Customer Reviews

Tell Them Anything You Want

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved this film! Having read many of Sendak's books as a child it was wonderful to revisit the stories that filled my childhood and learn about their fascinating author and illustrator. Jonze and Bangs create an intimate and moving portrait of a brilliant man. Sendak's own personal life is filled with rich stories and his sense of humor is infectious. I would recommend this doc, if you ever read one of Sendak's books you need to learn about this amazing artist.

This is such an intimate and beautifully structured documentary of Sendak. Jonze has created another quirky, irreverent and poetical portrait. It's short, yet plays at just the right length. Don't miss the bonus feature which play out just as dramatically as the featured work.

A deeply moving tribute to Sendak, one of the world most cherished authors of childrens literature. This film offers a rare and personal look inside the life of Sendak. The DVD includes great DVD Special Features including a Q&A with Spike Jones and Maurice Sendak at the Museum of Modern Art.

A very good insight into the mind of Maurice Sendak who has been an enjoyable inspiration to children and adults. If you are an illustrator, you will absolutely want to view this DVD. Also, make sure you watch the additional information and the 80th birthday celebration. I really enjoyed this DVD.

I caught this on HBO On Demand last fall and wasn't really expecting much, but this is really a wonderful and moving film. It's short but sweet and it's one of the best documentaries I've seen in recent memory. Highly recommended.

I had seen this film on HBO and I purchased it to screen for the seniors I work with as a social worker at a non-profit agency. The DVD arrived safely and was shrink wrapped. The main portion of the film was fine, but some parts of the bonus scenes ("extras") were pixilated and corrupted, making portions of them unwatchable. I didn't think I would view that portion again anyway, though, so I just kept it and saved myself the hassle and expense of returning it.

This is a documentary that features a 39-minute interview with the elderly Maurice Sendak at his home. It makes you appreciate how much more Sendak wrote and illustrated than simply his most famous book, "Where the Wild Things Are."

The children's book author does seem to go out of his way to be crusty during the interview, occasionally contradicting himself simply in order to establish himself as a free-spirited curmudgeon in the early innings of the chat. For example, he first attests to his dislike of families in general and to his family in particle. But then later he softens into expressions of gratitude towards and affection for many of his family members, especially his brother. It's as if he felt the need to come out fighting in order to strike his interviewer as being interesting and worthwhile, and in order to live up to the stereotype of all authors as being harshly eccentric.

So the main feature of this DVD is a little jagged and doesn't quite seem to reveal as much of the "real" Maurice Sendak as it might have. (Of course, that's assuming that there is a "real" Sendak, or a "real" any of us.)

However the bonus features on the disc are more consistently interesting and enlightening. Sendak comes across as a genuine "mensch" in a brief speech he delivers at a star-studded evening gala given in his honor. Some noted actors read aloud from his stories in the course of the celebration. One of the highlights of the evening was Meryl Streep's rendition of "The Sign on Rosie's Door." Streep shows why she is considered one of the premiere actors of our generation as she brilliantly brings to life this simple story about some playmates' attempt to put on a "Show!"

There is also quite an array of trailers in a separately available section among the "Extras" on this disc. Viewed this way, these promos aren't irritating ads, but interesting vignettes in their own right. It seems that Oscilloscope, the production company for this Sendak film, specializes in backing films about people on the creative fringes, or simply on the fringes, of our society. You'll see trailers for such films as the one about some backwoods buddies who devote themselves to the search for "Bigfoot," and the one about graffiti taggers.

So this DVD ends up being a full meal, with Sendak's interview just the appetizer.

I have only been able to watch this dvd once, and I want to pop it back in because I really enjoyed it the first time I watched it, but I wasn't able to focus my full attention on it because I wasn't sitting in front of the television, at the time.

However, for the most part, I was highly entertained by Maurice Sendak. I absolutely loved learning about this awesomely creative author/artist that I grew up with. It was interesting to see the interaction between Spike, Catherine, and Maurice. It was almost as if it were three kids playing around and talking.

Sendak's outlook on life was very interesting, and it has seemed to work well for him since he's still alive...even though he didn't think he would still be alive at this age.

Overall, I loved the film! I got a chance to watch a few of the special features, and they are great, as well!

We and our children have come of age with copies of the LITTLE BEAR books, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN and dozens of other books by Maurice Sendak. Many are well-worn and few discarded. Sendak's books are unflinchingly honest, unconventional, beautiful and relentlessly original.

This brief, lovingly produced and edited documentary takes us into the heart of an author we thought we knew in a way that is human, frank, unflinching and funny. Sendak's vignettes give us with insight into the evolution of the artistic temperament and how a family constellation can inspire or frustrate genius. We learn so much about the remarkable ties he shared with his brother and sister, his editors, mentors and detractors.

I was touched by the man's durable respect for the minds and hearts of children in a country which dumbs-down so many. I was surprised by his hysterical, often salty, sense-of-humor and inspiring resilience. So, it is a testament to this film, and its uncommonly fine extras, that I ordered my first Sendak titles in 15 years this morning. My children are grown, but I am not.

Only the most callous viewer could resist the appeal of this film. Five stars.