Most kids growing up imagine a world they can escape to, a magical place where they are in control of the things that happen. Director Gabor Csupo's Bridge to Terabithia, co-written by David Paterson (the son of the writer whose novel provides the film's source material), is the story of two kids and the bond they create while imagining a magical place to call their own.

Jesse (Josh Huterson) is a quiet and thoughtful outsider in a school that seems full of bullies. Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb) is a confident and rather odd newcomer to the small-town school. While at first it might not seem that these two could be friends, they soon discover what they have in common and become inseparable. Leslie opens Jesse’s eyes to a world that he couldn’t see clearly, and she helps him to open his mind to his surroundings. Together the two create Terabithia and fight the wicked servants of the Dark Master, who is a clawed, shadowy figure.

The emphasis of the movie is on the friendship being built by these two unpopular children. While both come from different backgrounds, and their home lives are completely different, there is one common theme — loneliness. Jesse always seems to be the odd one out at home. His sisters receive most of the attention, especially the second youngest, May Belle (Bailee Madison), and Leslie seems to have all this free time while her parents, who are novelists, write.

The story that unfolds is simple but well-done. Having never read the book, I cannot make comparisons, although now I’m sure to add it to my reading list. Jesse and Leslie give each other things the other was looking for — friendship, understanding, hope — all things a person of any age can relate to on some level.

I was braced for the tragic incident that happens halfway through the movie but still I cried. (If you have seen the movie or read the book you know what happens.) Yes, that’s right. I cried and clutched my tissue like the soft-hearted fool I am. The incident was handled very well though, well-acted and thoughtful. It dealt with guilt and sorrow on a level that was easy for a younger audience to understand. I was surprised by the discussion involving religion. It seems in such a politically correct world something like that would be a big hot button. But again, it was handled thoughtfully.

I have to admit that I wish there had been more fantasy. I realize that this is a movie about friendship and the relationships you form with your family with the fantasy element secondary to that. But the glimpse at the end with the bird-cage person and the view across a shimmering landscape just made me wish for more.

The DVD comes with some nice special features. The transformation from novel to movie is discussed in the "Behind the Book" section; there are interviews with the author Katherine Paterson, the actors, as well as school teachers who discuss the themes of the book. But the most interesting part for me was Katherine Paterson and her son David talking about the book The Bridge to Terabithia and its base in reality.

When I first saw previews for Terabithia I thought, ‘I have to see it’ but once it hit movie theaters I just didn’t have the time. Having just now finished it on DVD, I’m not sure if I’m glad I waited for it or not. There are several things about this movie that stand out and some that don’t. But overall, I have to admit that this was pretty good as long as you have a box of tissue with you.

In high school, the week before school ends is always known as "Hell Week." This is because all the teachers realize they have to cram in another chapter of the textbook, give a couple of tests, and prepare us for the dreaded finals. I have just survived another Hell Week. Well, after I survive something like that, I am totally ready for something fun. So, I saw Nancy Drew with my family.

Nine out of ten girls have read the Nancy Drew series. I read the Notebooks, which was the junior version. They are the only thing I remember reading in elementary school. I probably would have read the series, but I got turned off from reading after some of the required books in school. I don't care if it's a classic, I hated To Kill a Mockingbird! A lot. I remember wanting those adventures Nancy Drew had! Let's face it, life can be pretty boring and Nancy Drew spends her day deactivating bombs. I mean, I'm not daredevil, but compared to Geometry, I'd rather be there!

Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) is a teenage girl who was never ordinary. She has an addiction to solving crimes and wears penny loafers. Nancy is forced to leave her home in River Heights, with her friends, including her love interest, Ned (Max Thierot), to move in Los Angeles with her father (Tate Donovan). She promises her father she will not solve any mysteries in L.A., because it's much too dangerous. Her father got a job offer from Dashiel Zachery Biedermeyer (Barry Bostwick), a high profile lawyer.

Well, as expected, Nancy disobeys her father. She was allowed to pick the house, so she picks one with a mystery that hasn't been solved for years. Of course, it includes a creepy caretaker played by Marshall Bell. The mystery centers around Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring), a movie star. Dehila disappeared for five months. When she reappeared, she holds a party, but is killed before she could even greet the guests. Nancy just can't resist to solve the mystery after she finds a mysterious note involving her will.

Well, Corky, a twelve-year-old boy, played by Josh Flitter, befriends her. Corky was involved with a joke aimed to embarrass Nancy and decides to hang out with her instead. Behind the prank was Inga (Daniella Monet) and Trish (Kelly Vitz). Inga is Corky's sister, but he speculates she is also the devil. The two girls aren't very nice to her, despite the fact that Nancy really tries to fit in. Someone also drives Nancy's car and makes a surprise visit into town to help solve the mystery.

Somebody is trying to kill Nancy. Leshing, the caretaker, warned her whoever messed with the case, always finds trouble. Nancy doesn't listen. She receives threatening phone calls. Then, someone tries to run her and Corky over. Someone puts a bomb in her precious car. Nancy considers letting go of the case, but then remembers that people tried to kill her and she wasn't going to let them scare her.

The acting is really good. Emma Roberts is perfect for Nancy Drew. She was in Aquamarine recently and did really well on that also. I think she is more successful on the big screen. She starred in the Nickelodeon show, Unfabulous, for two seasons until it got the ax sometime last year. She was good, some of the supporting cast were not, so the show was not very good, in my opinion.

Speaking of the supporting cast, they did well too. Daniella Monet (Inga) seems to play the bitchy teenager a lot and is quite good at it. I'm not quite sure that she could pull off Nancy. After seeing her play the mean girl, I just could never see her as sweet Nancy Drew.

I remember seeing Max Thierot (Ned) in Catch that Kid and I hadn't seen him since, which really depressed me. I see his costar, Corbin Bleu, who I am absolutely in love with, all the time. Corbin went on to High School Musical and released his album last month.

I liked Marshall Bell (Leshing) a lot, although he scares me. Josh Flitter (Corky) was pretty good too, but he annoyed my mother. It's rare to see a movie that you can't complain about an actor, which is my favorite thing to do.

Kay Panabaker (Summerland, Read it and Weep) makes a brief apperance as George, Nancy's friend in River Heights. George, although huge in the books, is practically non-existent in the movie. I had a huge fight with my sister whether or not that was Kay Panabaker and I won! In the movie, Kay Panabaker has shorter hair. It was weird. I never win. My sister always recognizes actors and I can't.

The one and only complaint I have about the movie is the beginning. I didn't feel it. It was Nancy solving some case in River Heights. I thought it was a weak beginning. I hate when movies start like that. I hate when shows and movies start in the middle of stories. I felt like I came in the last twenty minutes of some movie.

Admit it. Everyone likes solving mysteries before the ending is revealed. Well, I can never do it. My sister can do it as soon as the criminal walks on the screen. It's amazing. Drives me mad. Well, Amanda, again, reached the conclusion early. My father, who is dense like me, figured it out. I could tell you why he figured it out first, but it would give it away. I, of course, figured it out when the bad guy started chasing Nancy. That's how I am.

I would recommend this movie. Now, granted, I like most movies, but that's because I don't see that many in theaters. My father liked it though! Now if a forty-year-old man liked it, it must be good, because it is something that you would expect a forty-year-old man to like. He didn't want to see it either. He wanted to see Knocked Up, but my sister's a prude and wouldn't allow it. Since he vetoed Fantastic Four, which is too bad, because Chris Evans is hot and I would love spending two hours looking at him. Heh. As a result, my father was dragged to Nancy Drew. Anyway, the point is Nancy Drew has romance, suspense, and, obviously, mystery and was totally worth ten bucks (or nine, because I have a student discount). Everyone should see it, because it was awesome.

Filmed almost entirely in his own Brooklyn brownstone, Matt Zoller Seitz's Home (2006) follows various interpersonal relationships as they unfold over the course of a party. The cast is large and diverse, from a brash salesman (T. Stephen Neave) to a writer of some acclaim (Pavol Liska) to musicians and philosophers and music aficionados. Seitz takes us from room to room, conversation to conversation, canvassing the proceedings, as if he's making sure there isn't something interesting he's ignoring.

When I'm at a party, I do the same thing.

This allows us to follow the Altmanesque web of stories Seitz has created while staying true to our two leads, Bobby (E. Jason Liebrecht) and Susan (Nicol Zanzarella), and their tenuous potential pairing. Bobby, as played by Liebrecht, is a bit of an introvert, often content to stand on the outskirts and just watch (he tells Susan that he's a great observer) when perhaps the best course of action would involve being a bit more proactive. And Susan? Well, Susan isn't over her ex, just yet. They intersect numerous times over the course of the evening, then withdraw, and each time we hope for that crucial moment where they'll really connect. So wonderfully elliptical is the dialogue that we're never quite sure when that might happen, if it will at all. Still, we hope.

When they do withdraw, Jonathan Wolff's camera floats around the room, more often that not finding the poetic images that are so often inherent in these types of situations. Some of them fall flat or seem to be the result of not having a good place to put the camera or not having fully thought out what the framing is trying to convey, but these are a minority. Likewise, with a cast this big and a budget this small, there are performances that are, let's say, less than good, but mostly those are the smaller roles. The key characters handle themselves well, their performances are largely solid.

At the end of the day, there's little that's extraordinary about Home (although there's several short stretches that are close), but a whole lot to like. Seitz displays a real talent, a grasp of the medium. Clearly, a filmmaker to watch.

Home is available for purchase on Amazon, or it can be rented from Netflix. Visit the film's official website. Matt Zoller Seitz's blog writings can be found at The House Next Door.

Starring: E. Jason Liebrecht, Nicol Zanzarella, Erin Stacey Visslailli, T. Stephen Neave, Pavol Liska, and Minerva Scelza
Cinematography by: Jonathan Wolff
Written and directed by: Matt Zoller Seitz[1]
91 min/Brooklyn, NY

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I almost made the mistake of blowing this movie off as another comedy I wasn't much interested in. If not for my wife and nine-year-old son, I might not have seen it. I say might not have because the trailers were so darn interesting.

I'm not particularly a fan of Ben Stiller's. His movies are generally hit or miss with me. I watch them with my teenagers occasionally, just to keep my coolness factor intact. But I don't feel a driving need to see his films.

However, Stiller performs wonderfully in Night At The Museum, and he's aided and abetted by Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Carla Gugino in roles that are simple but elegant. Stiller stars as the divorced father of a young son, a boy who tries to worship his father as a hero, but who keeps getting his heart broken because his dad is a near-do-well and can't even seem to hold a job.

Larry Daley (Stiller) goes to pick his son up for the little league hockey game and hesitates about telling him he's lost his job again and will have to move. The impassioned speech between Larry's son Nick (Jake Cherry) is an emotional one that touches the heart. I felt that the father/son scenes were better in this movie than even all the moviemaking magic used to bring the exhibits to life. It all felt so honest and real.

Determined not to let his son down, Larry goes to the employment agency to get a job — ANY job. He ends up taking the position of a night guard at the museum. Although he isn't happy about the job, Larry's ecstatic that he isn't going to let his son down.

However, the job at the museum turns out to be nothing like Larry had ever thought it would be. At night, you see, all the exhibits come to life and run around the museum. Larry ends up losing his notes about what to do, then has to be saved by Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams).

One of the things that strains the credibility of the film is how much pure knowledge Larry is able to accumulate in one day before his next shift. He goes in with a plan, and it almost works.

Watching Larry fail and succeed and fail yet again is great. This is what family stories, and comedies, seem to do best. The special effects are breathtaking and hilarious. I found myself laughing again and again, sometimes over the most inane thing because it was so brilliantly executed.

I can't go into the plot much more without giving away too much. I advise buying the DVD to add to the family movie collection. Night At The Museum belongs there.