Where the Wild Things Are

The background for this film is based on the 1963 Children's Classic book titled the same name as the film, written by author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. This picture book later went on to win the Caldecott Medal for 1964. Now it is known as a popular as a bedtime story and sold over 19 million copies by 2008.

Normally there are two ways films like this can go. Either one it will become a mega-hit like the Narnia and Lord of the Rings movies and actually follow the movie or else it will completely mess up the story and only follow the basic idea of the book. Unfortunately this goes more with the second option than the first.

While the original book's story involves a boy who gets sent to bed with no supper and travels to an imaginary land "where the wild things are". He then claims himself king and dances with joy with the monsters. The short book then ends with him returning home after missing his home. The new film follows this line but twists the parts in it to make the film very sad.

It is shown in the start of the film that the boy is a lonely kid, but he channels it wrong and throws a major tantrum of violence and comes off as just a bratty kid. From what in the book was just his imagination, in the movie he actually runs away from home and to a dock a takes a boat to find himself on the island of the wild things. Whether he imagined it or not (probably not) it is still wrong that he ran away. When he reaches the island he finds the wild things in a sad mess(look at the sondtrack cover above), and yet as he leaves them in the end, he still leaves as a seemingly even worse sad mess.

There is a considerable amount of violence in this film as the book had none in it. Sure they are wild but they are seen hurting each other without any emotion of apology. While there is no blood, a wild thing's arm is ripped off permanently by another wild thing.

To sum the whole thing up, the movie is sadder than even "A Series of Unfortunate Events" which was at least funny. If you think this is a children's movie, it shouldn't be. Sendak oversaw this project and approved all of it. Sadly, I think he could have done a much, much better job. The best thing that I saw with this film were the effects, but those were mostly just costumes.

Toy Story 3-D: Double Feature

During Thanksgiving weekend 1995 a little company named Pixar released a computer animated film called "Toy Story" starring Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. This became a mega-hit with the public and especially critics. It has also spawned 2 sequels, one of which is releasing next year. A spin-off TV show based on Buzz Lightyear has been released as well as Disneyland rides. I also saw a Disney production called "Toy Story on Ice" over 10 years ago.

This release is the same exact as the original movie, except for the fact that it is 3-D. Unlike movies such as Spy Kids 3-D, this flick does not really make the screen's motions pop out and "get you" but just add more volume to the film and make you feel like you are there. The 3-D trailers for Zemicks'"A Christmas Carol" "Toy Story 3" and Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" both used effects to make it look like it sticks out of the screen, but I am sure that it will not be used too much in the actual film. A new thing for Disney films is that 3-D glasses are not made with a red and a blue lens but with polarized lenses(seen in poster above, except it has 2 lenses, not 3.)

The film's basic plot involves toys that come to life when humans are not around. A cowboy doll named Woody is his human owner Andy's favorite toy but when Andy gets a popular new toy called the Buzz Lightyear, Woody starts to get jealous as he gets replaced. If you have not seen this film yet, I highly recommend it. It is a classic that is not directly morally wrong, or has any sort of bad humor, or questionable content.

This film is released into theaters for a short time and also features both Toy Story 1 and 2 with a 10 minute intermission between the films for the price of one ticket.

Note: I only saw the first movie in 3-D but I have seen the second one in theaters when it was released the first time, and it is a really good movie for being a sequel.

my flick reviews

Welcome everyone! This blog is built for movie reviews that have recently been released in theaters. I go quite often so I will be able to keep this updated to a point, for I do not see every single movie out there, especially, most rated "R" ones (example: Saw movies). If you want a review for every single movie out there you would be better off reading some other movie review site such as Plugged In. My reviews are put out here as just another review on a movie and not an ultimate source of movies.

Also my opinions are just my own. I am a Christian and have some of my own views so I may see some things as wrong that you might see as okay. I am just voicing my thoughts, if you have other ideas that is up to you. You can leave a comment under any of my posts and let my know how it was, post your opinion, or just say hi.=)I will keep this updated as long as I have time and people read it.