The Great Gilly Hopkins movie review: a girl’s anger
A tough, simple story about a foster kid whose path to finding a family and a home is not an easy one. There are no platitudes here, just bittersweet truth.
family/kids
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children movie review: infodump, the movie
Relentlessly dull. A tour of a strange world and “characters” little more than their “peculiar” abilities isn’t enough to whip up fantastical excitement.
Kubo and the Two Strings movie review: quest for family
Magic, music, and monsters come together to create a marvelous fairy tale that’s scary, sweet, and full of tough emotions that kids’ movies often avoid.
Robinson Crusoe (aka The Wild Life) movie review: castaway… you know, for kids!
A bland electronic babysitter, suitable only for small children still distracted by bright colors, slapstick cartoon animals, and simplistic wordplay.
Swallows and Amazons movie review: a free-range kiddie adventure
Behold a time before helicopter parenting, when children roamed free, ate cake for dinner, and played with fire. A delightfully old-fashioned treat.
Pete’s Dragon movie review: big friendly dragon
More like a pleasant walk in a redwood forest with a boy and his dragon than a rollicking adventure, but its serenity and warm heart are infectious.
Ice Age: Collision Course movie review: where is a mass extinction when you need one?
The Ice Age flicks are the cinematic equivalent of drive-through nuggets of reconstituted chicken slurry served by a bored teenager in a cardboard hat.
The Secret Life of Pets movie review: dogs and cats living together…
Charming. A cleverly constructed and amusingly rendered fantasy adventure that sings with a sweet, wistful devotion to home, family, and friendship.
The BFG movie review: that sense of wonder where it all went wrong
Fantasy meandering twists into something more action-oriented, and there’s little magic in it. This is not what we expect from a master cinematic fantasist.
Alice Through the Looking Glass movie review: a mirror cracked
Believes six impossible things — like implausible character motivations, or big emotions — because they’re in the script, without bothering to earn them.
