Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Let The Wild Rumpus Start!
Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, etc.) and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, etc.) collaborated to make this, which is an incredible event in itself. If this book is going to be made into a movie, it might as well be done like this. I really hope the movie is as good as this trailer makes it look. I think the adaptation seems pretty cool, especially the fact that it takes a closer look at why Max imakes mischief in the first place, and exactly what his journey to the land of the wild things means for him psychologically. Kind of a Pan's Labrynth sort of comment on escapism that I'm really interested in. It looks amazing as well, watch it in HD.
**First seen over at the boy Tu Phace's blog, and on The Full Clip as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ah dude, calm down...and I disagree. Dave Eggers is a genius, and Spike Jonze is the man. I was pissed too when I heard they were making this movie, but when I saw the trailer, I decided that this actually looks like it could be quite good. They're not trying to replicate the book, they're trying to adapt it. The book is only 10 sentences long...there's not much to work with, so they expanded into something different to fit a new interpretation of the original text and illustrations. That's their prerogative as adaptors...they're not acting as if they are making an exact replica and then bastardizing it for the sake of ticket revenues. Had it not been for Spike Jonze WANTING to make this, it wouldn't have even been made...so it's not like the studio just set this thing up so they could make money. Jonze even switched studios because Universal wouldn't make the movie in line with his artistic vision (they probably wanted to commercialize it more).
ReplyDeleteI flat out disagree with your assertion that it looks like every CG film that has been created...in fact, a lot of it isn't even comptuer-generated. They used a mix of animatronics, CG, and suitmation to make the creatures. I also think that if they had tried to replicate Sendak's illustration technique, they would have been MORE likely to do what you said and bastardize the original because those drawings can't really be replicated in a film shot this way.
You can say that you don't care who directs it or writes it all you want, but when it comes down to it, that IS what matters in an adaptation. Dave Eggers was a finalist for the Nobel prize for literature, and has written quite a few best sellers...he doesn't need to do ANYTHING just for the money. He also has set-up nonprofit tutoring and writing centers for children all over the country. I believe that if anyone is going to write a script with real heart and soul to it that doesn't compromise artistic integrity, it's going to be him.
And also, this is being directed by Spike Jonze...this is the dude who has made is biggest impact in the film world directing Charlie Kaufman movies for god's sake. You can't get much more artistic and uncompromising than that. The Arcade Fire song in the trailer is a pretty nice touch as well.
I'm not going to pass judgement on a film that hasn't come out yet, especially not judgment that heated. I think that it has the potential to be very good...whether it really will be remains to be seen, but I think the trailer is really cool.
Wow, that post is a lot longer than I thought it was from how it looked in the box.
ReplyDeleteOk. When I read this was being made I was pissed. When I watched the trailer I found it unimpressive and thought it in no way did justice to what the book was. So I was more pissed.
ReplyDeleteIt should not be adapted. That is my point. I am not saying anything about the directors and their skills because I'm sure both will do the best they can. But it wont matter. If they want to do an adaptation call it 'Max's Adventures: Inspired by the book Where the Wild Things Are'. Right now, I think the name is being used for identification with the book so then they can access that market. And I think 'adaptation' is another way of saying 'lets make this exciting, emotional, and have moments of action' to engage young audiences that are used to seeing movies like this.
We're just gonna have to agree to disagree I think. Some great works have been adapted in ways that, while different from the original, were pretty groundbreaking and significant films (Slumdog Millionaire, Children of Men, The Hours, Lord of the Rings). Other great works have been adapted in ways that sucked. We'll see what happens with this one. I agree that some things should be left alone to stand as they are (maybe this book included), but now that this one HAS been undertaken as an adaptation, I'm excited by the prospect that they could do something cool with it. I don't think that adaptation necessarily equals Hollywood-ization...I think that's where we disagree.
ReplyDeleteAs far as moments of action go...that book was like ALL moments of action. Adding stuff like Max being thrown up into the air and them all howling together is probably more in the spirit of the book than anything else they could do. They have to add SOMETHING to fill in the gaps between a book that is 10 pages long...might as well be something in the vain of what Max actually did in the book.
And as far as catering to audiences used to seeing movies like this, Spike Jonze is the dude known for making movies that are difficult to understand even for adults. I think that's probably the last thing he's thinking about.