Every week, Carolina Productions plays movies in the Russell House Theater–a movie at 6 p.m. and a movie at 9 p.m. If you’re uncertain whether either of these movies are worth your time, check out our “6″ and “9″ movie reviews (for their show times, respectively). Scroll to the very bottom of the reviews for a Final Verdict rating–6 (if the 6 p.m. showing is the only worthy one), 9, or 69 (they’re both amazing!). Check here every Monday for updated reviews!
@6: “Where the Wild Things Are”
Wild Things, Good Times
by Lauren Ford
Indie hipster kids rejoice! Director Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s bedtime favorite “Where the Wild Things Are” is coming to the Russell House. Young newcomer Max Records portrays the hero, Max (same name: I’s fate!), who in his wolf suit is sent to bed without supper. Classic children’s book, stellar director, adorable kid…what could go wrong?
Jonze and company’s challenge is pretty obvious: How do you take a 20ish page children’s book and turn it into a feature length film? The answer is deeper character development and story expansion. The film stays within the parameters set by Sendak’s tale but adds lots of stuff in between the moment when Max is sent to bed and (spoiler if you’ve never read the book) when he returns home.
James Gandolfini voices the “head” wild thing, Carol. He and his fellow island-dwellers are in a state of confusion and anarchy with no king. And, to add to the problem, Carol’s dear friend KW (voiced by Lauren Ambrose) has found new playmates, throwing the group into disarray. In comes King Max with his Sadness Shield to save the day.
Not to disrespect my fellow blogger, Zack, who loathes this flick (see his Thanksgiving blog), but I find it adorable and endearing. With supremely stylized production design and stunning cinematography by Lance Acord, it’s extremely visually appealing. The viewer is fully immersed into world of the wild things because Jonze succeeds at capturing both the fantastic landscapes and the childlike wonder that comes with seeing them. Records is Max, and the rest of the cast is to be admired as well (love Katherine Keener as his mom). Add an atmospheric soundtrack featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O. and you’ve got yourself a charmer of a movie. And despite what I said before, it’s not just for indie hipsters. Go see it.
@9: “The Men Who Stare at Goats”
McGregor is a Jedi … again
By Michael Lambert
I honestly say I was a little too excited to see this movie. How can someone pass up George Clooney grimacing at goats? Or Ewan McGregor acting like a bumbling know-nothing all over the desert (is he just acting, one silently wonders)? But this movie falls into a category of cinema called, “My Trailer is a Lie.” Well, perhaps not a lie, but a cute understatement, like a blind date who said she was a size 2 on the Internet — and proceeds to order everything on the menu.
What we saw in the “Goats” trailers was nonstop hilarity and a slew of comic mishaps. What we get instead reads a bit more seriously. Clooney plays Lyn Cassady, an ex-psychic solider who has been mysteriously “reactivated.” McGregor’s Bob Wilton — a reporter gone to Iraq to prove himself to his estranged wife — documents his story, following throughout the many troubles they encounter in the war-torn country. The film switches back and forth between the humorous past of the New Earth Army — as Cassady’s unit was called — and the all too sober present.
Don’t get me wrong: These actors emit comedy as if it were truly their cosmic auras. Jeff Bridges, playing the psychic troop’s commander Bill Django, walks in the ways of peace, love and flower firepower like the 70s were only yesterday. And Clooney is, as my grandma said, “just a mess.” But this film has too many issues in it: war (both in general and the current one in Iraq), the condition of the American soldier, the state of our military, etc. It smells faintly liberal, but more than that it smells all too dramatic. It would be labeled a “dramedy” in my book, one of those portmanteau genres that — while it’s OK to let play with your kids every once in awhile — shouldn’t be invited for a sleepover.
“Goats” isn’t badly done, but it uses humor to conceal the serious — and conceal it badly. Go see it if you’re truly interested, but be prepared for an evening where you try to both laugh and think — and fail at both.
Rating: 6
FINAL VERDICT? 6
6, 9, or 69? updates every Monday.
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