We’re starting to hear some positive buzz about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Apparently it doesn’t rape or ruin your childhood; rather, it may make you feel like a kid again. This is what a toy/cartoon adaptation should do, we guess, but we still wish they’d made a Reagan-era-style war movie instead of a CG-heavy action blockbuster with too much comic relief. Because even when we were little we knew the property was a young person’s version of the conservative, Cold War-informed military pictures of the 1980s. And if Rambo could get his own Saturday morning animated series, why couldn’t we get a hard-R-rated G.I. Joe after all these years?
We know the answer to that question, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re disappointed. See, while others might feel GIJTROC has ruined their childhood by being too unfaithful to the action figures and show, we feel it’s ruined our childhood because it isn’t the movie we dreamed of. So that’s how the following list of films was selected. Instead of going for all the obvious remakes and video game adaptations (we’ve never cared about games), we’re focusing on movies that really turned our beloved films, comics and cartoons of our youth into something we’re now almost embarrassed to ever admit we enjoyed.
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The new trailer for Where the Wild Things Are is such a phenomenon today that I’ve even seen celebrities excitedly Tweeting about it (and by celebrities, I mean specifically Rob Corddry). Actually, I think the majority of people I follow on Twitter have squeezed out a gushing statement in 140 words or less. That is, except me (don’t I technically follow myself?). Sure, I’m looking forward to the movie, as a fan of Maurice Sendak and a fan of Spike Jonze and a fan of Dave Eggers, but I don’t think the trailer looks that incredible. And the parts that do look really great remind me of how amazing the trailer for Benjamin Button looked. Remember what happened with that?
Maybe it’s my usual distaste for computer-generated characters; yes, I’d honesty be happier if the Wild Things were made by the Jim Henson Company and all looked like Sweetums from The Muppet Show. I do believe the film includes “suitmation” and animatronics, in addition to CG, but much of what I noticed in the trailer was the computer stuff, and I’m sad to say that, unlike all the commenters at FirstShowing.net, I can’t yet label this as an “instant classic.”
Let’s see if there are any bloggers who agree with me after the jump:
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