Where The Wild Things Are

Beautiful, surprising, funny, exhilarating, terrifying but with no re-watch value whatsoever, Spike Jonze's epic "Where The Wild Things Are" covers a broad range of emotions that makes it hard to believe that this evolved from a children's book. It may be based on the best children's book of all time (my opinion), but I wouldn't let anyone view this movie who is under the age of 10. This movie is for those who grew up with the book, who fantasized about running away to where the wild things are themselves, not those who are currently imagining it for the first time.

Obviously, the basic plot line from the book had to be included. Max acts like a wild thing, gets punished by mom, goes to where the wild things are, parties until he drops, realizes he misses his family, and then goes back home. If this is what you expect to get out of this movie, don't watch it, read the book again. If you want to watch yourself (if you're a suburban white kid, mostly) as a young child mature into a man or woman, then this is the movie for you.

Max was a bad kid in the book, but he is nothing compared to the Max of the movie (played pretty well by Max Records, if I might add). Quite simply, he's a little bastard. He's selfish, arrogant, vengeful and just not very nice. It's like someone took the very worst qualities of me and my brother and made a child, and for some reason he just has a costume with whiskers on it. One night, Max wants his mom to play with him, but she has a date. Max gets mad but comes down for dinner when she calls him. She wants to serve frozen corn, but Max, being the combination of me and my brother, jumps on the table and tries to assert his authority. God, I wanted to beat him. Like just beat him silly. I would use my pimp hand and everything. His mom tries to coax him down and he jumps on her and bites her. She cries out and asks him why he did that, and like any little kid he gets sad and wonders why everyone's mad at him now, so he books it out the door and runs away.

This is where the movie gets bearable. Somehow Max comes across a sailboat and launches into the water, eventually arriving at an island (the coniferous version of the island from Lost basically). He comes across strange big-headed creatures (created wonderfully by Henson productions) They want to eat him, but Max convinces them that he's a king and they elect him to be their new king. I won't ruin all the stuff in between, but like the book eventually Max gets sad and returns home.

After about a third of the movie (longer then I'd like to admit) I realized the wild things are aspects of Max's personality. He becomes friends with his crazy, vengeful side first, who is named Carol. There's his calm, reasoning side: a cockatoo named Douglas. A goat is the side of Max that feels left out and so on. The only Wild Thing that isn't a part of Max's personality is KW. KW represents every person in Max's life that he feels has abandoned him or left him behind for some reason (i.e. his mom and sister).

I can't state this enough but this isn't a children's movie. It's a maturing tale. It's Max's last great run as a wild little kid before he realizes that he needs to grow up before he hurts the people he loves. Max watches how his personalities interact (Calm, reasoning Douglas trying to control Carol, Carol overreacting and hurting the people he loves.) He discovers how the dangerous parts of himself look from the outside, and the awful way that they treat people.

The child in you will watch the wild roughhousing and dirt clod fights and feel like a kid again. The adult in you will feel what you felt as a child whenever you felt left out, abandoned or just ignored. "Where The Wild Things Are" shows you how fun it was to be a kid, but more importantly it shows you why you grew up.

Fairly amusing (wait for the scene with the owls, I giggled a lot) with intense overarching themes make "Where The Wild Things Are" a one time deal. Go see it, preferably a matinee, and you won't regret it, but I probably won't pick it up again. I'll just read the book.

Grade: 3 out of 4 stars


-Christopher O'Connell

Michael Jackson's This Is It

"Michael Jackson's This Is It" is a documentary film made from rehearsal footage from what would have been Michael Jackson's final concert tour. The film is directed by Kenny Ortega (choreographer for "Dirty Dancing," director/choreographer for the "High School Musical" movies, and he helped to create Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" and "HIStory" tours.) Of course the film stars the late Michael Jackson as well as several dancers and members of the crew.

Mid-July 2009 was supposed to be the start of Michael Jackson's final tour, "This Is It." There would be 50 shows at the O2 Arena in London, England, lasting until March 2010. This all was cancelled upon Michael Jackson's untimely death in June. Although the concert tour never came to be, there was an awful lot of rehearsal footage which became the basis for the film. There was over 100 hours of rehearsal footage available. In August Sony bought the rights to that footage for $60 million in order to make a movie. After much editing, what we have is slightly under two hours of rehearsal footage with Michael Jackson and his dancers as well as interviews and other behind-the scenes clips.

The movie is pretty well put together. The main attraction of the movie is all of the song rehearsals. It was good to see all the effort that went into these rehearsals. Even at 50, Michael Jackson still had at great voice and was a great dancer. He seems very natural even when next to dancers nearly half his age. The energy he puts into performances is amazing (and this was just rehearsals...the real thing would have been even better.) It is completely evident that Michael Jackson loved his work with every fiber of of his being. His rehearsals of classics like "Billie Jean," "Man in the Mirror," "Smooth Criminal," "They Don't Really Care About Us," "Thiller," "Black or White," etc simply prove this passion. The movie also goes a little into the behind-the-scenes of the rehearsals. They show discussions between Michael Jackson and Kenny Ortega or other crew members about what needed to be changed for certain parts of the show. People also talk about what it was liked to be picked as a dancer for the tour, some auditions are shown, and Michael Jackson is shown telling everyone about the "This Is It" tour. Overall a very good - although all-too brief - look at what goes into making a Michael Jackson tour, complete with behind-the-scenes footage, beyond just the actual song performances.

Besides the songs and dances themselves, there is also a good use of special effects via green screen in the movie. All of this is done on a huge screen behind Michael Jackson and the other dancers. This included digitally-added Michael Jackson into a Humphrey Bogart movie before performing "Smooth Criminal," a small group of dancers dressed as soldiers turned into thousands via green screen for "They Don't Really Care About Us," and a new video that was made to be shown during the performance of "Thriller." This just adds to the highly elaborate staging and effects the movie offered, that the tour would have.

The main issue that I had with the movie was that a few times between scenes there would be a black screen for a longer period of time than most movies. Sometimes there would be people talking before the next scene was visible on the screen. This made some of the edits seem a little choppy. Also, the film would have been great to see in 3-D; at least the scenes that were going to be shown in 3-D during the tour. The ending seemed like it came a bit abruptly, although given the type of movie that's not a huge problem. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," the first song performed in the movie seemed to be the weakest performed song, which isn't to say it's not good, just several other songs I felt were performed better.

"Michael Jackson's This Is It" is completely successful in what it set out to do - give the world a glimpse of what the "This Is It" concert tour would have had been like. If this movie is any indication, the tour would have been amazing. Michael Jackson was so invested in his work, and it shows in the rehearsals. All the dancing ability, vocal ability and stage presence in general is here. The special effects also enhance the enjoyment of the elaborate stage production. In the end there is nothing majorly wrong with the film at all. It's a great piece of entertainment and the movie is a nice memorial to "The King of Pop," an entertainment legend that will never be forgotten. 3 1/2 out of 4 stars...it's only in theaters for 2 weeks...so see it soon...

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Simpsons Movie: A Quick Review

"The Simpsons" is this little animated show that started 20 years ago...and will never ever be canceled even though the past decade of episodes have been varying degrees of awful...but whatever, as long as Matt Groening and FOX get tons of money. Then along came "The Simpsons Movie" in 2007. The movie is way better than the show has been in recent years. Lots of great scenes including "Spiderpig," Bart exposing himself while skateboarding, Marge using profanity, the Simpsons moving to Alaska because Homer nearly destroys Springfield (we will never find out which state they live in apparently), Arnold Schwarzenegger is now president, and Tom Hanks has a great little cameo. However, the hundreds of residents of Springfield were used far to little. There are so many characters on the TV show, but in the movie characters like Krusty the Clown, Moe, Kent Brockman, Ned Flanders etc got very little screen time. Also, the movie is awfully short and I feel like there was an opportunity for some more jokes. And Kelsey Grammer definitely should have been somewhere in the movie as Sideshow Bob. But, overall a funny movie (just don't compare it to the classic "Simpsons" episodes of the 1990s, because in that regard the movie comes up short)...

-Joseph Sbrilli

South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut: A Quick Review

I love "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut." It's a hilarious movie based off of a hilarious show and the result is great. Everyone from Saddam Hussein to Canadians gets made fun of at least a little bit in here...so that's always fun. The movie also has some unbelievably funny songs (since it is, indeed, a musical) including the Oscar-nominated song, "Blame Canada"...since essentially all of America's problems are all Canada's fault. Like the show, the movie is also a great spoof of just about everything from Disney movies and celebrities to MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" is definitely not for everyone since the animation style is very crude, there's an awful lot of swears for an animated movie, and people may get offended...but once you learn to accept that's what South Park is, the movie is highly enjoyable...and for me anyway...has a lot of rewatchability.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Terminator Salvation: A Quick Review

Uhm...well everyone can feel free to either a.) not watch this movie, and instead watch the Terminator movies that actually have Arnold Schwarzenegger in them (I haven't actually seen the first three, but I have heard great things about them, except the third one which you also can avoid, although I'm guessing it's better than this one. Or b.) Rent it for a dollar at Hannaford. The one thing "Terminator Salvation" has going for it is the visual effects which actually really impressed me. Also, it's always good to see Helena Bonham Carter in movies. Other than that Christian Bale sounds like Batman throughout the movie and there a scene with a fake Arnold Schwarzenegger (his face is digitally added to a body double...and it is fake and horrible) Definitely not memorable.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Ghost: A Quick Review

"Ghost" is a very good movie, although it's nomination for Best Picture is kind of strange. It's a great combination of comedy, drama, romance, and fantasy. The cast, which includes Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg is fantastic...great chemistry between the actors. Patrick Swayze plays Sam Wheat, Molly Jensen's (Demi Moore) boyfriend who gets murdered. Whoopi Goldberg is hilarious in her Oscar-winning performance as Oda Mae Brown, the medium who can hear Sam's ghost (hence the title of the movie). It's definitely not as predictable as just about every other movie involving a love story...since most of them are awful. What's even more impressive is that the director of "Ghost" also co-directed "Airplane!"...which is a completely different type of movie for those who have not had the pleasure of seeing "Airplane!"

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!: A Quick Review

I love "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" (released in 1988) so much that it's kind of ridiculous. It's a hilarious police spoof based off "Police Squad!," a 1982 TV show that only lasted six episodes and spawned 2 theatrical sequels which when compared to this classic do not measure up. The cast of "The Naked Gun" includes Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy, O.J. Simpson, and Ricardo Montalban. The cast has great chemistry with each other and are all so unbelievably capable at comedy. Leslie Nielsen is hilarious and has some great one liners. I personally enjoy Leslie Nielsen more in this than in "Airplane!" - made by the same team of people. The movie requires no brain power to watch but everything from the clever opening sequence to the hilarious finale is memorable and I'm assuming most people would laugh profusely. After all, who better to protect the Queen of England than Lt. Frank Drebin.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Tyson

As of this writing, James Toback's "Tyson" is the first documentary being reviewed on the blog. This film was made in 2008 and released earlier this year and stars Mike Tyson (who had a great part in "The Hangover" over the summer...in case anyone was wondering)...which may or may not be a huge surprise for you based on the title of the film.

This documentary covers his life up until 2008. He begins talking about his tough childhood, his introduction to boxing, and the effect that the death of Cus D'Amato, his first manager, had on him. As the film progresses he talks about his horrendous year-long marriage to the wonderful woman who verbally tore Tyson apart on national television on Barbara Walters' show, Robin Givens. His struggle with drugs, his many women, his three years in jail, his second, slightly more successful but still failed marriage, and the the fun time he bit Evander Holyfield's ear...it's all here.

Mike Tyson is completely honest and straightforward with his recollection of the past few decades. He holds nothing back in what feels like candid interviews. Even the several bad decisions he made throughout his life he is able to admit to whoever watches the film. Throughout the piece, Mike Tyson goes through several emotions as he remembers parts of his life that formed him into the man he is today. Through "Tyson" we get a sense of what the man was really like.

The interviews are mixed with various archival footage and photographs from past fights, training, TV appearances, etc. For the most part there is an effective flow between the archival footage and the new interviews. The still photographs and video clips with Tyson's words serve as helpful narration for the piece.

The only real problem that I had with "Tyson" was that at times Tyson would be shown talking in multiple sections of the frame (each section had him talking from a different angle). This made it a little bit distracting, since it led to him talking over himself and there was just too much going on in the frame. This is mainly at the beginning of the documentary where the focus was mainly the new interviews. Also, the beginning of the film could have had more video clips and photographs. At times the clips were so brief it seemed like they could have been omitted completely.

Overall, this was a successful documentary that is an honest look at the man, from the man himself. Most parts were well put together. 3 out of 4 stars...Recommended to any fan of Mike Tyson or documentaries in general.

-Joseph Sbrilli

A Night at the Roxbury: A Quick Review

I thought this movie was awful. Just looking at the posters actually really annoys me. I don't know what Lorne Michaels was thinking. Unless it's "The Blues Brothers" or "Waynes World," making a movie off of a "Saturday Night Live" sketch is one of the worst ideas someone in Hollywood can have. Will Ferrell proved in this that he is really not a funny human being, just really annoying. The same can be said for Chris Kattan. I'm surprised they managed to fill 80 minutes of movie time. If you haven't seen it you are certainly not missing much...

-Joseph Sbrilli

Alternate Review!: This movie is awesome and hilarious. It is obviously ridiculously stupid but it is a funny movie. Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan are extremely funny and I am very glad I've seen this movie and you should too.

-Christopher O'Connell

Zombieland

Where "Shaun of the Dead" failed, "Zombieland" fails as well. Where "Shaun of the Dead" succeeded, "Zombieland" only makes it halfway.

The latest entry into the zombie farce genre, "Zombieland" takes a ridiculous premise - the zombie apocalypse - and tries its best to make it funny. Key word: tries. Zombies eating people isn't funny. The whole intro to this movie is a twenty minute clip of Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) narrating visions of what happens when you don't follow his carefully planned out rules. When his rules aren't followed the person in the clip gets eaten/maimed/killed. Rule #1: Cardio. I got the pleasure of watching a morbidly obese man running for his life, in slow motion, away from one terrifying zombie. Columbus tells me how cardio is the most important rule of all. Then he says, "poor fat bastard," fat guy gets tackled by zombie and eaten in a very gruesome manner. Whole theatre laughs. I looked around in disgust and told myself if this whole movie was labeled as funny because people died and the movie was classified as a "comedy," I was going to walk out. Then "Zombieland" introduced its characters. This is where "Zombieland" succeeds. Quick, witty characters with fantastic dialogue.

If you could pick anyone who could survive and thrive in a zombie apocalypse, I would pick Samuel L. foot-to-rear-end Jackson. First-time director Ruben Fliescher picked a nerdy, extremely OCD college kid, Columbus. His name isn't really Columbus, all characters in the movie call each other by where they are from. Columbus is trying to get to his home in Ohio (duh) and survives only because he follows strictly to his rules. Without his rules his entrails would long ago have been pulled out of him. Enter Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a gun-toting certified bad-ass with a southern accent and a love for killing zombies. Tallahassee's one goal in Zombieland is to find a twinkie. They travel across the US, looking for twinkies, and eventually come across Wichita (Emma Stone, "Superbad") and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"). Wichita informs Columbus that Columbus is a ghost town and that they are headed for Pacific Playland in California, the last zombie-free spot on earth. Columbus and Tallahassee join them and that's pretty much the entire movie. At an hour and twenty minutes there isn't much else to describe.

The zombies in "Zombieland" aren't the slow shuffling type, they are the fast, brutal kind, reminiscent of "28 Days Later." They are more of an annoyance during the film. The parts where the zombies play a big role are significantly less funny than ones where only living people are on screen. Once the characters show up, this movie gets pretty good, and very funny. All of the characters play off of each other amazingly, and Woody Harrelson gets my vote for second funniest role in a movie this year. (First goes to Zach Galifinakis for "The Hangover").

"Zombieland" is pretty funny. It has the greatest cameo appearance of the year (watch for it, it's brilliant). While the characters and dialogue make this a funny movie, it certainly isn't required viewing. "Zombieland"'s horror movie feel, and half-hearted attempts at drama fall flat. It is a good entry into the zombie farce genre, but if you want a fantastic movie that does it ten times better, go see "Shaun of the Dead".

Grade: two and a half stars

-Christopher O'Connell

Observe and Report: A Quick Review

This movie is awful. Don't ever see it. Go buy and watch season one of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" instead. You will be more entertained.

The Invention of Lying

"The Invention of Lying" is a comedy directed by Ricky Gervais. It stars Ricky Gervais (BBC's "The Office" and HBO's "Extras"), Jennifer Garner ("Alias" and "Juno"), Jonah Hill, Rob Lowe, and Louis C.K. Jeffrey Tambor, Jason Bateman, and Tina Fey also have small parts.

The movie takes place in a world where no one has ever told a lie. Everyone tells the truth and whatever they may be thinking at any given time. Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) is deemed by most to be a loser. He gets fired as a script writer for a film production company and goes on a date with Anna McDoogles (Jennifer Garner)...only to find out she never wants to go out with him again...because she wants a guy who has more attractive genes. He also is the first person to tell a lie. And of course the entire human race, according to this movie, is gullible beyond comprehension and believes everything he says. He then goes on to milk this for all its worth.

The idea of the movie is definitely a unique one. The movie had potential, but unfortunately the final product is not that great. The cast is great, but the script is lacking in many areas. At times the movie tries to be serious, but it isn't terribly convincing. The dialogue does not feel natural many times during the movie and the characters are never really fleshed out well and seem to move to fast into relationships and problem-solving in general. The ending comes too abruptly, it seems. Although the plot is definitely unbelievable, the characters could have been written more realistically so we might have more sympathy. A major part of the movie also came across as very sacrilegious...which usually is not a good thing in a movies...or anywhere for that matter. After a while the plot feels tired and just drags out like they all of a sudden they don't really know where exactly to go with this idea and great cast.

One of the funniest interactions during the movie is severely limited, between Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais. Tina Fey plays Mark Bellison's secretary who is quick to say how overqualified she is for her job and how happy she is that she will never see Mark again after he is fired. This scene between the two in a film studio office is one of the funniest in the movie. Unfortunately upon the scene ending Tina Fey apparently never returned to the set of "The Invention of Lying" and just started waiting for a pay check after delivering only a handful of lines. This is an unbelievable shame because she is a tremendously gifted comedic actress and would have added so much more enjoyment and laughs to the end result. Jason Bateman, as a doctor who is quick to tell people their loved ones are near death and Jeffrey Tambor, who plays the boss, at first to shy to fire Mark could have used more screen time. Both are also gifted at comedy, but once again limited.

The plot is good. The end result...okay...way better than that trainwreck of a movie..."Year One"...which no one should ever see...at least "The Invention of Lying" is a worth a rental...if only that. Tina Fey needs way more screen time...and the script could have been worked on...but what do you expect...most movies these days are awful anyway. 2 out of 4 stars.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Surrogates

If you've seen "I, Robot," then you've seen this movie. It has all the same ingredients: awesome action star, robots, some diabolical plot involving robots, more robots, the same actor who created robots starring in both movies, and finally a bunch of robots.

Only Will Smith did it much better. Do not be fooled by Bruce Willis' intrigued look on the movie poster, this is not his latest action flick. What "Surrogates" is, however, is an interesting look at the future that may very well be a possibility.

The movie starts with a brief montage of clips showing the usefulness of robots completely controlled by our own brains. Normally, I would write this off as fantastic science fiction myth specifically designed for this movie. The clips however are genuine, I've seen them on news sites (that means I am a credible source). The clips show chimps and handicapped humans controlling robotic appendages with nothing but their minds. Fast forward to the near future where 98% of the population sits in their Lay-z-boys at home and conducts all of their daily affairs with younger, better looking versions of themselves. They go out using surrogates (playfully named 'Surries') of themselves. This is probably the most achievable movie idea I've seen all year: a world where you or I can go out as the opposite sex, or as a different ethnicity and no one would know the difference. Believe me, if any science fiction movie is going to come true, it's going to be this one.

Bruce Willis stars as a cop (go figure) working in Boston. He, like everyone else, uses a surrogate to conduct police affairs. Seeing a blonde, young Bruce Willis is definitely a huge perk of this movie. Since most of the world uses surrogates, murder has dropped to zero percent. If a surrogate is killed, only the robot dies, the people in the chair get unplugged by failsafes that save them from death, making surrogates the safest thing in the world. Everyone's fantastic-looking and super human abilities come with the territory. Here's the catch: Willis finds two surrogates with their brains fried out. When he looks for their owners, he finds each one lying in their chairs with their own brains liquified.

Cue the inevitable treacherous plot involving the chief-of-police, the creator of surrogates (the same actor who created robots in "I, Robot") and the army. If you've watched at least ten movies in your life, the ending is easily predictable.

"Surrogates," while short on action and length (one hour and twenty minutes), balances itself with both a solid idea and Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis is a man who knows how to act, conveying the right amount of sadness and pain in one scene and brutal one liners in the next. But, he is getting old, and it shows in this movie. He still does some ridiculous things, but he gets beaten up, badly. When he ditches his surrogate he can't function in the outside world very well.

A great idea and a veteran actor save this movie from being thrown to the bottom of the bin. I can only recommend it for Bruce Willis fans, or science fiction fans in general.

Grade: C+/B- or two out of four stars

-Christopher O'Connell