Director Spike Jonze is a really weird guy.  He’s done movies like “Being John Malkovich” and music videos for Weezer, Beastie Boys and Fatboy Slim.  His latest is “Where the Wild Things Are” and has been struggling to get this movie made for years.  He was a huge fan of the Maurice Sendak children’s story, as was I.  He wanted to make sure this beloved story was done justice and done right.  I’m really sorry to say that if he thinks it was done justice and right then I wish the project was never made.  One of the biggest fears that I have when I hear a children’s book is being made into a feature film is that they’re going to add so much to the story that what you loved as a kid is merely a shell of what it’s become.  Not only did that happen here, but what I loved as a kid was recognizable ONLY by the visuals on the screen.  Jonze and co-writer, David Eggers, managed to take a children’s story and craft a deeply confusing and manically emotional story out of what was originally an 8 sentence storybook.  Now I don’t think that that’s a bad idea, but boy did they miss the mark.  I saw this with my fiance who has a Masters in analyzing literature and extracting meaning from stories and she didn’t get it.  I didn’t get it either.  And boy will your kids not get it.  It’s rated “PG” but don’t let that fool you - this is not a kid’s movie.  Not because it’s too scary or violent (which it actually might be for some) but because it’s dull, slow and WAY over the heads of kids.  And that’s fine with me, but it’s way over the heads of adults too.  There’s no resolution, nothing is learned and characters have no arcs or motives.  So disappointing since I really wanted to like this movie.  Not just because I loved the book as a kid, but also because the trailers released for it almost brought me to tears.  The only positive thing I can say about the movie is that Jonze’s ability to translate his imagination to things you can actually see is amazing.  The sets are incredible and the use of such diverse landscapes of nature and phases of the sun gave the movie a real organic feel that helped you buy into the fantasy.  But the costumes are the crown jewel.  Newcomer Max Records (who plays “Max”) is acting beyond his years and to do it to 12′ high, fuzzy costumes with CGI faces is even more impressive.  The voice work of Paul Dano (”There Will Be Blood”), Catherine O’Hara (”Orange County”) and James Gandolfini (”The Sopranos”) is so convincing, you’d think it was them in make-up (even though Gandolfini just plays the bipolar Tony Soprano all over again, only this time he’s fuzzy and adorable.)  However those are the only positive things I can say about this boring, plodding movie that is too childish for adults, too adult for children and too odd for everyone.  But oh well, at least I tried to end on a happy note, which is more than I can say for the film.
Where the Wild Things Are (Rated PG)
Gavin Grade: C

Boy, am I a fan of the Coen Brothers.  This writer-director team has 14 movies to their credit and in my opinion only a few duds.  But peppered in with the duds are some of the greatest movies ever made.  I personally rank “The Big Lebowski” as the #1 comedy of all time.  I also was thrilled that “No Country for Old Men” won Best Picture in 2007 since it was by-far my favorite of that year.  But whether they’re doing comedy or drama, all their movies have one thing in common; they’re full of weird people doing weird things in weird scenes.  Somewhere in all that bizarre chaos is a story and usually the story is good.  ”A Serious Man” is no exception to that even though it’s not one of their best.  But what I love about it was the possibility for discussion that it creates.  People who hated or didn’t understand “No Country for Old Men” will probably hate this too, even though it’s a comedy.  ”A Serious Man” is basically a modernization (although it’s set in the 1960s) of The Book of Job from The Bible.  It’s loosely based on it much like the Coen’s “Oh Brother! Where Art Thou” was loosely based on Homer’s “The Odyssey.”  This one is a little more literal though.  If you’re rusty on the Old Testament, Job was a good man that had his faith tested by God and Satan just to see if he was pious because he was successful or because he really had faith in God.  If you know how Job ends, the ending of “A Serious Man” shouldn’t come as a shock either.  But keep in mind that all this is going on while the weird characters are doing weird things in weird scenes.  This isn’t a movie for everyone.  It’s not knee-slapping funny but the gradually building crap storm of crazy intrigues you so much that you’re willing to stick it out.  And I highly recommend you do since the ending is one of the best parts of the movie.  The other great part is the star, Michael Stuhlbarg, who you might know from…well…nothing.  He puts on a great performance as a hurting man who’s trying to keep it together and being funny while doing it.  You’ll know his name in the future even though you don’t know him at all now.  In fact the entire cast you won’t know since they’re all New York City stage actors.  It’s quite a departure from the Coen’s usual stable of stars, like last year’s “Burn After Reading.”  But again I stress that this movie isn’t for everyone.  In fact it tests even the most loyal Coen Brothers fan.  Despite having the funniest Bar Mitzfah scene ever shot for a movie, it’s overall not a gut-buster.  But, just like Job, you’re tested and in the end your reward is…well…the ending.
A Serious Man (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B+

Jamie Foxx won an Oscar not that long ago so his star should be shining bright enough so that movies like this one are way, way below him.  I’m not sure why he did this, but he looked like he regretted that decision before filming started.  He wanders the streets of Philadelphia looking for a way out of the movie.  Gerald Butler (”300″) has really been working on his Scottish accent and has traded it in for a mumble through slanted lips.  I know it sounds like I’m ragging on this thriller from director F. Gary Gray, but I actually kind of liked it.  Remember the last scene from “Seven” and how it created an uneasy sense of dread since the bad guy was handcuffed and unarmed but you were still scared of him.  ”Law Abiding Citizen” is like watching that last scene over and over again.  The story is about a father who sees his wife and daughter killed (LITERALLY in the first 30 seconds of the movie) and seeks to topple the corrupt system that failed to deliver him justice.  It’s a tired story but I’m always a sucker for it.  Revenge tales mixed with vigilante justice appeals to all of us, but it has to be done right.  Sadly for this movie, it wasn’t.  Like I said, Butler’s family gets murdered immediately which doesn’t give you a chance to feel for his character at all.  We don’t know anything about him prior to becoming the murderer he is for the rest of the film.  On the contrary, we know a lot about Foxx’s character and we don’t really care.  His family is dull, their love is phoned in and I didn’t really find myself caring what happened to them.  That was the running theme in this movie.  Apathy doesn’t drive a plot.  I can’t route the bad guy on without really understanding why he’s so hurt.  And as the movie goes on, Butler’s character doesn’t even understand what he’s doing anymore anyway.  What starts off as a gruesome, “Saw” type torture scene that really gets you excited for revenge turns into some sort of silly, unintelligible statement he’s trying to make about the judicial system.  He starts killing people off that didn’t have anything to do with his revenge so it makes us want to route for him less and less.  But it was still entertaining.  It does drag a little since it’s about 10-15 minutes too long.  But like I said, I’m a sucker for revenge tales and vigilante justice.  I enjoyed the well-thought-out murders and how far ahead he planned.  I didn’t understand why Foxx’s character, who’s a lawyer, was doing the job of the cops the entire movie; but I still enjoyed the race for him to get one step ahead of the villain.  I even enjoyed the intense violence in certain scenes which played with your notions of who Butler’s character was.  I don’t like the saying “It served its purpose” but that’s exactly what this movie did.  If you go into it wanting to see explosions and blood and don’t expect social commentary or complicated characters seeking vengeance, then you’ll be adequately pleased.
Law Abiding Citizen (Rated R)
Gavin Grade: B-