remember that. Good times. Lost Jarv, the bitch, took care to ruin that. That's what he does. Fucking troll!
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I think the trailer for WTWTA doesn't know to make up it's mind. It's obvious they do try to remain some faithfulness to the movie, with tye use of the music and that it has a somewhat different style in the editing. But the trailer does try to pull the usuala stops of the "fun adventure kids movie". It even ends the traielr showing Max and the wild things owling at a sunset, as if they are all best of friends and have the best of times in pure friendship. Also, the trailer gives the idea that Max's only troubles are at home, that on the island all is find, dandy and a big party adventure. Which, going by all the reviews, is not the case at all, if anything, most of the drama in the movie happens IN THE ISLAND.<br><br>The probem of trailers of movies made in Holylwood is that they ar enot made by the filmmakers, but by other people. People whose job is to sell products based on marketing strategies and projections of what sold last year. Worst, people who maketraiwlers are an extremly dogmatic and conservative bunch, and they repeate the same formula again and again and agfain and again and again... and then some more repeating again. They are INCREDIBLY CONSERVATIVE. Every trailer sems to look the same, becaue basically they are the same. Every action movie has the same trailer. Every comedy as the same trailer. Every kid movie has the same trailer. there's only 3 type of tailers, and every movie has to fit into that style. No long trailers are made to serve the movie, it's the movie who has to serve the trailer, or else you get a terribly misleading traielr that doesn't reflect at all the movie. And this, frankly, is pretty stupid.
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I loved it but my nephew was bouncin' off the walls
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Oct. 16, 2009, 5:18 p.m. CST
NPR / All Things Considered / Dave Eggers Ventures Into The Land
by MonsterManZERO
I have no real feelings regarding the movie, I never read the book as a kid so I have no such attachment to it, but I think it looks like an alright movie. I also know Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers wrote the screenplay together & they heavily consulted with the original author Maurice Sendak, & he couldn't be happier with the out come, this is the way he wanted it. You can read & hear about it over at NPR: http://tinyurl.com/yzbkj6t Here's some from the interview with Dave Eggers: Eggers was particularly touched by the dedication that Sendak showed toward the film project. "[Sendak] was involved all the way through" he says. "He was the first person we sent the finished script to and every subsequent draft. He was intimately involved with everything along the way, and we sought his approval doggedly." And: Eventually the screenplay was completed, the film was shot, and Eggers received the ultimate affirmation of his work — a gracious approval from Sendak, who had always hoped that the film would stay true to the world he'd created. Just something to think about.
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Skip my shit brick of text & just go read about it here: http://tinyurl.com/yzbkj6t
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I’m pretty drunk right now but in the spirit of Christmas let me post a few comforting things 1. Actually, I’m Belgian (Flemish). Flemish as a language does not exist; it is a collection of Dutch dialects, comparable to difference between ‘American’ English and ‘British’ English. It is pretty close to German. I can assure you that if anything, my posts are ‘Dutchified’ German. 2. I do believe that your post was made in good spirit. However, you may not realize it but it was really offensive. First, like I said I think my German is better than yours. If you want to correct my German grammar, please don’t start by making a bunch of mistakes in German. 3. You’ve pissed of s many people on this website; people are naturally defensive towards you to begin with. 4. Using Microsoft Word from now on would be a good idea.
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I never usually agree with your reviews but I totally absolutely agree. Never read the book and walked out thinking 'WTF?' I hated that kid. If he'd been mine and ran off like that I would have slept on it before calling the police. I try to go to early matinees before school lets out. But there were younger than school age kids in there and they were all over the damn place running back and forth to the bathroom, talking, even singing because they were bored. It's well-made but I hate something like this getting praise because it should be great. It's not. The story is about a brat acting like a brat and not suffering any consequences for it.
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However,I trust Vern a hell of alot more.
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This isn't sarcasm, but what you describe is exactly what I expected to see based on the previews. Some real life loneliness and family issues through the eyes of a kid. I suppose I didn't expect that loneliness to be resolved by the Wild Things. They just looked to be a reflection of the same sad feelings Max was experiencing at home. I don't know...maybe the masses were expecting something different, but I consider myself a member of the masses and I didn't.
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-or some such-
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AGAIN the final score-American Football-Jarv 34-7 over the Almada Fool. Much much fun. It's great to watch Landfill Bob there attempting to duel the Acid-bath that is Jarv's broadsides. <p> Jest drop the goat and give it up Mammaries. Yew Cain't win.
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but he learns an important lesson, and it's one he'll never forget. That little interaction with his mom at the end spoke volumes of what Max learned that night. I havn't seen a better movie yet this year.
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I also expected just what is described in reviews from watching the trailers. The TV spots however, try to make it something else. Marketing? In probably about 90% of the time, I hate movie ads on TV. They usually make me annoyed with a movie, even if I already wanted to see it. I wasn't exactly annoyed at the Wild Things TV spot, but I could see that they were trying to change the tone.
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How close he is to DocPazuzu. Yeah, look it up on him, man. Look it all the way up.<br><br>Fucking bitches!
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You are flemish? Cool! And yes, i'm very cerain that your german is better then mine. IT IS BETTER THEN MINE. And since you are flemish, it will be easier for you to learn german then me, a portuguese. The same way it's easier for me to learn french, spanish or romanian then it is for you. So what? Again, i point out, i justy noticed a bit of a wooby german from you, no big deal. i just pointed that out, i just infered, and correctly so it seemd, that you would not be a native german speaker. Why should that make you feel insulted? So your german is not perfect, so what? i bet you have better qualities in you then your doman of the germany language. And by the way, your english is pretty good. I hope that strokes your ego.<br><br>You know why i don't bother with a grammar correcting tool for my posts in here? Too much bother for what this is. And i'm not in here to impress the slack-jaws either.<br><br>Anyway, let me tell you this, i think that Flanders is a beautiful place. Never been there but from what i have seen so far in pcitures and TV it looks a great place to visit. I hope i do one day. Bruges in particuilar looks amazing. A friend of mine visited the city, and he loved it, he called it one of the most beautiful place he ever seen. In fact, he called all your country one of he most beautiful pleaces he ever seen in his whole life. I would love to visit that. Well, better there where you live then in Bruxels, right? Also, i love belgian beer, specialyl the ones with the fruits taste. Your monks knew how to brew some mean cool beers. There was a beer pub in Lisboa which only served belgian beer, and i loved that place. It was sitated next to a cinema, therefore before i went there watch a movie, i would go get me some cool belgian beer. Unfortunatly the place changed mannagement and out went the belgian beers. I miss them.
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"I havn't seen a better movie yet this year."<br><br>That's like damning the movie with faint praise, considering the type of movies released this year (with the exception of District 9).
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Antopehr thing: the people i have pisses off in here are all, without exception, idiots and stupid assholes with too much an inflated opinion on themselves. I take as principle that if i irritate somebody here, then i know they aren't worth shit. Of cours,e i always love to be wrong about thinking badly on soemone, and to make peace with them, like i did with Mr Nice Gaius. But frankly, your friend Lost Jarv, he's an unsufferable and unredeamable piece of shit whose only mission in life in AICN is to try to bother me. Tell me again why i should show any respect for that prick. Adn that fucker hates Ramstein and thinks thsoe who like the band are idiots. While at the same time he goes out of his way to defend dumb stupid shit like Jar Jar Abrams's Scrap Trek. And the idiot will never see the irony of that.
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Oct. 17, 2009, 8:07 a.m. CST
Someone tell me this is a million times better than Inglorious
by quantize
because that was enormously hyped by this site, and even as a Tarantino fan..I was utterly flabberghasted how that sloppy turd got even a couple of decent reviews..I'm worried the same 'he is a genius, it MUST be good' factor is overiding the genuine work on screen..Some of these directors have made great films..are we really so sure their work is actually holding up?
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he's the robot that whines the same self important mantra..infuriates everyone with his pompous bullshit..he doesnt even get it when he's being brilliantly mocked..or has enough modesty to admit it when he's flat out WRONG
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Oct. 17, 2009, 8:11 a.m. CST
'the people i have pisses off in here are all, without exception
by quantize
like a neon sign blaring 'COCKSUCKER LOSER'...dude is his own worst enemy..maybe we should start pitying him... <p> naaaaaaaaaaaaah
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Besides the big budget crap fests, there have been some great movies. Of course, I still have to see A Serious Man, Up in the Air, Moon, Big Fan, and a few others, but I really loved this movie, and I havn't seen a better one YET. That's all I'm saying.
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ok everything cool then. Let’s keep this short. I’ve been to Porto, Lisboa, Coimbra, Peniche (backpacking) and the Algarve (touristy thing). So I can appreciate Portugal too. You know your quality sci-fi, but Rammstein is a terrible, terrible band.
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As always.
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I have absolutly no cause to disagree with you. In fact, i completly believe in you. And the horrid movies i was mentioning, well, it was the mvoies which were released up to and including the summer. not onc,e with the exception of the latest Harry Potter, were worth a shit. Every single one were horrible pieces of shit. but it seems that as soon the summer ended, the good ones start to come out. Since District 9 and The Hurt Locker, truly good movies seem to have come out and released. And i'm in ache to watch Moon and The Road.
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Well, Rammstein is a pretty popular band here. Andi think they are a bit missunderstood. I know many cal it a fascist band, but i say they are everything but. They just have this wicked sense of humour, and utilize this imagery to mock and make fun at fascism, while also mocking extreme PC sensebilities. I find that kind of attitude invigotating. And i'm a left-winger.<br><br>If you have been in here, then you migth have passed through my home city, Almada. It's the city on the other side of the river Tejo as seen from Lisboa. You know, the city with the big Christ statue, the Cristo-Rei, which reminds of the Rio de Janeiro's Cristo Redentor. If you visite the statue, then you were in my home city.<br><br>And i hope you have appreciated our wines, beer and food. And weather, of course. The things i'm most proud of my country.<br><br>And i really would love to visit Flanders. Looks like a most cool place to go and know.<br><br>Since you are flemish, i'd like to ask you this, if you don't mind: in your daily life, do you speak flemish, dutch or french, due tot eh fact you are belgian? I know that Belgian as, if memory serves, at elast 3 or 4 official languages, or something like that.
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the movies he bashes will be the movie the people will watch. As a reviewer, that will be a failure.
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....I'm not above being one to say "I told you so..." but Daddy and Mommy Fucknut are looking at charges. You know, like I said. Did I say I'd said it before? Because I was right. You know, the opposite of being wrong. Copy and paste this into your browser for my powers of presience....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8312912.stm .....you're welcome.
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It's going to do well this weekend and absolutely tank next weekend on poor word of mouth. Couldn't agree more with Massawrym's review. Saw three families leave at various points in the movie, never to return. Thank you Massa for being the one voice of reason on this site since McWeeny left!
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McWeeny called this movie "an absolute masterpiece... the finest offering from any Hollywood studio thus far this year."
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I respect your opinion, but how was this movie boring?
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Beautiful movie. This is the read deal. You won't get a kids' movie like this again, for a long time.
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The film was as I felt it would be based on the trailers. Maybe if you douched less television all those mind numbing advertisements wouldn't precede your perception before you go into a moving already ruining it for yourself. Man, pay me to do your job, a lot better.
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I'm stoned.
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That's fine if Moriarty liked the movie--I don't agree with him all the time. I'm just saying that Drew was the most belivable reviewer on this site before he left--I found his reviews well-thought out and fairly reasoned. Harry's reviews are always so off the mark that I don't even read them any more. But Massawyrm seems to not buy into everybody's hype and writes what he really thinks and I respect that. Apologies, but everybody else (maybe save Quint?) seems to fall in the fanboy line. Anyways, I still think Wild Things is going to tank hard next weekend. The best review I've heard from anybody who saw it was, "Eh, it was okay." That's hardly the kind of word of mouth that is going to give this movie legs.
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I thought this was a real let down compared to Being John Malkovich and Adaptation. Visually, it's really great to watch, but it had too many moments of abstract weirdness (Max hiding in the womb-like Wild Thing? Uh, yeah, it plays into those Max-having-an-imaginary-representation-of-all-his-issues vibe. On the other hand, it's really stupid.) The endless, and I mean fucking ENDLESS montages of various poppy/folk song from the Yeah Yeah Yeah's chick got really fucking irritating really fucking quickly. Good visuals can't save a film. But this has a few moments of emotion that click. And it looks good. But a couple of good moments don't make it anymore than mediocre. So it's Chronicles of Narnia done as a post-modern, art house flick with more parental abandonment issues. Uhm, yay?
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for telling it like it is. I need not say anything further because your review was spot on.
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like it's some sort of service to God or something is very strange to me. Some of the classic lines so far are: "Sorry it doesn't have guns and explosions and isn't all happy. Some movies are sad. It's people like you that are douchebags." These statements are ridiculous and have no merit. Just because I thought this movie was terrible does not make me only watch movies like GI JOE or Pearl Harbor. In fact I enjoy sad movies and movies that have a deeper meaning. But here's the thing; this movie had no spark, no charisma, no whimsy. I didn't care about Max at all. I certainly didn't care about any of the whiny monsters. This didn't bring me back to my childhood and I'm a child of divorce, at age 8. This is just a really bland, boring movie IMO and that does not make me an idiot and does not make people who loved this more in touch with their emotions or more intelligent. Go into the movie with no expectations and see. TIME BANDITS this ain't!
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I think this film would actually work best in the comfort of your own home than in an uncomfortable movie theater seat, I still had a good time hanging out with the Wild Things, the world and characters are just plain fascinating and I'm so happy that a studio allowed a filmmaker to take a risk for once and depressing? nahhhh, it's certainly bittersweet, but I didn't leave the theater depressed
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So childhood is hard, we needed 90 minutes and beloved children's book imagery to discover that? The film looked perfect, the creatures were perfect, and there were many touching moments, but what left me and the rest of the crowd I saw this with so deflated was that that's all the film had to say. It was a beautiful, sincere, honest trip to nowhere. I wanted a journey, a story, something more than movement to justify making a film of this. Essentially, all that was added to the original story was melancholy and a modern broken-family angle as the setup. That's such an incredibly obvious reality for so many people these days that I can't really give the movie that much credit for taking that angle. As beautifully as the fantasy world was rendered in this film, it somehow found a way to drain all the joy from that fantasy. For me, this film shone in moments but simply never took off. It was one long mope devoid of wonder. I hate to say it, but I put this one up with the Phantom Menace for biggest-letdown-compared-to-magical-trailer.
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