Spike Jonze

Synopsis: A theater director takes a 'genius' grant and moves to NYC, buying a warehouse to stage a massive dream play but the production soon takes over his life in this ambitious, mind-bending story from writer/director Charlie Kaufman. USA - 2008 - R

Spike Jonze and Maurice Sendak talk about making the movie.

Homer Simpson, Tony Soprano, and Harry Potter made it into 'Entertainment Weekly's' list of the best TV and movie characters of the last 20 years and that means they're in 'We've Got You Covered,' Conor Knighton's weekly roundup of magazines. Also ready for their cover shot: Spike Jonze, Lady GaGa, 'Real Housewives of New York,' Angelina Jolie, Snooki, Pixar's 'Toy Story 3,' sex facts, Justin Bieber, and gay celebrities. We've Got You Covered is a recurring segment on Current TV's weekly television show, infoMania. In each episode of We've Got You Covered, Conor Knighton catches you up on everything you need to know about what's in this week's magazines. For more We've Got You Covered visit: http://current.com/groups/weve-got-you-covered/ and Current TV. infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Erin Gibson, Ben Hoffman, Bryan Safi and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at http://current.com/infomania/ or on Current TV. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at http://facebook.com/infomania.

(Everything said here is what i said in video) Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's classic 'Where the Wild Things Are' contains exactly 10 sentences 338 words of text and 18 pictures. Not exactly major movie material, you might say, except that a major moviemaker, Spike Jonze, almost pulls it off. Nine-year-old Max (played by the marvelous Max Records) is a lively kid but lonely. His older sister has no time for him, and his single mom (Catherine Keener) is loving but harried. Standing atop the kitchen table at dinner time in his white wolf costume, Max announces, 'Woman, feed me!' This is not a good way to go, and pretty soon a fight erupts that propels Max, still in his costume, onto the open sea in a skiff under a full moon. His unplanned destination: an island inhabited by 9-foot creatures clawed, hairy Wild Things who like to bang around the forests knocking down everything in sight. Max somehow convinces them he's a king, their king, and thus avoids being eaten by them. Jonze is emphasizing the ways in which these Wild Things are emanations of Max's equally wild id. The leader of the pack, Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), is big and brawly on the outside but weak-willed on the inside. Judith (Catherine O'Hara) sports a large horn on her nose and always says exactly what she thinks. KW (Lauren Ambrose), Carol's estranged girlfriend, is the image of idealized motherhood. In one sequence she actually hides Max inside her tummy; he emerges covered in what looks like goopy amniotic fluid. This blend of the real and unreal is successful because Jonze's feeling for childhood binds everything together. Even when, particularly in the second half, the film lurches from vignette to vignette, I never wrote it off. It's a nice touch that the Wild Things, as we discover, don't entirely believe Max is a king. They want to believe it which is almost the same thing. Max leaves the island chastened. Carol