Blog: carolyn

Where the Wild Things Are is coming out in (almost) exactly four months and in honor of Spike Jonze’s brilliant mind and his collaboration with Dave Eggers here are a few other childhood books that haven’t already been made into movies in the past 10 years that I think might work for the big screen as well (especially now that CGI is intimidatingly realistic… and only if musicians like Karen O and Arcade Fire were willing to collaborate for the best kid-friendly soundtrack ever made):

1. THE GIVING TREE: Due to new technology, John Cusack could actually play the boy at every age. That’s a joke. Some gaps might need to be filled to make this a feature film (what has the boy been up to, really, between turning his childhood tree into a house and a boat).

2. BABAR: Orphaned Babar flees the Elephant kingdom for Paris, where he is westernized by an elderly lady. It might be a struggle for a baby elephant to fit in at school (ie. “I just want to be a regular boy”) but eventually Babar returns home to become the next Elephant king, dressed in a bright green suit. Besides backing Western colonization, Babar also marries his cousin. I’m sure these problems could all be ironed out for the big screen.

3. THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH: Milo’s adventures in CGI. No longer mere illustrations, Tock (the watchdog with a built in clock), the Mathemagician and especially the Awful DYNNE would be a lot more believable than were when my fifth teacher decided to read the entire book aloud. For weeks. The puns might be hard to translate onto the movie screen but the adventure sequences would carry the film – like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz.

4. PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON: Technically, a poem-then-song created by two Cornell students in 1959 (one being Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary). Puff did become a picture book in 2007 so it can make the list. Drug references aside, Jackie Paper and Puff’s adventures in honah lee would be great in digital 3D.

5. THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS: Cartoon versions have been done. Completely live-action versions have also been tested but they’re just scary. Actually, terrifying. CGI would be perfect for Mole, Ratty and Mr. Toad. Guillermo del Toro was working on a Disney adaptation until 2003, mixing live action with CG animation. It didn’t work out, obviously. As del Toro put it so eloquently “It was a beautiful book, and then I went to meet with the executives and they said, ‘Could you give Toad a skateboard and say, ‘radical dude’ things,’ and that’s when I said ‘It’s been a pleasure…’” Um, enough said... maybe del Toro could find a way to cut out Disney? I have a feeling his Mr. Toad would be much darker than they could handle.

1. AWAY WE GO (June 5 limited) – The cute indie flick of the summer. Screw-ups John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph travel around the US to figure out how they want to raise their unborn baby after their parents move to Antwerp. Anything Dave Eggers writes, I’m game to see. Plus John Krasinski with facial fur and emo glasses. Best quote from the trailer: “Did you look at the itinerary? I stapled it to the inside of your jacket. See?”

2. PUBLIC ENEMIES (July 1) – Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. Public Enemy chronicles the Depression-era bank robber as he is noticed by President Hoover’s new FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis. The film follows Dillinger through his unbelievable prison breaks to his status as America’s very first “Public Enemy Number One.” Christian Bale might be an iffy choice for an FBI agent, but Marion Cotillard, Giovanni Ribisi and Billy Crudup as Hoover make this an all-star lineup.

3. MY SISTER’S KEEPER (June 26) – I just bought the book today so I’ll be reading that before I see the movie, but seeing the trailer in theaters is what has inspired me to even read the book. The Fitzgerald family goes to extremes to save their daughter Kate from leukemia. Abigail Breslin is such a smart kid and Sofia Vassilieva is believable, funny and endearing as Kate Fitzgerald. Kate and her cancer patient boyfriend at prom? I’ll be bringing tissues.

4. TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (June 24) – Michael Bay brings Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes back for more explosions, bigger and badder Autobot-Decepticon battles and, of course, heartfelt moments with Bumblebee. After moving to college, Sam realizes he has only begun to understand the history of Optimus Prime and the Transformers. Megatron is back and the Decepticons are ready for revenge. Shia LaBeouf surely won’t disappoint.

5. FUNNY PEOPLE (July 31) – Is this merely a cinematic bromance or a trip down memory lane? Adam Sandler takes Seth Rogen (Ira Wright) under his wing (he kind of did this in real real life ten years ago?) as ill-fated comedian George Simmons. Judd Apatow directs and most of the Frat Pack is back: Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, wife Leslie Mann (with daughters Maude and Iris), even Ken Jeong return for another fun-filled Ap-attack. To all the haters: How dumb did 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up sound in theory? And how many times did you see them in theaters? He made virginity and unplanned pregnancy hilarious and now he’s tackling terminal illness. I’m pulling for you, Judd.

I’ve just watched Wristcutters (2006) twice in the past 48 hours. The movie features Patrick Fugit as Zia, a recently deceased wrist slitter who finds himself in a strange kind of limbo reserved only for those who’ve “offed” themselves. Please wait until Shannyn Sossamon’s character Mykal enters the story before you judge me. Not only is Sossamon an amazing actress, the chemistry that builds between Mykal and Zia is unreal. Also, secretly I think I just really want her cool red sweatshirt. I don’t think I’ve seen Sossamon in anything since A Knight’s Tale (aww) and Fugit has been a missing part of my life for seven years, since White Oleander (2002) and Almost Famous (2000). They need to find a way to become a major part of my life before I watch Wristcutters more than ten times.

The soundtrack to the afterlife does not disappoint, either. The director based the character of Eugene (who agrees to Zia’s crazy road trip plan to find his dead ex-girlfriend, who offed herself as well, and in the process hooks up with a throat-singing Eskimo. That’s right.) off Eugene Hutz, the lead singer of the NY gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello. Accordingly, the soundtrack is riddled with amazing Bordello songs like Through the Roof ‘N’ Underground which Fugit and Sossamon repeatedly sing with gusto. It is very possible that I only really love Wristcutters because of Tom Waits’ cameo, though… he only appears in awesome movies.