Wild Things, I Think I Might Hate You (But I Wanna Know For Sure)

This picture came to my attention yesterday, and I'm torn. This is the first I'm hearing of this particular project - a film adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, for those of you who didn't instantly recognize Max in his wolf suit - and I just don't know what to make of it.

On the one hand, it's directed by Spike Jonze. I didn't much like his Being John Malkovich, but that was mostly due to that movie's most likable and empathetic character still being a monstrous asshole. Apart from that, it had an undeniable visual flair. And he's made some great music videos - The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage," certainly one of the best videos ever, Weezer's "Buddy Holly" and the immortal Fatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice" clip starring Christopher Walken.

On the other hand, "great music video director" doesn't always lead to "great feature film director." I give you, for example, McG, Brett Ratner and Russell Mulcahy.

Still, some pretty good directors have come from the music video realm - David Fincher and Michel Gondry, for example.

On the one hand, I can see the cinematic possiblities of Where the Wild Things Are. The visuals are very strong - big monsters, wild rumpuses, ocean crossings. Could be lots of fun.

On the other hand, the book is, like most heavily-illustrated children's books, pretty light on plot. And what happens when you pad out a slim children's book to fill ninety minutes of screen time? The Cat in the Goddamn Hat, that's what.

It could be good...but I've got a bad feeling about it.