comment #1

Craig Kennedy says ...

Do you think people are writing AO Scott to bust his balls for spoiling the ending like they did with Jeff?

comment #2

BurmaShave says ...

I think people are still busting AO Scott's balls for writing "THE SQUID AND THE WHALE hit me where I live, and not just because it was filmed near where I live."

comment #3

jeffmcm says ...

Burma, that's pretty funny.

comment #4

MilkMan says ...

I have nothing nice to say about Sean Penn or this movie, which I will not even bother renting, or let languish on my queue (which, by the way, is the title of a great little work of fiction by Valdimir Sorokin, consisting of nothing more than unattributed dialogue from the inhabitants of a lethally ginormous line in Moscow), so I will stop right now before I say anything nasty about the supposedly overbearing Eddie Vedder music, or the fact that Sean Penn has silly strain of juvenile romanticism coarsing through his veins, because I haven't seen this movie, so I can't really comment on it until I see it, even though I don't plan on seeing it, I plan on staying home and watching the R.D. Laing doc Asylum, and Doug Pray's grafitti doc Infamy, two films that point towards my own juvenile inclinations, but not as much as the fact that if I had my druthers, the movie I would go see this weekend, if I was being honest with myself, which I am not, is Sydney White, due to my quasi-stalkerish feelings about Amanda Bynes and her incredibly sexy legs, which is kind of creepy, I know, especially when I type it out for all the world to see.

comment #5

T. Holly says ...

How big exactly do you think this audience is, Milk? Did you see Bynes try to dance with her chicken legs in "Hairspray?"

Saying McCandless died of starvation is a little like saying Linda Lovelace eventually died of a car crash.

comment #6

alynch says ...

Over at IMDB, they had a poll asking for your favorite Joseph Mankiewicz film. 49 percent of responders said they had never heard of him. This has nothing to do with the topic; I just felt like depressing all of you.

comment #7

BurmaShave says ...

I do often find that particularly depressing, since the option to research his identity is right there on the site, which is a DATABASE ON MOVIES. I so cannot wait for the Chinese to take us over. We don't deserve computers.

comment #8

malibugigolo says ...

Joseph Mankiewicz the guy on TCM?

Anyway, my favorite film of his is House of Strangers. Richard Conte is great. They ran a John Fante book FULL OF LIFE with Conte in the lead and that babe Judy Holliday as his wife. It rocked.

comment #9

lazarus says ...

Scott Foundas gave Into the Wild a great write-up for the Village Voice/L.A. Weekly/whatever other papers VV Media has bought up recently.

Pretty high praise so far.

comment #10

buckzollo says ...

Into the Wild is a gorgeous road trip of a movie. There is a unique narrative and it is long, but it captures an American beauty worth your time. Even if you dislike Penn, think the kid portrayed by Emile Hirsh is an idiot, etc. you will still get your money's worth. The actors all contribute memorable performances. Eddie Vedder sets fire to the opening and at other times that is bad to the bone. Check out a future best many things nominee.

comment #11

Josh Massey says ...

I have to see it since it's one of my favorite books, but I hate that Penn has romanticized that full-of-himself idiot.

comment #12

buckzollo says ...

Penn when asked (why did you sanitize the kid?)demurs (tersly) and says "my movie is my reaction/interpretation of the book," in effect ignoring the premise.

comment #13

Craig Kennedy says ...

I thought McCandless came off as a jerk and I still liked the movie.

comment #14

christian says ...

i was going to say something, but i'm trying to figure out what's going on exactly with milkman...

comment #15

hiviper says ...

My impression of this movie will come from how much Penn allows the pragmatists who live in that environment to cut through McCandless's "anything is possible if you believe in magic" bullshit.

The book was great and a quick read, so the story is worth telling if it's done right.

comment #16

Gaydos says ...

I bear good news: we have progressed since the jive of Easy Rider. Not that Into the Wild will be as wildly successful as that film, it at least proves that one filmmaker can express himself, defy everyone's cliched preconceptions about him, deliver a powerfully emotional road trip movie that takes the underlying "on the road" kerouac mythology and mature it, deepen it, expand it, while staying absolutely true to the anarchic vision of the Beats that started all this.

To paraphrase Preston Sturges, "That's not easy to say with false teeth."

"Into the Wild" is an amazing film, an amazing experience and I also love how it will screw with some right-wing heads because Libertarian types who probably assume they hate Sean Penn will, if they dare to see it, wind up wanting to shake his hand. The boy done good.

comment #17

Pinko Punko says ...

The only thing I have to say about MilkMan is that every time I read one of his comments, it is like the first time, and I hear "a STUNNING professional debut" (on HE) in my head, followed by someone else: "the Basque whacker?"

He never, ever pinches off a chashewy nutlog in the comments, everything is an effortless plop plop into the bowl. I hope the rest of you a-holes recognize that he is as much of a genius as this particular oeuvre is ever gonna see.

comment #18

Rich S. says ...

This movie sounds like it treads some of the same territory as Herzog's Grizzly Man. If it can balance that film's delicate tightrope act, "I admire his spirit, but BOY was he an idiot," I'll be impressed. If not, I'll just watch Grizzly Man again.

comment #19

lazarus says ...

I don't think it would be possible to paint a portait of someone as foolish as Timothy Treadwell. Living unprepared in the wilderness is crazy enough, while living with grizzly bears is just plain idiotic.

Maybe admire Dian Fossey instead.

comment #20

Arizona Joe says ...

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, until I read of the overbearing Eddie Vedder music. Why would that be considered more romantic and less industrial than something by Beethoven or Schubert? Why not a piano sonata or an acoustic guitar?

I wonder what kind of music Kubrick would have chosen?

I could not agree more with the previous posts about Timothy Treadwell. He not only rejected society, but also the rationalism of authority, of people who know more than he did. He was a self-made man, without education or experience handed down by experts. And unlike the protagonist of "Into the Wild" actively sought celebrity. He was a fool's fool and not sympathetic.

comment #21

buckzollo says ...

AZ Joe see the movie and post. Discounting Eddie Vedder to the point of replacing him with an acoustic guitar having NOT seen the movie? WWKD?
Are you for real?

comment #22

BurmaShave says ...

Plenty of people die of a heart attack after 40 years in a windowless office. While I wouldn't exactly want my head torn off by a bear, at least he lived, even if he was an idiot.

comment #23

JD says ...

Newsflash to those who are skeptical about Into the Wild because they think the movie will glorify its protagonist: there ARE interpretations of characters besides hero and villain. I've seen Penn's film and, while I felt there were flaws that nobody else seems to be bothered by (all of Penn's directorial efforts have embarrassingly syrupy, sentimental moments), it really is a complex, nuanced film that tries to reconcile the value of this character's idealism and the impracticality of it. The movie avoids the two obvious arguments -- 1) he was an idiot who naively pursued a lifestyle he couldn't handle and 2) he was a bold individualist who died for his beliefs -- and tries to really deal with the complexities of his story. PS - I'm not much of a Peral Jam fan, but I thought Eddie Vedder's contribution was one of the film's greatest strengths.

comment #24

Craig Kennedy says ...

Eddie Vedder was fine, but it's probably fair to say people who go in hating him are going to be driven crazy.

As for Penn, it's obvious he admires a lot about McCandless, but I never felt he was offering the man up as a saint. It's ambiguous and it's one of the strengths of the movie. It's easy to be intoxicated by McCandless'ideals, but also to be sobered by the reality of the consequences of his actions - both to himself and to his friends and family.

Penn doesn't deny the kid was selfish and more than a little foolish and this isn't some kind of hagiography. I left the movie really frustrated by McCandless, but also thinking "Goddmanit, the little fucker was on to something."

comment #25

T. Holly says ...

Did he die a virgin? The movie didn't really make that clear.

comment #26

Gaydos says ...

JD: I'm with you. Don't own no pearl jam albums, but LOVED the vedder voice here which is plaintive, young, passionate, ie a wonderful support to the thrust of the story without ever taking you out of the story. By the way, few Hollywood movies strike me as "wise" in the way this film is wise, about youth, idealism, families, personal pain, the adventure of life. One more thing no one has said yet, every frame of the movie seems to be haunted by death, by the finiteness of lifes, the risks at every turn. Mucho importante...

comment #27

Alan Cerny says ...

I'm reading the book now, and this film's leapt to my most anticipated must-see this year. It was the chapter with the old man that did it.

comment #28

buckzollo says ...

Re: virginity
Penn & Krakauer addressed it in passing by saying that he likely lived an unspoken vow of chastity, or so their research concluded.

Re: Eddie Vedder and the music
These sections are underwritten if at all. The music does not compete or overshadow dialogue, anyway.

comment #29

George Prager says ...

I wish everyone in the world would behave themselves and not do stupid things. Do you hear me, World? Don't do bad things!!!!!!!!

comment #30

lazarus says ...

Hey guys (and gals), thought you might want to know that MiraJeff's review is FINALLY up over at AICN!!! Does he realize how long he kept us waiting? He's much too modest to promote it himself, so it's the least I could do as a fan. I'm sure you'll all want to head over there right now so I won't take up any more of your time.

BTW, are we potentially talking Eddie Vedder: Oscar Winner?

Cool.

comment #31

lazarus says ...

^^ And I'm talking about none other than MiraJeff's Jesse James review, in case you had forgotten.

comment #32

lipranzer says ...

I just got back from seeing this. I've had problems with all three of Sean Penn's previous films as director (INDIAN RUNNER dragged at points, CROSSING GUARD was better with David Morse's story than with Jack Nicholson's story, and while THE PLEDGE was riveting as a character study, it was rather perfunctory as a mystery), but Penn has advanced himself with this. Penn has always kept the "angry young man" persona of his young acting career, but this is the first movie he's done as writer and director that not only is able to fully capture that (the closest is THE INDIAN RUNNER, his best film until this), but also tempers that anger with compassion towards everyone else. And yes, you can still think him somewhat a fool and still like the movie.

comment #33

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