Max Records

CHICAGO – Jonah Hill is EVERYWHERE. He was just on the Oscars for his nominated work in “Moneyball,” his work in “21 Jump Street” still stands high on the box office chart, and previews for “Neighborhood Watch” with Ben Stiller & Vince Vaughn have been lighting up theaters. And then there’s “The Sitter,” probably the least of these four films but a reasonable rental if you’re looking for a new comedy and a Blu-ray release that comes with some pretty funny deleted scenes and other bonus material.

CHICAGO – David Gordon Green’s “Your Highness” was like a punch to the gut – an unqualified train wreck from someone who had been correctly dubbed one of the best working filmmakers. His same-year follow-up, “The Sitter,” opening this weekend, is far less disastrous but similarly disappointing in that it displays flaws that the talented director never showed even hints of previous to 2011.

CHICAGO – Worst. Babysitter. Ever. In our latest “R”-rated comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the twisted “R”-rated Jonah Hill comedy “The Sitter” from the “Pineapple Express” director!

CHICAGO – Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is a beautiful, moving, daring, complex, gorgeous piece of filmmaking that was underappreciated during its theatrical release but that I can guarantee you will have a long, beloved life on Blu-ray and DVD. With well over 200 films seen in 2009, “Where the Wild Things Are” rose to the top for this critic. It may not win any Oscars on Sunday, but history will regard it as the best film of last year.

CHICAGO – Have you ever liked a movie so much that you’re willing to play through a sub-par video game tie-in just to spend more time in its universe? As I played through the adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are” in only two marathon sittings, I realized that the reason I couldn’t turn it off had a lot more to do with Spike Jonze’s incredible film and really nothing to do with this inferior game.

CHICAGO – From the looks of things, you’d think “Where the Wild Things Are” director Spike Jonze is more than just Max Records’ director. You’d think Jonze was his 12-year-old star’s father, too.