Spike Jonze was not able to join the Wholphin gang at the Silent Movie Theatre. His piece, which was made for Sendak\u2019s 80th birthday, features himself and Catherine Keener doing silent movie-style acting to illustrate Sendak\u2019s memory of attending the World\u2019s Fair. Wholphin No. 9 also includes two other Jonze-helmed \u201cWhere the Wild Things Are\u201d-related pieces (not shown at the Silent Movie screening). One is a portrait of Sendak\u2019s self-doubts entitled \u201cThe Creature Within,\u201d and the other is an animated director\u2019s statement entitled \u201cMelbourne Years.\u201d Additionally, the DVD liner notes contain an excerpt from a McSweeney\u2019s interview with Jonze and Sendak. <\/p>\n
After screening \u201cActing for the Camera,\u201d director Justin Nowell and writer\/brother Thomas Nowell revealed that they only had 6 hours to film their 14 page script, and that they shot using a real acting class as extras. Wholphin editor Brent Hoff praised Nowell, who recently relocated to Los Angeles, for getting such natural performances from his leads.
\nMore so than in “Ferris,” music drives this film and helps create a “with it” tone, thanks to a beginning-to-end soundtrack featuring tunes by Barenaked Ladies, Joan Jett, K-Ci & JoJo, Spiderbait, Air, Sprung Monkey, Letters to Cleo, ATM, Brick, Cameo, George Clinton, Salt-N-Pepa, The S.O.S. Band, The Notorious B.I.G., The Thompson Twins, The Cardigans, Ta-Gana, The Colourfield, Madness, Joan Armatrading, Leroy, Semisonic, Sister Hazel, Jessica Riddle, Richard Gibbs, and (coincidence?) Save Ferris. Location filming adds a lot too, with the castle-like Stadium High School in Tacoma, Washington serving as Padua High.
\nThe December 8th screening began with a mesmerizing underwater robotics piece directed by Wholphin editor Hoff and memorably named \u201cPtychogastria, Spatulate: Apprehensions Eight and a Half Empire State Buildings Down (a.k.a. A Deep Metaphor for Something I\u2019d Rather Not Talk About).\u201d That piece, along with Jonathan Demme\u2019s portrait of Katrina survivors (\u201cJoe and Linda Flooded Out of Holy Cross\u201d) and Natalie Portman\u2019s writing\/directorial debut (\u201cEve\u201d), will appear on Wholphin No. 10, to be officially released next month.<\/p>\n