Where the Wild Things Are

Plot: A young boy having family problems escapes into a world full of creatures.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9EKZOk1sy4

Starring: Max Records (The Brothers Bloom), Oscar winner Catherine Keener (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief), Mark Ruffalo (Date Night) with voices by 3X Emmy winner James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos" & Welcome to the Rileys), Indie Spirit winner Paul Dano (L.I.E.), Emmy winner Catherine O'Hara (SCTV Network & Temple Grandin(TV)), Oscar winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Oscar winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation & Remember Me), 2X Emmy nominee Lauren Ambrose ("Six Feet Under")

Written by: director & Dave Eggers (Away We Go) based on the book by Maurice Sendak (Mommy? (pop-up book))

Directed by: Oscar nominee Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovish & Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak (TV))

Review:First of all, if you haven't read the children's book then go and read it or click for a video reading here-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOEFnppm_A.Visually stunning, but slow and simple. After about twenty minutes in this wild world, I felt like I wanted to leave. The story was just too simple to stretch out into a 101min film, especially as a drama. It was a kid’s movie for adults and great nostalgia for those like me who loved the book as a kid, but that's it. The kid irritated me. I had no sympathy for him and thought a good spanking would've saved him a trip. This movie flat out pissed me off because I felt they robbed me of something that could've been magic. Everything else was great. The visuals, the voice-over, the soundtrack/score, directing, and the cinematography were fantastic. The writing was the failure, and don't even get me started with the ending. That's what took me from bored to pissed off in one scene. Watch the YouTube clips for the visuals, buy the soundtrack, and call it a day. Better options: The Labyrinth (1986).

Fun Facts: The open call for Max was huge. The costumes were created by The Jim Henson Company, who were responsible for the Muppets and the Labyrinth creatures. Numerous cameras followed the actors around to impress their expressions and feelings. The images would then be digitally "infused" onto the faces of the puppets and would follow the actors' performances. Michelle Williams was at one point cast to voice KW, but the role went to Lauren Ambrose. Chloë Sevigny was another consideration for the same role. Initially, Warner Brothers studio was so unhappy with Spike Jonze's final movie (it was much less family friendly than they imagined) that they wanted to re-shoot the whole $75 milion project in early 2008. Jonze was eventually given some more time and money by the studio in order to make the final product satisfying to both, the studio and himself. All the original songs in the movie were written and preformed by Karen O., the lead singer of theYeah Yeah Yeahs. When Max is standing on a small pile of books in his room, the spine of one of them clearly says Where the Wild Things Are. Spike Jonze had his voice cast act out their characters on a soundstage, to ensure that the voices came from a performance of actors working together, instead of filming the movie and recording the voices later, or recording the actors individually. The actors wore radio microphones attached to their heads with headbands. Even before this soundstage shoot, Spike took the voice cast to Griffith Park to wage an actual dirt clod war.

Awards:

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Saturn Award	Best Actress Catherine Keener
			Best Fantasy Film
			Best Performance by a Younger Actor Max Records
			Best Writing

Art Directors Guild
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Excellence in Production Design Award	Fantasy Films

Black Reel Awards
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Black Reel	Best Voice Performance Forest Whitaker

Rating:

Writing-D

Acting-B

Voice-over-A

Directing-A

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-D

Costumes-A

Art Direction-A

Hair-B

Makeup-B

Visual Effects-A

*1/2 Stars-Even the visual styling can't save this one.