Delayed Reaction: The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Pitch: Statistically, if everyone keep turning fantasy books into movies, one of them is going to be the next Harry Potter. Keep trying!

How I Came Into It: Even though I've read it, seen a play for it, seen the AnnaSophia Robb movie of it, and know that it's not the same thing at all, I constantly confuse Bridge to Terebithia with this. Little Norman Bates and Mary Tudor are interesting enough as the lead kids. I would've preferred if Nancy Botwin got a bit more to do, but when she's there, she's good. They did a lot with minimal makeup for Nick Nolte and Ron Perlman. I'm still trying to figure out how Seth Rogen got involved in this (He doesn't have kids. I wouldn't think he's young enough to be a fan of the book series. Was he just bored?). Martin Short was the least surprising casting choice of all.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I quickly found that the more I made this a passing interest, the better it got. It's not a dense or complex movie, so a casual viewing is best. I most preferred when the movie kept the scope down. When it was just the family at the house, I liked the Rio Bravo feel of it. And I really dug the underwhelming climax. Rogen's hobgoblin just eats the Big Bad because he took the form of the bird. That's it.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I hate when movies cut out important scenes. Like, where was the expository scene explaining how Freddy Highmore's characters were born American, but grew up in a boarding school in England? You know, and when they returned, they were embarrassed by the thick British accents they picked up, so they tried to mask them with American accents that don't sound at all believable, but no one calls them on it out of politeness...What I'm trying to say is, Freddy Highmore's American accent is not convincing. I didn't notice Sarah Bolger's, but that could've been because I was distracted. It's hard to say.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend