Spike Jonze

As a full-time film/TV/game critic and father of three, I very rarely have time to watch something more than once, even if it’s my favorite of the year. And yet I’ve revisited Spike Jonze’s “Her” twice now (for a total of three viewings) and it’s that very rare film that gets richer and more emotionally engaging with each subsequent viewing. I think by the end of the year, it might be my favorite film of 2013.

How do we connect with other people? Why do we often push away those we need and stay with those we don’t? Why do we hold on to relationships long after they have stopped working? Is a physical relationship with no intellectual or emotional component somehow more valuable than one that can never be person-to-person but engages on a deeper level? And how do the ways we deal with love and loss impact the way we look at the rest of the world? And why aren’t more movies as good as “Her”?

CHICAGO – Highly anticipated! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening passes plus 3 soundtracks up for grabs for the highly anticipated new Martin Scorsese film “The Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio!

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated new comedy “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” starring Johnny Knoxville!

CHICAGO – Only The Criterion Collection can do a film like “Being John Malkovich” justice. Not only has the film held up remarkably well since its 1999 release (and even somes somewhat ahead of its time given our ability to invade the privacy of celebrity more than ever) but Criterion has assembled a stellar collection of special features that display that unique sense of personality that Spike Jonze’s debut film embodies for its fans.

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 10 pairs of Converse shoes up for grabs for the release of “Jackass 3D” with Johnny Knoxville!

CHICAGO – In our latest documentary/action/comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of the new 3D film “Jackass 3D” starring Johnny Knoxville!

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 – The staff at HollywoodChicago.com met with some living legends and some rising stars in 2009. As we prepare to bring you even more in 2010, we thought we’d look back at a few of our favorite quotes from the year. Enjoy.

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.