i got star struck

last night i had the great thrill of going to the where the wild things are pre-screening, thanks to an invite from a very boring store. with the anticipation of other things going on this week, i hadn't given the screening much thought. when i got there just after 5:30 the line-up at the door was huge, so clearly it was on the minds of many other chicagoans.

the night included a few nice surprises: max* records was there and did a Q&A, led by dave eggers, before the screening. he talked about the eccentric audition spike jonze put him through and what it was like to be on the set in australia. my favorite part was when someone said something like so you're pretty young but do you see yourself doing more things like this in the future? max replied with a pause and an ummm and finally well, i guess it depends on the project. and then followed up with another huge cliché like, we'll just see what comes my way. the audience erupted, and i don't think max had a clue why. it was touching to see a 9-year-old that was so mature and yet so innocent.
[*in line for the bathroom after the movie, a little girl asked her mom, do you think they only interviewed boys named max for the movie?? yes little girl. yes they did. welcome to the wild world of discrimination.]

the showing of the movie was interesting because the screen was much smaller than a "normal" size screen. giving up the screen size in favor of the music box's atmosphere was alright by me, though. as for the movie itself, i thought it was great. i was most impressed by how dave eggers and spike jonze took this short, illustration-heavy book and turned it into a full-length film with developed characters. in reading the book i always took the land of the wild things as pure escapism on max's part-- a secret place where he could flee to, be reckless and untamed, and be the "ruler." the movie, however, revealed the wild things as an extension of max. carol, THE wild thing, is dealing with the same issues in his world as max is at home. not to mention, all the other wild things (the bull is still my favorite) have their own personalities and problems.

i also loved how the movie treated the mother-son relationship. in the q&a spike jonze mentioned how disliked the book was by certain groups when it was published because of it's unconventional portryal of parenting. like the book, the movie shows an undeniable love between mother and son, and yet there are complications and problems. at times, the roles almost reverse and catherine keener becomes more child-like as she asks max to tell her a story or falls asleep while he's eating at the kitchen table. i think that's why i loved the movie so much: while it reminds us what it is to be a child--all the strife, all the joy, all the adventures--it suggests that it shouldn't stop after adolescence. oh, and everything else about the movie was awesome too. karen o. can officially do no wrong by me! the way the score was so seamlessly integrated into the movie so that you didn't know whether it was her or the wild things bansh-y-ing was perfect.

after the movie spike jonze and catherine keener (another surprise!) did a Q&A. sj seemed incredibly nervous, which i found both surprising and endearing. ck was quiet and a little loopy, but it was a nice mix of the two. they made mention of a few interesting things like how sj shot dave eggers with a BB gun on set and that ck has never seen being john malkovich even though she was nominated for best supporting actress. to end the night, sj opened up his itunes to show a film that he and ck had made for maurice sendak's 82 birthday. he had a whole list of items in the "movie" section (umm, duh.), one of which i spied titled as "adidas hello tomorrow". oh yah, just in case you forgot you were in the same room as a REALLY awesome and famous person!!!!

then i rode home in the cold rain with my paper crown on my handle bars. i jumped in the hot shower and then put on my pj's, and as i towled my hair dry i howled a little wild things howl.