From: fran manushkin <franm_at_nyc.rr.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:35:06 -0500

HBO has an amazing 40-minute documentary, TELL THEM ANYTHING YOU WANT: A PORTRAIT OF MAURICE SENDAK ,made by Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs, on their HBO on Demand station and, alas, cannot be saved on a DVR (I tried) and doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere. It's an intimate look at Sendak, filmed in his home, and shows him in every conceivable mood--including his anger at Bruno Bettleheim's "review" of WILD THINGS and the trouble he got into with IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN's nudity. It has a touching tribute to Sendak's editor, Ursula Nordstrom, and Sendak also talks frankly about his homosexuality and why he didn't reveal it earlier because it might have hurt his career. The documentary offers wonderful insights into this delightful, brilliant, and tortured soul. It's tender and loving and profane, and brutally self-revealing. The HBO Website has a summary of the movie and a preview and director's interview on this link:

Fran Manushkin
Received on Sun 15 Nov 2009 11:35:06 AM CST