A SERIOUS MAN & WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE…
Word Up! 2 reviews in one week.
read & enjoy…(dont forget “Black Dynamite” opens this weekend)
A Serious Man
In “A Serious Man”, college professor; Larry Gopnik thinks everything in his life is going fine, when all of a sudden his world starts falling apart. His wife wants a divorce, he has to deal with his obviously anti-Semitic neighbor (who I believe is more of a symbol that represents intolerance for all things NOT 100% American during the 1960’s), he’s kicked out of his house, one of his failing students tries to bribe and/or frame him after receiving a failing grade, his brother has no place to stay, all while his son’s bar mitzvah is right around the corner. Just like almost all of the other Coen movies, there’s plenty of symbolism and an open ending. In A Serious Man’s case, the open end in sight doesn’t look all that good. Aside from the out of nowhere, unexpected release of this film, it got a lot of attention, because weren’t any “stars” in it. Don’t let the cast of pretty much “unknowns”, with the exceptions of Adam Arkin (where the hell has he been?) and two cameo’s from Michael Lerner & Steven Park, sway you from checking this film out. All the actors are great, unlike a lot of the ”unknowns” & non professionals in recent movies like; “Bubble”, “Paranoid Park” or “Elephant” (which are all good movies, but sometimes non-professional actors can be kinda distracting with their dry/un-polished delivery). Also, remember this is a Coen brother’s movie, so I’m sure it’ll be nominated for a million awards and get a bunch of over hyped acclaim just because… I mean, what coen brothers movie hasn’t? Plus, ANYTHING that follows up “Burn After Reading” would almost look like a masterpiece. But rest assured, with all that stuff aside, this movie is still really good. Fans of “Barton Fink” and “The Man Who Wasn’t There” will enjoy this especially.
Where The Wild Things Are
Well thanks to a theater full of scared little kids at a test screening, we had to wait over 2 years to finally see this. I must admit, it was worth the wait, but I’m always gonna wonder what Spike Jonze’s Original cut was like. I gotta say how happy I am that this wasn’t a pixar movie (not that I’m hating on pixar), or someone like Ron Howard didn’t direct this. I don’t know about this being Spike Jonze’s best or most mature or whatever, but he has grown as a director since “Adaptation”. When you compare Wild Things to Malkovich and Adaptation, it is the most different of the 3 films. It’s been less than 24 hours since I saw this, so my thoughts on the movie might seem jumbled, so I apologize in advance. We all know the story, but for those of you who don’t, “Where The Wild Things Are” is the story of an imaginative little boy who’s sent to his room without dinner by his mother for being bad. In a fit of rage, he runs away and through his imagination ends up on an island with big, furry, make-believe monsters called; Wild Things who befriend Max and make him their king. If you grew up with book or have a soft spot for the story like I do, I’m sure you’re just as fascinated and in awe to see actual “wild things” in live action (courtesy of Henson studios). One issue with the movie, that I didn’t even realize until Mr. flud CEO mentioned it, was that James Gandolfini’s “tony soprano” voice was kinda distracting as one of the wild things, unlike all the other voice actors (who do a great job, especially Catherine O’Hara). It’s kinda hard to disassociate the iconic mafia voice with a big furry monster. Also, some people might be slightly confused with some of the “imaginative” stuff in the film. Bottom line; don’t think too much, it’s a movie about big furry monsters. It’s an entertaining movie. The movie is also unique, because along with other movies like; “beetle juice”, “the incredibles”, “wal-e” and “pee wee’s big adventure” its one of the few true family movies that can actually be enjoyed by ALL ages and not just little kids.
-Marcus