Where the Wild Things Are

2009

Director: Spike Jonze

Distributor: Warner Brothers

Key Elements: Lines – Characters – Message – Concept - Symbolism – Visual

Review:

Jonze brings this Maurice Sendak's masterpiece children's book to life in visual splendor and injected with raw human emotion.

Max is lonely.  He misses his absent father.  He feels ignored and unprotected by his older sister.  And now he's having to share his mother with her work and new boyfriend.  Lacking the emotional maturity to handle his pain, Max runs away.

He ends up Where the Wild Things Are.  The creatures Max meets make him their king, and he begins to lead them in building a new home.  But his own wounds are personified in the group of friendly monsters. Like Max, these monsters are longing for relationship, but their own insecurities leave them regretfully unable to secure connection.

[Spoiler]

Max eventually has to leave the monsters.  But despite the hurt feelings, they are sad to see him go.  And despite the fight Max had with his mother, she welcomes him home again.

The ultimate message here is that friendship can't be contingent on one's own feelings.  It's about making space in our lives for each other - and being willing to forgive.

It wasn't what I expected, but I loved this movie.

Trailer:

Quotes:

• Will you keep out all the sadness?
• And on our way... I can show you your kingdom. This is all yours. You're the owner of this world. Everything you see is yours. Oh, except that hole over there, that's Ira's. The tree's yours, but the hole is Ira's. But everything else is yours. Except for that rock over there, that's not yours. That little rock next to the big rock. But everything else in the kingdom... except for that stick. That little stick right there, that's not yours. I want you to be king forever, Max.
• Happiness isn't always the best way to be happy.
• What? I never heard that... Oh, come on. That can't happen. I mean you're the king, and look at me, I'm big! how can guys like us worry about a tiny little thing like the sun, hmm?
• Well, look: this used to be all rock, and now it's sand, and then, one day, it's going to be dust, and then the whole island will be dust, and then... well I don't even know what comes after dust.
• You're not really a king, are you?
• We were gonna make a whole world like this. Now, everyone used to come here, but you know... you know what it feels like when all your teeth are falling out really slowly and you don't realize and then you notice that, well, they're really far apart. And then one day... you don't have any teeth anymore…Well it was like that.
• You're the first king we haven't eaten.
• Don't go. I'll eat you up; I love you so.

Stills:

I am Legend

2007

Director: Francis Lawrence

Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures 

Key Elements: Message – Concept - Symbolism – Music – Gospel - Visual

Review:

Based on Richard Matheson's 1954, this is the story of the last man in New York City after an apocalyptic disease kills many and leaves the rest as zombies.


The draw of this movie is the chance to see a surreal New York emptied of people and reclaimed by nature.


But what kept me is the human story of a man who struggles with disillusionment and loneliness but ultimately finds hope.


[Spoiler]


The Gospel is in this story too. After searching for years for an antidote to reverse the disease, Robert finally finds one.  But he must give his life to pass it on to the rest of humanity.  In the same way, Jesus' righteousness is the antidote to our sin, but He had to give his life to pass it on to us.


Also, Robert waxes poetic about Bob Marley's desire to see light fill up the darkness of the world.  Jesus is the Light that fills up the darkness of our lives.

Clip:

Quotes:

• I'm not infected!
• God didn't do this. We did.
• My name is Robert Neville. I am a survivor living in New York City. I am broadcasting on all AM frequencies. I will be at the South Street Seaport everyday at mid-day, when the sun is highest in the sky. If you are out there... if anyone is out there... I can provide food, I can provide shelter, I can provide security. If there's anybody out there... anybody... please. You are not alone.
• Look, Daddy, it's a butterfly!
• Please say hello to me… Please say hello to me.
• What the hell are you doing out here, Fred? Fred, if you're real, you better tell me right now!
• The world is quieter now. We just have to listen. If we listen, we can hear God's plan.
• He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why - He said, "The people, who were trying to make this world worse... are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."
• This is Ground Zero. This is my site. I can fix. I can fix this.
• In 2009, a deadly virus burned through our civilization, pushing humankind to the edge of extinction. Dr. Robert Neville dedicated his life to the discovery of a cure and the restoration of humanity. On September 9th, 2012, at approximately 8:49 P.M., he discovered that cure. And at 8:52, he gave his life to defend it. We are his legacy. This is his legend. Light up the darkness.

Stills:

(500) Days of Summer

2009

Director: Marc Webb

Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Key Elements: Message – Music - Visual

Review:

Tom is a naive romantic.  Summer is a wounded skeptic.  Tom wants to be in a meaningful, committed relationship.  Summer wants a friend with benefits.

Tom falls for Summer.  You have probably already guessed that Tom gets hurt. After all, "This is not a love story."

This un-rom-com is about learning from antithesis. Sometimes we know love better by knowing what it isn't. And love is not how Tom feels about Summer.

Tom says, "I love how she makes me feel."  That's key. Tom doesn't see it, but Summer is just a means to fulfilling his romantic hopes. He doesn't really love HER.

Were it love, he wouldn't be so self-focused in his pursuit of Summer.  And he wouldn't become impatient with Summer and short with his friends when things don't go as he expects.

But, the movie ends with a new season and the hope that Tom has learned from the experience.

The cool thing is that the movie delivers this sobering message with whim. The story is told in non-chronological order with visual metaphor and hyperbole, expectation/reality splices and one of the best song selections ever played in a movie.

But why did it take so long for Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to do a movie together?  They're such an obvious pair-up!

BTW - I think it's hilarious how this movie made The Smiths suddenly reappear on everyone's playlists after years of obscurity. Awesome.

Trailer:

Promotional Video (Song by Zooey Deschanel's She and Him):

Quotes:

• The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Especially you Jenny Beckman. Bitch.
• This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know upfront, this is not a love story.
• It's love; it's not Santa Claus.
• What always happens: Life.
• Just because she likes the same bizzaro crap you do doesn't mean she's your soul mate.
• Tom, don't go! You're still my best friend!
• It's these cards and the movies and the pop songs, they're to blame for all lies and the heartache, everything.
• Look, I know you think she was the one, but I don't. Now, I think you're just remembering the good stuff. Next time you look back, I, uh, I really think you should look again.
•  You weren't wrong, Tom. You were just wrong about me.
• Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn.

Stills:

Penelope

2006

Director: Mark Palansky

Distributor: Summit Entertainment 

Key Elements: Concept – Music – Message

Review:

This is sort of Beauty and the Beast in reverse - the girl in the fable has a physical affliction that can only be removed by receiving true love.  There's a bit of a twist on where that love comes from though.

The message is simple and pretty obvious - It's inner beauty that counts, so don't waste your time on people who don't see yours.  In our image-obsessed culture, that's an important thing to be reminded of.

But the message is not heavy handed. The film makers seem to be aware that they shouldn't take themselves too seriously, and that makes for a fun, lighthearted show.

Plus... I've had a crush on Christina Ricci for years.

[Spoiler]

If there's one drawback to this story, it's the suggestion that loving ourselves is enough to save us. The Bible - and life in general - make it pretty clear we cannot save ourselves.

But Self-worth is a positive thing. To Jesus we are worth dying for, so we shouldn't let anyone else tell us differently.

Self-esteem, however, ventures beyond self-worth and into the realm of narcissism. And our society has wrongly been stressing self-esteem as something healthy.

Maybe that's semantics, but it's important to distinguish the difference. So let that reality balance your viewing of the film.


Trailer:

Quotes:

• I felt the rush of a thousand heartbreaks.
• I like myself the way I am!
• Y'know you inspired me, doing what you did, going off on your own like that.
• It's not the power of the curse - it's the power you give the curse.

Stills: