Animation is a genre I’ve gone to bat for quite a lot in the past. Rather than seeing it as simple entertainment for kids, I’ve argued that it can be a vehicle for the most sensitive storytelling in film, when embracing a family-friendly tone, it can really portray complex issues in a way that will…
It isn’t very often I review a Netflix movie. In fact, I’ve only done two: Bright and The Irishman (although I saw The Irishman in cinema, during its limited release) two films at VERY distant opposites on the quality scale. This isn’t because I consider Netflix films any lesser than others, streaming is the future…
Those who have children, or have children in the family should remember the first Frozen with a mixture or warmth and dread. The film, and that dratted song, has been pretty much omnipresent in the half-decade since its initial release, making north of a billion dollars, and that kind of success simply does not go…
I may have said this before, but in my opinion the high-point of the Disney ‘live-action’ remakes has so far been The Jungle Book. It updated and refreshed a film that was long enough ago to warrant a fresh coat of paint with a stellar cast and a lovely new visual style. So, when the…
Like many people of my age, I was addicted to Pokemon as a kid. I spent hours watching the anime on a Saturday morning, collected the playing cards religiously, and played every Game Boy game of it I could get my hands on (including a weird bootleg one I bought in Bulgaria, but I digress)…
I saw this on the same day as Hellboy, two films that could really not be further apart. Hellboy is a cynical and transparent attempt to cash-in on a long-dormant series. While this is a charming, artful film from a very consistent animation studio. Laika Animation are the studio in question. They debuted in 2006…
So, The Lego Move was a bit of a surprise when it landed back in 2015. There’s a tendency for these films (film adaptations of popular things; see Angry Birds and The Emoji Movie) have a tendency to be cloying, brain dead activities in endurance, that only those with half a brain cell (or under…
