If the title alone hasn’t made your eyes and cursor dash to the video player below this text then to quote Mrs Landingham, “Well gosh, Jed, I don’t even wanna know you.”

If you need a preamble then this is a Spike Jonze short using cut out animation called Mourir Auprès de Toi (To Die By Your Side) and it was made with Simon Cahn, whose work you can find here.

It’s just lovely.

Bad Ass Digest found this and shone a light on it for us and that’s enough reason to send them some kind of cake or something.

I started writing for the site around August time, and it’s been an incredible few months. Amongst the many, many highlights has been interviewing one of my favourite actors of all time (the great Vincent Cassel) during the Black Swan premiere at this year’s London Film Festival. To be stood face-to-face with such a tremendous and commanding talent was a huge thrill.

I’ve also had the opportunity to talk to two directors whose films have really resonated with me during different periods in my life. In September I attended the press junket for 3D kids feature The Hole and interviewed director Joe Dante. It was a surreal and wonderful feeling to be sat talking to the guy whose films (especially the likes of Explorers, Innerspace and The ‘Burbs) were virtually on a continuous loop in the family VHS player, 20 or so years back. Dante’s love of fantasy and trash cinema really shone through in the short period I had with him, and I think he could sense he was in the presence of a like-minded fan of those films he was referencing. When I presented him with an old, dog-eared Gremlins Making-of magazine to autograph, he was more than happy to sign it. Geek nirvana.

Attending the premiere for Jackass 3D at the BFI Imax, I found myself positioned next to the actual camera crew from the film and TV series, who were shooting additional material for the Film’s DVD  release. Executive Producer Spike Jonze was one of the first up the red carpet, and upon finishing the promotional rounds (which was clearly something he was uncomfortable with) in a down-to-earth and very un-Hollywood move, he decided to hang out and chat with the Jackass crew while the rest of the stars appeared. This afforded me to chance to have a little off-camera chat with him myself in the interim – an amazing occasion which caused more than a few high-fives on the way home afterwards with my friend Luke, who was filming the event.

I’m truly grateful for having had the chance to meet and chat to figures from the industry who mean so much to me on a personal level, and I’m really excited as to what next year will hold. If the latter part of 2010 is anything to go by, there will be many more Jim’ll Fix It-type scenarios to come.

The L.A. Times are reporting that one of cinema’s most inventive creative forces are pitching a new project to financiers and whenever Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze are mentioned in the same sentence I’m immediately interested.

The past few years have been good for the pair with Synecdoche, New York marking a solid directorial debut from Kaufman and Jonze’s majestic adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are making itself comfortable in the hearts of millions of us. According to the report the pair would be filling the roles from their previous collaborations with Jonze directing a script from Kaufman, at the moment though only an idea is being pitched, with no details on what the film would be about.

Suffice to say that Synedoche, New York was Kaufman’s take on a horror movie and there was a far more mercurial than magical childhood atmosphere evoked in Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are so the news that the pair are looking to work together is good indeed.

There was an extensive article on Kaufman in Wired a couple of years ago and it’s worth taking a look (and a listen – there’s a complete recording of the interview available) and the writer’s generosity and caution are in evidence but it’s a fascinating profile of the man.

We loved Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and it found its way easily onto my top three films of last year.

Jonze was able to create a perfect Wild Things world, and made one of the finest fantasy films in recent years. I’ve been waiting to enjoy this one again and the DVD and Blu-ray will be out on the 10th of May here in the UK.

Though it seemed to pass a lot of people by the balance can now be redressed with our latest competition, in which you could win one of three copies of the film on DVD.

All you have to do to enjoy the wild rumpus is answer the following, very easy, question.

What’s the name of the young boy in the film?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only.
• Only one entry per household will be counted.
• The competition will close Monday 10th May (release date) at 23.59 GMT.
• The winners will be picked at random from entries received.

The usual T&Cs can be found here.

Competition now Closed

‘I’m Here’, the highly anticipated short film collaboration between ABSOLUT Vodka and Spike Jonze is set to make it’s global online launch today (in 5 minutes) at 12:00 GMT on www.imheremovie.com. The 30 minute film, which forms part of the ABSOLUT campaign ‘In An ABSOLUT World, Ordinary Is No Place To Be’, is a robot love story set in LA and celebrates a life enriched by creativity. It proved to be a huge hit when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January this year, and later screened at the influential Berlinale in February.

5,000 people a day will be offered the opportunity to watch the film through a striking online cinema  experience. ‘I’m Here’ is a creative collaboration which acknowledges ABSOLUT as a pioneering and cultureshaping brand. The film stars British actor Andrew Garfield (Boy A, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and Sienna Guillory, (Love Actually). The soundtrack includes original music by Sam Spiegel and original songs by L.A.-based art musician Aska Matsumiya and other emerging musicians.

Sadly we couldn’t all be at Sundance for the premiere of the new Spike Jonze short I’m Here, produced in association with Absolut Vodka, but we’ve learned how you can get to see the 30 minutes film in advance of its release on the 1st of March.

In key cities around the UK (that’s London, Edinburgh and Manchester to you and me) several unusual screenings will be held in ‘ordinary’ and ‘everyday’ locations such as bike stores, cafés and hairdressers. Much like the graveyard American Werewolf in London event, or the Spinal Tap aboard a tour bus screening, these events are a great way to enjoy a film.

To be honest, from what we’ve seen so far of Jonze’s short (trailer and images here) I’m hooked and if the thought of catching robot love rendered in glorious Jonze-o-vision isn’t your idea of a good time then I suggest we stop seeing each other.

Entry is the events are free but places are limited. For the chance to attend and details of the venues visit: www.absolut.co.uk/imhere.

Spike Jonze’s short film I’m Here had its premiere at Sundance last night and if you’ve not seen the excellent trailer then please do take a moment and revel in the robot charm of it all here.

While we await news of how we can enjoy Jonze’s 30 minute short, sponsored by apparently hands-off Absolut Vodka, we have two new images to share with you. They are included below and at no point in these images of the trailer does it seem odd that we’re looking at people with computer cases for faces – if Wall-E can do it, right?

Stay tuned for more news, including release dates hopefully very soon.

* UPDATED *

Well, that was quick – here’s the official word of when the world can enjoy Spike Jonze’s film from http://imheremovie.tumblr.com/:

I’m Here will also screen at the Berlin Film Festival in February followed by a global release in March here at imheremovie.com.

Sweet.

Spike Jonze did the impossible in rendering Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are on the big screen with great success.

Even if you’re not taken with his evident quirk it’s impossible to deny the visual luxuriance on show, Jonze is an artist whose cinema visions are always worth seeking out.

His next project following Wild Things was to team up with Absolut Vodka and create a 30 minute short called I’m Here about Robots in Love, starring Dr Parnassus alumni, British actor Andrew Garfield. It’s premiering in Sundance in a few short hours and there’s a trailer fresh out of the box.

This is such a cool project I can forgive the product placement as anyone who gives Jonze money to make something is just fine by me.

Collider pointed us to the trailer, which you can find below.

In bringing one of the most beloved children’s book of recent times to the screen Spike Jonze had only one objective in mind: to be faithful to the spirit of Maurice Sendak’s seminal work, and this love for the crazed, childlike escapism of the source material is powerfully bought to the screen.

Adapting Where the Wild Things Are, writer Dave Eggers and director Jonze have channeled their inner child to expand the world of the Wild Things to a glorious and complete experience; it is a sublime fantasy that captures the euphoria and violence of a pure and confused mind. When Max goes wild we follow with an enthusiasm and enjoyment rarely seen in what is essentially a cinematic tone poem. It has the sleepy, illusory feeling of reading your child a story very late at night when rational boundaries are at their weakest and dream and nightmares mix with the waking eye.

There’s an excellent chance you already know the story, in fact this is one of the very rare occasions when you can read the source material twice on your way to the cinema, but for the uninitiated Where the Wild Things Are is the story of one night when a rowdy child retreats to his room and goes on a journey to the island of the Wild Things, a group of ferocious yet friendly creatures who make Max their king and have a wild time. It is a deceptively simple story which has charmed generations and the film remains entirely faithful to Maurice Sendak’s work, yet expands on it without ever deviating from its heart.

Max Records plays Max, a boy with a youthful blend of inquisitive introspection and barely contained wildness, and does a wonderful job of evoking a range of emotions and energy that carries the film with a naturalness that only the close relationship with director Jonze can explain. When the behind the scenes featurettes revealed Jonze jumping, screaming and running amok with Max the enjoyment shared was palpable and has made it into every frame of the finished film.

Records is a wonderful presence and carries the film on his shoulders, and it is his enthusaism that draws us into the world, and in one key moment (when Max declares the Wild Rumpus to start) Max and the creatures dash through the forests to the beach beyond, smashing trees and throwing themselves through the air, and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. It was the feeling of sudden, violent freedom, and the film has many of these moments.

The film is bookended with scenes in Max’s family home and are more than perfunctory and expository framing for a tall tale in a wild wood, and Max’s real world is given just as much significance. Jonze keeps the camera close to Max at all times, and his intrigue and isolation is prominent, and this sets up the journey Max takes very powerfully. Not a frame is wasted, and though the pace of the real world is slow it is also measured to contrast with the rough and tumble nature of the world of the Wild Things.

The final ten minutes is without dialogue and takes Max back from the island to his return home and his grateful mother, and is imbued with more emotion than almost anything else I’ve seen this year, and what makes it so special is the camerawork Jonze employs, with its lingering close ups and the final few shots of Max and his mother conveying a world of emotion with the bare minimum of movement.

The cinematography is perfect for the fractured streams of consciousness that the film relies on. The camera is rarely static, unless a particular effect is called for; when Max takes the boat across the unknown sea the camera is fixed behind him as he watches his home recede into the distance beneath the ocean of stars above and this is a lovely contrast to the energetic handheld feel of the scenes on the island.

It is a necessary device to keep the playful momentum of the film alive, it is the fragmented pacing that allows the games Max plays with the Wild Things to have such resonance with our inner child. Games as children were played with bursts of sudden, random energy, with the adult constraints of time-scales and consequences never considered and Jonze somehow taps into this fluidity and erratic nature with imagination and a tangible understanding of what it means to unleash the childish nature inherent to us all.

Jonze and Eggers delight in the child-like logic and love for ideas as seen through the eyes of a child (such as the notion that one day the Sun will die). The back and forth between Max and the Wild Things is a masterclass in writing for children and never resorting to infantile baby talk. It is a powerful tool which helps the film immeasurably, even in its language the world of the Wild Things is complete.

Some of the most intriguing elements of the film were revealed early on in trailers and footage which made its way onto the eager internet, and one of the key questions raised was how the Wild Things would look on screen. Would Jim Henson’s creatures look like people in suits, with crude Labyrinth-ine animatronic faces and the answer is yes and no, but let me say that everything Jonze and his amazing effects team do with the Wild Things is an unequivocal triumph.

Specifically the Wild Things look stunning, and the people in suit syndrome is perfect for the film – each casual sway and rambunctious movement suits the film’s aesthetic in a way that seems entirely natural to the world. You forget you are watching constructed creatures; they are characters and much of the work is down to the voice actors and scriptwriters, but the athleticism of the character operators is sublime, and each Wild Thing is its own personality – a perfect fusion of script, visual and practical effects.

Jonze is to be congratulated for conveying with grace and boundless vitality the essence of what it is to be a child, with the confusion and confluence of emotions colliding with the boundaries of the adult world. In the world of the Wild Things Max’s invention and dynamism has real results and if you were to complain about the formlessness of actual plot then you would miss the point, it is like complaining about the chill in the air while you watch a meteor shower.

Where the Wild Things Are is a unique vision, replete with amazing performances, a stunning soundtrack from Karen O. and Carter Burwell, and a powerful, evocative central performance. It remains faithful to the book, capturing the spirit and creating a film like no other I’ve seen in a long time, and I felt like a child once more.

Where the Wild Things Are is out in the UK on the 11th of December and you can hear from the filmmakers here.

Yesterday, Jon was lucky enough to see Where the Wild Things Are. His review is here, and to whet your appetite our friend James Kleinmann has been lucky enough to catch up with the cast and director, Spike Jonze and collected these great audio interviews.

James also interviewed with the child star of the movie with the coolest name in the world, Max Records and Producer, Vincent Landay about what it was that he admired about Spike Jonze’s vision to create this movie.

Where the Wild Things Are is released nationwide December 11th. Check out the interviews below.

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/where_the_wild_things_are/landauandrecords_mono.mp3"] Max Records and Vincent Landay: [/gplayer]

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/where_the_wild_things_are/jonze_mono2.mp3"] Interview with Spike Jonze: [/gplayer]

Where the Wild Things Are as a movie has been in production for about 4 years now and we’re finally getting close to the being able to see it on the big screen. It’s out 11th December and we here at HeyUGuys can’t wait to see it.

The guys over at VBS.TV have just sent us a brand new featurette exclusive to their site which features an interview with author / illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak and director of the new movie, Spike Jonze.

In the clip, Sendak talks about how the book took a long time to be recognised as a piece of work that would capture kids’ imagination everywhere. He talks about the press he received being very bad but goes on to talk about how Jonze was the perfect man to take this project on as a movie. To Jonze, Sendak’s approval was paramount to the film being made.

I’ve embedded the interview with Jonze and Sendak below but once you’ve watched this, head over to VBS.TV as they have more interviews with the following:

• Interview with Sonny Gerasimowicz – Creature Designer
• Interview with Lance Acord – Cinematographer
• Interview with Casey Storm – Costume Designer
• Interview with Eric Zumbrunnen – Film Editor
• Interview with Sonny Gerasimowicz – Creature Designer
• Interview with K.K. Barrett – Production Designer

A new featurette from behind the scenes of the eagerly anticipated movie Where The Wild Things Are has just been released. The featurette follows the relationship between the film’s director Spike Jonze and the 9 year old lead, Max Records.

In the clip are examples of how close the two are, how Spike managed to get the best performances from Max (via impromptu light sabre fights, hiring a circus troupe et al) and what we can expect from the film when it is released.

Our lucky US cousins are already getting their first look at Spike Jonze’s fiercely awaited adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic Where the Wiid Things Are, and initial indications proclaim it to be a triumph. I don’t think it was in any doubt that Jonze would bring his considerable aesthetic talents to this revered work, and all of the trailers and images pointed the way to something special.

Newsweek have a wonderful look at a collection of behind the scenes photos which, along with some beautiful shots of the film itself, are as compelling as they are evocative of the texture and vividness of Jonze’s Wild world.

Click here to see them all, it’s really worth your time.