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Where The Wild Things Are

Director Spike Jonze spent the better part of six years working to turn Maurice Sendak’s famous illustrated children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are, into a motion picture, encountering and overcoming design problems, financial delays, and the skepticism and objections of studio executives. Wild Things’ lengthy and difficult gestation has been extensively covered. But the primary obstacle to its transfer to the screen was probably more basic: the original material.

The Burning Plain

You may not recognize the name of Guillermo Arriaga but you’re probably familiar with his work. The Mexican novelist wrote the screenplays for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s films Amores Perros, Babel, and 21 Grams. His feature debut as a director is similar to those in that it presents a story of human tragedy with a non-linear time structure and with characters whose relationships only gradually become clear. I usually like these kinds of film, although that may only be because I have a short attention span. But the Iñárritu films are all compelling for the way the nontraditional presentation heightens the impact of the story.



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