Tuesday Movie Reviews

Where The Wild Things Are
Starring: Max Records, Catherine Keener and the voices of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker and Chris Cooper
Directed By Spike Jonze

I was never privileged enough to read (or have read to) the story of Where The Wild Things Are as a child. I feel if I did, I would have enjoyed this movie a little more. Not to say I didn't enjoy it...but I was a little confused. Is the land Max goes to real? Did he fall asleep at the water's edge and dream of this land? Does it matter? Not really. Spike Jonze creates a fantastic looking world with wonderful creatures that, thank God, were not created with computers. The story plays along with obvious parallels to Max's home life, but what was really interesting was the combination of music and joyous fun that Max and the Wild Things were having. I felt the movie could have been a little longer to develop the relationships a bit better, but I still enjoyed my time in the land of the Wild Things. If you have fond memories of this story, as I'm told many do, I do suggest watching this film.

GRADE: B

2012
Starring: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Oliver Platt and Woody Harrelson
Directed by Roland Emmerich

Special effects is the obvious attraction to this movie which hypothesizes about the end of the world come Dec. 21, 2012. I have to say, some of the effects were quite impressive. That does not excuse the writing!! Oh my God!! Horrid...terrible...laughable. Do we really need comic relief as billions of people perish the world over? The situations that our heroes find themselves in are ridiculous. How many times can they narrowly escape a huge crack in the ground, falling bridges, falling buildings, fireballs, boulders, tidal waves...MOUNTAINS?!?!? Because of the absurd situations, the movie felt like it was going on for 150 days instead of 150 minutes. You will end up just rolling your eyes at much of the film (they have to keep updating the time of the impending impact of a giant tsunami, but when they do, they have it down to a millisecond!!), but enjoy the effects as they come. John Cusack can't help himself with the material he's given, but Ejiofor, a phenomenal actor, actually brings something real and almost graceful to his role.

GRADE: D