Wild Things Great ... for Adults

Law Abiding Citizen also enjoys strong opening weekend

(NEWSER) - Where the Wild Things Are ran wild at the weekend box office, exceeding expectations by doing $32.5 million worth of business. Spike Jonze's first foray into children's cinema earned the director his strongest opening weekend ever. "I can't imagine too many people who could do what Spike did," an exec with distributor Warner Bros. tells USA Today. The live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic book topped Law Abiding Citizen, which also beat forecasts. The top five: More»

Director fought for years for his vision of Sendak's classic

(NEWSER) - Spike Jonze grew up on the children's classic Where the Wild Things Are, and wanted to make a very raw, very unconventional movie of it, portraying the wild things as the scary emotions kids feel. Jonze persuaded Maurice Sendak to take a shot on his vision, but the studio was a tougher sell, terrified that the result would be too dark and plotless for the box office bang they need from a big-budget picture, the New York Times reports. More»

Clip, briefly on rapper's site, includes projectile vomiting, cutting himself open

(NEWSER) - A glimpse into the inner workings of Kanye West, or just fantasy? We're sure getting a look at something in a new short film directed by Spike Jonze (of Where The Wild Things Are) and starring West, who—after an(other) obnoxious club outing—projectile vomits pink flower petals in a bathroom, then slices himself open and confronts a small furry creature that emerges from his innards. We Were Once A Fairytale was pulled from West’s official site after a brief appearance but can still be viewed elsewhere online (see below—or a brief clip at left). More»

But Nicolas Cage seems to get it: critics

(NEWSER) - Critics agree: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is ridiculous. But they're divided over whether the silliness of the sequel, once again starring Nicolas Cage as the devilish superhero, is funny or just bad.

• In the Merced Sun-Star , Roger Moore calls the movie "a profoundly silly mash-up of comic book and quasi-religious 'prophecy' about a motorcyclist who sold his soul to the devil." It beats the original: "This time around, Cage and everybody else on board are in on the joke," and that makes it "almost a great bad movie."

Movie reviews: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum can't save amnesia romance

(NEWSER) - In The Vow, Rachel McAdams plays a woman who must learn to love her husband again after amnesia wipes her memory. It's no surprise it was released ahead of Valentine's Day: It's pure mushiness, critics say.

• In the New York Daily News , Elizabeth Weitzman calls the film a "down-the-middle, by-the-numbers fantasy, in which no one is too quirky or interesting or challenging in any way." Still, "there’s no shortage of viewers ready to embrace an old-fashioned, guilty-pleasure romance."