"Into the Wild"

[TheNatrix]

I know a lot of you have read Jon K.'s book "Into the Wild" so I thought this was worth mentioning. While I was poking around at Barnes and Noble the other night I noticed that this book was on a table for high school students summer reading. I had feelings of elation which were quickly exhumed when I noticed a nice sticker on the cover stating "Coming soon to theaters!"

Vince Vaughan will be playing Wayne Westerberg. Hopefully they are able to capture the spirit of the novel. I'm not sure how Chris McCandless would feel about his life being made to a movie.

[Judgeh]

Lots of Google hits. William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden star as well. Sean Pean directs.

A strange lad who set out to do what a lot of us have imagined at one time or another in our lives. The shame is he doesn't seem to have learned with all of his experience, the survival skills necessary for such a life. Ironically, the abandoned bus was just a few miles from civilization.

[Judgeh]

Of course the lad would be upset with a movie (as well as the best selling book). He just wanted to disappear into the wilderness and it's very tough to do that in these times regardless of book and movie. Certainly the media would not exist were it not for the ending.

[Rookie]

That was a memorable (sort of haunting) book. I'm sure the movie won't "measure up" but, I'll go see it.

[fvrwld]

I couldn't get through the book. I found that it kind of dragged. I watched the trailer and it looks good. I'll probably see the movie

OTOH, I had a hard time putting down "Into Thin Air". Wasn't that made into a tv mini-series?

[Judgeh]

I couldn't get through the book. I found that it kind of dragged. I watched the trailer and it looks good. I'll probably see the movie

OTOH, I had a hard time putting down "Into Thin Air". Wasn't that made into a tv mini-series?

I read both and enjoyed both. "Into Thin Air" had more adventure to it, that's for sure. The movie however, was less than memorable. The difference with this new movie may be that it has some pretty heavy hitters on and off screen. It could be very good.

[redhawk]

It could be very good.

Or not.....

But with Sean Penn directing, I'm hopeful.

And the role of McCandles is played by Emile Hirsh

[redhawk]

Some may find this interesting:

The Ballad of Chris McCandless
from the album The Speed of Trees

Copyright Ellis Paul Publishing SESAC

He was out on the highway smiling
A mystic in torn blue jeans
The kid left his trust fund to come out walking.
He hitched across this country
backpack and a head full of dreams
Could’ve sworn he heard the earth a talking….talking

[chorus 1]
Sometimes, he said, don’t it feel like the concrete’s closing in?
We’re putting bricks on the horizon
Was he chasing fool’s gold…or a holy man walking a dirt road to the end?
I hitched a ride with Chris McCandless
Stepped in the wild of a dream

The horizon in South Dakota
Is an ocean of harvest grain
In a dusty silo we found work for the taking
We’d hitched up from California
But he never told me his real name
Never told me what past he was out here shaking
We're all shaking something...

[chorus 2]
Sometimes, he said, don’t it feel like technology’s closing in?
We’re raising towers on the horizon
Was he chasing fool’s gold…or a holy man walking a dirt road to the end?
I hitched a ride with Chris McCandless
Stepped in the wild of a dream

[bridge]
A stone….a path…a river of glass
The night sky…can you see stars from wherever you are?

In a broken school bus they found him
In the heart of the Alaska range
The journey ends when the heart stops beating…time is fleeting

Was he chasing fool’s gold,
Or a holy man walking a dirt road to the end?
I don’t know but I hitched a ride with Chris McCandless
Stepped in the wild with Chris McCandless
And I felt alive with Chris McCandless
I was wide awake in the dream…dream.

[Roland]

I agree with Hawk, with Penn directing, it is very promising...

[adkmoose]

Into the wild , is this the story of the guy who changed his name to " Supertramp " ?
I saw a story on him on 20/20 about 5 years ago , pretty interesting. If so I think it would make a great movie if done correctly.

[redhawk]

Into the wild , is this the story of the guy who changed his name to " Supertramp " ?
I saw a story on him on 20/20 about 5 years ago , pretty interesting. If so I think it would make a great movie if done correctly.

Yep. I think it's an expansion on an earlier work ny the author called "Death of an Innocent"

[Dowser]

Here's a link to an interesting article written about Chris's life:

http://outside.away.com/magazine/0193/9301fdea.html

[kwc]

The Movie ...

From the Fairbanks News-Miner ...

Golden Heart City to host screenings of Sean Penn film
By Jeff Richardson
jrichardson@newsminer.com
Published August 23, 2007


Two screenings of the movie “Into the Wild” will be shown at The Blue Loon on Sept. 3, offering the first public glimpse of Sean Penn’s adaptation of the controversial bestseller.

The movie, based on Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book, was written and directed by Penn. He said the local screenings are a way of thanking Alaskans who worked on the movie while it was being filmed on location last summer. It will be released nationwide on Sept. 21.

The main character, Christopher McCandless, is portrayed in the movie by Emile Hirsch, with supporting actors that include Vince Vaughn, William Hurt and Catherine Keener.

Penn said the local crew members helped tremendously with filming in locations that rarely attract camera crews. Much of the story takes place between Fairbanks and Anchorage, including remote areas off the Parks Highway.

“The state and the people that worked on the movie from the state were mutually invaluable,” he said, speaking from Los Angeles by telephone.

The local viewings will also offer the first on-screen look at a story that has a unique place in Alaska wilderness lore, inspiring debate, outrage and fascination.

The nonfiction tale of McCandless, a 24-year-old Virginia man who hitchhiked to Alaska in 1992, follows his trail as he sheds his possessions and attempts to live a simple wilderness life. After a poorly equipped voyage down the Stampede Trail, McCandless ultimately died in an abandoned bus near the Parks Highway.

McCandless is viewed in a largely sympathetic light in the book as an idealistic wanderer on a badly planned journey of self-discovery.

Many Alaskans have weighed in with a less-romantic judgment. McCandless has been criticized as an arrogant tourist whose lack of respect for nature ultimately killed him. After the book was published, a study by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers cast doubt on the theory Krakauer has presented for McCandless’ death.

Penn said he’s aware of “the Alaska perspective” of McCandless. Without revealing any details of the movie, he said he’s inclined to take a more compassionate view of his subject. He said McCandless embodies the wanderlust that everyone experiences and that his story should be viewed that way.

“I think this is a story of personal will,” he said.

Penn said he picked up “Into the Wild” in a bookstore a decade ago and ended up reading it cover-to-cover twice before going to sleep that night. The next day he began working to secure the film rights.

“It just left an indelible imprint on me,” he said.

The story also tested his patience. It took a decade before Penn was able to begin filming, which left him time to visualize the entire movie in his head.

But when he finally made it to Alaska to scout locations last year, Penn said the enormity of the movie’s backdrop dazzled him. Although other locations were briefly considered, he said there was no doubt “Into the Wild” would be filmed in Alaska.

“The first words that came to my mind were ‘nature on steroids,’” he said. “Bigger, deeper, stronger, colder, wilder, exciting.”

He later added another judgment — “deceptive as hell.” The logistics of traversing a 100-yard wilderness clearing, for example, are much different than moving through a pasture in the Midwest. He said those realities made it particularly complicated to film and required Alaskans to maintain the story’s accuracy.

Willie Karidis, the executive director of the Denali Education Center, got an up-close view of the process while the crew filled Denali Park last summer. Locals handled transportation and filled countless odd jobs.

“There were a ton of folks,” Karidis said. “Doing the logistics of a film like this is daunting. He knew he couldn’t do it on his own, so he hired local people.”

Karidis and Penn developed a friendship during the shoot, and the Denali Education Center will get the proceeds from the $25 tickets to the Fairbanks screenings. While Penn is not planning to attend the screening, a producer from the film may attend for an after-movie discussion.

Although the center will benefit financially from the movie, Karidis said he’s more enthused that he’ll finally get to see “Into the Wild” on screen. After watching Penn work, he thinks the Oscar winner will do the story justice.

“I’m excited to see how it’s treated in the hands of a true artist,” he said.

[redhawk]

On my flights to and from Washington, I read articles about "Into The Wild" and Sean Penn in Outside and Esquire magazines.

According to the articles Penn stayed as true to the story as possible, and spent two years in filming at the same locations McCandless was at and many of the advisors were actual people that McCandless had interacted with in his adventures. He worked with the family as closely as possible, respecting their wishes as much as possible to present the facts, yet was able to also document the alienation.

So, not being much of a theater buff, I usually wait for the DVD release, but, I think this is one film I will be seeing soon after it's release which i believe is this week.

Hawk

[Kyler]

You can watch the trailer on Apple's website.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount_vantage/intothewild/