Where the wild things are (3 Stars)

This film is based on a children's book written by Maurice Sendak in 1963. The director Spike Jonze insists that he made the film for children, but many critics claim it isn't suitable for young children.

Max is a nine-year-old boy who has difficulty fitting in. He prefers to play alone. He builds an igloo outside his house, but his sister's friends demolish it. He's angry with his sister for not telling them off. Later that evening he wants to spend time with his mother, but she ignores him when her boyfriend visits. Dressed in a wolf suit, he runs round the house throwing things on the floor. When she scolds him, he runs away.

At the side of a lake he finds a small boat. He gets in it, and the wind blows him far, far away. He arrives at a island so far away that it's no longer winter. It's inhabited by seven large furry monsters who're in the middle of an argument. When Max goes to speak with them they want to eat him, so he says that he's the king of a far-off land, and he has magical powers that will make them happy. They agree to make him their king.

For a while they're contented, until they start to believe he's a fake.

I haven't read the book, so I can only judge the film on its own merits. I don't fully understand it. Does Max really travel to a magical land, or is it just a child's fantasy? He spends a long time on the island, many days, but when he returns home it seems like only a few hours have passed.

Spike Jonze has directed four films. The other three are "Being John Malkovich". "Adaptation" and "Her". They're all films that I like a lot, but I found difficulty relating to "Where the wild things are".

Success Rate:  - 1.0

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Can't Hardly Wait (4 Stars)

This is the fifth film in my high school marathon. But only just. It takes place over a 24 hour period that begins with the school graduation. Most of the film takes place at a party on the evening of graduation day.

The film, first released in 1998, has been criticised for its lack of originality, but I don't understand why people say that. Name one other film that takes place in the 24 hours after high school graduation. Just one, and then I'll be quiet. Until then I'll persist in saying that it's a highly original film.

The film is full of high school stereotypes. If you're an American watching the film you will probably recognise yourself, whether you were a nerd, a Mean Girl or a high school jock. However, the film concentrates on six characters who are introduced with the photos from the high school year book. The first is Mike Dexter, the captain of the football team and every other school team.

Amanda Beckett is the most beautiful girl in the school. She was also Mike's girlfriend for the last four years. She was the prom queen, and I assume that Mike was the prom king, but there weren't enough lines in the year book to list all his activities. Mike dumped Amanda the day before graduation. The reason was that he's going to college, and college girls are hotter than high school girls. Mike might have a lot of muscle, but he doesn't have much brain power. Hasn't it occurred to him that Amanda has left school and will possibly become a hot college girl?

Preston Meyers is a boy who's spent the last four years dreaming about Amanda. That's me. I would have spent four years idolising the most beautiful girl in the class with a mixture of love and lust. I would have pinned all her photos on the wall next to my bed and stared at them every night before going to sleep. There would be sexy photos in skimpy bikinis that I'd secretly snapped, maybe even upskirt photos from her cheerleader practise. Preston has heard about Mike breaking up with Amanda, and he thinks he finally has a chance.

Denise Fleming isn't as social as the other kids at the party. She's Preston's best friend, and he's persuaded her to go to the party to support him when he makes his move to get Amanda. She's not shy, but she doesn't care about the superficial activities of high school life. I doubt she even went to the prom.

William Lichter is the class nerd who's been bullied by Mike all through school. He sees the party as his last chance to take revenge. Together with two of his friends, he wants to chloroform Mike, strip him naked and take compromising photos of him with another boy.

Kenny Fisher is a horny young teenager who hides his insecurities behind an extroverted lifestyle. He's a still a virgin, but he doesn't admit it. He sees the party as a last chance to sleep with a high school girl. He's made a list of ten girls that he intends to chat up. One of them must say Yes, he thinks to himself. Interestingly, neither Amanda nor Denise is on his list. Amanda is way out of his league, and Denise is too plain.

Amanda Beckett would have been out of my league as well. She was played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, one of the most beautiful actresses who's ever lived. She was 18 at the time, beautiful then and still beautiful today. She's a talented actress who's never achieved the fame she deserves. She's best known for "I know what you did last summer", made a year earlier in 1997. It's sad when an actor is best known for a film made at the beginning of his career, but "I know what you did last summer" is a genuine masterpiece, one of my favourite films.

"Can't Hardly Wait" is a relatively unknown film, but it has its fans. Maybe it isn't popular enough to be called a cult film, but it may still reach that status one day.

Success Rate:  + 0.6

Can't Hardly Wait (4½ Stars)

I went to bed early last night after spending the day visiting a museum in Karlsruhe. One of the consequences of going to bed early is waking up early. At 2 am I was wide awake and couldn't sleep. My wonderful friend Crystal Berry, who I've known by different names over the years, decided to host a watch party on Facebook. If you don't know what that is, it's simple. She shows a film and her friends can watch it. We have a chat window open, so we can talk about the film while it's running.

She's done this a few times before, but I could never take part because I noticed the film too late. The film starts when Crystal says it does, so if I arrive late I miss the start, and for a serious film fan like me that's out of the question.

I last watched "Can't hardly wait" in 2011. I liked it and wanted to watch it again, but the DVD has sat on my shelf gathering dust ever since. It's a typical film for Crystal. She likes high school films. She likes to live in the past, and why not? They say that school is the happiest time of your life. Maybe it wasn't for me; I preferred my university years, but it's close enough. I was a nerdy outsider in school, but in university I was one of the in crowd. That's a story for another day.

I bought the DVD eight years ago because I'm a fan of Jennifer Love Hewitt. Not just a fan, I have a sort of crush on her. She's gorgeous, and she was especially beautiful in her teenage years. (She was 18 when she made this film). However, the film has so many other things in its favour. It offers a look into the microcosm of high school. School is over, and it's the last time everyone will be able to party together. We see all the types of young people that we know in high school, from the popular football jocks to the rock music freaks and the outsiders. If you watch the film, try to recognise yourself. I easily spotted myself in the crowd.

Maybe the main weakness of watch parties is in the premise itself. We were watching together, in a group, which involved talking to one another. Worse still, we were typing to one another, so we were constantly being distracted from the film. A film like this deserves my full attention, so I'll watch it again soon.

Look who I met in the museum. That look is enough to send chills down my spine.

I didn't realise until I started to write the post that the watch party took place on the 10th anniversary of my first meeting with Crystal. It was 2nd June 2009, not 3rd June, but because of the time difference it was the 2nd for her. I wanted to post an old photo of her from when we first met, but my photos are on a memory stick somewhere in a draw, and it would take too long to find them, so I grabbed one of her new photos from Facebook.

She's as beautiful as she was in 2009, maybe even more beautiful.

Success Rate:  + 0.6

Psycho Beach Party (3¾ Stars)

Boy, there are a lot of twisted souls out there!

Even though this film was a box office flop, earning less than a quarter of its budget in the cinemas, it's considered by many to be a cult film. I won't try to explain what that means, because I'm not sure I understand it myself. Nevertheless, it's been a favourite rental film in video stores ever since it was released on disc. Maybe the film's title appeals to young people who want a movie night at home.

The film was made in 2000, but it's set in the 1960's, the decade of beach parties. Marvel Ann heads down to Malibu Beach in the sexiest bikini she dares to wear -- see above! -- to pick up boys. She takes her two best friends with her for company, nerdy Bernadine (on the left) and tomboy Florence (on the right). She tries to lose her friends when the surfers show up, but they embarrass her by joining in her conversations with the boys. Worst of all, Florence insists on learning to surf so that she can be one of the guys.

Unknown to the girls, there's a killer stalking the beach. Dead bodies are found each day, and not even the best work of the transvestite police detective Monica Stark can find the killer. Florence is suffering from a multiple personality disorder and suspects herself. But the killer may even be supernatural. There's a haunted house on the beach in which a whole family was slaughtered 20 years ago. The house has been empty ever since, but now it's being rented by Bettina Barnes, a big star in horror and science fiction films.

The film doesn't take itself too seriously. It parodies the surfing culture of the 1960's, including the brash sexism of the age. The lines are delivered with wooden precision. It's not too scary, it's not too funny, but it's cute. It's a good film for a movie night at home.

Can't Hardly Wait (4 Stars)

Is this film deep and meaningful? Is it shallow? Is it a deep film that only pretends to be shallow? Or is it a shallow film that pretends to be meaningful?

Whatever your opinion is, the film certainly stands out as being unique in its genre. It focuses on one evening in the life of a group of teenagers. School is out. Tomorrow they have to begin to confront the cruel world. Almost all the film takes place in a final party the students have together. The main topic of conversation at the party is the high school beauty Amanda having been dumped by her boyfriend the day before. The school jocks, the nerds, the sensitive kids, they all party together in this amusing film. I've only watched it once, so far, but I have a feeling it's a film that will grow on me. Wait for my next review.