Raimi AND Jackson reading The Hobbit?

In theaters Friday: The Invasion, The Last Legion, Superbad New on DVD: Inland Empire, The Lookout, Wild Hogs

Good afternoon, people. Remember earlier this year when Spider-Man director Sam Raimi said he was interested in bringing Tolkien’s The Hobbit to the big screen? And remember how Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was on the outs with the movie studio having sued them for not paying him fairly for his work on the trilogy? Well according to at least one, New Line Cinema is working on a deal that will make Raimi the director and Jackson the producer on the new film. Holy smokes, this is big. It would be bigger news if Spider-Man 3 hadn’t been so disappointing. Personally, I’d rather see Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) or Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men and Prisoner of Azkaban) direct the picture. But nobody asked me.

Just when I wasn’t looking, Will Smith’s filmography got interesting again. A month ago the wiz bang trailer for December’s end-of-civilization actioner I Am Legend(http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/iamlegend/) hit the net, and now here is a first look(http://www.les-films.fr/John-Hancock-Avec-Will-Smith,2106.html?id_document=6962#documents_portfolio) at next summer’s Hancock(http://imdb.com/title/tt0448157/), in which the Fresh Prince plays a disgraced superhero who lives a decidedly un-super life. Except for the fact that he hooks up with Charlize Theron. That’s got to be pretty super.

I rented Bridge To Terabithia(http://imdb.com/title/tt0398808/) last weekend. The Katherine Paterson novel wasn’t my favorite grade school read, but I liked it a lot and I still have really strong memories of the book for a couple of reasons. I recall a lot of debate at my school over whether they should have us even read the novel. I assume because it deals with death in a mature way that Transformers and the Smurfs hadn’t quite done before. It also includes little things concerned parents don’t want middle schoolers to get into their pretty little head—things like disobeying authority and running off into the woods to climb trees and reign over magical kingdoms.

Of course, that’s why my 10-year-old friends and I loved it. We also had a foot race to see who indeed was the “Fastest Kid in Fifth Grade.” For the record, my long legs got me into second place. Also for the record, I didn’t lose to a girl.

The best thing about this movie was the performance of AnnaSophia Robb as quirky dreamer Leslie Burke. Robb had a pivotal role in The Reaping, which shot in St. Francisville, and she is going to be a big star in a few years. Her talent really overshadowed that of Josh Hutcherson who was passable, if not completely engaging, as poor farm boy Jesse Aarons.

The problem I have with the film adaptation is that, in my head, Bridge always had some cosmic link to S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, a brilliant book I first read a few years later. I imagined the movie having a sweeping melodramatic score just like Francis Coppola’s version of The Outsiders, like the Hollywood standards from the 1940s. The modern pop music was a terrible choice, and just served to make me think “Oh, yeah, I’m watching a Disney movie.” And whoever decided to modernize the story also made a huge mistake. This novel belongs in the 1970s when it was written, if for nothing else than because kids today don’t play outside us much as they used to. Plus Zooey Deschanel’s turn as a music teacher leading hippy sing-alongs akin to Langley School’s Music Project is woefully out of context, even if Deschanel is charming in her small role. As it stands, the film is okay, but should only be seen and discussed after reading the far superior novel.