zathura

i wanted to like this one, so im sure i am a bit bias, but i actually liked it more than i thought i would. i am a fan of chris van allsburg, the writer. when i was in elementary school he came to the local book store to read a book to everyone and i was able to go and meet him. it was really cool. his books are actually one of the reasons that i gained an interest in art, and eventually went to college for art.
he wrote the books that jumanji and polar express are based on, as well as the basis for the is movie (which is a sequel of sorts to jumanji). i havent seen jumanji in a very long time, but i remember liking it a bit, and i havent yet seen polar express, but i really thought zathura was very good! the directing, by jon favrou, was really great. the pace allowed the story to move and keep our interest. also, the mood of the film was very playful and upbeat. even when these horrible things were happening it was obvious that nothing was going to happen to the boys, and instead you could just go along for the ride! i think it got unfairly categoried as 'just' a family film (which typically means that twentysomethings wont really care for it) but i thought it was alot of fun, and certainly not just for kids. it has that same sort of appeal that 'elf' has (oddly enough, also directed by favrou).