Where The Wild Things Are

Who wouldn't want to watch this movie?

Wild Things is the swing and the miss. I attempted to watch this movie four times. Each time I got a little bit farther in… and fell asleep. Now, work had been stressful and I was exhausted, but I made it through the next cinematic adventure just fine, so what happened?

Where The Wild Things Are is one of my favorite children’s books. I’ve always loved the imaginative creatures that Max encounters and Maurice Sendak‘s breath-taking art work. So it was great to see these creatures come to life on screen… eventually.

They added a lot of angst to Max. From the book, I gathered that he was a brat. From the movie, he’s lashing out because his dad is … missing? And Mom has a new boyfriend that looks like kind of a sleeze. I get it, where are the Wild Things? Max imagines himself getting on a boat and landing in the land of the Wild Things. Finally!

The Wild Things start off promising. Smashing trees, throwing each other around… But then it’s as if Spike Jonze, the director, remembered that he’s an independent film director, so all the creatures started talking… and talking… … and talking.

I think the creatures are supposed to be personifications of Max’s psyche. They are an outward manifestation of all the issues of a child living in a broken home. It’s all very cathartic for him, but the audience languishes. When does the wild rumpus start? That’s what I’m here to see!

Breath-taking imagery just couldn't get me to sit through this one.

I enjoy great independent films. A lot of my favorites feature people sitting around talking. And, I don’t feel like you could carry a full-length feature with just smashing trees and flying around. I guess I just didn’t get who the targeted demographic should be, and that bugged me. Is this a kids’ movie? Or is it for young twenty-something independent film lovers with storytime nostalgia? I just don’t know who this movie is for!

My kid was bored and my wife and I are  just beyond being twenty-something (we’re now thirty-something), so the movie didn’t hit home for any of us. Swing-and-a-miss.

It got returned to the Redbox about half-watched after four attempts…

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox lacks the wonderful illustrations, but has the power of Roald Dahl's imagination behind it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, however, sent it out of the park. Now, this film is rated PG and features characters that smoke, and, get this, ‘slang humor’. Honestly, I don’t want to spoil the fun of discovering the slang humor just by watching the film, but trust me, these animated animals are not going to say slang your kids shouldn’t hear.

I remember watching Mouse and the Motorcycle as a kid. I remember loving how the fur moved oddly (due to the animators no doubt inadvertently bumping it as they moved the characters around). It was the same wonder I would feel watching Claymation, and really watching the figures for fingerprints in the clay. It told me that someone made this! By hand!

My eyes popped out of my head watching this...

Fantastic Mr. Fox’s puppet-style stop-motion animation is a lot more cleaner and refined, but there is still that awe of knowing that these puppets were really made by someone! And they’re doing amazing things!

Add to that the direction perfection of Wes Anderson(Life Aquatic, Darjeeling Limited) and a stellar cast (George Clooney, Merryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Defoe, Owen Wilson, to name a few); and this has the makings of a great film!

Also independent, also based on a children’s book (this one written by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda), this one succeeds where Wild Things fell on it’s big monster face: it appeals to ALL audiences.

Lately I cringe when a movie claims to be ‘great for the whole family!’ because that generally means it’s intended for kids, made by folks who may or may not ‘get’ kids. I’ve said it before, but kids’ movies shouldn’t talk down to kids. You should be able to watch films with your kids without feeling like stabbing sharpened pencils in to your ears and gouging your eyes out with spoons. Just sayin’.

Mr. Fox is truly a film the entire family will love. I laughed at stuff my kid didn’t get, she laughed at stuff I didn’t think was all that funny. The smoking thing? It was old school Disney: only the bad guys smoke. And those bad guys are gross. No worries of the kid coming out of the movie thinking that smoking is cool.

AND something that’s been missing in a lot of movies: it’s quotable. I’ve been driving my family crazy quoting and referencing since we saw the movie. But it feels good. I don’t have to keep pulling up original Star Wars trilogy quotes, I have something new!

Any thoughts?

Since everyone saw these two before me, care to weigh in? Did I break your heart by not being able to sit through Wild Things? Was Mr. Fox the biggest turd you’ve ever seen? Let me know below…