Film School: New WTWTA Trailer

-I hereby submit and encourage the unilateral fervor of support for this film. I just re-watched Being John Malkovich to get into my Spike groove and I'm hopeful that he'll once again use Catherine Keener to the best of her abilities. more

Faculty: Jason Lee

-Most people who only know Jason Lee from My Name is Earl (or Alvin and the Chipmunks, which I watched one day on HBO and it wasn't as bad as you might think,) are probably unaware of the fact that Lee was a pro skater before turning actor. Lee was part of a group, including Guy Mariano (click this for one of the best video parts ever), Mark Gonzales and Rudy Johnson, that really pushed the explosion of skate popularity in the early 90s. I ran across Lee's part from Spike Jonze's famous Video Days on Club Mumble and just thought I'd share. In Lee's part you can see what was then the forefront of technical street skating and a lot of the stuff he was doing, even looking at it almost 20 years later, is nuts. 

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Intro to Cinema: Where the Wild Things Are Trailer

-Finally, the trailer to the much delayed film is out. I don't really have much to say because the trailer speaks for itself, but I'm going to suggest that people resist the urge to see this movie on some sort of intoxicant, because it will scare the shit out of you.
-Via Gawker, iWatchStuff, and like every other blog everywhere. more

Art Major: Wild Things

-After months of development hell, the Eggers/Jonze adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are is back on track and set to release in October. As if it wasn't enough to have one of our favorite writers collaborate with one of our favorite directors to adapt one of our favorite books, now one of our favorite skate companies is getting involved. We now have our first look at the Wild Things themselves, courtesy of Jonze affiliate Girl Skateboards. Maybe I'll even grab a complete set of my own. more

Film Studies: Spike Jonze Interview

-This is a screen shot from the upcoming Spike Jonze/Dave Eggers film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's iconic children's book, Where the Wild Things Are. Moriarty at Aint it Cool has an extensive interview with Jonze that leaves me with nothing but the utmost confidence that the film will encompass and enhance that wonderful, terrible feelings that the book arouses in me. I don't even remember the story of the book, but I remember being somewhat frightened and captivated by its imagery. There were a lot of issues with getting this film made and it almost didn't happen so I'm incredibly glad to finally have such thorough confirmation.
-Check the interview, it's long, but if you're a Spike Jonze fanatic like me it's a great read.
-Via iWatchStuff
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Dress Code: (Boy)'s Girl

-NYT style blog The Moment had a blurb about Michelle Williams, Heath Ledger's babymama who is now apparently dating Spike Jonze, being featured for Band of Outsiders female line Boy.
-I picked this up because Band of Outsiders has long been one of my favorite labels, mainly for their ability (much like their clothes) to be ubiquitous (in certain circles) while remaining subtle and under the radar. This is the first I've heard of their female line, but I can only expect it will exquisitely deliver the muted rock-meets-prep aesthetics of the proprietary line.
-Also, I've got to assume that Michelle Williams is the shit if she landed Heath and Spike. more

Faculty: Inspi(red) by Spike

-I found this announcement of a Spike Jonze x Eric Koston x Girl x Product Red skate deck oddly enough not on any of the skate sites I check daily, but on Kanye's blog. Seeing this really made me sit back and ponder the incredible career of Spike Jonze.
-I first became aware of Spike Jonze after seeing Being John Malkovich, which has become one of my favorite films of all time. What makes that amazing is that lately, as I've gotten back into skating, I've been watching Lakai's Fully Flared almost daily. Since it's debut last year, Fully Flared has been widely hailed as the greatest skate video of all time. And guess what? It's directed by Spike Jonze. When I first saw BJM I had no idea that Spike was already an underground hero for classic music videos such as "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys or Weezer's "Undone." Although my co-editor disagree on the merits of Jonze's lackluster follow-up to BJM, Adaptation, I'm blown away by the fact that a man can shoot skateboarding in hi-def, and turn the choppings of hours and hours of slamming and sliding into cinematic genius with the same ease and attention to detail as his feature films.
-I guess what I'm trying to get at is that, in a youth culture in which the optimum goal is to be able to sustain yourself whilst doing that which you love, there seems no greater role model than Spike Jonze.
-Oh yeah, he also helped create Jackass, one of the most influential television programs of our era.
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PhysEd: Kick, Push, West Coast

As we mentioned earlier, with this past spring came a revival of our favorite junior high pastime. While the incessant Northwest rain has warped more than a few decks, summer is the perfect time for a skate resurgence, especially with the help of the Crailtap family. The California-based skate company collective, which includes Girl Skates, Lakai Footwear, and Fourstar Clothing, among others, has always been home to the industry’s best skaters and designers. They are also the people behind our all-time favorite skate film, Spike Jonze’s Yeah, Right!. Crailtap.com is a prime destination for skate-related news, features, and generally witty banter. It is also home to the Crailshop, a treasure trove of dirt cheap company leftovers, so you can build a complete for under $80 and blow the rest of your money on $5 shorts and the like. more