The Polar Express

The ads and trailers for THE POLAR EXPRESS did not capture my imagination. In fact, they looked a little creepy, and I was all too happy to wave off. My loss.

THE POLAR EXPRESS is an excellent movie. It's visually stunning, with the kind of roller-coaster events that heighten its sense of adventure, and its audio presentation is absolutely top-notch, with a number of scenes that put the viewer right in the middle of things. Further, the movie has something that's rare in children's shows: a palpable sense of danger, that things could go very, very wrong. This is important, because it's all to common for movies to trumpet the importance of courage without presenting their children with any real dangers.

THE POLAR EXPRESS does have a downside, however. I was quite happy with my DLP enormovision right up until I saw the movie on a relative's Sony DLP/LCD hybrid TV. Calibration disk, here I come!

Zathura: A Space Adventure

I flat-out loved ZATHURA.

ZATHURA is basically a remake of JUMANJI, this time with a Space Mountain (as opposed to Jungle Cruise) flavor. I didn't much care for JUMANJI, feeling that the earlier film's sense of danger outweighed its sense of fun. ZATHURA, on the other hand, gets the mix just right, putting its characters in real danger while flipping the audience a wink and letting us know everything's going to be ok.

Jon Favreau, the movie's director, made a wise choice in minimizing his use of CGI in favor of practical effects. When the house in which the film takes place rocks, rolls, get harpooned, and generally suffers, it's a genuine house up on a gimbal that takes all that punishment. The use of practical effects gives them film a solidity and reality that all the "touchdown" shots in the world can't match. Additionally, that reliance on practical magic makes the computer magic all the more breathtaking when Favreau does pull out all the stops.

Part coming of age story, part Boys' Own Adventure, ZATHURA kept three generations of my family spellbound for a good hour and a half. What more could you ask for?