Cinema Alliance Movie Reviews

This movie is loosely based on Maurice Sendak’s famous children’s book. As such it is a triumph of design and execution. The characters are interesting and the voices, professionally done by actors who will delight you with their interpretations, entice you to guess who might be inside those crazy looking suits ( so I won’t tell you). En espanol: Donde viven los monstruos En francais: Max et les maximonstres. Italian: Nel paese delle creature selvage. Released in just about every country where there might be children with loose pocket change, or parents who might be shaken upside down ‘till money falls out.

Some of the time there must have been stunt people inside the suits, because there are some very powerful whomps being delivered. Whomps and stomps are the order of the day. Screams and running about wildly and flying through the air. This a powerful boy and these are powerful monsters, yes indeed. Spike Jonze really gets you involved in the beginning as Max (who is probably autistic and ADHD and pumped on Adderal) (or just a normal kid with a divorced mom) has way too much fun for the safety of pets, family, or furniture.

There is conflict with Max’s mother and siblings…and inevitably Max runs away. We really feel the chemistry between Max Records (Max) and Catherine Keener (Mom). We feel her pain and frustration, and Max is just berserk. Wow. (I love Catherine Keener’s work, she is great, somehow she has some sort of special earth mother goddess thing and is great with kids.) So when he runs away to some crazy land of enchantment over behind the landfill we are not surprised. Rather more are we surprised that he doesn’t end up trapped in an abandoned well or trussed up in the back of some creepy guy’s van. That is doubtless what his panicked family is thinking.

Instead, Max has found the land of the thinly disguised hippies! Yes, he enters the land of the crazy people that Maurice Sendak must have grown up with on the commune where he was raised. (Guessing here.) The monsters’ behavior and philosophy would kind of fit with a bunch of free spirited stoners who just played around all day, avoiding growning up and having the unusual luxury of explaining stuff to a young boy in much greater detail than usual.

There is a lot more detail here than was ever packed into the book and I don’t exactly know where it came from, but it was inspired. Though the action moves a bit slowly at times, it is filled with action. It is a movie that, for a change, actually deserves the description: “a playful romp through the mysterious imaginary landscape of a child’s mind”.  The “big suits” become very lifelike and they really stir emotion. They will touch you as large goofy special effects seldom do. Please do see it on DVD or that annoying cable service where you get to watch the movie for a couple of days but not download it for some reason. This movie is recommended for young and old as  good for bonding. Put away the fragile stuff and prop up a couple of stuffed animals to watch it with you.

Kevin Bolshaw

I just caught this again recently and wanted to write it up for the blog, so here we go…

Mark Wahlberg plays Izzy, the singer of a local tribute band that covers his favorite band named Steel Dragon. The story is supposed to be roughly based on Judas Priest, who went through a situation similar with their singer (Rob Halford) when he left the band; they filled the vacated slot with a singer from a Judas Priest tribute band. The story of Rock Star follows the same premise.

Once Wahlberg is in the band, the story turns in more of a sex, drugs and rock and roll direction with a behind the scenes view of the women, the tours and the over the top lifestyle so many people have dreamed of through rock and roll. Of course the ultimate destination of this lifestyle doesn’t turn out so well and drama ensues. The relationship between Wahlberg and his girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) is put to the test through the process of them dealing with events that are consequence of the formulaic rock star lifestyle.

All-in-all a pretty well told story and entertaining to watch. It’s a bit typical with no surprises but is still worth checking out. The ending is a bit cliche’ but is pulled off well.

The cast does great in their roles and includes Jennifer Aniston as Izzy’s girlfriend, Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail from the Harry Potter films) and the rest of Steel Dragon including: Jason Bonham (son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham), Jeff Pilson (Dokken, Foreignor), Zakk Wylde (Ozzy, Black Label Society) and Dominic West (300, HBO’s The Wire), the only other actor in the group next to Wahlberg.

The music is a large part of the experience and includes a healthy dose of heavy metal / hard rock some of it even sung by Mark Wahlberg who does a great job with the vocals surprisingly. I say surprisingly because during some of the behind the scenes footage, Wahlberg complains about metal and mentions how much more he’s about hip-hop. Personally I’d take his vocals in Steel Dragon any day over Marky Mark (seriously dude, Marky Mark? Really? Let it go.).

reviewed by Sean McKnight