Where the Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze has taken a 10-line children’s picture book and turned it into a full-feature film.  Which is quite a feat in and of itself, but I think that he does so successfully, even if it doesn’t really translate into a movie that kids will want to sit through.

They did a great job developing this little 10-line plot into a pretty fascinating full-fledged story.  They did a great job of inviting the reader into the world of the “Wild Things” and I quickly found myself very invested into the each of the characters.  Unfortunately though, Jonze left us with very little resolve when it came time for Max to choose to sail back home.  But for me that didn’t really prevent me from enjoying this beautiful movie.

The little boy that they cast to play the part of Max just absolutely blew me away.  12 year old Max Records’ performance was just phenomenal.  It was amazing to see the little guy carry a cast like that.  I have a feeling that this won’t be the last we see of Records.

Overall it was just a gorgeous film.  I loved the way it was filmed, and the Australian landscape was a great choice for filming the island of the “Wild Things.” And most importantly, the Karen O. scored soundtrack was a lovely match.  When it came time to record the record, Karen O. enlisted the help of several of her indie music peers, calling themselves Karen O. and the Kids.  The kids include Tristan Bechet (Services), Tom Biller (co-producer with Karen O and member of Afternoons), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Brian Chase (YYY), Dean Fertita (The Dead Weather), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion), Nick Zinner (YYY) and an untrained children’s choir.  And trust me, you can expect the kind of greatness that should come from an all-star lineup like this