Sort by
Listing Movies
Display Movies
Kid in King Arthur’s Court (1995)
Calvin Fuller is about to break curfew...by 1500 years.
Filmmaker(s): Michael Gottlieb

A Southern California kid named Calvin Fuller is magically transported to the medieval kingdom of Camelot through a crack in the ground caused by an earthquake. Once there, he learns he was summoned by the wizard Merlin, who needs Calvin to save Camelot. Using dazzling modern inventions, can Calvin help King Arthur retain his crown and thwart the evil Lord Belasco?

Merlin’s Reds The magic of the legend is that it is presented through the prism of Merlin’s magic. It is the English thread of self-referential literature that balances the Spanish Don Quixote. In this thread, the teller is a magician and all of the “reality”...
Published December 1, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Storm Boy (1976)
Wild things should be free.
Filmmaker(s): Henri Safran

Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.

Internal Weather I’ve had the advantage of being old, and living in both the US and Australia and raising kids in each. That gives me a perspective on the book before seeing the film. Every so often, a young adult book hits a sweet spot...
Published December 1, 2022
| Categorised as New Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
A world of wonders in one great picture!

On a golden afternoon, young Alice follows a White Rabbit, who disappears down a nearby rabbit hole. Quickly following him, she tumbles into the burrow - and enters the merry, topsy-turvy world of Wonderland! Memorable songs and whimsical escapades highlight Alice's journey, which culminates in a madcap encounter with the Queen of Hearts - and her army of playing cards!

Charlie’s Flowers I spent a goodly part of my life becoming an expert in the Alice material, so have had to work to temper this comment: My initial feeling on this project is one of utter despair, as Walt and company took something that was...
Published November 30, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Freaky Friday (2003)
Mondays are manic. Wednesdays are wild. And Fridays are about to get a little freaky.
Filmmaker(s): Mark Waters

Mother and daughter bicker over everything -- what Anna wears, whom she likes and what she wants to do when she's older. In turn, Anna detests Tess's fiancé. When a magical fortune cookie switches their personalities, they each get a peek at how the other person feels, thinks and lives.

Borrowed Eyes I am convinced that many movies are about movies as a matter of demand. When we enter that darkened room, we often expect not be taken to another real reality, but to a movie reality that has some degree of self-awareness. A great...
Published November 28, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
The Incredibles (2004)
Meet the Parrs, a family of superheroes.
Filmmaker(s): Brad Bird

Bob Parr has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children with his formerly heroic wife in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment, it's time to get back into costume.

Pixar is Invincible All movies are about other movies. Most simply quote them, and most of these are bad. Some are very clever quoters, like Tarantino. But still mere quoters. A few weeks ago, I saw “Van Helsing” which impressed the daylights out of me....
Published November 26, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000)
Filmmaker(s): Douglas McCarthy

It's all extreme sports and a life of freedom as Max sets off for college -- but Goofy misses Max so much he loses his job and goes to finish college alongside Max and his friends. But as Goofy tries to get closer to Max, both must go to the extreme to learn how to live their own lives together.

Three Goofs There are three things about this little cartoon that should get you up-out-of-your-chair mad. And not just huffing mad, but pounding walls mad. The first is elusive. Walt Disney created Goofy and indeed all of his characters with a single notion: that they...
Published November 22, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Happy Feet (2006)
WARNING: May Cause Toe-Tapping.
Filmmaker(s): George Miller

Into the world of the Emperor Penguins, who find their soul mates through song, a penguin is born who cannot sing. But he can tap dance something fierce!

Mad Maximum Motion You can parse this into three bits I think. The first is what people normally see, the story. Miller and many of the Oz New Wave don’t pay much attention to this. They put something there of course, otherwise we would get...
Published November 20, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
Sinbad battles the creatures of legend in the miracle of Dynarama
Filmmaker(s): Gordon Hessler

Sinbad and his crew intercept a homunculus carrying a golden tablet. Koura, the creator of the homunculus and practitioner of evil magic, wants the tablet back and pursues Sinbad. Meanwhile Sinbad meets the Vizier who has another part of the interlocking golden map, and they mount a quest across the seas to solve the riddle of the map.

Arabiana Jones Boy, I’ll tell you that when this was new, it was great. This was before Lucas and Spielberg made it impossible to have a straight ahead adventure film with no winks at the audience. This was when special effects were more believable because...
Published November 20, 2022
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Paws of Fury The Legend of Hank (2022)
Time to mark some territory.

A hard-on-his-luck hound finds himself in a town full of cats in need of a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain's wicked plot to wipe their village off the map. With help from a reluctant mentor, our underdog must assume the role of town samurai and team up with the villagers to save the day.

Cat Play Viewer paradigms are evolving quickly in the film world. I think the COVID lull has stopped that temporarily as we wash out the projects like this that were on automatic pilot during that era. By evolving, I mean that we as viewers build...
Published October 29, 2022
| Categorised as New Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Lightyear (2022)
Infinity awaits.
Filmmaker(s): Angus MacLane

Legendary Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear embarks on an intergalactic adventure alongside a group of ambitious recruits and his robot companion Sox.

Andy’s World The first thing — and the most important thing — a film does is establish where it will sit between your mind and the worlds you know. Often there is some clever interplay between what it is directly, and what games it will...
Published August 14, 2022
| Categorised as New Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
preloader image