Beauty and the Beast (2017) movie review: ever just the same, never a surprise
Like a theme-park mounting of the 1991 cartoon, or the blandified pop version of an enchanting signature character tune. A watered-down pastiche of itself.
family/kids
My Life as a Zucchini (aka My Life as a Courgette) movie review: nutritious, filling, and delicious
Simply a lovely film, with some of the most striking — and haunting — animation I’ve ever seen, and full of a remarkable and palpable warmth and humanity.
The White King movie review: a boy’s-eye view on dystopia
This sad mess of a vaguely sci-fi coming-of-age tale seemingly could not be more plugged into current fears, and yet it feels utterly irrelevant.
Monster Trucks movie review: what a car-tastrophe
What if “monster trucks” actually meant — wait for it — that there were monsters in the trucks? From an idea by a four-year-old (really), and it shows.
A Monster Calls movie review: the monster is within us all
A fairy tale of the Grimm sort: no happy ending, no heroes or villains, just hard truths about life and human nature. Important, beautiful, heartbreaking.
Sing movie review: hey, kids, let’s put on a show!
Smart, sweet, gently funny, with a wonderfully exuberant voice performance by Matthew McConaughey that hints at fresh new realms animated movies can reach.
Moana movie review: the hero with a thousand faces finally has a female one
A wonderful mythology of demons and demigods. A heroine who embodies the bold spirit of her people. Another sweet, funny, exciting triumph from Disney.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie review: reparo movens ad imaginem
Forget about magical creatures: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them could use some help finding itself, and in figuring out who its protagonist is.
The Eagle Huntress documentary review: badass girl is badass even without embellishments to her story (LFF 2016)
Problems with authenticity don’t detract from the power of a story about a teen girl pursuing a challenging sport amongst beautiful Mongolian landscapes.
Trolls movie review: you can’t stop the cute
Cute and sweet and will put you to sleep, like a diabetic coma, and then it will smack you awake with its relentlessly cheery vivid-pastel optimism.
