The conventional wisdom regarding Sean Penn's justly acclaimed rendering of Into the Wild is that the film is "faithful" to the Jon Krakauer book. This is utterly cracked, and the misconception is illustrative of my staunch "books are not movies" philosophy. Not only is Into the Wild not "faithful" to the book, but it couldn't possibly have been faithful and remain a narrative film. Sure, it dutifully replicates what Krakauer was able to discover about Chris McCandless' adventure – most of the supporting characters, destinations and events are here, and some lines of dialogue are lifted from Krakauer's account. If that's all it takes for a movie to be "faithful," then I guess it's faithful. But that ignores the fact that the book and the film were trying to accomplish fundamentally different things, and went about it in fundamentally different ways.

Krakauer's book – which, by the way, is a national treasure – is first journalistic, and then philosophical. The author did painstaking research to piece together the details of McCandless' journey and death from interviews, personal observations, and Chris's own writings. What emerged probably wasn't what Krakauer, who obviously sympathizes and identifies with his hero, would have preferred: the picture of McCandless his sources paint is that of a young man who is bright and curious, but also inconsiderate, arrogant, and often downright unpleasant. (The letter he wrote to "Ron Franz," Hal Holbrook's character in the film, haranguing the octogenarian to sell his possessions and go on the road, is painful to read.)

There's been much buzzing around the Cinematical virtual office over the past few days about Speed Racer. James pretty much liked it (for a kids' movie), Scott pretty much hated it, and Eugene seems, well, a bit disappointed. We just got back from taking the crew to see Speed Racer.

Last week at the same time, we were at Iron Man, and the theater was almost completely packed, with only front row seats left by the time the previews started. This week, same time, exact same theater, even, and there were maybe 20 people total. And I have to say, if the Wachowskis are aiming for the kiddie market with this film, as many seem to think, I think they've largely missed their mark. Aside from the largely empty matinee theater, there were a couple of signs during the screening that this movie wasn't playing well to the kiddie set.

At the Long Beach Grand Prix, the roar of high-powered race car engines fills the air, a deep bass thrum cutting through the smell of exhaust in the early summer heat. Tens of thousands of race fans have gathered to take in the metal-and-rubber reality of racing, but in the Long Beach Convention Center, a small group of journalists have gathered to talk about a big-screen fantasy vision of the spectacle roaring around us, Cinematical was there to speak with the people behind Speed Racer: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Matthew Fox, as well as producer Joel Silver.

Emile Hirsch, relaxed and fairly amused, is asked about embodying a classic character. "It's pretty cool." He laughs; "I was a very big fan of the show growing up ... I would just watch it every morning with cereal ... sometimes soda in the cereal. ..." I then asked Hirsch if, after reading the script, he was worried about being Mark Hamill to Matthew Fox's Harrison Ford, that Speed would be out-cooled by Racer X. "Well, now I am ..." The rest of the sentence is unprintable, but Hirsch then mocked Fox's masked mystery man and spoke sincerely about Speed's virtues: "Yeah, (Racer X) is so cool ... No, no, no; Speed's got the nobility; Speed does the right thing; Speed is ... Speed's cool."

(Hirsch on coolness:)

I don't know a lot about Speed Racer aside from what I've gleaned from the theme song over the years -- apparently, the young man's a demon on wheels -- so, in many ways, I'm the best possible audience for Larry and Andy Wachowski's new big-screen interpretation of the character. Originally a Japanese animation program exported and re-dubbed for the American market in the '60s, Speed Racer has now been revived and revitalized for now. And the Wachowskis have created a blast of pure pop family fun; Speed Racer's a bright, bold visual spectacle designed for kids.

And why shouldn't it be? Or, rather, how could it not? This is a property where one of the supporting characters is, after all, a monkey; any fully-grown individual hoping for an adult action film or racing realism is looking in the wrong place. Speed Racer plays like a car-crazed visual wonder -- it looks and feels like what pop artist Roy Lichtenstein would dream if you locked him in a room full of gas fumes, gave him only candy to eat and showed him nothing but Tron, Indianapolis 500 footage, episodes of the '60s Batman TV show and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. All at the same time. With the volume very, very high.

Not long ago we asked you folks to submit a bunch of questions for Speed Racer stars Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci to answer, and guess what -- they answered them! Well, not all of them, but a few lucky individuals had their questions hand-picked, thrown up on a screen and presented to those two charming kids during another one of Moviefone's fabulous Unscripted installments. As always, you can check out an exclusive clip from their chat above -- one you will only see here on Cinematical. In it, Hirsch and Ricci talk about working with a green screen, and how "tripped-out" the whole experience is. I believe Ricci compared it to feeling very high. Hmmm.

But anyway, these two cats star in the new film Speed Racer, out this Friday in theaters everywhere. And, as you're probably already aware, Speed Racer was based on an old 14th century poem about two spiders who fall in love with an elephant. Kidding! Of course it's based on the "tripped-out" (just tying it all in) cartoon from the '60s. The live-action feature film was written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski (aka those Matrix guys), and it also stars John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox.

Check out the Moviefone Unscripted chat over here, and watch as the two talk about kissing (with and without tongue), cutting hair, fighting and details on their "perfect drive." Speed Racer arrives on May 9, and you can check out loads of really cool images from the film in our gallery below.

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While I'm personally much more excited about Iron Man and Indy 4, there's certainly been lots of buzzing amongst the internet bees about the Wachowski's adaptation of Speed Racer. In case you haven't seen the millions of trailers, the film looks ... well, it looks pretty damn trippy. Like they took the old cartoon and dosed it up with acid. It looks visually intense, with lots of brought, swirly colors, speedy-fast cars, and fairly simplistic dialog. Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere put up a post noting that the tracking for Speed Racer looks a bit concerning, with not as many people as the studio might like saying they plan to see it opening weekend.

As commenters on Hollywood Elsewhere have noted, Speed Racer's target demographic looks to be A) fanboys who will pay to see anything about the cartoon they loved in their youth, especially if it's made with groovy CGI and shiny, pretty colors; and B) four-year-old boys. I can't really see a lot of chicks begging their boyfriends to see Speed Racer on date night, though there may be more than a few guys bargaining and sitting through Baby Mama or Made of Honor in exchange for a Speed Racer date.

Cinematical's James Rocchi caught Speed Racer last night at a sneak screening. I caught him on his cell at the Speed Racer junket this morning to ask his initial impressions of the film; here's what he had to say about it: "It's pure, pop family fun, a bold, bright kids' movie that's visually exciting and keeps the tone right." James noted that his overall impression of the film was "generally very favorable -- as a kids' movie." If any Cinematical readers have been to a preview screening of Speed Racer, let us know what you think of how the full movie plays. And the rest of you movie fans -- does Speed Racer look hot, or not? And are you planning to see it in the theater?

So much has been released lately, I am honestly losing track of what Speed Racer footage is new -- but the Internet is raving over the new featurette posted over on Apple. If you've been to the theatre in the past week or so, you've seen at least half of this on the First Look.

The rest of it is ... well, probably most of the movie. For a movie full of such eye-blowing visuals, you would think they'd hold back a little. Hopefully, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and Speed Racer fans will be stunned anew.

I confess, the trailers and featurette are enough for me. It certainly is pretty -- the world of the future that I long to live in -- but it just doesn't grab me otherwise. I feel terribly out of touch and I shouldn't admit it, but my first thought upon seeing Matthew Fox's racing gear was "Oh, he's Scottish." At least I know the plot, now. I am still amazed they managed to snag Susan Sarandon for this. It has to be pretty cool if she's involved, right? We will find out soon enough. Speed Racer comes to the theatres on May 9th, 2008.

I don't remember a heck of a lot about the original Speed Racer TV show except that it had one of the great theme songs of all time. (Man, Greg Kihn spoke the truth: They really don't write 'em like that anymore.) That, and Speed's eyes were extraordinarily large and looked like a girl's, and his mouth never seemed to match what he was saying. Oh, anime! We were so young and untrained in your ways.

Forty years after it ended its two-year run on TV, Speed Racer has grown up to be a movie, starring Emile Hirsch (as Speed) and Christina Ricci (as Speed's girlfriend Trixie), both of whose eyes are appropriately large and well-lashed. Filmed by the Wachowski brothers (err, siblings?) in their first directorial effort since the Matrix movies, Speed Racer looks to be one of those movies that people will either love or hate. When we debuted the trailer back in December, it seemed like half the comments included the word "awesome," while the other half included the letters (and symbol) "WTF?"

You'll be able to see for yourself on May 9 whether the Wachowskis have pulled off the trick of transferring anime -- and racetrack shenanigans -- to the big screen. Meantime, we have more pressing business at hand: Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci have signed on for our Unscripted interview series, for which they'll be asking each other your questions. And they can only do that if you get off your butt and submit one, so do it in the comments section below.

Please post your comment by Friday, April 18, and include your name and the city where you live. Go, Speed Racer fan, go!

So they might not be as likely to 'freak your trip' as the last poster, but Comics2Film now has four new character posters for the Wachowski's highly-anticipated adaptation of Speed Racer. Our first poster release came back in December and now these new releases give some of the main characters their very own one sheet. Racer X, Trixie, and two new posters of the Speed Racer himself, Emile Hirsch, are now available (I guess nobody thought that a Chim Chim poster would help draw in the crowds).

Based on the popular Japanese series, the film centers on a young man with the unlikely name of Speed looking to be the champion of The Crucible; a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon star as Speed's parents, and Christina Ricci plays his girlfriend -- with the advantage that she kind of looks like a cartoon to begin with. Rounding out the cast is Matthew Fox (LOST) as Racer X and Scott Porter as Rex Racer.

There has been plenty of discussion about the somewhat 'trippy' look of the film, and these new posters are keeping right in line with that psychedelic vibe. Which is kind of funny if you think about all the hassle the Wachowski's got over keeping the film 'family friendly'. So whether fans like it or not, it seems like the new Speed Racer is going to be all about wholesome spectacle (probably best enjoyed in IMAX). If you don't believe me, you could always take a look at the new trailer over at Yahoo. Speed Racer will arrive in theaters on May 9th, 2008.

I'm sorry I never had the chance to see Into the Wild when it was originally released in theaters, because it probably would've been a nice experience to watch up on the big screen. Needless to say, it's still one of the best films from 2007, and one that was kind of overlooked once flicks like No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Juno hit the streets. Into the Wild isn't the kind of film you watch for set pieces, story points or character arcs -- it's an "experience" film; whether or not we like Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) as a person or believe in whatever it is he's trying to achieve, we're stuck with him -- forced to join him on this journey across the country.

And we feel for him; we feel for his friends, we feel for his family -- but we can't help but get sucked up in the beauty of life, of nature. I don't fully agree with James' review of this film when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, though I completely understand how McCandless, as a character and a person, might not be the most likable guy. He makes choices we don't understand, and while he may appear as if he's out to intentionally hurt the ones he loves -- all he's really hurting is himself. But McCandless never saw it that way. This is what he wanted. This is the road he chose to walk down. Based on the best-selling book by Jon Krakauer, and directed by Sean Penn, this is a story that's magnificent and heartbreaking all at once. Yet that's exactly the way McCandless lived his life, and I imagine it's the way he'll always be remembered.

The big indie DVD release this week is Sean Penn's cinematic version of the true-life adventure story Into the Wild, starring Emile Hirsch and Hal Holbrook. But there are several other intriguing new titles that you might have missed during their theatrical engagements, starting with Susanne Bier's Things We Lost in the Fire. By our usual definitions, it's not really an "indie," since it was released by a big Hollywood studio (Paramount Pictures), but I think Bier's distinctive directorial vision is the very definition of "independent." It's certainly not an easy film to watch or to like, yet the performance by Benicio del Toro is a knock out and I think a rental is justified. The DVD includes deleted scenes and a discussion about the film.

When he saw My Kid Could Paint That at Sundance, Scott Weinberg wrote: "I love a documentary that doles out both sides of an interesting story and then forces you to decide for yourself where the truth actually lies." Directed by Amir Bar-Lev, the documentary tells the story of a four-year-old girl who may -- or may not -- be an immensely talented artist. Sony Pictures Classics' DVD includes an audio commentary and two behind-the-scenes features.

An intimate drama that divided festival audiences, Chilean filmmaker Matías Bize's En La Cama (In Bed) sets all the action in a single motel room as a man and a woman alternately have passionate sex and engage in spirited debates. This sounds like a couples film -- as long as the couple is comfortable watching softcore porn together. Koch Lorber's DVD includes deleted scenes, a bonus interview, rehearsals, TV spots, and a short film by the director.

Yesterday, Erik brought us the first look at Sean Penn as the famous Harvey Milk. But look a little closer and there are just a few more tidbits to be had. Slashfilm's pictures from the set of Gus Van Sant's biopic gave us Penn in a full hippie beard, but you can also get a look at Emile Hirsch (Speedracer) as Cleve Jones in all his 70's glory. As a child of the 70's it never fails to surprise me the truly 'interesting' fashion choices that were happening back then. At what point did we all agree that those glasses were a good idea?

Now for a quick history lesson on Harvey Milk for the uninitiated. Milk was one of the first openly gay city supervisors in San Francisco. His career highlights were sponsoring a bill for gay rights as well defeating the controversial Briggs Initiative. Well that and a poop and scoop ordinance, but such is the life of city councilor. Despite Milk's growing popularity in the city, it wasn't all hearts and flowers. Milk's life and trailblazing career came to a tragic end when Dan White, a fellow public servant (and rampant homophobe), shot and murdered Milk along with Mayor George Moscone in 1978.

Along with Penn in the title role (surprisingly doing a good job of capturing the perennially upbeat Milk), the cast also includes Josh Brolin as Dan White and Victor Garber (Alias) as Mayor Moscone. Hirsch will play Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk, and a gay rights activist who had worked for Milk as a student intern. Milk is still filming on location in San Francisco and set to arrive in theaters later this year.

Is it me, or does someone look like he needs either a joint or a bath? Slashfilm has snagged the first photos of Sean Penn from off the set of the new Gus Van Sant flick, Milk. Penn plays Harvey Milk in the biopic, who, back in 1977, became California's first openly gay official when he was voted to the city supervisor's board of San Francisco. One year later -- and this may be a spoiler warning for those not in the know -- Milk, along with the city's mayor George Mascone, were assassinated by another city supervisor, Dan White. Also starring in the film are Josh Brolin (White), Emile Hirsch (Cleve Jones), Victor Garber (Moscone), Denis O'Hare (Senator Brigg) and James Franco is rumored to be playing Scott Smith (according to the IMDb).

As Slashfilm points out with their photos, parts of the Castro District in San Francisco have been magically given a 70's-style facelift, including one such storefront that's housing Milk's campaign headquarters (see photo after the jump). At one point, director Bryan Singer wanted to direct his own Harvey Milk biopic called The Mayor of Castro Street, but there's been no word on that for awhile (apparently it needed a rewrite). Milk is due out later this year. Check out more photos after the jump ...

Slashfilm now has the first on-set photos from Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk. As we all know, Bryan Singer's competing Milk film, The Mayor of Castor Street, has been parked in development hell. Now it looks like Van Sant's film will be the first Hollywood life-story of the legendary mayor of San Francisco, so get ready for a little stroll down memory lane since most of these photos are of the local spots in the area being given a 1970's makeover.

For those of you not familiar with Milk's legacy, he was, "an American politician and gay rights activist, was the first openly gay city supervisor of San Francisco, California, and therefore, according to Time magazine, 'the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.'" The perpetually dour Sean Penn will play Milk, and most gossip had Matt Damon in the role of Milk's murderer and co-worker, Dan White. Now it's looking like Josh Brolin will step in. Other cast members include Emile Hirsch, James Franco, and Diego Luna

While most of the focus had been on whether Penn could pull off the congenial and upbeat Milk, I have to admit I'm a little nervous on the directing end of things as well. As much as I respect Van Sant, I wonder whether he is willing to make a more 'conventional' biopic. It might be the only way to introduce as many people as possible to this invaluable figure in gay rights, rather than alienating them with something a little more along the lines of Last Days. Milk is set to open in theaters later this year.

The best movie year since 1999, 2007 offered a staggering bounty of cinematic delights. I keep track of all the movies I see in a given year and give each a letter grade, "A" through "F". Usually my Top Ten list consists of all of the "A's" and a few "B's." This year, "A" pictures made up my top twenty. With so many great films, I won't wallow through a "Worst of the Year" list, I'll simply present you with a few that didn't fully satisfy:

The Biggest Disappointment: The Darjeeling Limited -- A Louis Vuitton commercial stretched to feature length. The Darjeeling Limited is a perfect title for the film because it makes plain what a limited filmmaker the once great Wes Anderson has become. Hey Wes, people running in slow-motion while a Kinks song plays is always going to look pretty neat. But if there's absolutely nothing else going on in the scene, then that's all it is -- people running in slow-motion while a Kinks song plays. We all think it's really cool that you like The Kinks. Hell, I love those guys! The Rolling Stones are awesome, too! But I wouldn't ask them to do my job for me.

and...

The Biggest Question Mark: There Will Be Blood

Undoubtedly one of the year's most impressive technical achievements, There Will Be Blood is frequently stunning. It's so stunning, in fact, that it's easy to overlook how infuriatingly empty it all is. The film focuses on two main characters, and neither one changes a lick in thirty years and 158 minutes. How did Paul Thomas Anderson, creator of such deeply emotional rides as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love come up with a movie completely devoid of human emotion? (I'm not counting greed.) Beautiful, brilliant, and boring in equal doses, I've seen Blood twice, and I still don't know if it's a masterpiece or a mess. I just know I felt...nothing watching it. It's as hollow, as frustrating, as difficult to know as its "hero," Daniel Plainview.

On to my list. First, ten that didn't quite make the cut. Here's #20 through #11: (#20) Breach, (#19) Once, (#18) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, (#17) Sicko, (#16) Sweeney Todd, (#15) The Lives of Others, (#14) Eastern Promises, (#13) Zodiac, (#12) Atonement, (#11) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

And my Top Ten is after the jump...