Tag Archives: Disney

Review: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Posted on January 16, 2019 by

Like everyone who’s reviewed this what I’m going to ask is (brace yourself) is MARY POPPINS RETURNS practically perfect in every way? Not quite, but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses and its style and intentions are quite admirable. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Looking Back and Looking Forward: 2018, Part 1

Posted on December 23, 2018 by

Where did 2018 go? For me it’s been a funny year of highs and lows, beginnings and ends and other summing-up-the-year clichés as well. In film, the year started well, then flagged a bit in the middle before picking up … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Mowgli (2018)

Posted on December 16, 2018 by

Giving a wolf Peter Mullen’s face and all the other creatures of the jungle distinctive deformities doesn’t make your JUNGLE BOOK adaptation interesting. The mo-capped actors in MOWGLI don’t exactly have to stretch themselves; Bale can always fall back on … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Incredibles 2 (2018)

Posted on July 29, 2018 by

We knew this was coming. As Elastigirl said in her interview at the beginning of the Incredibles’ first outing, “Settle down? I don’t think so – I’m at the top of my game!”. She has always been the strong, most … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Ready Player One (2018)

Posted on April 8, 2018 by

A thought kept occurring to me while watching Steven Spielberg’s READY PLAYER ONE: what would a director like Paul Verhoeven have done with this material? The movie would certainly have had more bite. Spielberg isn’t prepared to step over that … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Review in Brief: Moana (2016)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by

MOANA is colourful, energetic and heartfelt, and enriches its world with Polynesian cultural influences in a far less patronising manner than was attempted in POCAHONTAS with Native American folklore. It’s also very safe in its storytelling, falling back on Disney … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Posted on March 29, 2017 by

Even for Disney, it’s an audacious move to out-musical your own musical. THE JUNGLE BOOK upped the spectacle and downplayed the songs, CINDERELLA was out to make sense of its protagonist in her time and place and again skipped the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Looking Back and Looking Forward: 2016, Part 2

Posted on January 1, 2017 by

Here are the very best, and the very worst films I’ve seen this year. MOONLIGHT, LA LA LAND and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA aren’t out in the UK for another few weeks, so don’t look for them here. Absent also … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Feature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Review: Ratchet & Clank (2016)

Posted on September 20, 2016 by

I’m a big fan of Insomniac Games’ RATCHET & CLANK series. I played through them all on the PS2 and grew very attached to the characters, the high-octane action and the knowing sense of humour throughout. This year the original … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Review: Zootropolis (2016)

Posted on September 15, 2016 by

ZOOTROPOLIS (which has the much better title of ZOOTOPIA in the States) is not only the best film of 2016 so far but also may well be the most important. It’s the usual pristine, vibrant and peppy animation from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Film Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments