the buzz log

Thanksgiving is when families come together. Literally. They cram under one roof and sleep on pull-out couches. They gather 'round the TV and pretend to enjoy the Macy's parade ("Hey, it's Garfield!"). The forced togetherness can be rough. Fortunately there's one group activity that doesn't require familial interaction—the movies.

Four new flicks opened Wednesday in hopes of drawing in families in need of a break. The first is "The Fountain," Darren Aronofsky's film about the pursuit of everlasting life. The premise sounds intriguing, and its searches are up a respectable 50%. However, the movie's lukewarm reviews and heavy subject matter might not make it an ideal holiday distraction. Who wants to think about everlasting life when all you want is to speed up the weekend?

"Deck the Halls," starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick, may sound tempting to families with young kids. But beware—its searches are up a mere 15% and reviewers seem amazed at how bad the Christmas comedy really is. "Excruciatingly awful" and "the movie version of Chinese water torture" are typical reactions. Here's another one courtesy of the Buzz: "Fa la la la lame."

Moving on to the action genre, Denzel Washington returns in "Deja Vu." We'll spare you the joke about how we've seen this before, and instead mention that searches on the thriller have risen a non-pulse pounding 14%. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a stinker, just something to keep in mind.

Finally, we wrap things up with "The D." "Tenacious D," that is. The self-described "greatest band in the world" stars in a musical comedy called "The Pick of Destiny." Searches on the film are up 45% and stars Jack Black and Kyle Gass are rocking the Buzz pretty darn hard.