National Treasure

AMC Marple 10
1:20pm, 300 Seater, Sold Out

Trailers
The Pacifier (Looks alright, but it got an awesome reaction. Huge laughs)
Son of the Mask (Looks dreadful, no reaction)
Elektra (Looks amazing, decent reaction)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Looks alright, not much of a reaction though)
Robots (Looks like it came out of my ass, no reaction, I smell a bomb)
Chicken Little (Don't want to see it, good reaction)

Movie
Wow. What an entertaining popcorn flick. I seriously though that this movie would be just good, but it was awesome. For a Disney PG action flick, it was quite a ride. It had me laughing, and on the edge of my seat wanting more. I'd say it's one of the most entertaining action/adventure movies I've seen in a long time. My Grade: A

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The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

AMC Marple 10
3:30pm, 300 Seater, Sold Out (Overbooked, too)

Trailers
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Looks alright, good reaction)
Cars (Doesn't look so good, okay reaction)

Movie
Well, I should say first that they did overbook, so I had no seat. I couldn't just not see the movie, though, because my sister was dying to watch it, and I promised I would take her. So, I sat her down in the last remaining seat, and stood the entire time. I guess that could affect my reason for being a little dissapointed with the movie. I used to watch the show, and it was hilarious. Then, this movie comes along, and I didn't expect great things, and it wasn't. It wasn't bad, though. I found myself laughing, but some things were just so stupid. Not a great story, either. Still, a good family flick. My Grade: B

Sponge Bob

Grand Prairie 18, 5:00 PM

442 Seater - 75% full


Trailers:

Lemony Snicket
Madagascar
Fat Albert

The movie is really for preteens. It is a decent movie with some laughs.

Grade C+

Finding Neverland
12:05 PM show, 130-seat auditorium, about 50 patrons.

Trailers:
Pooh's Heffalhump Movie - no reaction (given that there were no children in the audience)
Christmas with the Kranks - laughs
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - mild laughter
Racing Stripes - silence
Are We There Yet? - laughs

Movie:
Finding Neverland is a very good film. Although no one will mistake this for an all-time classic, it accomplishes what it sets out to do perfectly, and that is tell the story of J.M. Barrie and the inspiration for Peter Pan. The relationship between Barrie (wonderfully portrayed by Johnny Depp) and Sylvia Llewlyn Davies (another terrific performance from Kate Winslet) is done quite well. Although it would've been easy to ignore the facts of life and turn their relationship into something romantic, it remains platonic, which is a testament to the film. Of Winslet's four children (who become the inspiration for the characters in Peter Pan), Freddie Highmore stands out with a marvelous performance in a difficult part. Among supporting performances, Radha Mitchell (as Barrie's icy wife), Julie Christie (as Llewlyn Davies' even icier mother) and Dustin Hoffman (as Barrie's producers) are all strong, although Hoffman is quite underused. Overall, Finding Neverland is good entertainment. I'm not sure it's worthy of a Best Picture nomination, but it works on many levels.