INTO THE WILD non-review

So I saw INTO THE WILD last night.

I still can't quite decide whether or not Christopher/Alexander was a self-righteous judgmental douchebag, perhaps another Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell (and even if he was, if that takes away from the film or not), nor do I know how much Sean Penn honestly wanted to romanticize and mythologize the kid, or if the film's manipulative nature (aren't they all manipulative, though?) was good or bad... and ultimately, I don't know how much I'm supposedly to separate the film from the person, because I'm honestly not certain how I feel about either.

Although I'm leaning towards positive for the latter and negative towards the former. Yes, it's admirable to not let others define your life, that there are alternatives, that the way to happiness doesn't have to be in a suit and tie or tied to a career or to success. That happiness is in the world around you and the people living in it, and the love you have for them and they have for you. He certainly could be viewed as an inspirational model for that.

At the same time, I kinda want to make an Alexander Supertramp macro: "UR DOIN IT RONG."

But I dunno, I still haven't made up my mind yet.

What I do know is that I wish Werner Herzog just wandered into the film and gave McCandless a softly poetic German bitchslap. the_mithril_man had a good point when he suggested Herzog do a RiffTrax commentary on INTO THE WILD. I'd so pay to hear that.

"The boy is a suicidal fool, and I wish I could reach into the screen and tell him so, but I know too well that I cannot. The only common character of the universe is not harmony, but hostility, chaos and murder. Nature is brutal. Nature is indifferent. Nature will swallow you whole and destroy you without a second thought. On the other hand, Hal Holbrook was pretty good."

for the Rogen fans

In case you can't tell, that's Seth Rogen and James Franco from the upcoming PINEAPPLE EXPRESS.

You're welcome, little_dinosaur

Ooooooo! Steampunk Justice League!!!

Thanks to kali921 for pointing this out:

STEAMPUNK JUSTICE LEAGUE and STEAMPUNK NEW GODS custom action figures.

WANT. WANT WANT WANTY-WA-WANT-WANT.

I know I've said I wanted to, bit by bit, introduce Victorian/dandy elements into my wardrobe. I'm going to amend that still-true intention by adding "steampunk." Damn it, my wardrobe needs more vests and goggles.

JUNO revisited revisited

Okay, this is my last JUNO entry, I promise.

I'm just feeling super-validated because CHUD.com beautifully voiced my mixed love-hate (but ultimately love) in this essay on the inevitable Diablo Cody backlash. Among the great points about overhype and gender politics, the writer also observes:

I wonder, here, if the first couple minutes of Juno – which feature a painful (in my eyes) cameo by Rainn Wilson - are intentionally misleading. It, and the moving of the furniture set, suggest the sort of forced whimsy that followed in the footsteps of Wes Anderson’s RUSHMORE (read: NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, GARDEN STATE), and the sort of forced quirkiness that has become the bane/comfort food of the twee set. It should be noted that really only Juno and her BFF talk like “that” and everyone else in the film has a different voice - a voice that suggests screenwriter Diablo Cody is not the femme-equiv of Kevin Smith. It also has an honest-to-goodness heart, and though Juno may appear the ironic hipster qua 16-year-old, the film really does earn its pulling on your heartstrings.

THANK you. I feel a little less like a weirdo for seriously disliking the film at first.

And I'm willing to grant some of that dislike also stems from my general distaste for real teenagers, so of course I'd hate "realistic" teenagers (although Juno herself still sounds like she's been written as a streetwise twenty-something, not a real sixteen-year-old, but Ellen Page does her damnedest with what she's given.)

But yes. Yes that sums up my personal problems absolutely beautifully, as well as why I ultimately love it.

Right. I swear, that's the last JUNO entry.

...

Reason # 362 I love THERE WILL BE BLOOD:

"If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and I have a straw and my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I. DRINK. YOUR. MILKSHAKE! *SLUUUUUUURP!!!!* I DRINK IT UP!!!"