Just because you >can< render an animated classic into a live-action CGI extravaganza doesn’t mean that you should. Case in point, PINOCCHIO. It’s not an awful film but bringing the animated characters into the real world doesn’t add anything to the story of a little wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy. Rather,… Read More »
EARLY MAN — Nick Park Interview
Click here to listen to the interview (14:20). Click here for the full review of EARLY MAN. Four-time Oscar-winner, Nick Park knew from a very early age that he was what he describes as a clay man. That’s something that came up towards the end of our talk on February 13, 2018, about his… Read More »
FANTASTIC FOUR, Alas Not So Much
So the story goes, when the first atomic bomb was being tested out there in the New Mexico desert, no one was sure that that chain reaction that started with detonation would end with the explosion. There was, in other words, a chance that the reaction would continue until our planet was a burned out… Read More »
JURASSIC WORLD Bigger Dinosaurs, Less Fun
There’s a problem when the most complex character in a film is the dinosaur. Then again, JURASSIC WORLD is a film, that like the eponymous amusement park depicted within its two-hour or so running time, has only those extinct animals to offer by way of novelty. Not that this quasi-sequel to JURASSIC PARK is bad,… Read More »
Just Try to Resist PADDINGTON
There is a certain trepidation that accompanies any screening of a film released in January. This is the graveyard of films that failed to meet studio expectations, but that for some reason or another, are due a theatrical release. There is even more trepidation when the film is one aimed at children. How bad, one… Read More »
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
The magic is back. SHREK FOREVER AFTER has recaptured everything that made the original so great, including the attitude of William Steig, the author of the original Shrek book, while keeping those elements that worked in the subsequent installments. Which is to say, there is nothing of the third to be found here. Shrek (Mike… Read More »
HULK
Ang Lee had a vision. Take The Hulk, that pop-icon slave to rage and make a literate, thoughtful exploration of the human psyche, not just what drives us to rage, but also why there is a little piece inside each of us that is drawn willingly to it. If only he had been able to… Read More »
CHICKEN LITTLE
CHICKEN LITTLE begins with a narrator struggling to come up with a way to get things started. This, we are told, is not your usual sort of animated kid’s film, and so none of the usual openings, say leafing through a storybook, will do. And the wonderful part of that is that it doesn’t begin… Read More »
HAPPY FEET
When it comes to moviedom, penguins are as close as it gets to a sure thing, hit-wise. This is something irresistible about this unlikely bird and the way it’s so easy to anthropomorphize its sturdy waddle and formal wear. To his credit, George Miller, director, co-author, and conceiver of the story as a whole, doesn’t… Read More »
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Tinkers at MICMACS
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s puckish yet profound approach to filmmaking, evident in such films as AMELIE and THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, has been delighting audiences for years. His latest, MICMACS, is no exception, dealing as it does with arms dealers who show a complete indifference to the results of their actions, and the inventive denizens of the lowest… Read More »