Where the Wild Things Are

I must admit, I don’t really remember much about the book “Where the Wild Things Are”, as the last time I read it (or probably when I had it read to me as I was illiterate until the age of 20), I think I was four years old. However, I do remember the illustrations of the “wild things” and after seeing Spike Jonze’s movie, I was amazed at his imagination and artistic detail in bringing them to life.

The movie seems to be made for adults who enjoyed the book as children, but now better comprehend (at least some of us) the complexities of what Max and his mother are going through, which causes him to escape to a distant land. Where the Wild Things Are is a very artistic movie, so if you are hoping to be thoroughly entertained by scenes plush with action and dialogue, you will be disappointed. Instead, Jonze captures the purity of child’s imagination. The imagery, especially of the Carol’s (James Gandolfini) model and Max’s fort, is spectacular and I almost felt transported to my own childhood mind. The acting is superb by both the humans, Max Records (“Max”) and Catherine Keener (“Mom”), and the the monsters, voiced by actors such as Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hara (“Judith”), Forest Whitaker (“Ira”) and Chris Cooper (“Douglas”).

The only downfall of the movie might have been its ambition. Making a film from a book that consists of only ten sentences and staying true to the story can be quite difficult, if not impossible. The book is meant to capture only five or ten minutes of a child’s imagination, while the movie must keep them entertained for an hour and a half. Because of this, I don’t recommend this movie for children much younger than eight years old. I’m not sure if they would get it. The catch-22 is that older children might not remain entertained during the long stretches that lack action or even much dialogue. The movie’s beauty comes in its imagery and deep message that only adults may truly be able to cherish. Has Where the Wild Things Are missed its targeted audience? Not sure, but they found it with me.

I give Where the Wild Things Are a Spork rating of:

College Football Top 20 Week 8

Because we punished Florida the week before, with a near loss at home to an unranked Arkansas, the same happened to Alabama for a near loss at home to an unranked Tennessee. We also got analysis from Lee Corso on what really happened to Arkansas...they just shot their wad. Here's this week's Top 20.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Iowa

5) Cincinnati

6) Oregon

7) USC

8) LSU

9) TCU

10) Georgia Tech

11) Penn State

12) Houston

13) Oklahoma State

14) Pittsburgh

15) West Virginia

16) Virginia Tech

17) South Carolina

18) Miami, FL

19) Ohio State

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) LSU

5) Oregon

6) USC

7) TCU

8) Iowa

9) Cincinnati

10) Boise State

11) Georgia Tech

12) Penn State

13) Houston

14) Ok State

15) Virginia Tech

16) Pittsburgh

17) Miami FL

18) Ohio State1

9) South Carolina

20) Utah

Top 20 College Football Week 7

Florida players must have read my last post and decided to prove me wrong. Not only did they come in with another conservative game plan, but the players couldn't execute it very well. We also learned on Saturday that Texas looks even worse and Alabama is strong, but not as strong as some thought as their offense struggled for three quarters against South Carolina (everyone but Ingram). While the SEC is having a "down" year, so is the Big 12, Big 10 and pretty much every other conference...so does that mean it's "down"?

Some good news for Florida State and Bobby Bowden, they didn't lose last weekend...of course, they didn't win either. Bad news for Ron Zook and Illinois...Ron Zook is still the Illinois head coach and hasn't figured out how to implement his top secret take no prisoners game plan. That's because he hasn't found it, yet.

For the first time this year, Florida is no longer on the top of our polls. If they can find an offense somewhere, they will have a chance to return, although it doesn't really matter much since they will most likely play Alabama in the SEC Championship game.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Alabama

2) Florida

3) Iowa

4) Texas

5) Cincinnati

6) Miami, FL

7) Oregon

8) USC

9) LSU

10) TCU

11) Georgia Tech

12) Houston

13) Penn State

14) Oklahoma State

15) Pittsburg

16) Virginia Tech

17) Texas Tech

18) BYU

19) South Carolina

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Alabama

2) Florida

3) Iowa

4) Texas

5) Oregon

6) Miami FL

7) USC

8) Cincinnati

9) Boise State

10) TCU

11) LSU

12) Georgia Tech

13) Penn State

14) Houston

15) Oklahoma State

16) Virginia Tech

17) BYU

18) South Carolina

19) Texas Tech

20) Ohio State

TOP 20 College Football Poll

A big question developing is whether Florida deserves to be ranked No. 1? I think we, like many others, have placed them there because they are the defending champions, lost few players (although some key ones on offense) and are still undefeated playing in the SEC. However, Alabama has played more "tough" teams thus far and remain unbeaten. If we went solely on who teams have played to this date...Alabama should be ranked No. 1. If we add returning players and what we anticipate from the team...it appears to be Florida. Some people think Florida's offense has been bad this year. But, there is a difference in being a bad offense and being a conservative offense. The Florida offensive players are making the plays (unlike FSU receivers and O-line). It's the Florida game plan, whether right or wrong, since playing too conservative can be costly (See Ron Zook). If Urban doesn't open up the offense a little bit on Arkansas this week, we may have to bump Bama to the No. 1 spot.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Virginia Tech

5) Iowa

6) Cincinnati

7) Miami

8) Oregon

9) USC

10) LSU

11) Ohio State

12) Nebraska

13) Penn State

14) South Carolina

15) South Florida

16) TCU

17) Georgia Tech

18) Houston

19) Oklahoma State

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Virginia Tech

5) Cincinnati

6) Miami FL

7) Boise State

8) Oregon

9) Iowa

10) LSU

11) USC

12) Ohio State

13) Kansas

14) Penn State

15) Nebraska

16) South Florida

17) South Carolina

18) TCU

19) Georgia Tech

20) Houston

Guest Review: The Office Wedding Episode

Dear friend of the R&R Review and fellow blogger Trip Reed has offered us his review of last night's episode of The Office...

I would like to preface my review of "the wedding episode" with my thoughts on The Office so far. I have actually been watching The Office since its debut in America, though to be honest, I don't exactly remember what my initial thoughts were of the show. The short first season was pretty rocky as the writers didn't really hit their stride until the second season, but I was in from the beginning.

I think that I really came to appreciate the show when a co-worker let me borrow her copy of the British version of The Office back in the beginning of 2006. Being able to watch that helped me get a better grasp on the origins of the show and its model characters, and to better appreciate the uniquely American perspective. It was also good to be able to contrast Tim and Dawn with Jim and Pam because for me, and for a lot of other people, that relationship is really what got me hooked on the show. I had a bit of an unrequited love situation happening at the time, and I enjoyed being able to commiserate with Tim and Jim.

While I sometimes wish that the British version had been longer because it was just so good, as the American version of The Officehas pushed far past the 12 episodes of the original, I appreciate more and more how smart Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were to end their show when they did. It had a happy ending, but was able to wrap it up with dignity. As the American version drags into its sixth season, there are sharks being jumped left and right. Pam going to graphic design school; Pam becoming a sales person; Michael and Holly; Charles Miner; the Michael Scott Paper Company; the engagement; the pregnancy; and now the wedding. The "less is more" aesthetic of the British Office is what continues to make it excellent while the far-out nature of the American version continues to wear on viewers. Most importantly for me, while watching the British version, I can really imagine it as a documentary. For the American version, this concept seems to have been pretty much thrown out the window (except for when it is convenient for the writers) even though this was the central premise of the entire seri

In spite of my griping, I do continue to watch The Office weekly, though along with (or perhaps, because of) the endless parade of plot twists, its level of funniness (is that a word?) has continued to drop since, oh, probably the end of season three. I will be quick to admit, though, that season six has proven to be surprisingly funny so far. And it is with that, that we finally come to my review of "the wedding episode."

Being an hour long, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, though after seeing all of those sappy-looking commercials, I didn't have high hopes. However, as I watched, I did get quite a few laughs. Michael has a classic cringe-inducing moment during the rehearsal dinner speech, and his lodging situation (or lack thereof) was pretty funny as well. Suffice it to say, I was rather enjoying the episode until about the last 10 or 15 minutes. **Spoiler alert** Once the wedding dance scene kicked in, I was completely turned off. This was one of the most asinine things I have seen on a comedy in a long time. Again, keeping in mind that the point of the show is to be a documentary about real people working at a paper company, this was completely unrealistic and utterly absurd. And then to mix in mawkish scenes and Jim and Pam getting married on the Maid of the Mist--completely stupid (besides, how did they get dry so fast?). I think I saw the Fonz jumping over their boat on a motorcycle at one point.

On top of all of the nonsense that was going on there at the end, did anyone actually have an emotional reaction to them getting married? The whole Jim and Pam thing long ago ran out of excitement for me. I think the last time I actually had any interest in that relationship was in the season finale of season three when Jim interrupts Pam's interview to ask her out. While it is probably impossible to drag out an unrequited love story for 6+ seasons, I think that this again highlights the wisdom in ending a show after a specific number of episodes. When writers know their time line, they can create an actual story arc instead of an endlessly wagging story wet noodle.

So in conclusion, was the wedding episode as bad as some might have feared? No, it wasn't; it was actually pretty funny, though for me, the entire wedding sequence was irrelevant. However, I am giving this episode 2-1/2 sporks. It would have been 4 sporks, but the last ten minutes really blew it and cost the show 1-1/2 sporks.

Thanks to Chris Robinson and Mr. Roof for letting me post here.

R and R Top 20: College Football Week 5

The leaves are beginning to change up north as we complete a third of the college football season. Some teams are still in the hunt, while others are anticipating next season (sorry FSU fans, you might as well hold out for the 2012 season). We are possibly going to get another epic match up in Baton Rouge this Saturday night as the Gators take on the Tigers. There are more questions surrounding these two teams than David Letterman's sex life. Will Tebow play, is LSU a good team or a lucky team? Today will only have my rankings, as the other R is currently on assignment in Hawaii, which reminds me that I need to finish (write) the rest of my Hawaii posts. Mr. Robinson will be reporting on the islands of Oahu and Hawai'i (Big Island). This week, my biggest challenge was where to rank the Big 12 teams (or not). There are several teams still undefeated, but have been playing JV football teams. We should find out more this week as some of them are actually playing real college teams. I still refuse to rank Boise State higher than 20, no matter how good Oregon plays. Come on, you have to play more than one real game a year.

BA Roof's Top 20

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Virginia Tech
6. Iowa
7. Cincinnati
8. Auburn
9. Miami
10. USC
11. Oregon
12. Ohio State
13. Penn State
14. South Carolina
15. TCU
16. Georgia Tech
17. Wisconsin
18. Kansas
19. Michigan
20. Boise State

Corky St. Clair is Real

The networks are now pushing their new fall lineups down our throats, but I must say that this year’s freshman programs have been a lot better than the last couple of years. While I have enjoyed the new comedies Glee and Modern Family (though still not replacing Arrested Development) and am hopeful that FlashForward will be more like Lost than Fringe (sorry, when things get super Sci Fi and not a shred of it based on any science or reality, I tend to tune out…and yes, an island moving through time is plausible). But I think the real winner is not on any of the networks, but on TLC. You got it, the cable channel that has brought us the Jon and Kate saga has a true gem in its midst. They have found the real Corky St. Clair.

TLC’s new show, King of the Crown, follows Cy Franks (the real Corky) "the" pageant coach in South Carolina. This is reality show gold. No one, not even Christopher Guest, could quasi script a better show. For all you Waiting for Guffman fans, your prayers have been answered and dreams have come true…Corky does exist and he lives on Wednesday nights on TLC. If Cy doesn’t win you over...I don't know what would.

King of the Crown on TLC, 9pm Wednesdays