Published: October 15, 2009 11:54 pm      

‘A fierce fantasy’

GREENVILLE — WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

From 10 sentences to an 111-page screenplay, this artistic triumph for director Spike Jonze and author/producer Maurice Sendak combines live-action and CGI to create a fierce fantasy. “Where the Wild Things Are” tells the universal story of Max (Max Records), a little boy who runs away from home and finds himself in the land of the Wild Things.

Despite its stunning, imaginative presentation of the beloved children’s book, the film misses its target audience. Instead of feeling engaged, youngsters might be bored, confused and afraid of the primitive, grumpy giant creatures.

Kudos to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop for the scary and/or cuddly beasts like Carol (voice of James Gandolfini) and K.W. (voice of Lauren Ambrose).

Rated PG 2 and 1/2 Stars

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN

Ingenious vigilante Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) eludes the Philadelphia police, the FBI and Homeland Security. In a quest to wreak vengeance on Assistant D.A. Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) and everyone who played a role in failing to bring to justice the murderer of his wife and child, Shelton concocts grisly payback schemes which include chainsawing limbs, buckets o’blood and numerous bomb blasts. Speaking of blasts, “Law Abiding Citizen” contains some bomb crater-sized holes in the plot. Still, Foxx is believable as the beleaguered prosecutor, and Butler exudes righteous menace as the so-called “killing machine.”

Writer Kurt Wimmer and director F. Gary Gray offer up scene after gruesome scene in a story which owes something to the much cheesier “Saw.” How could Shelton manage to cause explosions while he is incarcerated?

After excessive gross-outs and failures in logic, the movie concludes with a startling twist.

Rated R 3 Stars

MORE THAN A GAME

When his son was a fourth grader, Dru Joyce II began to coach basketball. Eight years later Joyce coaches the same group of boys, now seniors at St. Vincent’s in Akron, Ohio. The team, Sian Cotton, Romeo Travis, Willie McGee, Dru Joyce III and LeBron James, are competing for the national high school championship.

Filmmaker Kristopher Belman documents the story of the coach and his remarkable team. Even though superstar James appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the film concentrates on more than just one b-ball phenom. It’s the story of the friendship of the players known as the “Fab Five.”

Rated PG 3 Stars

NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU

Eleven vignettes set in various New York City neighborhoods are presented by different directors in this collection of intriguing, edgy, amusing and poignant tales focusing on various aspects of love. Natalie Portman portrays a Jewish bride-to-be in one segment; the actress wrote and directed another. Julie Christie and Shia LaBeouf portray a retired opera singer and a bellboy in a surreal sequence. Octogenarian couple Cloris Leachman and Eli Wallach take an anniversary walk in “Brighton Beach.” Cast members include Andy Garcia, Hayden Christensen, Maggie Q, Chris Cooper, Robin Wright Penn, Ethan Hawke, Bradley, Orlando Bloom and others.

Rated R 3 Stars