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»

Admirers count the ways revered kids' author will be missed

(NEWSER) - A sample of the tributes to Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak, who died today at 83:

• Andrew Leonard, Salon : Parents who loved Sendak's books as kids (like Leonard) read them to their own kids with even greater zeal. Thus, "Sendak planted an immortal virus in the culture, a self-fulfilling prophecy of rumpus, an affirmation that the child’s-eye view of the world made total sense. I thank him dearly for it."
• Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer : "In both his portrayal of the terrors of being a child and the deep flaws of adults, Mr. Sendak was a throwback to an earlier era in children's literature, when 19th century books like like Heinrich Hoffmann's Der Struwwelpeter lacked the sweetness and justice of a well-ordered world. "

Died from complications from a recent stroke

(NEWSER) - Maurice Sendak, author/illustrator of the beloved Where the Wild Things Are, has died at age 83, reports the New York Times . The cause was complications from a recent stroke, says his editor. The Times offers a glowing profile of Sendak and the many books he was known for penning and illustrating, which were "roundly praised, intermittently censored, and occasionally eaten," writes Margalit Fox. She notes that his "lifelong melancholia"—the result, in part, of a long string of childhood illnesses, being raised in the shadow of the Holocaust, and the homosexuality he hid from his parents—made its way into his books. 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»