Movies: Wild Things On Screen

NATHANIEL ROGERS

Nathaniel Rogers would live inside a movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience.

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This weekend's big deal is Spike Jonze's adaptation of the Maurice Sendak classic WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Jonze's keen visual imagination first won hearts in the realm of the music video and transferred well to the cinema with the absurdist instant-classic Being John Malkovich in 1999. Despite that Oscar-nominated debut effort, Jonze has only made one other feature film since then (Adaptation, 2002). This return to movie theaters has been a long time in coming and infamously troubled. The production stories roughly fall into the familiar camp of 'fiscally nervous studio vs. man with an expensive vision'. Pray that the director figured out a way to bring this beloved but minimalist classic to full movie life.

In addition to Wild Things, Jonze also made a documentary about the gay artist behind this children's classic. HBO is screening Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak to coincide with the film's release. According to the LA Times, the film is a wonderful informal portrait of an unhappy but entertaining man.

For all the cleverness and sharp-eyed originality in his work, Sendak turns out to be an unhappy guy, haunted by what he calls a "permanent dissatisfaction" in his life. Unwanted by his parents ("I was not intended -- it was an accident," he insists) and blessed with few social skills, he spent most of his time as a child alone, sitting at the window, drawing children playing in the street. He adored his older brother and sister -- he still talks about them with awe today -- but he was always an outsider, especially once he realized that he was gay, not an especially easy sexual orientation for a children's book artist in mid-20th century America.

As he bluntly puts it: "I didn't want to be gay. It was yet another sign of isolation. It was something that you hid.... It was extremely bad news."

Hopefully the genius artist has since found some joy knowing he's penned classics that continue to inspire other artists (not just Jonze) and will outlast us all.

Prince of Persia without Jake Gyllenhaal, Gerard Butler's bad taste in movies, and Heath Ledger's last role, AFTER THE JUMP...

Arizona Senate Rejects Ballot Measure to Ban Same-Sex Marriage

In a 14-11 vote, the Arizona senate today rejected a measure that would have placed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in front of voters in the November elections:

"Senators later voted to reconsider the measure at another unspecified date. The proposal would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Supporters say the proposal would provide additional legal protection needed to prevent marriage from being redefined by a court or future lawmakers. Opponents argued that the existing law makes the amendment unnecessary and that it insults gays and represents an attempt to exploit marriage for political purposes."

Previously
New Bid to Ban Same-Sex Marriage Moves Forward in Arizona [tr]