036 – Where the Wild Things Are

Director Spike Jonze is somewhat of an Oscar anomaly, successfully turning oddities like Being John Malkovitch, Adaptation, and Her into auteur films embraced by the Academy. This week’s episode focuses on perhaps his riskiest and most personal film: 2009′s adaptation of children’s classic Where the WIld Things Are. The film was expensive and divisive, loved by those who were moved by its vision and dismissed by those who felt it didn’t honor their childhood memories of the book. 2009 was the first year of the 10-wide Best Picture field, but voters had already moved on from Jonze’s spectacle by the time of voting. We discuss how Avatar might have sucked all of the “visionary” oxygen out of the room, how the film makes the case for a voice performance Oscar, and the brilliant and unrewarded musical work from Karen O and Carter Burwell. (Apologies for the first ~20 minutes of audio on this episode – we thank you for your patience!) Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil