Maurice Sendak

CHICAGO – Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is a beautiful, moving, daring, complex, gorgeous piece of filmmaking that was underappreciated during its theatrical release but that I can guarantee you will have a long, beloved life on Blu-ray and DVD. With well over 200 films seen in 2009, “Where the Wild Things Are” rose to the top for this critic. It may not win any Oscars on Sunday, but history will regard it as the best film of last year.

CHICAGO – Have you ever liked a movie so much that you’re willing to play through a sub-par video game tie-in just to spend more time in its universe? As I played through the adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are” in only two marathon sittings, I realized that the reason I couldn’t turn it off had a lot more to do with Spike Jonze’s incredible film and really nothing to do with this inferior game.

CHICAGO – From the looks of things, you’d think “Where the Wild Things Are” director Spike Jonze is more than just Max Records’ director. You’d think Jonze was his 12-year-old star’s father, too.