Snap Judgment: Special Cesar Chavez Day Edition

At home today, recovering from a serious case of not-having-to-go-to-work-thanks to a-famous-commie-farmer-itis.

Yeah, Cesar Chavez Day. Across the state, scores of high school students are trying to walk out so they can honor the heroic labor leader in their own private ceremonies -- ceremonies which may or may not involve getting baked and playing Guitar Hero.

But anyway. Movies.

Meet the Robinsons (animated comedy, rated G, directed by Stephen J. Anderson, written by a bunch of people, based on the book by William Joyce)

From what I've seen so far, this film looks like it will easily compete with the best of the computer-animated Saturday afternoon Nickelodeon shows produced for pennies on the dollar in South Asian graphics sweatshops and cast with the finest voice actors that a third-tier talent agency in Woodland Hills could provide on short notice. But don't listen to me. My journalistic integrity with Disney has been somewhat in question ever since they got rid of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not that, you know, that was like a big deal or anything. Can I have a minute to get a tissue? I think there's, um, some dust in my eye or something.



The Lookout (thriller, rated R, written/directed by Scott Frank)

This movie does have an interesting set of actors, but it strikes me as having resulted from the most ADD, possibly-meth-addled casting meeting ever. "Okay, this is kind of a noir so let's get the kid from that high school noir. He was great on 3rd Rock From The Sun, too. Damn, that show was funny. You know what else was funny? Wedding Crashers. Ooh, the crazy chick from Wedding Crashers! We HAVE to get the crazy chick from Wedding Crashers! You know she's married to Sacha Baron Cohen? Man, Borat made me laugh even harder than The Big Lebowski. OH! Can we get The Dude? PLEASE, can we get The Dude? Yeah, Jeff Bridges. Or was it Jeff Daniels? I don't know. Daniels is probably cheaper. We'll get him. Hey, wait a second, now I'm confused. Is the Wedding Crashers chick Isla Fisher or Jenna Fischer? Which is the one from The Office? No, the American one, not the British one. Yeah, I know the British one is better. It never works when Americans try to pull off British stuff. Like Match Point. The dialogue in that was so... oh, except that one guy in Match Point. No, not Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, he's too expensive. The other guy. The friend. Do we have a role for him? We do? Okay then. Let's go home, I'm about to crash."



Blades of Glory (comedy, rated PG-13, directed by Will Speck & Josh Gordon, written by Busy Phillips, Jeff Cox, Craig Cox, John Altschuler, David Krinsky)

I've never seen Napoleon Dynamite and I've generally been immune to Will Ferrell's post-SNL career, but I will say that I'm pretty fascinated by the fact that Busy Phillips has a writing credit on this movie. This is quite a follow-up to a storied acting career that has included ER, Dawson's Creek, Freaks & Geeks, and the oft-repeated line, "No, not Bijou Phillips." Being a big fan of F&G and having greatly enjoyed her performance as misunderstood mean girl Kim Kelly on that tragically brilliant show, I hope that this initial outing as screenwriter will be but a first step on a great path towards even greater greatness, a path that -- dare I hope-- will include movies comfortably outside the ice-skates-to-the-crotch genre.