If you've already seen Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, then chances are you've seen the big screen premier of the buzz-making trailer for Spike Jonze's much anticipated Where The Wild Things Are, based on the classic childrens' book by Maurice Sendak. It's set to "Wake Up" by The Arcade Fire from the 2004 album Funeral, a big, gamboling anthem that perfectly suits Jonze's inspired blend of make-believe and naturalism (a sensibility that feels especially fresh next to trailers like Tim Burton's Alice and Wonderland, which appears CGI-ed within an inch of its life.) The Wild Things trailer, by contrast, has real roses in its cheeks thanks in no small part to Win Butler's passionate plea to children: "Wake up, hold your mistake up before they turn the summer into dust." The whole thing feels beautiful and bracing...filled with the forward motion that is childhood, but also with wistful awareness of what's being left behind.
More to be excited about: way back in 2007, Vanity Fair broke the news that Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would be contributing music to Wild Things as well (footnote: Jonze and O were once a couple) and later The Playlist blog reported that she is in fact doing "most of the music" for the film, including some original score work and an "upbeat" song at the end. Jonze has typically favored score for his films in the past and it's true that Carter Burwell of Being John Malkovich and numerous Coen Brothers projects did some score for Wild Things. It's also clear, however, that with Wild Things Jonze is reconciling his film work with his music video witchcraft, and hey speaking of which, have you seen his hypnotically gorgeous and death defying take on "Heaven" by UNKLE?
That's so weird. I was all ready to call "nonsense" on this, as the footage is actually from Jonze's Lakai skate video, "Fully Flared". (I own it, as it's one of the best skate videos I've ever seen.) On that, it's paired with a great M83 song. I was figuring the UNKLE video was some fan re-edit of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VGbAOOEego&feature=related
However, it seems Jonze and his editor actually repurposed their own footage for the UNKLE video...so I guess that's fair use, right?
http://skateboarding.transworld.net/2009/03/23/unkle-heaven-video-by-spike-jonze-and-ty-evans/
Anyway, both songs and videos are really quite good. (I bought the M83 album based on this track. Recommended.)
Posted by: Steve | July 24, 2009 at 05:22 PM