Where The Wild Things Aren't

[redbrunja]

I actually walked out of Where The Wild Things Are.

I've never done that before.

Not for any particular reason, just that it wasn't worth eight of my dollars.

Instead I read in the lobby and ate Red Vines until my mom finished watching it.

Comments

[anat-astarte.livejournal.com]

Wow That bad eh? I heard some really crazy things about that movie. [edited to remove possible spoiler]

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

It's wasn't horrifically bad - it just wasn't worth eight of my dollars. Largely because there was no joy in it.

[okroginator.livejournal.com]

So many people either love it or hate it.

I want to see it very badly.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yep. As we walked out of the theatre, on (female) teenager was going 'It was so good!' while her little brother went, "it was BORING.'

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

Agh, that's so sad. I was looking forward to the movie, too!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

If yo saw the trailer and thought, 'damn, I want to see that movie!' you'll love it.

[its-onthefritz.livejournal.com]

I just came back from watching it myself. Beautiful visuals and music, but I wasn't really into much of anything other than those two things.

At what point did you walk out?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Right after he good to the land where the wild things are, after he convinces them he's a king and KW shows up.

[rameena.livejournal.com]

was it because the movie itself was just terrible, or because it didnt match up with the book?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I walked out because it just wasn't the kind of movie I enjoyed - that eight bucks was better spent in my pocket and that time was better spent reading for class.

[cynchick.livejournal.com]

This movie is like Cloverfield and District 9. You either "get it" and love it, or you don't, and hate it. I thought it was great; a very profound message told in a very innocent way. The story is interpreted through the eyes and mind of a child. Sometimes the dialogue was odd, but again, the mind of a child, whose imaginary friends are created with the same naivete. There was a ton of metaphor and I love that, but I know some people don't.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

It is a very polarizing film.

Personally, I was wondering if I was the only kid who ever had a great childhood, or if it was just too passe at this point in our culture to show childhood being fun.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

I had a good childhood! :)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Me too! I don't think it's cool to admit that anymore.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

So true.

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

I just love it when I'm told the only reason I don't like a movie is because I don't 'get it.' Or that you don't/can't like the deep, deep metaphors. So deliciously condescending!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Right. Because you couldn't possibly dislike it because it sucked or anything like that.

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

You're only saying that because you're not capable of ~deep~ enough understanding, dear.

**PATRONIZE LASER!**

[mewsrissicat.livejournal.com]

It's not just you. Rotten tomatoes rates it at 69%, and I read a review last weekend, that made me go... "erm, no".

They said that the movie was beautiful cinematically, but that the storyline of a child coming to grips with his base, negative emotions (by being made their "king") was done with such a cynical, adult eye that the sense of wonder in the original book was tarnished to oblivion.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That is exactly it.

There was NO sense of wonder and joy at all.

[teukster.livejournal.com]

Lol, it looks like a pretty retarded movie to me, so this doesn't surprise me any.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say it was retarded, but it was definitely appealing to just one specific aesthetic.

[manonlechat.livejournal.com]

That's pretty damning.

I'm still curious to see the film---maybe even more so now!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

[birdsarecalling.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yeah, I can see why someone would do that.

I stayed for the visuals, but I'm unsure how the director thought the movie would appeal to any actual children. I heard several complaining as I left the theater.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't think the director DID think the movie would appeal to any children - it blatantly WASN'T a children's movie.

And yeah, I feel sorry for any children that ended up going.

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

I don't think you missed much walking out when you did. It is not a children's movie- there is no sense of wonder at all- but the issue that got me was it was the same thing over and over and over and over till Max goes home ...where it is still the same old thing. There was never a sense of closure, no acknowledgment of any change emotion or change in how any character acts. There were some few moments that were so very on, like Max's story-telling, or the igloo, but the film never went beyond that.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That doesn't surprise me.

And there was absolutely NO wonder at all, which made me really not into it.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Up I've only heard good things about. I saw the preview for Mr Fox and didn't feel impressed, but ymmv.

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

Mr. Fox was kind of awful; another movie that sucked all the joy and wonder out of the original whimsy of the book in favour of one more boring, cliched storyline about a ~bold~ and ~daring~ guy who's dragged down by the unbearable domesticity of his wife and kids. (He was actually...a super creep? Forced a child he was taking care of to take part in his life-endangering midlife crisis.) (Two females in the film who got to talk. Wife and prospective girlfriend.) Especially egregious in that the wife would have had all the instincts that he did.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

That sounds even worse than I was expecting.

Like, ridiculously, ridiculously bad.

I'm sorry you watched it!

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

I swear to you, I nearly walked out in the middle and it was the first time I've ever done that. If the animation hadn't been so beautifully, I would have.

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

It sucks to hear that there is no wonder or joy in the movie. That was why I really wanted to go see it. Maybe it's one that would be better if I rented it.

There are some other movies I would prefer to see and since movies are so damn expensive I do have to pick and choose. Did you get your money back since you walked out early enough? Hopefully you did!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Definitely rent it.

And I most certainly DID get my money back. If I hadn't, this post would have been written in all caps.

[turtle-moose19.livejournal.com]

Good for you. I refuse to watch a movie based on a picture book. I may have to protest Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, that one I'm pissed about.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Just on principles?

[nenena.livejournal.com]

Huh. I've read two other people on my flist who report that, in the theaters that they attended, there were children singing and dancing in the aisles by the time the credits rolled. Different people living on different coasts. Yours is the first opinion I've seen that the movie wasn't joyous.

(*scratches head*) I guess I've have to see it for myself.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

It's clearly a very polerizing movie.