Alright. So I just got back from the premiere and I am here to answer all of your questions. I will give a review of the movie tomorrow, but I will say now that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A quick story before I give some info on the songs: I was at the reception dinner for the movie and I approached Sean Penn, congratulated him on the film, and told him how much McCandless's story touched me. I shook his hand and I was about to walk away when he asked me if I wanted to join him for a smoke outside and talk more about McCandless. I was so excited at this point that I almost pissed myself, and although I don't smoke... I did tonight. I talked to him about my favorite scenes from the movie and I asked him about his relationship with Ed. He said that he considers him one of the greatest voices and songwriters of all time and that he was the only choice for this movie. After the cigarette, we parted ways, and I called everyone I know to tell them about it. What a cool guy.

Ok, now the song placement in the movie:

1. The humming version of "Guaranteed" started the movie off and was being played as McCandless's final letter to Wayne was being etched across the screen.

2. At the end of the letter, McCandless writes "I now walk into the wild..." and the "into the wild" is then zoomed in on as it is the main title of the film...as soon as this happens it cuts to the Alaskan wilderness with Chris hiking and "Long Nights" begins to play

3. "Hard Sun" is the next song to play, and this happens as McCandless is leaving Emory in his car and setting out into the wild for the first time.

4. Next comes "Rise" in a section of the film (the movie is separated by titled sections) titled "Adolescence". Chris is having the time of his life hitchhiking up through California, bathing in sprinklers that are watering crops, and just enjoying life on road.

5. The movie continuously cuts back and forth from McCandless's Alaskan adventure, and all that came before it. As he is out living in the Alaskan brush, gathering food, and organizing his things at the abandoned bus, "Society" is playing in the background. It finishes with the him sitting in front of the bus with a huge smile on his face, just like the infamous picture that is on the title page of the book.

6. Another cut back to his time in Alaska shows Chris at the very peak of a mountain with his arms spread wide. As the camera circles him, capturing the Alaskan landscape, "The Wolf" is played.

7. "Tuolumne" is played as McCandless first meets Ron Franz.

8. Back to Alaska, "No Ceiling" is being played as Chris is hiking out of the brush only to find that the river is far too wide and violent to cross and that he is trapped in the wild.

9. "Guaranteed" (with vocals) is played over the final credits before shifting into an instrumental by somebody else

"Setting Forth", "End of the Road", and "Far Behind" were not used.

This is all I can do for now. It's 2:30 AM and I am exhausted from a day full of driving, movie watching, and socializing. I'll be back tomorrow with some more about the movie, and I'll answer all of your questions.

- Ryan

very cool man! meeting Penn must have been great.

probably should use the spoiler code for some of this though.

I got a question: what brand of cigarettes did Sean Penn smoke?

Just kidding. Thanks for the review. Too bad that the movie is being released over here only at the end of the year or even the beginning of next year. Very cool that you got to meet Sean Penn and that he asked you to join him for a smoke outside to talk about the movie and the story. And they say smoking is bad for you. HA!

BadRadio, I've been to two premiers and the directors never asked me out for a smoke. Good for you!

First, I wanted to make a comment. LONG NIGHTS is in the movie.

I have a couple of questions which you might already answer in your review, but just in case here goes:

1. Is Chris portrayed as a heroic figure? Did you agree with his portrayal?

2. Did the voice-over narration work well in the context of the film? Or did you feel that it detracted from the impact of the images?

3. Did the songs feel self-conscious? Or did they flow organically from the narrative?

4. I've heard that the whole thing was filmed on location, with great difficulty. How much did the location shooting add? Was Sean Penn able to use it to its best advantage?

5. Did the family scenes seem fair to the principals? Or did the father seem like a caricature, and the scenes biased toward Chris' perspective?

Awesome stuff, Ryan! Glad to hear you had a good time.

Congrats sounds like an awesome time.

American Spirit

The most powerful scenes in the movie are:

Spoiler: show

- When Chris kills the moose, and everything that follows.

- When he realizes that he ate poisonous seeds and has sealed his fate in the Alaskan wilderness.

- His time with Ron Franz (Hal Holbrook deserves a nomination for his work here).

- A conversation with Jan Burres (Catherine Keener) about his family not knowing where he is.

- His revelation, just before death, that true happiness is shared.

- The moment just before his death where he pictures himself running into the arms of his parents, and compares their feeling of jubilation to the feeling he has living in the wild.

That's the kind Ed smokes.

They are one of the only accessible all-natural cigarettes

I wonder what they cost per pack.

so you get the cancer just from the carbon rather than the carbon and chemicals

They are more expensive than other brands, $5.50 or so a pack

As right as you may be, let's not turn this thread into another smoking is bad, Ed should stop, his voice is suffering because of it, etc. discussion

so what does sean penn think about eddie smoking?

I wasn't the one who started talking about fags!

so how many people usually go to a "premier"? how'd u end up getting to talk to sean penn all by yourself!

oh and where was it?