movie reviews

the past two days i have seen two movies that are too good to be true. hahah that's probably the lamest opening line i've come up with so far. my high school english teachers would be proud. but i digress...

i loved both movies so i decided to write about them whether you care or not. try as you might, you cannot stop me from giving my opinion. so there. i'm no expert on movies. i have nothing to do with that industry. the views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the writer. wait, that doesn't make sense. anyway, here it goes..

Where The Wild Things Are



kudos, bravo, and whatever other foreign linguistic expression of appreciation you can think of goes to Spike Jonze for this film. first of all i think he should win an oscar for resisting the temptation to throw cheesy dumbed-down jokes to "appeal" to wider audiences in the same way Jar Jar Binks goes against everything that star wars is. secondly, the writing was amazing. specifically, the dialog. the quirky and odd discourse between the characters was naturally funny without seeming pretentious. certain lines weren't funny because they had a good punchline. they were funny because it was such an odd and unexpected response. the characters and the whole vibe and look of the film portray a world as feral and interesting as the original childrens book is.

beyond all that, it felt like there were three main underlying themes of the whole movie. what's that? you want me to list them? of course i will!

1. first is the simple lesson a child learns about not being a brat. max doesn't know how to take his older sister starting to spend time with older boys. or his mom starting to date again. Carol, who is a metaphor for Max himself shows how his bad attitude and behavior are ridiculous. this is the most obvious theme.

2. the second theme that is communicated is about how we as adults have a tendency to lose the spark of wonderment and imagination that children have. its a sad fact that the maturing process seems to make people forget how to have fun, how to enjoy the tiny subtleties in life. max as a kid has no trouble with this and seems to hold a joy that everyone older has forgotten. the worries of adulthood and maturity seem to stamp out the natural happiness and wonder a child experiences when playing with the most mundane of toys. it becomes obvious why so many adults look back with fondness to the days of their childhood. why is it so hard for us to learn about responsibility and to mature and yet remember how to enjoy life?

3. the third theme is a little more esoteric. i'm not sure it was even present in the original book, but i definitely think it was put in the movie purposely. there seems to be a political theme underlying part of the story. i'm not talking about some political bias from the left or right, but about basic human nature when dealing with leaders of any sort. it's about how we almost have an innate need for our leaders to be something more than human, and how ridiculous they are to claim to be so. max's new friends dub him their new king after he foolishly promises that he has powers and says that he can keep all sadness away. later on when things don't go as planned there are some key lines. first of all, when they speak of a king, it's not as a title, but of a magical creature. a king's defining trait is his power. a power that cannot be stripped of that king. their definition is the antithesis of a mere title. yet they start to discover that it is just that. a title. they find out that their king is just like them. they wonder if there really is such a thing as a king. i think this is a perfect allegory for when we in the masses become enthralled by a political figure. it doesn't matter what party he or she is in. we believe their promises that they will keep all the sorrow away. we somehow believe these the ridiculous promises as if they are destined to be. and when we are eventually let down, we crucify them. the characters in the movie also tell max that he's the first king they haven't eaten.

so ya, pretty much an awesome movie.


and next....


Paranormal Activity



i just got back from seeing this one. i thought this was an awesome movie. trev got me into horror and suspense movies. and i feel like i should clarify something before i go on. horror and gore are two different things. horror is about the suspense and gore is about the blood. a gore film shows the morbid details of someone getting stabbed. a horror film focus on the moments leading up to the stabbing and the camera pans away during the violence.

anyway, this low budget gem gave us goosebumps in a way that very few films can deliver. it's probably the lack of CG that made it so real. real effects almost always seem more real than CG. the sound design was just ok. nothing great. but the use of silence to build suspense was superb. there was one moment at the end that i felt the movie could have done without, but i won't ruin it for you. why is it always the spiritual scary movies that really put us on edge? i guess it's the thought that maybe stuff like that does really happen. i was worried that this would be another blair witch project style film. you know, a couple people with a camera and not a lot happening. which it kinda was, except stuff did happen. and it actually felt that it could possibly happen in real life. also, there was some comic relief throughout the film in the form of a sarcastic husband. good good good good movie. i just wish some of the idiots who thought it would be funny to scream during quiet parts would have realized the joke was getting old after the 4th time. but oh well.