The Spiderwick Chronicles
When my mom became interested in something she became obsessed with it. This could work in my favor, or, like the Christmas the Badgers went to the Rose Bowl, it could backfire magnificently. I'm not now nor never have been a football fan but at one point I had more Rose Bowl sweatshirts and hats than I could count. But I really benefited when she became obsessed with The Spiderwick Chronicles. This happened in 2008, which as fans of the series will know is when the movie adaptation starring Freddie Highmore came out. For my birthday I got notebooks and field guides and the deluxe collector's trunk. I got it all. So while I didn't love the movie, though I will admit to balling uncontrollably when David Strathaim and Joan Plowright were reunited at the end, I did love the books. Because the books are amazing, just simply magical. They made me feel like I felt when I first discovered the joys of reading as a kid. The story, the illustrations, everything about them made me fall in love with reading all over again. So I was over the moon when I heard about the new adaptation. Then devastated when Disney+ shelved it. I mean, cut Christian Slater a break already! First you pull Willow, which he was magnificent in, and then you decide to not even air The Spiderwick Chronicles!?! At least, in this instance, Roku came to the rescue. I still wish someone would do the same for Willow dammit. And this show works for one reason and one reason only, Daddy Christian Slater. He is magnificent as Mulgarath. So yes, I was rooting for the villain. I can almost, almost, even forgive him from eating Madisynn King from She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Almost. Random aside, anyone else wondering why the magician who accidentally got Madisynn sucked through an inter-dimensional portal was also present? Oh wait, this was a Disney+ show originally and they're all about synergy when they're not about shelving shows to save a buck. OK, so that makes some sense to me now. Back to Christian Slater. I don't think I'm the target audience for this show and yet I'm probably the one getting the most enjoyment out of it and it's serious Legend vibes. Because while anyone can relate to the moral ambiguity of who are monsters? The actual monsters or man, the "problem child" Jared is the biggest "problem" in this show. His entire family talk about him creating scenes and being the reason they've had to move, and yet it's just them telling us this, we never really see this until he beats the shit out of his best friend, which makes him irrediable in my mind. And how did he get expelled for a really bad comic with an obvious interpretation? He's so one dimensional and his "problems" are so vague that I just didn't care about him. I kept want Christian Slater to show up and do another evil puppet show. I mean seriously, we are in the Christian Slater renaissance. I know most people date this to his role on Mr. Robot almost a decade ago, but I'm saying that it's really now. So do I want a second season? If they fleshed out the humans more, possibly... But seeing as things are very up in the air Christian Slater-wise... It's a no go for me if he's not in it. I'd call him Daddy any day.
The Dark Heart of Florence by Tasha Alexander
