Movie review - "The Sheep Detective" (2026) ****

 Lovely movie. Made with heart. Excellent effects and acting. Everyone seems like a nice person - Emma Thompson, Molly Gordon, Hugh Jackman, the sheep.

Movie review - "Minecraft" (2025) ****

 A wonderous movie full of imagination and genuine flair. The spirit of Terry Gilliam in the best way. Some of Hollywood's top hams - Jack Black, Jason Mamoa, Jennifer Coolidge - having the time of their lives.

Movie review - "Run for the Roses" (1977) *

Dull boy and horse story with some pretty Kentucky scenery. Henry Levin got this job because he did April Love. The pace is sluggish everyone seems bored.

Ida Lupino was going to be in this then dropped out and was replaced by Vera Miles. Stuart Whitman is there. Sam Groom. Lisa Eilbacher! The film avoids conflict.

Occasionally of interest. Documentary style footage of a horse race and horse operation. A fire sequence.

But it's pretty dull. The producers were crooks, that's of interest. 

Movie review - "Scout's Honor" (1980) **

 Henry Levin died of a heart attack on the last day of filmng apparently. The film is dedicated to him. I wish it was better. This is dull and slow. Set up has potential - high falutin Katherine Helmond is assigned to manage a scout troupe including Gary Coleman. But Coleman's mischeviousness is restrained, Helmond pulls back. There's no villain, no stakes. The last half hour they're stuck in a cave. There's no life, no vivacity, no fun. 

Coleman still has a lot of charisma. He deserved a better vehicle as did Helmond. I probablt would have liked it was an eight year old because I loved Coleman.

Movie review - "Heart of a Child" (1958) **

 Dull Rank film about a boy and his dog in Austria. Gruff dad is Donald Pleasance who is so odd it's not fun to see him melt. Jean Anderson isn't bad. Austrian setting after World War One is a novelty. But it's not much. Probably needed to be in colour.

Movie review - "The Kidnappers" (1953) ****

 Charming account of two little brothers whose father has died going to live in Canada (shot in Scotland) with their grumpy grandad (Duncan Macrae) his nicer wife (Jean Anderson in make up) and single daughter (Adrienne Corri, beloved for her 70s efforts).

The stars are the kids, Jon Whitely and Vincent Winter, who are sensational. I loved the atmosphere. It's a little hairy they're looking after a baby - the baby is cute too.

I loved the Boer War stuff - Macrae is annoyed at all this Boers who've moved to Canada, which I assume is based on a real thing.

It feels like Nova Scotia to me even though I've never been there and it was shot in Scotland. Worked for me though! 

J Arthur Rank loved this movie. I think the great northern nepo baby related to all those tactiurn gruff characters (grumpy grandad who wants the kids to go to work at age eight, the Afrikaaner farmer) melting just slightly because of the kids. (Though the farmer makes a point of blaming his daughter.) This is the northern methodist equivalent of a guy cry movie.

Sidebar: Vincent Winter made a bunch of other films then moved into behind the scenes, production managing and assistant directing. Like Kevin Corcoran. Had a good career, but died of a heart attack aged only 50. Smoker, I assume.

Movie review - "Wombling Free" (1977) **

 I wasn't a bad idea to make a Wombles movie even though the TV show only went for 5 minutes - there would be songs, it had IP, the film had a point of difference. But this isn't that good. It's hard to tell the Wombles apart there's not much of a story, the main girl is annoying.Fun to see David Tomlinson though.

The movie feels a little racially dodgy with how it depicts its Japanese character. There is no real life sparking off the screen. The clean up Britain message is not exactly sublte.

However if I saw it as a kid I would love it.

TV review - "Rudolph the Reindeer" (1964) ****

 Yes, some things haven't aged well, such as the sexism of the married characters but it remains a charming, well directed and written special with remarkable emotional power - not just Rudolph being bullied, but his father urging him to fit in (how boomers must have related with their PTSD riddled dads yelling at them)... and Herbie who wants to be a dentist, and the island of misfit toys (the most brilliant invention ever). Other characters like Yukon Cornelius (memorably outed in Reductress as a terrific lay) also have impact.

Charming songs and narration. This is fantastic.

Movie review - "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" (2024) *** (warning: spoilers)

 Another solid entry, surprisingly emotional, with a big death toll - I kept expecting that young girl to be alive. Lots of subtext about dealing with loss. Plenty of production value and spectacle. Suffers from some bloat and overlength but generally a good time.

Movie review - "The Secret of Nimh" (1982) ***

 I'm not that familiar with Don Bluth films. The animation is very fine, and there are memorable sequences such as visiting the owl and going underground - all the spooky stuff. There's some full on scenes of animal testing, people getting crushed and stabbed, and adult flirting. 

The story lacks momentum - it's about staying still, inside because a kid has pnuemonia. 

Really interesting voice cast including Wil Wheaton, Shanneon Doherty, Elizabeth Hartman and Aldo Ray! Hartman took her own life only a few yers later.

Movie review - "A Cry from the Streets" (1958) ***

 Charming melodrama with Max Bygraves a little awkward but a warm, comforting presence. He has a decent role to play an engineer whose wife and kid died so is wary of involvement but he falls for Barbara Murray a social worker dealing with kids including two Aussies - Dana Wilson from The Shiralee whose dad murdered her mum, and Colin Petersen from Smiley whose mum is a drunken actress. There's also another older kid.

It's serious subject so the warmth is welcome. Lewis Gilbert directs with sensitivity. Lots of care in the film.

Bygraves sings one song and it's sweet - I'm surprised they didn't do a few more.

Movie review - "The Scamp" (1957) **1/2

 A genuine Colin Petersen vehicle. He repeats much of the stuff from Smiley - knocks out his dad and runs away, gets in a fight, is cute. Also he plays drums which Petersen could do. He's charming star - the heart of this film. Richard Attenborough's school teacher is a little creepily invested and dismissive of Dorothy Alisoin his wife. Terence Morgan is an excellent cad as Petersen's dad and Jill Adams is fun as the trashy blonde he dates.

Movie review - "Smiley" (1956) *** (rewatch)

 Charming. Lovely shot. Good acting across the board - Chips, John McCallum. Shame all the POC had to be bad.  Alex Korda's last film.

Movie review - "If" (2024) ** (warning spoilers)

 A bright idea - imaginary friends need a home - and some lovely moments (a dance to 'Better Be Good to Me', reuniting imaginary friends with adults) but it doesn't quite work. The rules of the world feel so arbitrary (sometimes you can see "if"s, sometimes you can't; what triggers recognition?), it's needlessly confusing (what is John Krasinsky in hospital for, why not spell out things - I read on wikipedia he was in for heart surgery but it's not clear in the film where it always looks like he's just visiting).

They may as well have said up front that Ryan Reynolds was the girl's "if" - sure it's a nice reveal but not knowing it just feels weird why he was helping this girl. Some irritating things like Krasinski and Reynolds look alike, and the flashbacks to home movies, we often see the three of them, who is holding the camera?

The lead girl gives a professional performance -there was something "I've been acting since I was two" about it. That's unfair I know it's how I felt.

I think Krasinsky needed a co writer on this. A Quiet Place worked because writers had given him a great script.

Movie review - "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" (2004) **1/2

 Terry Gilliam lite - not bad, episodic storyline, Jim Carrey having fun. Aussie Emily Browning is the main young girl. I haven't read the books. Entertaining support cast - Tim Spall, Meryl Steep, etc.

Movie review - "Dumbo" (2019) **

 This isn't a very good movie. It's gloomily shot, everything seems overcast. There's no sense of wonder. There's two cute kids and Colin Farrell as a one armed WW1 veteran, who suck up screentime from Dumbo who is very much a supporting character. Effects are ordinary. Dumbo doesn't have much personality here. I was longing for some old school Burton effects or imagery.

Movie review - "Wish" (2023) **

 Some nice animation and tunes. The tunes don't seem to quite fir in the story. Maybe they did - I had trouble following the story. It's about a wizard/king (voiced by Chris Pine) who sets up an island kingdom where he grants people's wishes. I think he does when he can but when he can't he steals their wishes which is not nice but kind of minor league villainy. And the island people seem whiny because of they just want wishes.

The film impoves when Pine goes full villain. It lacks realised support characters - the most interesting thing about the lead is she looks like Meaghan Markle, but I had trouble telling the human characters apart (Pine's wife, lead girl's group of friends, lead girl's mum and grandad). It was hard to care.

The animated animals though had real spark - donkey, bear, rabbits, etc. The script needed a few more drafts - I felt that of Frozen 2 and Wrinkle in Time.

Movie review - "Trolls Band Together" (2023) ***

 Big fun psychedlic visuals. Some very, very funny gags and there's a lot of them. Enjoyable manufactured pop star villains with Amy Schumer stealing the show. Justin Timberlake embraces his past. The plot is very traumatic when you think about it (TImberlake has all these brothers who abandoned him, Anna Kendrik's father didn't tell her about the existence of a sister - to be fair this plot was clearly thrown in to give her something to do).  Good fun,

Movie review - "Migration" (2023) **1/2

 Absolutely fine. Some really funny gags, like Awkwafina (who must have the record for appearances in animated films) getting run over. For all its admirable diversity behind the mike I note that the dad still seems to make all the decisions. Decent animation and colour. Story a little iffy. It seems to lack subtext. Why did they bother bringing Danny de Vito's character along he doesn't do anything?

Movie review - "Elemental" (2023) **1/2

 Much to admire. The animation is excellent, particularly on the big screen, some lovely gags and moments, I enjoyed the world of the different elements, fire vs water vs earth vs air.

It doesn't quite work. It's not really a film for kids its an intercultural romance - which I know so was Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast but they had songs and a more propulsive story, with villains and ticking clocks. This is more Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with clunky artificial story drivers like shutting down the store, and fixing the dam It needed more of a coathanger, like solving a mystery, searching for someone, or even just beating a villain.

Also it makes remarkable mistakes in identifying the audience with the lead. Good Disney/Pixar gives us time with the lead - why not show her as a baby in Fireland, with the parents as they leave for the new country, a decent time on the boat (a great moment in the film but far too brief), experience time with her as she experiences prejudice and sees what a great set of parents she has. This is all shown in flashback. The old, very effective mantra of taking time has been thrown out the window.

Not a mystery why people didn't go for it.