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Spike Jonze’s I’m Here Trailer

Krystal Clark — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:54:41 +0000

Director Spike Jonze has dabbled in music videos, feature films, and movie shorts, some of which will be showcased at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. His latest short is entitled, I’m Here and will debut this evening at the event. A trailer has coincidentally appeared online for the film that features a few robot looking creatures as its main characters. Hey it’s Spike Jonze, he thinks outside the box…

I’m Here is a 30 minute short, that stars British actor Andrew Garfield, who was previously seen in The Imaginarium of Doctor Paranssus and will be appearing in the upcoming film, The Social Network. Here he plays the main character, who seems to live in a world where everyone has body parts similar to PCs. The story is supposed to be about finding love in an “absolut world.” Yes, I spelled absolute without the “e”, because it’s a reference to Absolut Vodka, the company that funded the project.

Aside from Garfield, actress Sienna Guillory also stars in the film, and I’m assuming she’s the love interest. If her name sounds familiar it’s probably because she played the role of Jill Valentine in the action flick, Resident Evil: Apocalypse. This is definitely a big change of pace from that movie.

Here’s the trailer for I’m Here…

What do you think of Jonze’s depiction of robot love?

Where the Wild Things Are: Movie Review

Mali Elfman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:30:43 +0000

It’s time to become a Wild Thing with Director Spike Jonze‘s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. In typical Jonze fashion, Where the Wild Things Are is both a visual treat for the eyes, and an exploration for the mind. From the sets and the the costumes, to the raw and honest performance by Max Records, Spike will be sure to have you howling for more.

Check out the review below…

The Players:

Director: Spike Jonze (interview)
Cast: James Gandolfini, Max Records (interview), Catherine Keener, Forest Whitaker, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine O’ Hara, Chris Cooper
Director of Photography: Lance Accord (interview)
Costume Designer: Casey Storm (interview)
Production Designer: K.K. Barrett (interview)
Art Director: Sonny Gerasimowicz (interview)

The Plot:

Jonze brings us a dark and imaginative adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story, where Max, a disobedient little boy who feels rejected by everyone, gets in a fight with his mother when she brings a man home for dinner. Max, stands on the tables and growls until his mother has finally had it and demands him to stop. In a moment of rage he bites his mother and then takes off and creates his own world in a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.

The Good:

The Set Up/Honesty: From the very beginning we realize that although there are some parallels to the book the film extends from its source material and becomes something all its own. The set up is honest to both real life and the book. Certain things happen to us and although they’re not the worst things in the world, as a child (and sometimes an adult) these tiny things hurt more than anything else. The rest of the film is not necessarily filled with the wonder of being a child, but rather the honest pains one goes through growing up. Prepare yourself for something deeply beautiful that at times will delve into emotions that you might not expect.
The Costumes: The way that the characters move, their facial expression, their reactions, all bring about a realistic and yet imaginative feeling to the film. The texture of their costumes makes the film feel so much more personal. The eyes specifically add a sweetness and honesty to these otherwise violent and at times threatening animals.
Max Records as ‘Max’: Normally hiring an actor who has never acted before to lead a mainstream movie is not the best choice, but for this film, it is what makes it what it is. As opposed to many newbie actors, he doesn’t push, he doesn’t try, he simply allows the inner Wild Thing from within him to run around. Thanks to Spike’s ability to reign in his strong character, Max was the perfect child for the role.
Raw Emotion/ Personality: Not only from the actors and characters in the film, but from the film itself. Everything about it from the colors to the shoots coincide with the message within the film: deep and gritty.
Violence: Some people are commenting on how violent and crazy the character “Max” behaves in the film, but the point of them film is that everything occurs in your imagination, including the violence. If violence only took place in your imagination and you couldn’t get hurt by it, wouldn’t you push it as far as it could go? Think about all the action films you see, war films, hell the scary or kick-ass dreams you’ve probably had at night. Yes, you still get scared and feel the rush from the threatening moment, but when it’s fantasy, why not push it too the limit? You do it all the time. And therefore in the film, why not make the fantasy as real as possible so that you can experience it as well without harm?
Knowing What it Is: So many films fall victim to the mixed genre disease in which they never really know what they are and audience members never knows what exactly is going on (cough…Vampire’s Assistant…excuse me…). This film is imaginative, it is child-like, it is aggressive, and it is a serious emotional film that will make you feel something about it/for it. There’s nothing half ass-ed about this film and for that reason alone, it’s one of the first pieces of work I could enjoy in a long time because I was never confused by what I was watching.
The Music: At times the use of songs instead of a score added to the raw emotion that helped to embody the ‘out of control’ tone that went with the film. But….

The Bad:

The Music: As I JUST said and I did enjoy the music at certain posts, but other times it was a bit jarring and took away from the excitement already taking place in the scene. Karen-O’s score worked for the most part, but there were a few emotional moments that could have been a but more underplayed in order to let the scene speak for itself.
Needed more wonder: As much as I LOVE the honesty and the overall feel of the movie, the trailer, posters, and everything else promises wonder and this film doesn’t go there. This isn’t a fantasy land where things come true, this is a realistic place where a young boy comes when everything has gone wrong. Maybe this has more to do with expectations than actual delivery?
The Ending: Although the film may have been a touch long, they needed to spend more time developing the ending. It felt like something got cut that could have added to the ending. The entire last act was a touch rushed and his feelings could have been indulged a bit more.

Overall:

Go see this film and experience it for yourself. From what I’ve heard so far, no two people will feel the same about it… so go figure out what it means to you!

Rating: 8.5/10

Where the Wild Things Are will be released in theaters nationwide on October 16, 2009.

Interview: Spike Jonze and Max Records

Mali Elfman — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:21:00 +0000

Ready to become a “Wild Thing” with Director Spike Jonze and newly found child actor Max Records? Although the first thing you may notice about Where the Wild Things Are is that it is a feast for the eyes (and we have the creative team to thank for that), the heart of the film that keeps us intrigued comes from the raw and honest performance by Max and the subtle and yet adventurous eye of Spike.

This was not an easy interview to do because the answers to all your questions were in the film. When a director does his job right he should be able to shut his mouth, press play, and let his film do the talking, which is exactly the case for this movie. You will leave with questions, but those are for you to answer, not the director.

Luckily, the two “boys” where both able to add a bit of insight to the film, talk about the more challenging parts of filming the movie and answer a few questions that you might be wondering about before bringing your kids to the film. Check out what the two “Wild Things” had to say below…

What do you want parents to take from this film, and what do you want kids to take from this film?

Spike: I didn’t have any thoughts about it. I don’t know what you should take away from it. I think anybody can take away whatever they feel connected to or not connected to in the movie. The one thing I hope is that there would be some conversations, and that a parent might actually be able to talk to their kid in a different way and ask their kid what they think, and not worry about how they’re going to turn out, but be curious as to who they are.

Do you think kids should not see a film that’s this dark?

Max: No, not at all. Of course, they should see it. It depends on the kid, and it depends on the age. When I was 7 or 8, I could not have seen this movie. But, my brother, who is 7 or 8, totally could have.

Spike: We were just trying to make a movie that feels true to what it feels like, at times, to be 9 years old. I think, as you’re growing up, your emotions are just as deep as they are when you’re an adult. You’re ability to feel lonely, longing, confused or angry are just as deep. We don’t feel things more as we get older. We just have a better understanding of how to navigate those feelings, and a better sense of how to navigate our relationships and separate our emotions from them. I also don’t think of this as a dark movie. It has moments that are intense, for sure.

How did you go about expanding the basic story of this book? Did any of this come from personal experiences?

Spike: I’m not sure if I could explain it any more than the movie.

Max: The movie and the book are just pretty much the visual way to show anger and sweetness together.

Did you feel like it was a movie about childhood?

Max: Yes. The kid gets pissed off, the mom gets pissed off, he runs away, and then there’s a lot more pissed off and a lot more happiness.

Spike, as a writer/director, how much did you struggle with constructing the beginning of the film and getting all that information in, prior to the trip to the ‘Land of the Wild Things’?

Spike: I wrote with Dave Eggers, who is a writer I love and a person that I got to know. We basically approached it, at the beginning, not over-thinking it too much. We tried to write it really intuitively, at the beginning, and just write scenes, and we overwrote. We just wrote from our gut. Later, it became a little more laborious, in terms of editing and shaping it more. But, we tried to just approach it the way a kid’s intuition approaches things. We tried to do a lot of things like that. The music was written in that sense, of not analytically, but just intuitively. We just tried to keep that spirit of not over-thinking it too much. My other movies are much more analytical or cerebral films. With this one, because the main character was 9, I wanted to turn that part of my brain off and not approach it so cerebrally.

Why did you decide not to make the world of the Wild Things as wondrous as people might expect it to be?

Spike: It stemmed a little bit from taking Max seriously. If he’s going to imagine that he’s going to a place, it’s not going to be some fantasy version of it. For me, it just connected more to really being there with these wild animals, in this forest and on these beaches, with sand and dirt and leaves in their hair, and have that level of reality to it. It makes it more dangerous and, in a way, more exciting because you’re really there. The whole movie is shot from Max’s point of view, where you’re discovering it with him. Every scene in the movie is from Max’s point of view. We also tried to give it its wonder, where it was relevant to the story, like when Max wakes up in Carol’s arms, and he’s carrying him through this beautiful forest with leaves falling everywhere. Those moments have their place, where it’s hopefully more wondrous or spectacular.

Did you intentionally want to make it so intimate?

Spike: The idea is mixing intimate with epic, at the same time, and being able to have those dynamics. The best songs are the ones that have that kind of dynamic. Arcade Fire has such intimacy and epic-ness, as the same time, and that’s really inspiring.

Did you decide to approach this completely like a child, and follow that all the way through?

Spike: Yeah. We just approached it intuitively. It wasn’t necessarily an easy shoot. It was very complicated. We made a series of decisions, early on, by shooting the creatures real live-action on location, with a boy in the middle of it all. That was a very challenging way to shoot it. Once we made those decisions, we just agreed to take whatever weather, lightening and wildness of that way of shooting that came with it. We tried to keep the whole film in the spirit of a kid, and tried not to put our adult stuff into that. That being said, we had some tantrums, along the way, because the shoot was so stressful and difficult. I’ve worked with (cinematographer) Lance [Acord] and (production designer) K.K. [Barrett] for so long, and we did this whole movie as an adventure. The whole group of us moved to Australia and all lived in neighborhoods near each other. It was just a very group experience, where we went off into these woods and deserts, and made this film. We lived the movie, in a lot of ways.

Maurice Sendak said that he found you to be very old-school. Do you consider yourself that way?

Spike: I don’t know. I do, definitely, think of artists, like The Beatles, Maurice Sendak, who wrote this book in the ‘60′s, Shel Silverstein or David Bowie. I think of artists, that were of that period, that are really inspiring and exciting. There is probably a similar sensibility when I think about artists now, like Arcade Fire or Karen O. (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). There is something similar, in terms of the singularity of those voices, and not living and working in the mainstream. Their motivation is coming from within them, as opposed to from outside in the marketplace. It’s always coming from, “What am I going to make that is going to inspire and excite me?” Maybe that’s something I’m inspired by.

Max, how gross was it for you to do that scene where you come out of KW?

Max: You don’t want to know. They put some sort of gross gel stuff on me.

Spike: He was covered and goopy. He hated it. We shot it once, and then we had to shoot another piece of it again, and he just did not want to get in it. He said, “I will only do it if, afterwards, you let me cover you in it.” And so, afterwards, we went back to his room and he just covered me in it. He was so happy and I was miserable, so it was a good retribution.

Spike, can you talk about the Maurice Sendak documentary you did?

Spike: We did it to give good context. It’s basically a video portrait of him. It’s about 40 minutes long, and it comes out on HBO, a couple days before the movie is released.

Do you know what you’re doing next?

Spike: No, not yet.

Are you going down the indie path?

Spike: I don’t know. I’m just going to make whatever. I don’t look at it with a label. That’s weird. I just want to make whatever is exciting.

Where the Wild Things Are will be in theaters October 16th!

More Where the Wild Things Are Photos

Krystal Clark — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:34:16 +0000

A huge batch of photos from Spike Jonze‘s Where the Wild Things Are have popped up online. The film is based on the Maurice Sendak children’s book of the same name, and centers on the adventures of a little boy and a group of wild yet friendly creatures. The film stars Max Records as the main character, and features the voice talents of James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O’Hara, and Lauren Ambrose.

Take a look at some of the wild photos…

To browse our gallery, select any photo and it will enlarge and then allow you to scroll through the photos…

For more on Where the Wild Things Are, check out some character banners, photos, and posters.

The more I look at these photos the more I realize that Jonze did an amazing job with the casting of this film. Max looks just as I imagined he would when I was a child. The outfit, the hair, even the attitude seems to shine through with Records’ portrayal.

Where the Wild Things Are hits theaters nationwide on October 16th

What do you think of the latest photos from Where the Wild Things Are?

Photos courtesy of Collider

Weekend Roundup: Emmys, Where the Wild Things Are, Stoners

Craig Sternberg — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:25:25 +0000

The weekend of the Emmys has come and gone and reactions from the movie and TV world are running rampant. The end of summer is drawing near but the news is still plentiful. Here’s some of the latest movie news and Emmy news:

If you are one of the many who are early awaiting the release of Where the Wild Things Are here is something to tide you over. Spike Jonze took to his blog recently and started a fan art contest called “Where The Wild Things Ought to Be.” Visit for a few good laughs and a chance to win a Where the Wild Things Are skatedeck. [/Film]
Are you sick of what is billed as the typical cliché for a stoner nowadays? Unreality Magazine tells us the 5 worst stoner portrayals in movies.
In case you missed the Emmys last night here is a run down from Defamer of what the Emmys taught us.

And below is one of the funnier moments last night as Neil Patrick Harris turned in a gem as the host of the Emmys…

Did you enjoy the Emmys last night? What did you think of Neil Patrick Harris as the host? Who won that was undeserving? Who lost that deserved to win?

Spike Jonze on Creating the Characters for Where the Wild Things Are

Mali Elfman — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:17:19 +0000

Out of all the sneak peeks and clips shown at Comic-Con, Spike Jonze‘ upcoming masterpiece Where the Wild Things Are was by far my favorite. Maurice Sendak’s book holds such a strong place in my memory that at first, the idea of anyone trying to adapt something that could only be seen in the minds and hearts of children seemed impossible… until I saw what Jonze had created. It’s no wonder Sendak has come out saying that Jonze not only does justice to the book for expands on it.

I and the male journalist sitting next me (read his response) both unexpectedly teared up when watching the footage. It was beautiful to see those intelligent childlike moments be dealt with honestly and simply. When people ask me what film I’m most excited for, I say Where the Wild Things Are. The first thing they say is “the poster looks like a bunch of guys in suits.” And to that I say, absolutely yes and no. Recently Jonze spoke to the LATimes about creating the costumes for the characters and I think it helps to understand the creative process behind making the choice to have men in suits.

The monsters themselves are a site to behold and were something that Jonze struggled with throughout the whole shoot, from creation to execution. Should he use modern CGI? At first he turned to Hollywood special-effects companies, but quickly rejected everything they came up with because he said:

“I wanted the monsters to retain the strange design that Maurice had created,” he said. “Weird, cuddly, charming. Looking at each other out of the corner of their eye. They’d be almost, like, conspiring. You don’t know if Max has total control over them.”

Making something as unique as what he wanted, could not come from the usual places. He went searching for someone who could create the “soul” he was looking for and found it in an illustrator who had never worked with Hollywood before, Sonny Gerasimowicz. He was a graffiti writer turned ad agent creative, and he was exactly what Jonze needed. While talking on the phone, Sonny sketched out a few drawings on a pieces of scrap paper…

“When it comes down to something as delicate as tone, it became clear we had to find someone who had the right aesthetic,” Jonze said. “It’s finding people that have the right judgment, even if they’ve never done the specifics.”

As for the suits, you’re not the only one that questioned them. During principal photography, Jonze started panicking that they would only “like they were guys in suits.”

“It was so hard!” Gerasimowicz exclaimed. “They show us a bare-bones suit and it would be the scariest thing in the world because it’s just a big foam thing. Not doing this ever before, it was hard to visualize.”

Despite the 150 pounds costumes in 100 degree weather and the anxiety from the team, the creators were a success, and a perfect blend between old school costumes and pure imagination that NO one else does now-a-days. Just because you can use CGI, doesn’t mean you have to use it for everything and not all costumes are old, they’ve progressed as well, they’re just not used as often. A tiny bit of CGI was used to help enhance the costumes,

“The faces were static when we shot them and we put the faces on in post-production.”

Overall, the lack of over the top special effects ends up not only making the film feel more real and like you could physically reach out and pet Carol, it allows us to use our imagination, which is really what the story is all about.

Like Jonze said, “It’s not like it’s a big secret. But I want to let that come out later. I don’t want the attention to focus on that.”

Check out the film in theaters October 16th!

New Where the Wild Things Are Photos

Krystal Clark — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:05:49 +0000

Last week, we brought you several new character posters promoting the upcoming feature, Where the Wild Things Are. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and is a literal adaptation of the Maurice Sendak children’s book of the same name. Over at the NYTimes, they’ve posted a couple of photos from the film, that feature more images of Max and his new found creature family.

Take a walk on the wild side with the following photos…

To browse our gallery, select any photo and it will enlarge and then allow you to scroll through the photos…

For more on Where the Wild Things Are you can view the film’s official posters, its teaser trailer, extended trailer, and a special behind the scenes featurette that includes author Maurice Sendak.

Where the Wild Things Are will be released in theaters nationwide on October 16, 2009. The film stars James Gandolfini, Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Forest Whitaker. In typical Spike Jonze fashion this will be a visual and creative feast for those of us who are serious fans of the book.

What do you think of the latest photos from Where the Wild Things Are?

New Where The Wild Things Are Poster

Laura Aguirre — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:55:58 +0000

Anytime there’s news regarding the upcoming film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, a thousand childhood memories flood my mind. I’m sure you’re just as excited as I am to see this amazing film on October 16th (and in IMAX). Thanks to MSN Movies, we have a new one-sheet for Where The Wild Things Are and it is just phenomenal.

See for yourself…

This is a simple photo, but the tenderness in the two-person (or should I say creature and person) shot is perfection. The blend of tan into blue seems angelic and even though it’s just a picture, you can obviously see the strong bond between the young boy and the “wild thing.”

Where The Wild Things Are stars Catherine Keener, Max Records, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara and Forest Whitaker. The film is directed by the always innovative Spike Jonze, and is destined to be a classic for the ages.

What do you think of the latest poster for Where the Wild Things Are?

New Where the Wild Things Are Trailer

Krystal Clark — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:40:59 +0000

Another trailer has been released for Spike Jonze‘s film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. It shows a few new scenes, and features music by the band, Arcade Fire. Every time I watch footage from this film I get completely blown away. I have to give credit to Jonze for making this movie look as epic as it does. I don’t know if any other director could have pulled this off. Where the Wild Things Are will debut in theaters everywhere on October 16, so set the date!

Check put the latest trailer after the jump.

What do you think of the latest trailer for Where the Wild Things Are?

Where the Wild Things Are Featurette With Maurice Sendak

Krystal Clark — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:49:12 +0000

The video piece that was shown at the Where the Wild Things Are Comic-Con panel has made it’s way on to the internet. It features an in depth conversation with the book’s author Maurice Sendak. He talks about his inspiration for the story, his vision for the film, and how he believes Spike Jonze was the only director who could bring it to the screen. The footage is very endearing and insightful. You get to learn a lot about the history of the book in only a few minutes.

Check out the video after the jump.

What do you think of Maurice Sendak’s views on the upcoming film? Do you think Spike Jonze was the right directing choice?

Comic-Con 2009: First Look at WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Brendan Walsh — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:34:58 +0000

***Please note that there is no actual footage of the scenes screened at Comic-Con, as this would violate all kinds of copyright laws. This is our opinion and description of what was shown. Please check out our Where The Wild Things Are section for more pictures and videos***

Friday morning, Warner Bros. kicked off their presentation at Comic-Con in the massive Hall H by presenting a monstrous amount of unseen footage from Where The Wild Things Are. The footage was presented by Max Records, the young actor who plays the story’s hero, Max. The screening began with a short documentary on Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak’s visions for the movie, and was followed by several complete scenes from the film. Check out our first response to the footage after the jump…

The Filmmakers
The Story
The Monsters
The Feelings
The Footage (Contains Spoilers)

From the moment it was announced that Spike Jonze was going to direct a film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, with Dave Eggers co-writing the screenplay, the odds were in its favor that it was going to be a pretty strange picture. However, the potential for utter greatness was undeniable. How could the combination an Oscar nominated director, known for making some of the most original films of his time, with a Pulitzer winning author, whose ability to find intensely profound moments in the tiny and precise details of everyday living is unmatched, be anything but a success? Then there were rumors that Warner Bros. had demanded that the film be recut entirely, because it was too dark, sad, and scary for young audiences. This only reinforced the idea that the pair were taking the story in an entirely different direction than the standard childrens book adaptation format that has shattered such childhood favorites as The Cat in the Hat, or the upcoming Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Finally, after seeing the footage presented today at Comic Con, it is completely certain that this movie is going to be tremendous.

In the short documentary featurette that screened before the completed scenes, Maurice Sendak and Spike Jonze both discuss that they wanted the story to be one that was kind of dangerous. They wanted it to be something that challenged children, and respected their ability to understand the scope of such a story. Because ultimately, the story of Where The Wild Things Are is about the eventual loss of rampant childhood imagination that almost every person experiences. And it’s not something that can’t or shouldn’t be explained to a child, the fact that one day they’re going to grow up and forget about impulsive playfulness, but it is an unpleasant reminder to those of us who haven’t looked back on that age in a long time. Maybe that’s why the soulless executive types at the studio were initially so hurt that this wasn’t the big colorful children’s book romp they had hoped for. But the footage put on display covered a wide range of emotions that don’t normally get felt by most grownups in daily life, and it was refreshing and unnerving all at once. The most significant is a sense of curiosity with only a tiny twinge of fear, but the kind that only makes you want to learn more.

Then there are the Things. The Wild Things. Giant imaginary monsters, constructed by the Jim Henson workshop, which blow the lids off all previous Muppet technology in the past. Sure it’s only because Max is a small child, but these things look enormous. It’s all the way they move, as if the act of carrying their own massive weight takes more strength than a human could have. They don’t look scary, but they do look monstrous. The most amazing thing about these creatures, though, are their facial expressions. I don’t ever recall muppets being so readily able to emote in such delicate ways. The sudden, subtle crook of an eyebrow, or a well timed flare of the nostrils, or the transition from a puzzled inquisitiveness into a giant ecstatic grin conveys more about their response to Max and his whims than any kind of dialogue could.

Standing in a press pit full of jaded, cynical, and generally unpleasant reporter types, and hearing some of the weighty sighs, giggles and gasps they let out should be a good indication of how hard this film hits the heart. The teaming up of two of the most sensitive contemporary artists in their fields has resulted in a movie that is perfectly calculated to lead you to an amazing emotional place without being overtly manipulative. Many things often get said about a childrens movie that “has plenty of material to keep adults entertained,” generally in the form of pop culture references and sly raunch, but this is a childrens film that is going to seriously engage adults. Believe it or not, my personal anticipation for this film is just about neck and neck with James Cameron’s Avatar. I simply cannot wait.

***If you want to remain in some sort of a media blackout, or would rather be surprise, then go no further. If you want to read a description of the scenes that were screened, then go on.***

The scenes screened included one in which Max wakes up in the arms of Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), where all we see is an upward view of the forest, and we all hear is Carol’s breathing. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I wanted to show you this,” he says. The two of them explore the forest together, and Carol tells Max that everything is his. The dirt, the animals, the trees–everything. Except the hole in that tree. That’s not his. Also, that rock. But everything else. This is his kingdom. The world of his imagination. It gives a sense of infinite possibilities.

The next scene shown was of Max and Carol walking through the desert together. This is where things get sad. Carol explains that things aren’t going so well in this part of the kingdom. It used to be dirt, then the dirt turned into sand, and eventually the sand will turn into dust. Max expresses a similar fear to Carol by telling him that even the sun will die one day, something that terrifies every child the first time they hear it without understanding that it’s billion’s of years away. But Carol realizes that he has a duty to his King, and reassures him by saying “Look at me! I’m big! How can big guys like you and me worry about a tiny little thing like the sun up there?”

The next scene was of Max and KW, voiced by Lauren Ambrose, and Max getting ready for sleep. They talk about his family as if they’re gone forever, and she asks if he ate them. “Eaters are worse than biters,” she tells him. As they drift off to sleep, the other wild things climb on top and say goodnight to each other. These things all sleeping in one big pile on top of each other shows us the kind of unspoken love that makes us melt when litters of puppies sleeping together.

In the final scene shown, Max tells the monsters that he wants to build a fortress, and they all get to work gathering materials. Max grabs as many small rocks as he can hold, while the monsters hurl boulders over the hill. They break down enormous branches and drag them all into a pile, which they begin to weave into a giant tunnel of fauna. One of the monsters stands on top of a giant cliff and jumps up and down, breaking off a large section piece of its face off, and the others cheer at this brilliant idea. The whole while the voices of these grown, adult sounding creatures are full of the same kind of excitement that a child who is certain he has just had the best idea of his life. It’s infectious, and incredible. The joy of this collaborative creation is then concluded with a huge clawed hand delicately placing wildflowers across the whole thing. The final structure is this huge, beautiful structure that seems otherworldly, yet completely intuitive all at once.

This film is going to be a real achievement, both for its visuals and its storytelling. I cannot overstate my excitement for this film. Everyone should have such a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Where the Wild Things Are Teaser Trailer

Krystal Clark — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:40:34 +0000

It’s finally here. The teaser trailer for Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are movie. For months we have been getting different promo images and posters thrown our way, and now we get some live action! The trailer is very scenic and not dialogue driven but the visuals speak volumes. It premiered this morning at the end of The Ellen Degeneres Show. Just looking at this takes me back to my childhood. I remember being afraid to read the book because of the creatures in it. This is nostalgia in a can for me. It looks as if Jonze has set this up to be a contemporary children’s classic that can be enjoyed for years to come. Check out the trailer after the jump!

What do you think of the first trailer for the film?

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The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 8.5/10

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