Delayed Reaction: Journey to the Center of the Earth

The Pitch: It'll be a modern 3-D take on the well known story, except most theaters won't have 3-D showings because it's 2007 and Avatar hasn't made that kind of thing super profitable yet.

How I Came Into It: It's a movie that earned $100 million but never did better than third on any weekend. It did well quietly which is fitting of its star, Brendan Fraser, who was in the middle of a last-ditch effort to make it back on the A-list.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It's a movie with a lot of sense of fun. It's not trying to be smart, or deep, or layered, or ever remarkable in any way. It's in that weird category of action movies you can watch while folding your laundry (which is precisely what I did) and lose almost nothing from it. It's like the Burn Notice of movies, and I love Burn Notice. Brendan Fraser is singular screen presence in that I can't think of anyone to replace him with for the same effect. It's also fun to be reminded of a pre-Hunger Games Josh Hutcherson.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Did I mention how quietly it succeeded? It's a kitschy movie. It plays like counter-programming and never like the main attraction. It was CG-heavy to service the 3D which hasn't allowed it to age very well. I'd complain about the science of it, but it so clearly doesn't care that it would be a pointless criticism.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend