Movie Roundup

Paranormal Activity--

This isn't, as some people have suggested, the scariest movie of all time. It is, however, pretty damn scary. I did love how slowly it builds, it takes its time and doesn't get bogged down in some convoluted mythology or real

story. It plays on little s

cares, exaggerating things that really happen to not allow for alternative explanations. Perhaps the best way it scares you is to suggest that things could be happening to you without you knowing it (I'm thinking mostly about the sleepwalking segment, which really shook me). I love that the movie which uses all practical effects, and was made in a weekend f

or $11,000 has managed to make $20 million this weekend! Good to see the little guys succeed, especially when it's a decent movie, like this one. It won't be your favorite movie, but it's a fun one to see in a crowded theater!

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco

I've been on a Wilco kick lately so I decided to check

out this doc about the making of their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's a bit of a behind the scenes look into the making of the album, their conflict with each other and with the label releasing the album.

It's entertaining, thanks in huge part to the music included just being SO GOOD, but really theres not enough material here to construct a whole movie. There's glimpses of meetings, interviews explaining who's mad at who and minor drama, but you never get to see any of the creative process which is what I was most interested in. It's worth watching if you're already a fan of Wilco, because there are a lot of really beautiful, stripped down versions of the songs on Yankee Hotel, but it's pretty skipable otherwise.

Mutual Appreciation--

Mutual Appreciation is another mumble-core type movie from Andrew Bujalski--director of Funny Ha Ha. It's largely improvised, lacking in plot and kind of meanders around characters. It really gets the rhythm of everyday life right. It's biggest strength is how characters constantly diffuse tension, refusing to present the audience with that cinematic romantic moment, or that gaze that lingers too long. The characters are all a bit uncomfortable in their skin, and theres a lot of cringing that goes along with watching them. Unlike Puffy Chair, which reveled in the mundane, purposely making you suffer through watching people literally talk about nothing, Mutual Appreciation follows a romance, it just follows it in a real way. No one's running to stop airplanes, or appearing in suits at the top of escalators, they're pretending they need rides home, or forgot their coats to get a couple more minutes alone with the one they're interested in. Definitely worth watching-- it's available on Netflix Watch Instantly!

Where The Wild Things Are

Spike Jonze's "Where The Wild Things Are" isn't going to save movies or be the best thing anyone has seen or change anyones life. It's flawed, in a lot of ways, but the emotional resonance of the whole thing more than made up for it in my eyes.

THE GOOD

• Max--Max is absolutely expertly cast. I can't imagine anyone else in the role. He's totally free of precociousness, but still has the weight to deliver on the emotional moments. Think the absolute opposite of Abigal (awful) Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine".
• Sets and Costumes--The Henson Company suits fit in so well to the atmosphere the film created. Just whimsical enough, it was refreshing to not be bombarded with CGI neon creatures in a kids (to the extent to which it is, which is not at all) movie. The sand dunes, the secret fort, and the forest were totally breathtaking too.
• Music--Obviously I love Karen O's soundtrack and thought that they blended in really well to the movie and lent it some tonal cohesion (with the exception of Worried Shoes which is an awful song and was distracting).
• Emotional Payoff--So many little scenes were totally devastating. Max and Carol's friendship is developed beautifully and in an understated way. Many little moments hit you hard, Carol and Max talking about the sun on the dunes, Max seeing Carol's model for the first time, the rumpus. It's bound to get a little dusty in the theater at some point.

THE BAD

• The Handy Cam--For some reason nearly every shot in this movie is done with a shaky handy cam, I guess this is supposed to put you in the moment and give some frenetic energy to the film, but in almost all cases it turns out looking sloppy and seems as if the choice was made for the sake of doing something different. So many times I found myself wishing that shots would just be opened up to a wide lens and held steady, they created such a beautiful world that it was a shame not to be able to see all of it.
• The Marketing--I really think a lot of the reason this movie isn't being as well received as people anticipated it to be is due to the marketing. The trailers mislead viewers into thinking they'd be seeing a whimsical, inspiring tale about imagination and friendship (I'm thinking mostly about the tagline "Inside all of us is hope, adventure, a wild thing"). The movie, in actuality, is BLEAK. The wild things are kind of horrible, and theres the fear that they'll kill Max looming throughout the whole movie. There's a lot of devastation and not much redemption, which could be really off-putting were you not prepared for it.