Shorts

Writer-director Robert Rodriguez takes another stab at a kids movie, and the result falls somewhere in between his enjoyable original Spy Kids and the intolerable The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. A “wishing rock” is discovered by some kids, and they start wishing away, with the rewards and consequences of their wishes depicted in a series of shorts. Some, including a funny bit involving a staring contest and a rather disgusting one involving a booger, are quite entertaining. Others … not so much. The likes of William H. Macy, Leslie Mann and John Cryer are in fine form, but James Spader makes for an unimpressive villain. Rodriguez is well-meaning in his attempts at creating kid cinema, but it’s not his strong suit. He should stick to zombie and graphic novel movies.