From the Movie Snob:

I hope all the faithful Court watchers out there are having a happy and safe holiday this year. Naturally, I’ve been putting some time in down at the local multiplex. Getting together with family often means seeing some movies I have already seen before, and this year I saw two repeats: School of Rock and Freaky Friday. These are great family movies, and they are also members of that small subset of comedies that are actually funny all the way through. Watch them on DVD if you missed them at the theaters.

Cheaper by the Dozen. (C-) As I seem to be doomed to repeat forever, I think Steve Martin is a very, very funny actor, but his material is almost never as funny as he is. This bland family flick really lets him down. As the father of twelve children and coach of a successful small-town football team, Martin is stranded with virtually nothing funny to do. Because there are so many children, none is given enough screen time to earn much good will from the audience, and the would-be laughs are mostly tired sight gags. Nothing offensive here to dissuade you from taking your kids to this movie, but they will probably be as bored as I was.

Something’s Gotta Give. (B) As you’ve probably already heard, Diane Keaton does a terrific job in this movie. Jack Nicholson plays a wealthy and unusually hip 63-year-old New Yorker who never dates women older than 30. Circumstances arise that require him to spend a lot of time with Keaton, who is the mother of his current girlfriend-of-the-week and is a successful if neurotic playwright. You can imagine what happens after that. Not an earth-shaking film, but definitely a pleasant one.