Sarah Connor's Spiderwick Chronicles of Narnia

First of all, the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ended the other day (only nine episodes, thank you very much writer's strike!) so I thought I'd offer my thoughts on the show. It's not bad. Of course, it doesn't come close to James Cameron's two films but, like Terminator 3, it's good for what it is. It ties in nicely with the continuity of the first two films and has plenty of in jokes and references for fans. Summer Glau probably has the most interesting role, as good Terminator Cameron (get it!?) and it was nice to see Kyle Reese as a kid. I'm not sure how they'll be able to drag it out beyond the first season, though, unless they have Judgment Day finally arrive or something.

Secondly, I saw The Spiderwick Chronicles today. I haven't read the books, but it was a nice if unremarkable film. Freddie Highmore did a pretty good job playing twins and it was fun to see Nick Nolte as the bad guy (before he turned into an ogre) and see . . . uh, hear Martin Short as Thimbletack. The special effects by ILM were certainly better than those in some other recent fantasy epics (cough, The Golden Compass) and the plot made more sense (I'm looking in your direction again, Compass). It was also nice to see some Gremlins style mayhem that we don't see in many kids films these days.

I don't have anything to say about Narnia, I just thought it was funny how many films/TV shows have Chronicles in the title.