Fantasy

The self-described “dark fairy tale,” Squeal (also known as Samuel’s Travels) is a truly international affair: the film comes from Latvia, has an Armenian writer/director, the lead actor is from Belgium, and the narrator sounds…

The Secrets of Dumbledore never really stood a chance, did it? A tepid critical response to the first two films and controversy after controversy, left the once-promising “Wizarding World” fumbling its bag. It’s been nearly…

Cinema has given us many incarnations and interpretations of the vampire mythos since F.W Murnau’s Nosferatu almost a century ago. We’ve seen them portrayed as everything from baroque aristocrats, mindless parasitic monsters, mysterious outsiders in…

So many films present a dystopian future by isolating one particularly destructive idea and playing out its disastrous societal effects. Whatever the cause for the decline of civilization — whether it’s alien invasions, dictatorships, or…

It is one of the most satisfying feelings when you are watching a film and it dawns on you that you’re watching something great. For a specific type of viewer, David Lowery’s latest film The…

What happens when you mix threads of The Shape of Water with economic European storytelling and pervasive sadness? You probably get something like Christian Petzold’s Undine, an update of the European mythology in which a…

Five sittings. It took me five different sittings to finish Disney’s Artemis Fowl, a mere 94-minute movie including the entirety of the end credits. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for what was supposed to become…

It was merely five years ago when the one-and-done Maleficent arrived in theaters to great box office success. But outside of financial statements, the film didn’t make an impact and has been long forgotten ever since.…

I never expected Dumbo to ever appear on the roster of Disney’s live-action remakes rolling out since 2010. Like so many, I questioned this decision. The announcement that Tim Burton would be directing only added…

It is often said that children movies deliver the most impactful and poignant messages. This is usually tied to the latest Disney Animation or Pixar release, but it can be found true for a lot…

Take the nostalgia goggles off and the original Mary Poppins still holds up as a perfect musical. Its music and characters are nothing short of iconic. The idea of making a sequel five decades later…

What are the chances Mortal Engines survives this holiday season from the clutches of Into the Spider-Verse, Aquaman, Marry Poppins Returns, and Bumblebee combined? Slim, I tell you. Universal might have overestimated their chances when it came to its marketability in such…

I am … a Potter head. I have read all the books, each one at least twice. When I was in London 6 years ago, I went to the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio, drank…

I’ve always had a soft spot for Tchaikovsky’s perennial ballet The Nutcracker. This is mainly due to my introduction through Disney’s Fantasia, one of my favorite movies of all time. So when Disney announced they…