Friday movie roundup - Feb. 14 (which isn’t even Friday)
For some reason all of this week’s movies are coming out today rather than Friday. I get the connection for “Definitely, Maybe,” which is a romantic comedy and thus appropriate for Valentine’s Day. But why did the others all follow suit? Will people be taking their sweethearts to see “Step Up 2 the Streets”? You could go crazy trying to figure out how movie marketers’ minds work.
Anyway, “Definitely, Maybe” is decent; “Step Up 2 the Streets” is a typical street-dancing movie with fantastic dance scenes and nothing else; and “Jumper” has a nifty premise squandered by hasty, careless execution.
Then there’s “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” which is the best young adult fantasy movie of the last several months. My review of it will be at Film.com shortly, if it is not there by the time you read this is at Film.com. This week’s podcast and “In the Dark” mailing are also forthcoming have at last arrived.
Happy Valentine’s Day (I guess), and if you happen to be my mother, happy birthday! I love you, and I’m glad nobody forced you to watch “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” last week the way they forced me.
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February 14th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Somebody forced you to watch Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins? That is so unkruonk.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
My friends and I will be celebrating today by going to see Step Up 2 the Streets. My friends love these dance movies.
February 15th, 2008 at 5:31 am
In your review of “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” you said the following concerning Mulgarath wanting Spiderwick’s book: “you’d think that, being a magical creature himself, he would already know whatever Spiderwick learned in his observations”
I don’t see why you would think that. Does being magical automatically mean that you know all that can be learned by observation about the magical world? I’m non-magical, and I don’t know everything about the non-magical world. People have been observing the non-magical world since the beginning of mankind, and we still learn new things all the time.
Here’s an analogy I made up (all by myself, and I’m so proud): Say a naturalist studied and recorded the daily habits of all of the animals of the Serengeti. Now suppose a cheetah, for whatever reason, wanted to know the weaknesses of the puff adder. Would it be reasonable to expect that, being a creature of the Seregeti himself, the cheetah would already know whatever the naturalist had learned in his observations?
Or, for a slightly less fanciful example, suppose I were an American living in 1850. I want to understand the workings of the American political process so that I can become a great leader. Is it reasonable to assume that, being an American myself, I would already know whatever Alexis de Tocqueville had learned in his observations? I will allow that it is possible and even plausible for an actual American to understand American Democracy at least as well as a foreign observer, but it is also far from a forgone conclusion that he should. It really depends on the comparative astuteness of both the American and the foreign observer.
Add to this the fact that Arthur, being seen as less of a threat than Mulgarath by the other magical creatures, may have had more ready access to certain kinds of information that Mulgarath would find useful.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I know a girl who went to watch Step Up 2 the Streets last night with her significant other because they went to see the first one on their first date.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:20 am
When are you going to review “Hannah Montana Takes Money from 10-year-old Girls: The Concert Tour?”
February 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I tried to go see Step Up 2 The Streets last night (because apparently that’s what single adults do with other single adults on Valentine’s Day), but it was sold out. SOLD OUT! If only we hadn’t stopped at Best Mart for those discount Milk Duds.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I cannot adequately explain the awesomeness of the writing in “Step Up 2 the Streets”. My friend and I laughed through nearly the entire movie. And the dance sequences were pretty fantastic. I’m sad that I haven’t seen more of these dance movies!