Speaking of “Where the Wild Things Are,” I’ve been looking for a reason to post this video of President Barack Obama reading the book to a group of children on the White House lawn for some time, but never really found an opportunity. Take a look:
Tag: Where the Wild Things Are
-
Dave Eggers talks ‘Wild Things’
I think it’s pretty safe to say that, with “Avatar” proving to be disappointing in the face of impossible expectations, “Where the Wild Things Are” has moved up as the fanboy Oscar film of choice and a hotly anticipated one at that. The film could perfectly blend fantasy and profundity, as the trailer suggests. Then again, it could be waiting to disappoint like so many heavily anticipated projects. Time will tell.One of the elements of the film that has helped to sustain interest is Dave Eggers’s involvement. The author tried his hand at screenwriting for the first time earlier this year with Sam Mendes’s “Away We Go,” which yielded some troubling results as far as I’m concerned. But I’m holding out hope that “Wild Things” will be a different beast altogether (no pun intended).
Eggers recently sat down with Logan Hill at New York Magazine to discuss the project. Among other things, he talks of sending a fan letter to director Spike Jonze after seeing “Being John Malkovich,” the fact that he adored “Wild Things” author Maurice Sendak from an early age (and even wanted to write children’s books for a time) and the changes that were necessary translating the work from page to screen.
-
TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume I
Sets and props can create a time period, an era or simply the feel of a scene. And the individuals involved in this process are awarded by the Academy in the category of Best Art Direction.Ironically, the art director of a film is not recognized here. Rather, the production designer – the art department and design head – is awarded alongside the set decorator, who is in charge of the props and overall dressing of the set.
Like Best Costume Design, which I covered a few weeks ago, this category has a tendency to reward period pieces. Even so, fantastical features do tend to show up more often, with nominees frequently overlapping the two genres, seen in a winner such as “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
John Myrhe has triumphed in this category for both of his collaborations with Rob Marshall, and I fully expect him to earn his fifth nomination this year for “Nine.” Recreating the Italy of Federico Fellini will put his talents to the test.
Janet Patterson has found herself a three-time nominee for her costume work. This year, she is also acting as production designer of Jane Campion’s “Bright Star.” Every indication we have from the film so far is that both her work and the film will be the sort that this branch will embrace.
Sarah Greenwood has managed two nominations in recent years for collaborating with Joe Wright, both for “Atonement” and “Pride & Prejudice.” With “Sherlock Holmes,” she will once again be recreating a period England, albeit on a much larger scale. If the film proves popular, I fully expect Greenwood to be in the hunt.
-
New ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ trailer
I should say something. I really should. But I’m speechless. In a very good way.
Let the wild rumpus start, indeed.
-
TECH SUPPORT: Best Visual Effects — Volume I
“How did they do that?” Movie-goers often ask this in response to spectacular visual effects, one of few elements of a film, apart from acting, directing or story, that a studio might choose to sell a film directly on.Not surprisingly, the Academy’s award for Best Visual Effects is definitely the most mainstream-friendly of all of all. $100 million grosses and higher are the norm.
This branch also has a somewhat unusual process for choosing the nominees. A shortlist of seven films will be announced in December or January and members of the branch will screen effects presentation reels of the films from that collective to nominate three contenders announced alongside the rest of the Oscar nominees.
Probably leading the field this year, sight unseen, is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” Cameron’s last five films have all been nominated in this category…with four of them winning! Moreover, “Avatar” seems certain to be, like most Cameron efforts, a showcase for the visual effects. Of course, the film could also be an unmitigated disaster, but barring that I would be quite surprised if it did not find itself among the nominees.
On the other hand, we have already seen several films likely to end up in the running. Michael Bay’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was absolutely wretched in this viewer’s opinion. But considering its massive box office take, not to mention the nature of the effects and the success of Bay’s films in this category in the past, I feel a nomination is quite likely.
-
OFF THE CARPET: Whittling further as convention flees
Another month, another step closer to the awards season. As the summer winds down and the industry slowly begins to square itself with the off-season’s bombshell Oscar news, the picture becomes a little clearer. Kind of.Universal Pictures, in a move speculated upon endlessly by now, shuffled two of its contenders — Paul Greengrass’s “Green Zone” and Joe Johnston’s “The Wolf Man” — off to 2010. As Anne Thompson shrewdly noted in a recent item, the decision likely has everything to do with a numbers game. The studio has experienced a rocky two quarters this year and things aren’t necessarily looking up. Some think, in the case of “The Wolf Man,” the shift was made to avoid another box office misfire in 2009 (as by now, with push after push, the film is beginning to smell fishy). Others say the “Green Zone” shift had a lot to do with “The Hurt Locker”‘s release pattern.
Whatever the case, the evacuations change the Oscar landscape ever so slightly, giving us just a few more talking points in the vacuum of August before we have anything of value worth discussing when the fall festival season hits in less than a month’s time.
Universal is now left with two critically divisive, commercially dubious titles in Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” and Judd Apatow’s “Funny People” to hawk for awards consideration, effectively (if you’re asking me, though I realize no one is) taking the studio out of the game this year — or, at the very least, making the hill steeper.
But taking note of the studio awards landscape, it doesn’t seem to me that anyone else is on surer ground. As I look out at the many contenders and the campaigns being prepared for them, it appears the entire industry will be dealing with unconventional approaches and product to go along with the new changes in the Best Picture category (and all the headache that comes with them) this season.
-
‘Where the Wild Things Are’ featurette
It originally appeared at Apple and I’m just getting around to posting it. A nice discussion with author Maurice Sendak with added commentary from Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers:
-
7/29 Web Round-up
• Quentin Tarantino set to raise funds with special Chi-town screening of “Inglourious Basterds.” [Chicago Tribune]• Andrew O’Hehir on the lawsuit that could derailed the “Hobbit” adaptation. [Beyond the Multiplex]
• In a tight economy, how do you decide what films deserve your hard-earned cash? [The Guardian]
-
COMIC-CON: Wrapping it up
I wish I could tell you how awesome the “Iron Man 2” footage form yesterday’s Paramount panel was, but Hall H was packed to the gills and even us schmoes int he VIP line couldn’t get in because it was at capacity. Without a doubt, the event was the most popular attraction at this year’s Comic-Con.It sounded good muffled through the walls. That’s all I got. Hoping for another screening in LA soon.
By far the highlight for me was the Entertainment Weekly Visionaries panel with James Cameron and Peter Jackson. It’s a pretty big leap from last year’s set of Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow. Let’s hope next year isn’t a step backwards at the crew responsible for this momentous occasion gets creative and puts a few equally brilliant minds together on that stage once again.
Speaking of Jackson, “District 9” made a major splash here. The screening was very well-received on Thursday and the Saturday panel got the crowd chomping at the bit. In this community anyway, the film is sure to be a runaway hit.
-
Comic-Con on the way
Like the rest of the web geek world, I guess, I’m gearing up for this year’s San Diego Comic Con International, which begins with preview night on Wednesday.All eyes, of course, are on Thursday’s slew of events, a treasure trove of goodies that made for a ton of Sophie’s choices when putting together my personal schedule. I’ll definitely be at the Disney panel, with glimpses of Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” in 3D and a taste of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” among other things. Speaking of 3D, perhaps the most anticipated panel will be James Camerons “Avatar” event. I’m definitely looking forward to that, but the likely crowd of humanity that will be doing same? Not so much. Trying to wrangle some VIP consideration as we speak.
The Peter Jackson-produced “District 9” isn’t as high on my to-do list as most, but I’ll probably park it for Paramount’s “Iron Man 2” Panel on Saturday. The film just wrapped a 72-day shoot over the weekend, by the way. Warner Bros. also has a panel, on Friday, but Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is the only thing that has me interested there. Focus Features also plans a considerable presence with “Coraline” (the Blu-ray and DVD of which hits shelves tomorrow) and “9.”
Oh, and Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” I suppose I should check that out.
-
TECH SUPPORT: Best Cinematography – Volume I
LIGHTS…CAMERA…you were probably waiting for the word “action,” no? Action is, after all, what many individuals go to a film to see. But the “lights” and the “camera” in this classic phrase bring a film beyond a book or a radio show…and capture the “action.”The individuals who paint the images of cinema with light and composition are rewarded in the Oscar category of Best Cinematography. Cinematographers are pivotal in the making of any film and it is thus unsurprising that directors often continuously work with the similar camera heads.
Like many cinephiles, I must say this is my favorite of the so-called “technical” categories and I eagerly anticipate the race every year. This year is no exception.
Australian D.P. Dion Beebe might seem to be leading this year’s lenser race with his third collaboration with Rob Marshall, the musical adaptation “Nine.” Despite not being cited by the Academy for some of his more innovative work (see Michael Mann’s “Collateral”), Beebe has been previously nominated for 2002’s “Chicago” and won the Oscar in 2005 for “Memoirs of a Geisha.” “Nine” will give him the opportunity to pay homage to Federico Fellini while also capturing sprawling musical numbers, a feat this category tends to reward.
-
WEEKLY WRAP: Closing Cannes and opening ‘Up’
• The Cannes Film Festival wrapped up, with Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” taking the gold, and “Antichrist” nabbing honors too. (The Ecumenical Jury was less impressed.)• In the wake of the festival, we offered an updated survey of the Oscar landscape ahead.
• With “Up” finally hitting our screens this week, we chatted to director Pete Docter.
• And with ten features now under their belt, this week’s list ranked the best (and worst) of Pixar.
• This week’s Page to Screen also returned to childhood, reflecting on the cinematic possibilities of “Where the Wild Things Are.”
• The nostalgic vein continues with a revisiting of “Apocalypse Now,” thirty years on.
• Newly released concept art provided a faint glimpse of what’s coming in James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
• Speaking of Cameron, a look at what went wrong with “Terminator Salvation” at the box office.
• On a happier note, “Drag Me to Hell” proved an absolute blast.
-
PAGE TO SCREEN: “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
Of all the literary adaptations reaching our screens this year, none is as seemingly impossible – and yet, simultaneously, rife with possibilities – as Spike Jonze’s long-awaited realization of “Where the Wild Things Are.” A work that occupies multiple positions within the popular culture pantheon – grade-school standard, highbrow literary classic, cult hipster item, fine-arts touchstone, pop psychology standby – it arguably nourishes a broader audience than any children’s text published since.As such, Jonze’s film has been complicated throughout by shifting lenses of expectation: as a family film perhaps more eagerly awaited by parents than their children, as a mainstream entertainment aiming to appease art house mavens and indie kids, it is essentially required, like its literary source, to be all things to all people.
His own artistry notwithstanding, Sendak achieved such catholic appeal through the sparseness of his approach. With a narrative of fewer than 400 words – not even half the length of this very article – “Where the Wild Things Are” is an exceptionally porous feat of storytelling that accommodates a wide range of interpretations and identifications from the reader. It is plainly a metaphor-driven story, yet there isn’t enough text to articulate or prescribe the symbolism that is otherwise so lavishly illustrated.
Sendak employs minimalism to expansive effect: the unadorned narrative allows the imagination to roam, enabling the reader to take only what s/he wants from the story. Yet a literal reading thereof – such as may be absorbed by younger readers – is no less compelling in terms of tension and atmospherics, than one more interpretive.
-
Where the wild things come from
Here’s pretty much the coolest thing I’ve seen on the internet in a while: We Love You So is a blog from the makers of “Where the Wild Things Are” that details, in pleasantly haphazard fashion, the various films, books, images and other bits and bobs that served as form of influence or inspiration (however tangential) for them while working on the film — and plenty else besides.
As you’d expect from Spike Jonze and his crew, it’s a pretty mixed bag. I was, however, thrilled and excited to read that Jonze regards Lynne Ramsay’s amazing “Ratcatcher” as a relevant tonal reference, citing the way the film so emphatically enters the midset of its child protagonist, adopting his own perspective. Smart thinking. It’s a clear sign (as if we needed one) that Jonze is taking this story as seriously as he would any adult-oriented project.
Amid the more random odds and ends on the site, I particularly loved this delightfully depressing photo of a desolate New York ice-cream parlor, that illustrates the extent to which Maurice Sendak’s book has permeated everyday life:
-
‘Wild Things’ trailer
Great call using Arcade Fire in this thing. It looks absolutely AMAZING:
See it in HD at Apple.
-
Wild thing
USA Today recently offered another taste of “Where the Wild Things Are” — Susan Wlosyzczyna’s article (essentially a brief chat with child lead Max Records) doesn’t reveal much, but a bunch of new (and some old) stills sure do.
With every glimpse I get of this film, I’m more impressed by how Spike Jonze seems to have found the appropriate visual textures to enliven Maurice Sendak’s all-but-untouchable imagery, without resorting to slavish or contrived imitation. Seriously, how gorgeous does this thing look? More pics here.
