Blu-Ray Review: Where The Wild Things Are

Book adaptations are as fickle as they come. Some are great (How To Train Your Dragon, Fantastic Mr. Fox) others fail miserably (The Golden Compass, The Lightning Thief). Where does The Wild Things adaptation fall? In the great category.

Max has a rough sister and is doing badly in school. One night, when his Mom's boyfriend comes over, he makes a scene and bites his Mom. After being called a wild thing, he runs off and finds a boat that takes him to a dangerous land. Full of dnagerous inhabitants.

The film impresses thanks to it's "Who Needs Kids?" approach. The film is dark, very dark. But so was the book. In fact, the film takes the books spirit and stretches it to a wonderful 100 minutes that will make you realize something: being a kid is heck. Horrible in other words. Other films would make childhood like like heaven. This says kids are given the worst in life and have to deal with more problems than adults can dream of.

The wild things home is an impressive visual experience. The animatronics/CGI approach gives realism and depth to the creaters. They seem to be exactly as a child might imagine. It's really beautiful. This film may have been snubbed in the Best Picture category, but here at Doug's Domain, it gets an A+!!

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 or A

SYS

One Wild Blu-Ray

Sort of a slow news day and I'm not QUITE ready to post my 2 reviews. So I'm going to give you big news to me! The Blu-Ray cover for Where The Wild Things Are. Enjoy!

SYS

Top 10 of 2009

A little late I know. However, here finally is my best films of 2009:

10. The Blind Side: This will tick off critics, but I definitely say this film deserves every penny it gets. Cute, funny and inspiring, this film is a wonderful exporation of the type of roles Sandra bullock can portray. And at the end if you ain't crying...wel you have no soul, pure and simple.

9. A Christmas Carol: Another unexpected 'un. This film cuaght me off-guard completley and dazzled me. The UnCanny Valley has completley been washed away. Jim Carrey gives a pitch perfect performance and makes this one of the best adaptations of the classic tale ever.

8. Star Trek: J.J. Abrams has created, along with Avatar, a Star Wars type film that has fun, laughs and action coming through in spades. This film leaves you awe-struck and makes you wish The Enterprise came around much more often. Good job, Kirk for this one.



7. 2012: A modern day Towering Inferno? Mayhaps. This film combines thrilling events (they're gonna crash...into Mount Everest!!) with down-to Earth humans. A tale full of sacrifice and destruction, it's one of those rare films that's a little bit of everything...and is just flat-out perfect.

6. Sherlock Holmes: This choice is elementary, my dear readers. Robert Downy Jr. gives an Oscar winning performance as the grand sleuth and makes Sherlock a hero...but still unlike any version we've seen of him before. It's quite a film and quite a mystery as to why no one else thought Holmes could be an action hero.

5. The Princess and The Frog: Disney was in a rut earlier this decade with Home on The Range and Atlantis. Now, they hit the gold mine of fun, music and depth they were missing. This film may even be on par with films like Dumbo and The Little Mermaid. It's a classic, one that deserves so much more. This is a film that'll stick like glue to future generations and prove Disney is still an animation king.



4. Where The Wild Things Are: A kids movie? As if. Dismemberment, tantrums and betrayl are all an integral part of this polarizing, but brilliant film. It may be a stretch, but I certainly think this film is a modern day E.T.



3. The Fantastic Mr. Fox: Talk about misleading marketing. This film will leave in stitches and awe as Wes Anderson creates a film that leaves you begging for more. George Clooney is stunning as Mr. Fox and leads you to love him like in Michale Clayton and the Ocean's films. Wes has created a picture that will remain essential to any animation viewing.



2. Up: Wow. PIXAR ain't number one. Still, this film is a masterpiece, PIXAR's near best. Carl Fredrickson's sad montage at the beggining is guranteed to leave you in tears. And about Dug...well let's just say he's a great tracker, okay? SQUIRELL!



1. Avatar: James Cameron has created The Godfather of sci-fi. A modern day Star Wars. He has transformed cinema from nice to breathtaking. Every single 3D moment leaves you breathless, wanting to see it again immediatly. Thisi s a film that'll one day be known as a triumph of both storytelling and visual effects. A rare modern day masterpiece.



There you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading it. I can't wait to seee what 2010 brings.

SYS

2009: The Year of Death, 3D and Animation

Death, 3D and Animation took over this year, as we saw film profits make over 10 and a half billion dollars. That gross comes courtesy of 3D preniums, perhaps stating that 3D is here to stay.

Death played a big part as well, from Farrah Fawcett to Michael Jackson, the stars that died were tremendous and left their marks on the world forever. I can honestl say that with Michael Jackson, he proves you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Animation really became the star of the year though. When we saw preety bad live-action films (et tu Couples Retreat and Gentleman Bronco's), animation gave us mature and thoughtful fare like Fantastic Mr. Fox & Up. Even usual kiddie fare made us laugh harder like Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Toss all of that in with The Princess and The Frog & Coraline and you have one heckuva impressive lineup.

Live-Action got some great stuff, notable the Star Wars of our time that is Avatar. Brilliance like Where The Wild Things Are also played. Stupid comedies were anjoyable as well like Land of The Lost and Paul Blart.

2009 can be summed up as a landmark year for all of us, changing cinema for good and doing away with the old...and in with the new.

For Your Consideration: The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Where The Wild Things Are

These two films relaly deserve Best Picture nominations at the Oscars. Each push boundaries in their kid film boundaries and bring fun and tears anyway. Below are what should be nominatted in the Best Picture category:

Up In the Air
Precious
The Hurt Locker
Invictus
Up
Where The Wild Things Are
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
A Serious Man
Avatar
Inglorious Basterds



Please Academy, Give all of those films the nominations. I beg you. Break the duldroms.

SYS

Film Review: The Blind Side

Let me get something straight from the start. I don't know quarterback from a pile of quarters. I do not like football. That being said, I loved The Blind Side.

This is the true story about NFL quarterback Michael Ore. Michael is abandoned and homeless when the Thooeys find him. They take him in and adopt him as one of their own. Soon, both Michael and the Thooeys lives are changed forever as Michael shows skills and determination.

This film may be heartfelt, but there's plenty of laughs, particularly Sandra Bullock's character, who's feisty and rough, but soft underneath. Tim McGraw plays her husband. You don't see him a lot, but he's okay. The two standouts are Jae Head (he plays Sandra and Tim's son) and Quinton Aaron as Michael Ore. Both are exceptional.

The film touched me in ways only a few (like Up and Where The Wild Things Are) have done this year. In the best part, Michael Ore savess the Thooeys sons life from an airbag during a car crash. It's a provacative moment that touches your soul.

Rating: A- or 8.9 out of 10

P.S. At the end, Tim McGraw's hit song Southern Voice plays. I love country, so that was just the icing on the cake for this chocolate cream pie film.

SYS