Honestly guys, this movie is pure magic. From horn to hoof. I’m instinctively turned off by hype, and even though Spike Jonze is one of my favorite contemporary directors, I just wanted to pull this movie off like a band-aid. Instead, I ended up becoming completely absorbed in the world Jonze created – although I was kinda bummed there was no bedroom transformation scene. A lot of critics are saying that this movie is not for kids, and I agree. I was sitting close to a family with two children, and the daughter was begging for them to leave about 40 minutes in. Some of the images could be frightening to a kid, sure, but much like this year’s Up, this “kids movie” handles some heavy material such as pain, loneliness, and jealousy. And it also perfectly nails what it’s like to be a kid.

I’m not going to write a recap, because I’m frankly sick of reading them online. The movie depends so much on images, especially the human-like eyes of the Things. The Things, created by Jim Henson’s workshop, are body-suits (a la the Gorgs) blended seamlessly with CGI faces that interact beautifully with the fantasy world of Max; running, fighting, and playing so believably that it might as well have been a National Geographic special. Carol, a psuedo-leader of the Things voiced by James Gandolfini, at first makes Max their king and then struggles with the change he brings. Carol is a reflection of some soul-crushing tendencies inside a lot of us. Most dangerous: the blinding stubbornness that refuses to let things go and festers anger like an ulcer. Galdofini has done this material before, and if I closed my eyes during the tantrum scenes, I could picture Tony Soprano punching through the walls of his home theater room.

Jonze and co-write David Eggers have created something special here. Honest, angry, melancholic, but most importantly, Tony Soprano is a giant muppet.

- Oh Mars