Pajiba

Oh oh oh OHHHHH AY Yi yi yi yi ... sorry. But you just made my Friday.

Given that the books are written for the average third-grader, I can't say I'm surprised by this review. Not much substance, but not much heinousness, either. Sounds like it's best to wait for it to hit the dollar theater.

I almost drifted away at the mere mention of Martin Short, but then, Nick Nolte? In a children's film? This I have to see.

I've been curious about Pajiba's take on this one since the review in our local paper was favorable, but concerned that it was a bit too scary for little kids. My daughter's been begging me to see this; it'll be interesting to see if she winds up in my lap, a la the firebombing scenes in Howl's Moving Castle.

Martin Short plays a hyperactive brownie? Hmmm....did I read that correctly?

After being thrilled with Lemony Snickett's and then being disappointed with the Golden Compass...I was reluctant but hopeful about Spiderwick. Never read any of the books, which I consider a good thing at this point, as I can judge the movie without being predisposed (although I already expect them to be good). I'm glad you liked it...it makes me feel much better about looking forward to watching a "children's" movie. Now if only I can find someone to drag to the theatre to see it with me...I probably don't want to seem like that creepy guy who goes to children's movies by himself....

"...house's bizarre secrets -- a hidden antic contains a book..."

I believe that should be attic. Although I am up for hidden tomfoolery and shenanigans.

Brie, you mean Martin Short isn't a hyperactive brownie? This changes everything.

Shadows, just don't bring a bag of Gummy Bears and a burlap sack to the theater, you should be pretty inconspicuous that way.

I'm actually intrigued by Spiderwick now...it for some unknown reason reminds me of the glory that is Labyrinth.

MMM...Talking Heads

Review Excellent, Me ambivalent

That means I have to leave my lucky chloroform and rope at home, doesn't it?

Hee...save it for the ladies, Shadows.

ScarletKnight, when I think of hyperactive brownies, I think of bud (pot) brownies. And that's a whole different movie, isn't it?

loves me the talking heads reference. That song particularly rings special for me. {:twich:}

I met a talking animated brownie in college once...

It was the last one left in the pan - the other eight I consumed were rather... leafy?

Anyhow, he and I talked about the existence of unicorns and pixies for about a half-hour before I got hungry and ate him too...

Shadows I swear you and I shop at the same store; Rusty's Rope and Chloroform-porium. It's the one on route 9, right next to Big Lots. They're having a 2 for one sale on rubber gloves and carbonic cleaning fluids this weekend! :)

PissBoy and Shadows, Pajiba's very own version of Bianchi and Buono. :)

Talking Heads!!!!!!

Now to read the review

Bapaba Bapaba Bapabababa

I am Buono all the way. I could never, in good conscience, willingly go by the first name Kenneth.

I don't know, Brie. There are goblins and ogres running around that no one else can see without a special ring, and that is after they have "read" the book. You remember those acid-laced stickers that kids were supposed be getting? Yeah, they made this book first. Now if you'll excuse, I need to stare at the clouds and wonder why in the hell they are bleeding on me.

And now, I shall only address you as such...Kenny has a lovely ring to it.

Hey, PissBoy, I thought I saw you there the other day when I was picking up my drum of lye...

But I look so much like an Angelo...damnit...

So, a review of a chaildren's movie has devolved into a converstaion about which Hillside Strangler a frequent commentor is more like. And they say this movie site is different than the others.

Movie sounds ok. How are the books?

fa fa fa fa fa fa fa faaaa fa

Julie started it.

And that's pretty tame for these kinds of discussions...TK hasn't even made it here yet.

I am curious about the books, though. I forgot that I had read the Lemony Snickett's ones, and didn't like the book over the movie. Weren't the Spiderwick books written about the same time?

I never claimed to be like one of the Hillside Stranglers, but if I had to be one, I will NOT be named Kenneth. That's just as bad as being named Guy. Not to mention, when someone says their name is Ken, what are first images conjured? A plastic doll with no junk and an aging country singer who's starting to look like Joan Rivers with a chin-strap beard.

Thank you. I will be Angelo. At the very worst people would think you were doing a (bad) Tony Danza impersonation from Who's the Boss as he attempts to say "Angela." So what? Images of Judith Light pop into your head, which, aside from the bad acne, I'm strangly OK with.

My logic here is flawless.

*strangely

Was that a freudian slip or something?

So I got it wrong - its fa fa fa fa fa fa fa faaaa fa?

Yes Brian, tis a collection of "fa's."

Brian- fa fa fa faaa fa fa fa fa faaa fa
Shall we declare Talking Heads the band of Pajiba? It'd make sense, really. I don't think I've seen this many identifying comments on a song-based title.

I'll go check the lyrics - which album is it from again?

77

Found em' - you're right
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Psycho-Killer-lyrics-Talking-Heads/75C1380DB2E05502482568B0002BF821

"I'm strangly OK with"
"Was that a freudian slip or something?"

HA HA HA! That's either the best typo ever, PissBoy, or someone has garroting on the brain. :)

doesn't everyone Julie?

"and an aging country singer who's starting to look like Joan Rivers with a chin-strap beard."

And chicken. Don't forget the chicken.

It certainly seems that way, but my friends are a little suspect.

I love this site.

hijacked?

I've never read The Spiderwick Chronicles, but I have read Holly Black's YA urban fantasy trilogy, which is, for lack of a better phrase, TOTALLY BALLIN'. Seriously, I will see this movie on the strength of a completely different book series, that is how awesome I find Holly Black.

Lemony Snicket beats the pants off Spiderwick. Spiderwick's writing is very, very young. If you're over the age of nine or ten, you're not going to be impressed by the books. They have no staying power, either. It's a read 'em and forget 'em type of deal.

This isn't a Harry Potter or a Series of Unfortunate Events. There's NOTHING in this series to grab an adult...no audience crossover. They're not bad books, per se, they're just very targeted to the age group. (And how do I know this? I read them all aloud to my daughter, who was outgrowing them by the time the series finished.)

"There's NOTHING in this series to grab an adult...no audience crossover. They're not bad books, per se, they're just very targeted to the age group. "

Well, maybe it's best they were turned into movies, then...because that's what I thought of Series of Unfortunate Events. Granted, I only read the first three books. I liked the storyline, and the world they were describing, but the writing was just too juvenile to hold my attention for long. At least now, in movie form, I'll get the best of all worlds...the fantastic stories in a medium that'll keep my attention.

These do sound like fun books to read aloud to kids, Wednesday, hopefully your daughter's next batch of novels will be more conducive to adults. :)

Although knowing me I'd find a way to enjoy them for myself, seeing as The Monster at the End of This Book still enthralls me.

Okay... children's books, talking pot-brownies, and serial strangulation?

I don't want to sound like a total puss here, but wouldn't this be something that Homeland Security might be checking out? Isn't there some magical combination of words or phrasing that warrants a SWAT crew kicking in a door somewhere? Shouldn't there be a... hold on...

I thought I heard a helicop... nevermind.

Anyhow, bottom line is - should I be throwing a tarp over the MurderTank? Or at least get the bone fragments and hair clumps off the spiked bumper(s)?

I'm gonna go ahead and lock my doors and stick any forms of identification up my butt. Isn't that the standard protocol for an emergency...? I should probably have a drink first to loosen up...

I don't want to sound like a total puss here, but wouldn't this be something that Homeland Security might be checking out?

Dudue, what the hell!!!? They already siezed this site's hard drives once. Just shut up

Skittimus....I don't think there's enough drink in the world to loosen up enough to stick hard, plastic cards up your butt. Kinda reminds me of Beerfest...

And...I don't know what you're talking about. I was never here. I have no knowledge of what's in my bathtub...

I'm just discussing with other like minds a great kid's movie that I want to watch in a dark theatre by myself...without a trenchcoat in which various items can be hidden...

Yay, It's good! I loved those books and how they were just quick bitty bites of an epic tale. I'll have to see this one, and I won't mind paying more just to see it in IMAX.

*hands Skittimus a brillo pad and some lube*

And yes, the brillo pad is for the cleaning.

Wait, wait, wait. Just a moment. They're twins? I totally did not get that from the movie trailer, which admittedly I only saw once, as a preview on either the xXx or the Mortal Kombat DVD I picked up the other day. Weird.

Also, Talking Heads, yay, even if I do have that damn song in my head now.

I actually quite enjoyed the books, despite them being very young, and myself being almost of drinking age (just nine more months...gah). The illustrations are great, and Holly Black is an excellent story teller. I blew through them in about four hours, and they were very enjoyable. I'm glad the movie didn't destroy them.

Also, the turn this comment section took is hilarious. Again, I am reminded why I go here for reviews, and am filled with hatred of the imdb forums.

The love for Holly Black is strong in this one. I simply love the part in Tithe where Kay is watching the sun set by the ocean and says that it looks like the sun slit his wrists and the moon is just watching him die. She must have driven him to it.

True the Spiderwick series was juvenile, but it was meant to be. The books are tiny and have pictures for goodness sakes, what did you honestly expect? The movie was great though. T
The "everything goes right in the end, and we mean everything!" ending was a little bit of a turn off, but the graphics were wonderful.

P.S.: And no I didn't get my nickname from the book Tithe my name actually starts with the letter K.

Right, sorry about the odd breaks and errors in that. Pressed "post" and not "preview".

So I caught the movie tonight and it was AMAZING. I mean, it's not going to win any awards any time soon, but it was fun, and kept me absorbed for the entire time.

Why I didn't like this movie:

Fairy: "If you take the book out of the magic circle, you'll all die!"
Girl: "What does that mean?"

Anyone that stupid deserves to get eaten by a troll. This would have been a much better movie if the kids had shown even a modicum of intelligence, or had at least read Lord of the Rings.

I read the series because of the artist involved. A beautiful companion book goes with it, right up there with Froud's Faeries. Now all the have to do is FINALLY get Raymond Feist's Faerie Tale of the ground after 20 years.

The thing I am most surprised about in this review is that you completely failed to mention the divorce subtext in the movie that isn't nearly as strong in the books. I just saw it last night and really enjoyed it, especially how much Fairyland looked like something G.K. Chesterton or George McDonald would have written.

**Spoiler Alert**

I was struck, as I'm sure many people were, by what the screenwriters were saying about divorce. I was shocked at the sense of vengeance in the scene where Jared stabs his father, or what could be his father. I've only read parts of the books so kudos to whoever it was that decided it was forgivable for a man to abandon his child for A Cause (i.e. Spiderwick) but not for another woman (i.e. Mr. Grace). From a kid's point of view nothing could be truer. I read a review of this that was really taken aback and alarmed by the symbolism of the final confrontation scene but I couldn't disagree more. I know of at least two children of divorce that used to have homicidal thoughts toward their parents or step-parents. I applaud whoever wrote a movie recognizing this reality.

I wonder if anyone is still reading this thread and can let me know if they saw this movie and if it was too scary for a 5 year old? I do also have an 8 year old, and it sounds like it's right up her alley.

However, if I leave the 5 year old at home alone, she eats all my chocolate - so I'd have to bring her along.

mswas: leave the 5 year old at home, bring your chocolate stash with you. The movie will be much more enjoyable.

it did rock n
o
t