Just found your blog link over at http://detailedcriticisms.blogspot.com/ and wanted to pop over and say hello. I started my movie-review blog back in May and have been steadily building my reviews and circle of fellow reviewers and readers. It’s amazing how quickly you can follow one link to a site to another, to another, and before long you’ve spent the whole morning networking. Of course I’d like to invite you over to my site if you see fit.

I picked this review mainly because I have a complete opposite opinion of it. Of course I grew up with the original book and over the years decided I had my own personal take on the story and characters and was initially excited at the prospect of a feature film version. I think what made the original so successful and inviting was the sparsity of the story (the original has only 10 sentences in it) and how it invited the reader into the fantastical world created by the box, Max. I was initially excited that Spike Jonze was attached but quite honestly I found the blending of live-action, puppetry and CGI far more unrewarding than you did. I was also alarmed that the project percolated so long, which often these kinds of odd films do, and equally disheartened when I learned that the studio meddled in Jonze’s “first cut”. That always spells disaster to me. I just reviewed Jonah Hex (2010) which was very nearly a disaster, due in part to the studio meddling with the film because they felt it should be something the filmmaker didn’t make.

I think what actually failed for me the most was the interpretation and realization of young Max who just seemed entirely too angry and muddled a character (age not withstanding). And the ending felt particularly dark and cynical – perhaps where the Jonze the “man” met Jonze the “boy” met their creative differences.

I know you like and write about the way Jonze explores the complexity of children and the believable, and often confusing emotions going on in them, but I actually felt a little disturbed by what I perceived as violence – clearly not the ‘mischief’ that Sendak created in his 1963 picture book.

Glad to have stumbled your way.
cheers->
Rory
Above the Line: Practical Movie Reviews

I do like the scenes that has to do with Carol and Max, cause James Gandolfini and Max Records have a very good friendship whenever they’re playing their characters for all scenes, cause I see James Gandolfini acting as the voice of Carol, and acting like a father figure to Max, and I also see Max Records acting as his character name Max and acting like a son figure to Carol.

I am hoping there’s going to be a sequel to this film, so everyone wants to know on what will happen to Max, if he’s going back to the island of the Wild Things or not, and what will happen to Carol, if he’s going to have a chance to apologize to Max for trying to eat him, and for what he has done to scared Max off, and if Carol wants to see Max again on his island, along with KW (voiced by Lauren Ambrose, and still a girlfriend to Carol, married and have a baby girl wild thing) and the other Wild Things with him to go see Max on his island on a BIG boat that Carol will built all by himself and that he’s going to see Max no matter what. Maybe bring James Gandolfini as Carol, Lauren Ambrose as KW, Catherine O’Hara as Judith, Forest Whitaker as Ira, Chris Cooper as Douglas, Michael Berry, Jr. as the Bull, Paul Dano as Alexander, Max Records as Max and Catherine Keener as Max’s mother, and the girl that played Max’s older sister name Claire. Maybe let the Bull talk and maybe a scene or two with the Bull and Claire, and a few scenes with Carol and Max, and also with Carol and Max’s mother. Maybe let Carol be a father to Max, and Max be a son to Carol. (What do you guys think for a sequel?)

Do you guys think there’s going to be a sequel to this film? If so, what will happen to Max, and what will happen to the Wild Things, especially Carol?

Thank you.

Thought you might like these ranked lists of Animated Films on Rankography

http://www.rankography.com/movies/index.php?option=com_user&task=otherusers&mode=list&catid=27&uid=70

http://he-shot-cyrus.blogspot.com/2010/04/big-announcement-revealed.html