Hi, remember me?
I hadn't realized how long it has been since I've written anything. It's funny how fast things can change and how long it takes to adjust. I figured once the wedding was over and I got moved in and settled things would go back to normal, but that hasn't been the case.
We are still looking for a new home with no luck. The promotion has lead to a lot more hours working, and with the long drive it leaves me with less time to focus and more exhausted than usual. And an important aspect of writing is having that comfortable writing spot to work in. I have yet to find it. I've tried the couch, the kitchen table, and even the floor, and none of it works. With all of the apartment hunting we've been doing we are looking for a place with a spare room to use as an office. I'm trying to make sure there is enough space, it's comfortable and ideal for working. As long as I have my comfy chair, my rock fountains, and silence than I can make it work. So far I haven't found it. So here I sit leaning back on the couch and typing away for the first time in months, trying to make it work.
Another problem with all of the chaos is that I simply haven't watched a lot of movies. I spent August trying to play catch up and I did see a few movies in a short span. The Hangover was pretty hilarious and I'm thankful that my bachelor party turned out nothing like that. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was better than the last one but I wish they would have handled the ending better and more like the book. Still, it sets up the final film, or films now, pretty well and is going to be an exciting ending. District 9 was really original and entertaining. The real success of the film was the number of different stories that could have been told and in different ways. A truly deep and fascinating world was created by the writer that leads to so many possibilities, yet the story chosen did not disappoint at all. And the themes explored that relate to our current society in regards to immigration and racism are handled really well and never feel like we are being hit over the head with their messages. And then there was Inglorious Basterds. I love Tarantino, especially his scripts, but this felt a little too loose. I love good dialogue, but I felt there was a bit too much that went on for too long and didn't really lead to much. The story of the Basterds seemed almost like a subplot and didn't take up too much screen time. I felt myself constantly waiting for them to get back on screen and a little bored at times waiting. Not sure if it was the pacing, or editing, but it just felt a little off. Although the performance of Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa was pretty spectacular. A movie more focused on the Basterds or Landa would have been entertaining, but instead there are a number of stories stuffed into a two and a half hour movie that just didn't quite work for me.
And after that I never got back to the movies. I didn't even really watch anything at home. Just a lot of television and a lot of hockey. After a two month break I've finally made it out to the movies, and now it's time to get back to writing as well.
Only a true visionary like Spike Jonze can get me out of my funk and back into a movie theatre. I've loved everything he has done, from his short feature film career to his extensive work directing music videos. He has a truly original imagination and a talent for translating that imagination into entertaining moving images.
I really wasn't familiar with the story "Where the Wild Things Are" before seeing the film. I ended up reading it after seeing the movie, or rather looking at it. There are only a couple of sentences in the whole story and most of it is told through illustrations. There isn't much there at all to work with so Jonze had to really invent a lot in order to make a full length feature film out of this short story. The story he does come up with is really moving and thoughtful and something I could relate to.
Max Records plays the young boy Max. Max spends a lot of time alone with nothing but his imagination to keep him company. His sister is in her teens and does not want to be bothered with having her little brother around. Max's mom, played by Catherine Keener, is a struggling single mom just trying to make ends meet. In a moment when she is trying to look after her own needs by having a man over, Max is upset over being ignored. After a fight with his mom he runs away and that is when his journey begins.
Although the movie is based on a beloved children's story, I didn't feel it was a kids movie at all. If anything, I think kids would be bored with the story. The film is geared more towards adults who wish to look back at their childhood and remember what it was like to have an imagination to escape to when things were rough. There is a strong sense of melancholy throughout the film that would not set easy with young children. There isn't a lot of action to keep the kids focused either. It is more of a character study disguised in a children's story.
There are the great costumes though designed by the Jim Henson company that will attract the kids. The costumes are great, but it is the facial features and reactions that really bring the characters alive. Watching the wild things roaming around brought me back to moments in my childhood and films like The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story. The creatures in those films were more than just puppets, they were real characters that had depth and interacted and had more life than any cgi character ever could. The detail in the design added a lot of weight to the characters and story that I really enjoyed. Watching them interact with Max was a lot of fun to see and really helped develop the one real human character in this imaginative world.
The movie had a great soundtrack as well, with music by Carter Burwell and lyrics and vocals by Karen O, lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The songs had a child like playfulness sound that made me smile when watching Max running around, building his forts, and trying to find a way to bring happiness to his new Wild Thing family.
Where the Wild Things Are has had a long road to cinemas. Jonez has been working on this for a number of years and he's gone through a lot of delays, reshoots, and cancellations to finally get it into theaters. The final product is a truly moving film and lives up to the timeless tale it is based on. Even though it is a child's story, I wouldn't recommend it for kids. Not that there is anything bad or offensive about it, but there isn't enough in it to keep them entertained. For adults looking for an entertaining and moving story however, I highly recommend it. There is some sadness that shadows the story, but in the end I felt hopeful and uplifted at what the future holds for Max. It is these feelings and themes that I related to and that dragged me into the story and kept my attention. Hopefully you find it just as rewarding as I did.
I hadn't realized how long it has been since I've written anything. It's funny how fast things can change and how long it takes to adjust. I figured once the wedding was over and I got moved in and settled things would go back to normal, but that hasn't been the case.
We are still looking for a new home with no luck. The promotion has lead to a lot more hours working, and with the long drive it leaves me with less time to focus and more exhausted than usual. And an important aspect of writing is having that comfortable writing spot to work in. I have yet to find it. I've tried the couch, the kitchen table, and even the floor, and none of it works. With all of the apartment hunting we've been doing we are looking for a place with a spare room to use as an office. I'm trying to make sure there is enough space, it's comfortable and ideal for working. As long as I have my comfy chair, my rock fountains, and silence than I can make it work. So far I haven't found it. So here I sit leaning back on the couch and typing away for the first time in months, trying to make it work.
Another problem with all of the chaos is that I simply haven't watched a lot of movies. I spent August trying to play catch up and I did see a few movies in a short span. The Hangover was pretty hilarious and I'm thankful that my bachelor party turned out nothing like that. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was better than the last one but I wish they would have handled the ending better and more like the book. Still, it sets up the final film, or films now, pretty well and is going to be an exciting ending. District 9 was really original and entertaining. The real success of the film was the number of different stories that could have been told and in different ways. A truly deep and fascinating world was created by the writer that leads to so many possibilities, yet the story chosen did not disappoint at all. And the themes explored that relate to our current society in regards to immigration and racism are handled really well and never feel like we are being hit over the head with their messages. And then there was Inglorious Basterds. I love Tarantino, especially his scripts, but this felt a little too loose. I love good dialogue, but I felt there was a bit too much that went on for too long and didn't really lead to much. The story of the Basterds seemed almost like a subplot and didn't take up too much screen time. I felt myself constantly waiting for them to get back on screen and a little bored at times waiting. Not sure if it was the pacing, or editing, but it just felt a little off. Although the performance of Christoph Waltz as Col. Landa was pretty spectacular. A movie more focused on the Basterds or Landa would have been entertaining, but instead there are a number of stories stuffed into a two and a half hour movie that just didn't quite work for me.
And after that I never got back to the movies. I didn't even really watch anything at home. Just a lot of television and a lot of hockey. After a two month break I've finally made it out to the movies, and now it's time to get back to writing as well.
Only a true visionary like Spike Jonze can get me out of my funk and back into a movie theatre. I've loved everything he has done, from his short feature film career to his extensive work directing music videos. He has a truly original imagination and a talent for translating that imagination into entertaining moving images.
I really wasn't familiar with the story "Where the Wild Things Are" before seeing the film. I ended up reading it after seeing the movie, or rather looking at it. There are only a couple of sentences in the whole story and most of it is told through illustrations. There isn't much there at all to work with so Jonze had to really invent a lot in order to make a full length feature film out of this short story. The story he does come up with is really moving and thoughtful and something I could relate to.
Max Records plays the young boy Max. Max spends a lot of time alone with nothing but his imagination to keep him company. His sister is in her teens and does not want to be bothered with having her little brother around. Max's mom, played by Catherine Keener, is a struggling single mom just trying to make ends meet. In a moment when she is trying to look after her own needs by having a man over, Max is upset over being ignored. After a fight with his mom he runs away and that is when his journey begins.
Although the movie is based on a beloved children's story, I didn't feel it was a kids movie at all. If anything, I think kids would be bored with the story. The film is geared more towards adults who wish to look back at their childhood and remember what it was like to have an imagination to escape to when things were rough. There is a strong sense of melancholy throughout the film that would not set easy with young children. There isn't a lot of action to keep the kids focused either. It is more of a character study disguised in a children's story.
There are the great costumes though designed by the Jim Henson company that will attract the kids. The costumes are great, but it is the facial features and reactions that really bring the characters alive. Watching the wild things roaming around brought me back to moments in my childhood and films like The Dark Crystal and The Neverending Story. The creatures in those films were more than just puppets, they were real characters that had depth and interacted and had more life than any cgi character ever could. The detail in the design added a lot of weight to the characters and story that I really enjoyed. Watching them interact with Max was a lot of fun to see and really helped develop the one real human character in this imaginative world.
The movie had a great soundtrack as well, with music by Carter Burwell and lyrics and vocals by Karen O, lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The songs had a child like playfulness sound that made me smile when watching Max running around, building his forts, and trying to find a way to bring happiness to his new Wild Thing family.
Where the Wild Things Are has had a long road to cinemas. Jonez has been working on this for a number of years and he's gone through a lot of delays, reshoots, and cancellations to finally get it into theaters. The final product is a truly moving film and lives up to the timeless tale it is based on. Even though it is a child's story, I wouldn't recommend it for kids. Not that there is anything bad or offensive about it, but there isn't enough in it to keep them entertained. For adults looking for an entertaining and moving story however, I highly recommend it. There is some sadness that shadows the story, but in the end I felt hopeful and uplifted at what the future holds for Max. It is these feelings and themes that I related to and that dragged me into the story and kept my attention. Hopefully you find it just as rewarding as I did.
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