In an effort to, I guess, high jack all hipster media, the film has a clothing line and interviews at Urban Outfitters, has a gigantic piece in this months Filter Magazine, with interviews fro Jonze, Karen O, Catherin O'Hara, Catherine Keener, Max Records, the costume designer, the documentarian, the score composer, and a few other crew members. It's exhaustive. There's also what looks like a great, very positive critical essay by Kent Jones in the new film comment that I'm going to read after I see the film because it was rather spoilery.

Oh and that photoshop contest, they did a post with all three of my entries.

So...I saw the movie. I went to an 826 Chicago charity screening on Tuesday. The entire experience was awesome, not the least of which because the movie is really, really, really great. Also a lot of fun because though only Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers were scheduled to be there, both Max Records and Catherine Keener were there aswell, with Eggers and Records introducing the film, and Jonze and Keener doing an hour long Q&A after the film. They also handed out paper Max crowns, and everything right down to the tickets themselves was designed and looks awesome.

Only non-spoiler information I can share about the Q&A is that Spike Jonze shot Dave Eggers with a BB Gun while they were writing, Jonze did things off-screen to either scare or make laugh, Max Records. One instance was covering Catherine Keener in blood and then having her pop out behind the camera during a scene, which made Max laugh, instead of be scared. Jonze brought his lap top to show a short he and Catherine Keener made for Maurice Sendak's 80th Birthday with Jonze playing childhood Sendak and Keener playing his mother, sister and a policeman. They use forced perspective to make Jonze seem tiny, and it's awesome. Someone shouted that Jonze should play the short film he co-directed with Kanye West that was supposed to be out at the end of September and he said it wasn't finished. Also interesting and I haven't heard it anywhere else, Catherine Keener is credited as an Associate Producer, and Jonze said she was basically his assistant director, acting coach for Records, and she alternated with Jonze playing Max on the soundstage where they recorded all the voices, which they did much like Wes is doing kind of, by having the voice actors act out all the scenes as if they were real and have them hit foam for trees and interact with one another. Keener was apperantly there for the entire shoot, though she obviously she's only got a small role as the mother.

I'd love to talk about the film, but unfortunately not that many people have seen it yet, but when it comes out, see it, and come back here. I'd love to know what others think.

I just started the Dave Egger's novelization on the film. It has me so excited!

P.S. Spike Jonze at the Apple Store in Soho on 10/12 at 6pm

Just got back from seeing the movie and I really really enjoyed it. My wife, my sister and I had a productive conversation afterwards in the parking lot that really helped us all to understand the monsters because I think everyone will take something completely different away from them. It has been increasingly hard for me to really understand things from a child's perspective over the years. I guess the most powerful effect this movie had on me was to really be able to take me back to what I was going through as a kid when I had no idea what it all meant, when I was confused and when the worst thing that could ever happen was my mom got dissapointed in me and how scared that made me feel that I could lose her. Powerful stuff and not easy to accomplish.