Snap Judgment: Paul Walker, Take 2

Another banner February weekend awaits us. Let's spin the IMDB wheel and see what we've got.


Madea's Family Reunion (comedy, rated PG-13, written/directed by Tyler Perry)

Oh, so that dude made another movie. Um, good for him. I somehow missed "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," so I'll have to sit this one out because I'm sure I'd never be able to follow the plot. Apparently, these movies have been heavily promoted at black "megachurches," which makes them kind of like Passion of the Christ except with different kinds of torture.

P.S. It co-stars Maya Angelou? How did she get in there? She must have jimmied the lock on the security gate and broken out of the Oprah compound.

Doogal (animation, rated G, directed by Jean Duval, Dave Borthwick, Frank Passingham)

Since splitting off from Disney, the Weinstein brothers have released two animated features on their own. The first one was Hoodwinked; this is the second. Except you haven't heard of either of them, probably because Harvey strangled his head of advertising the first week the company was open and forgot to hire a replacement. Anyway, I'm sure this will do big money on DVD, since the title is guaranteed to snag the coveted 6 month to 2 years old demographic. Example: "Hey kids, what movie would you like mommy to put on the TV in lieu of paying attention to you?" Kid 1: "DOOGAL!" Kid 2: "DOOGAL!" Kid 3: "MULHOLLAND DRIVE!" Well, there's hope for one of them.


Running Scared (thriller, rated R, written/directed by Wayne Kramer)

Now here's a movie whose primary method of promotion was through a dirty internet game. What if it makes a ton of money as a result? Will we be subjected to dirty internet games hyping, say, the next Big Momma's House? Or Merchant Ivory films? I'm not sure this was a good door to open. Please, nobody see this movie so we don't have to worry about those possibilities. I want to be able to start up Firefox in the morning without seeing a pop-up ad inviting me to play "Hide the Weasel" with Pixar characters.