There have been numerous film adaptations of Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 1883 Pinocchio story but the most famous is the 1940 Disney animated film. That movie is apparently a favourite of a number of renowned directors including Steven Spielberg who used its ‘wish upon a star’ theme over the closing credits of Close Encounters and essentially remade it as AI:
Read moreThe fun, inventive, hyper-energetic but sometimes (for adults) headache-inducing world of our little animated buddies, the Minions, continues with Minions: The Rise of Gru. This one takes us back to the mid-70 s and criminal genius Gru’s nascent years as an aspiring super villain. Here, the 11-year-old primary school student Gru (Steve Carrell) dreams of joining his heroes, a super
Read moreLightyear, which features space ranger from Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, is not strictly a Toy Story film. The idea behind this film is that this is the movie Andy (from Toy Story) would have seen that inspired him to get the Buzz Lightyear doll. The fact that this back story involves someone being compelled to pick up merchandise is a
Read moreSix years after what was believed to be beloved Japanese filmmaker Studio Ghibli’s swansong, the wonderful When Marnie Was There, comes a new offering, Earwig and The Witch. While at times evoking a number of the studio’s classics, this meandering film is unlikely to satiate the cravings of Ghibli obsessives who have desperately awaited the studio’s return to production. What
Read moreAs most people of a certain vintage would know The Addams Family was as a quirky 1960s TV show that, alongside The Munsters, Bewitched and I Dream of Genie formed part of a trend in supernaturally themed sitcoms. In their creepy and creaky haunted mansion, the Addams family were living horror tropes with the Vampira-like mother Morticia, the sullen ghoulish
Read moreJon Favreau appears to be the go-to guy for hyper-real, CGI animated films about anthropomorphised animals. He did a wonderful job with his remake of The Jungle Book, bringing adventure, excitement and moving pathos to Kipling’s story. Now, he helms the re-imagining of much loved Disney classic The Lion King. Unfortunately, while this film has a few remarkable moments it
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