The SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES

"What happens when Mulgarath gets the book?"

"I die. You die. We all die. Bye-bye."

~ Mallory Grace and Thimbletack

When the Grace family, Mallory, Simon, Jared, and their mom move into the old Spiderwick estate after their parents divorce, Jared is less than thrilled about things. But soon he finds a secret room and a strange book with a note on it that reads:

"Do not dare to read this book

for if you take one fateful look

you barter at your life's expense

and face a deadly consequence"

When he opens it, Jared's life could change forever - or just not exist anymore. The book contains secrets about the fantastical creatures that live in our world. But the evil ogre Mulgarath would do anything to learn the secrets in the book, so he sends his goblins to find it. The Grace family has to defend their home - or else.

I had seen the preview a few times, and it looked pretty cool. We rented it last night and watched it, hoping for a NARNIA-type adventure. We didn't get that.

Let's start with the bad stuff. The story of the mom and dad's divorce creeps around the whole time, and it turns out that their dad is "with someone else". Jared is devastated. The kids fight and blame each other for everything. That lasts until they are all convinced of the goblins that are putting the house under siege. Jared has temper problems during the beginning and yells, "I hate you!" to his mom, but is later sorry and apologizes. The Lord's name is used in vain several times, along with one other case of slightly foul language. There is very little blood, but several birds are swallowed whole, and there is a great battle in which many goblins lose heads or disintegrate. The goblins look more like giant toads and the ogre can be pretty scary. But our little boys ages 7, 5, and 4 watched it with us and haven't mentioned it again or lost any sleep. But I think our boys are grittier than the norm, and if your child gets scared watching NARNIA or walking through a shark tunnel, this is definitely a stretch.

On the good side, I haven't read the books, but from a writer's standpoint, I would've loved to be the one who thought up that plotline. Except for the divorce and the squabbling, it's a great story! The acting was good, and there were some funny lines. The special affects were more than acceptable. The movie was, for the most part, enjoyable and you're not suffering and rolling your eyes through the whole thing, like the BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA. But you may notice that this "good stuff" paragraph is shorter than the "bad stuff" paragraph. This is not a movie you need to rent, and you definitely don't want to see it more than once. This movie makes you shrug your shoulders at the end and say, "well, that's Hollywood. Barley enjoyable junk."

Directed by: Mark Waters ~ Produced by: Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Karey Kirkpatrick, Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi, Larry J. Franco ~ Written by: Karey Kirkpatrick, David Berenbaum, John Sayles ~ Starring: Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Short, Nick Nolte, David Strathairn, Joan Plowright, Seth Rogen, Andrew McCarthy ~ Music by: James Horner ~ Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel ~ Editing by: Michael Kahn ~Distributed by: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies ~ Release dates: February 14, 2008 (USA), March 21, 2008 (UK) ~ Running time: 97 min.

NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN

"It's so still."
"They're trees. What do you expect?"
"They used to dance."
~ Lucy Pevensie and Trumpkin the Dwarf

One year after the four Pevensie children stumbled back through the wardrobe into their own world, they are whisked into Narnia again by a desperate blow of Susan's horn. They find the Cair Paravel, where they used to reign, all in ruins as if it has been sitting there for centuries. 1 year for them - 1300 years for Narnia. The children learn Narnia has been invaded by the Temarines and the handful of Narnians left are hiding from their persecutors. But the one that blew the horn is not Narnian at all - he is a Telmarine prince who is outlawed by his evil uncle Miraz. He wants the hiding dwarves, centaurs, and... mice? to help him take back the land and they can come out of hiding and rule again. The Narnians and the Pevensies learn to trust him, and engage in risky battles and duels to save Narnia from the Telmarine tyrants.

I went to see this with a bunch of friends during my recent visit to my hometown. I will readily admit this: it was a FANTASTIC movie. Very well-made, good acting (even if the casting was a bit... wanting in my opinion), good affects, great storyline, quippy lines, the whole sha-bang. BUT I will also be very brave and admit this: I was slightly disappointed. Understand, my expectations were to have this movie ONLY top-notch. I was prepared to be disappointed if it was anything less than LORD OF THE RINGS. Of course, everybody knows that's not possible, and that law still stands. The movie did not follow the book as well as I'd like. The little things like making Reepicheep one foot tall instead of two, light brown instead of almost black, normal-guy voice instead of squeaky yet insanely tough voice REALLY served to tick me off. Reepicheep IS my favorite in the book, and he didn't shine like I would've liked. Not like he wasn't funny and great anyway. Trumpkin is everything I could've imagined -the perfect smart-alec cynic. Ben Barnes's version of Caspian didn't rock my boat to Hawaii. It would've helped if he wasn't so selfish. It would've helped if he wasn't 26 in real life. It would've helped if he didn't talk like Inigo Montoya. I found he was playing that priceless character in the theatres before he got cast for Caspian, and it made me even more iffy to have a comedy king playing an sword-fighting savior. But all the Telmarines had spanish accents, and it was alright for them. There's a bit more darkness and fighting than there was in the first one, so watch it before your six-year-olds do. There was a stupid, MnM hurling, add-in at the end between Susan and Caspian strictly for the twelve-year-old girls. But there are many wonderful battles, scarcely a cheesy line, a few excellent add-ins, and marvelous spiritual significance with Aslan and Lucy. To sum it all up, I enjoyed this movie very much and would watch it a zillion more times. But second of all, I do not think C.S. Lewis would be proud like I imagined he'd be if he watched the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. But, it's worth your money to see in the theater!

Directed by: Andrew Adamson ~ Produced by: Andrew Adamson, Cary Granat, Mark Johnson, Perry Moore, Douglas Gresham, Philip Steuer ~ Written by: Novel: C.S. Lewis Screenplay: Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely ~ Starring: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley, Ben Barnes, Sergio Castellitto, Liam Neeson (voice) Eddie Izzard (voice) Peter Dinklage ~ Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams ~ Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub ~ Editing by: Sim Evan-Jones ~ Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Pictures ~ Release date(s): May 16, 2008 (USA) ~ Running time: 145 minutes

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

It's the day of the big footrace at school. But Jess Aarons is stuck with his big sister's old pink sneakers. This only draws more teasings from all the bullies at school, but Jess was their constant victim. He's also the victim of his parents' neglect and his sisters' fights. But this school day is different. A new girl, Leslie Burke, walks in the classroom and later lines up for the race, the only girl. She beats Jess but encourages and tries to be friends with him. It turns out that she moved just next door to him and she opens the doors to the magical world of Terabithia, teaching Jess the power of imagination.

That's all I'll give you of the storyline, as spoilers for this one would be deadly. But if you are looking for a second NARNIA, you've come to the wrong place altogether. The land of Narnia is closer to real, and Terabithia is strictly short and clearly imagined when it bursts through the real world. The plot is a bit wobbly and all over the place. There are scruffy scary-ified squirrels and a friendly giant pops up here and there in Terabithia. Younger children may be afraid of all this. Overall, there's really not a lot of Terabithia, this movie's happenings take place in the real world. The bullies are all very mean. They constantly tyrinnize the schoolyard, call people names, and steal precious twinkies. Jess and Leslie get even with one of the bullies by writing her a fake love note from the coolest kid in 8th grade. It turns out later that this bully is subject to abuse from her dad, and in turn gets left out by her fellow bullies. In this time, Leslie gives her advice on how to deal with teasing. Jess pushes his little sister, Maybelle to the ground and leaves her out of his play, but makes up with her in the end. There are a few cuss words. Jess mimicks his dad. The Aarons take Leslie to church with them one week and Leslie remarks later, "You know that whole Jesus thing? It's pretty interesting!" Maybelle tells her, "it's not interesting - it's scary." She says that God will send you to hell if you don't believe in the Bible. But Leslie doesn't believe that for a minute. She thinks that God is too busy with his creation to send people to hell. Later Jess's father tells him that he doesn't think that God sends good people to hell.

I don't have much on the good side to say about this movie, besides the fact the AnnaSophia Robb's performance was astounding. Josh Hutcherson wasn't bad at all, but AnnaSophia Robb is just about equilvalent to the child version of Keira Knightley. If you are thinking about watching this film, be forewarned: despite the glamor of the cover, this film isn't one of Disney's gems - it's just another bit of Disney's trash. If you are a kid under 13, definatley have your parents watch it first. BRIDGE to TERABITHIA is not worth your time or money. But just to be fair, I shall put this intruiging little trailer on here!:P

Directed by Gábor Csupó Produced by David Paterson, Lauren Levine, Hal Lieberman, Written by Katherine Paterson, David L. Paterson, Jeff Stockwell, Starring Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Robert Patrick, Zooey Deschanel, Bailee Madison, Music by Aaron Zigman Cinematography Michael Chapman Editing by John Gilbert Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures (USA) Walden Media (non-USA through Summit Entertainment) Paramount Pictures (Latin America) Release date(s) February 16, 2007

ENCHANTED

"I've been dreaming of a true love's kiss..." Set in the land of Andalasia, this Walt Disney movie kicks off as your average Cinderella-type animated princess show for dreamy-eyed six year old girls. Princess Giselle is rescued from a troll by Prince Edward. It is love at first sight, and they prepare for their wedding the next day. But Edward's evil queen mother does not want to give up her throne, so she sends Giselle to an evil land where there is no happily ever after - New York City. She meets a divorce lawyer, Robert, and his daughter who try to help her and are quite flabbergasted by this girl that seems to have jumped right out of a fairy tale book. She sings, dances, continually talks about her Prince Edward, and has animal friends. He tries to teach her about reality, but strangely she is teaching him just as much. Meanwhile, Edward learns of her disappearance and resolves to go to New York and rescue her. The prince causes as much confusion as Giselle, and his mother sends her henchman to make his job difficult, fully equipped with some poison apples for Giselle. But despite the hardships of being from once-upon-a-time-in-a-faraway-land in New York, Edward finally finds Giselle - and starts singing of course. But will they get back before the evil Queen steps in?

I went to see this movie with Mom and it was absolutely HILARIOUS! Giselle is a naive little princess that brings some innocent purity and fairy tale magic into New York. In a conversation with Robert about his former wife, he tells her that he just woke up one day and faced reality. She is astonished and asks, "What made you wake up?" She also meets a couple just after an appointment with the divorce lawyer and comments about their beauty and sparkly eyes. "No wonder you're in love!" Robert quickly whisks her aside and tells her they are being divorced and she starts to cry. Later the couple rethink their priorities and decide to stay together after all. She talks - er, sings - about telling the woman you love that you love her and about bringing her flowers. Giselle is a lovable, positive character that makes you laugh.

On the not so good side, Giselle innocently tells Robert he can open the door just as she is getting out of the shower. Some birds fly in with a towel in the nick of time. After she is wrapped in it, she trips and falls on top of Robert - right as his girlfriend walks in. Giselle helps mend that rift, though not really understanding it. The queen's henchman turns out to be funny and nice, and the queen herself turns into a great dragon (sufficiently fake-looking) and ends up falling to her death.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, but guys won't get the nearly the same humor and enjoyment out of it that girls will!

Directed by Kevin Lima, Produced by Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld, Written by Bill Kelly
Narrated byJulie Andrews Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Covey Music by Alan Menken Cinematography Don Burgess Editing by Stephen A. Rotter, Gregory Perler Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s)November 21, 2007 Running time 107 minutes