M. (hristine Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The book is 10 sentences. I always viewed it as a beautiful and simple Freudian view of a child's mastery of the id. Max has a tantrum. Max meets his furies, looks them in their yellow eyes, becomes their master, longs for home, wakes up and finds his hot supper waiting. N'est–ce pas? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
plasticeyeball Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The book is 10 pages...10 sentences. I always viewed it as a beautiful and simple Freudian view of a child's mastery of the id. Max has a tantrum. Max meets his furies, looks them in their yellow eyes, becomes their master, longs for home, wakes up and finds his hot supper waiting. I can't believe you ruined that book for me! Christ, use the spoiler alert. max is 7 or 8 in the book according to sendak. my kids want to see it but they are all grounded this week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I am getting a hoot out of the fact that there is a novelization of some several hundred pages of a movie made out of a 10-sentence book. That's gotta be some kind of first, unless Proust took on "The Pokey Little Puppy" at some point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I can't believe you ruined that book for me! Christ, use the spoiler alert. My favorite line in the book: "Let the wild rumpus start!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I am getting a hoot out of the fact that there is a novelization of some several hundred pages of a movie made out of a 10-sentence book. That's gotta be some kind of first, unless Proust took on "The Pokey Little Puppy" at some point. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 The book is 10 sentences. I always viewed it as a beautiful and simple Freudian view of a child's mastery of the id. Max has a tantrum. Max meets his furies, looks them in their yellow eyes, becomes their master, longs for home, wakes up and finds his hot supper waiting. Hey, you just described the movie! Although I'd add before "longs for home": "realizes no one can do everything for everyone they love." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 i am starting to think i am a prude. agreed Quote Link to post Share on other sites
isadorah Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 agreed this isn't helping me show my worthiness beyond having a great dog is it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lodestar Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I always felt like something really bad was going to happen the whole time, but it never did. I just wanted anything to happen the whole time, and it never did. The uneasiness you speak of was there, sure, but it never translated into anything. Like I said before, nothing changes at any point in the movie, and I don't think that makes for very good story-telling or cinema. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Like I said before, nothing changes at any point in the movie, and I don't think that makes for very good story-telling or cinema. Yeah, nothing changes at all. Oh - except for the hero's view of the world and his perspective of the human condition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Yeah, nothing changes at all. Oh - except for the hero's view of the world and his perspective of the human condition. He has a dream or shroom experience of a bunch of angry dysfunctional monsters and when he realizes his imagination sucks as bad as his life he's suddenly ok with his mother ignoring him for her job or when she's trying to score with some guy? At 8, 9, 10? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 he's suddenly ok with his mother ignoring him for her job or when she's trying to score with some guy? At 8, 9, 10? So this is where all teh extra in the novelization comes in then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MstyFwhLy4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lodestar Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Yeah, nothing changes at all. Oh - except for the hero's view of the world and his perspective of the human condition. Wow, really? His view of which world? And how does his perspective change? In my opinion, there is one tone to this movie -- bleak. He escapes his sad real world to go join a sad fake world, and while he momentarily lifts spirits in the sad fake world, he ultimately leaves everyone feeling as sad as he found them. Everyone in the movie, real and imagined, has the same problems in the end as they do in the beginning, with nothing to suggest that they've found any solutions. I honestly fail to see any way in which Max has been enlightened, except maybe something like you can't run away from your problems (or possibly that you can?). Anyway, I don't mean to say I need a happy ending -- on the contrary, almost all of my favourite art is built on sadness -- but change and character arc are vital to story-telling, and this film had neither. (IMO.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 I just realized something, as I was washing dishes. I am bullshitting myself (and you guys here) defending this movie, spouting specific notions of the point of the filmmakers and the journey Max takes. I don't know what the hell Max goes through in this movie. What he learns, what each wild thing each represents, how differently he sees his world after leaving theirs. All I know is how this movie made me feel. It didn't transport me back to childhood, and it didn't make the book come alive for me. It achieved something so odd and so unlikely that I never even thought to seek for it in art before: it reminded me exactly how I felt when I was a kid. And not - like I said - by bringing me back to my childhood, but by allowing me to relate to it again. This feeling welled up inside me at the anarchic opening, and lasted in an ebb and flow motion throughout the movie. One such moment stands out, above all the anger and ambiguity and fear and comedy: the moment when Max is at his mom's foot, pulling lightly at her stocking. I can't explain it, so maybe I should just stop. But that moment absolutely killed me. I don't feel 'changed' now, and I don't look differently at my life, I'm just awestruck by the filmmakers' accomplishment. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lodestar Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 One such moment stands out, above all the anger and ambiguity and fear and comedy: the moment when Max is at his mom's foot, pulling lightly at her stocking. I can't explain it, so maybe I should just stop. But that moment absolutely killed me. I don't feel 'changed' now, and I don't look differently at my life, I'm just awestruck by the filmmakers' accomplishment. This, I absolutely 100% agree with. The movie's first 15 or so minutes were tremendous, I thought, and that was a particularly memorable scene. I love the story he tells his mother, the aimlessness and innocence of it, and the look she gives him once he's finished. I thought the kid who played Max did a great job overall, which is obviously a big reflection on Jonze as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 So this is where all teh extra in the novelization comes in then. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MstyFwhLy4God I love Terry Gilliam. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I just realized something, as I was washing dishes. I am bullshitting myself (and you guys here) defending this movie, spouting specific notions of the point of the filmmakers and the journey Max takes. I don't know what the hell Max goes through in this movie. What he learns, what each wild thing each represents, how differently he sees his world after leaving theirs. All I know is how this movie made me feel. It didn't transport me back to childhood, and it didn't make the book come alive for me. It achieved something so odd and so unlikely that I never even thought to seek for it in art before: it reminded me exactly how I felt when I was a kid. And not - like I said - by bringing me back to my childhood, but by allowing me to relate to it again. This feeling welled up inside me at the anarchic opening, and lasted in an ebb and flow motion throughout the movie. One such moment stands out, above all the anger and ambiguity and fear and comedy: the moment when Max is at his mom's foot, pulling lightly at her stocking. I can't explain it, so maybe I should just stop. But that moment absolutely killed me. I don't feel 'changed' now, and I don't look differently at my life, I'm just awestruck by the filmmakers' accomplishment.This is precisely what archetypal stories are meant to do... deeply stir the subconscious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 God I love Terry Gilliam.I KNOW! Those bunnies and that hippo crack me up to this day! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I KNOW! Those bunnies and that hippo crack me up to this day!Warning. Too dark for children.Crusader decapitated by another vicious Gilliam rabbit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I just realized something, as I was washing dishes. I am bullshitting myself (and you guys here) defending this movie, spouting specific notions of the point of the filmmakers and the journey Max takes. I don't know what the hell Max goes through in this movie. What he learns, what each wild thing each represents, how differently he sees his world after leaving theirs. All I know is how this movie made me feel. It didn't transport me back to childhood, and it didn't make the book come alive for me. It achieved something so odd and so unlikely that I never even thought to seek for it in art before: it reminded me exactly how I felt when I was a kid. And not - like I said - by bringing me back to my childhood, but by allowing me to relate to it again. This feeling welled up inside me at the anarchic opening, and lasted in an ebb and flow motion throughout the movie. One such moment stands out, above all the anger and ambiguity and fear and comedy: the moment when Max is at his mom's foot, pulling lightly at her stocking. I can't explain it, so maybe I should just stop. But that moment absolutely killed me. I don't feel 'changed' now, and I don't look differently at my life, I'm just awestruck by the filmmakers' accomplishment. Exactly my friend. This is why I loved the movie as well, I'm just not smart enough to articulate my thoughts the way you have. The part where he's under the computer desk telling his mom the story, and the camera is under the desk pointed up at her while she types (partially obstructed by the desk).. I remember things like that when I was a child.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevan Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Very loosely related to this movie: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20brooks.html I love David Brooks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dude Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Very loosely related to this movie: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20brooks.html I love David Brooks. He offers up decent analysis, but I'm not sure it applies to all the characters in the movie. What impulse did KW represent? She seemed to have few if any of the negative qualities of the other characters. What about the owls? What was the point of them? What was the point of the mostly silent Bull character? What about Ira? His only characteristic seemed to be being henpecked by Judith. What was Douglas's personality trait outside of having a wing ripped off? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Very loosely related to this movie: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/opinion/20brooks.html I love David Brooks. David Brooks should quit his day job** as a political analyst, and take up reviewing movies. ** Not really, he is one amongst an ever shrinking pool of sane conservatives. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spawn's dad Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 We should get to work on the next one In the great green room... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ih8music Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 We should get to work on the next one In the great green room...indeed, one of my favorites: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AJKWJO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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