When Pigs Fly (1993)
Dec 16, 2009Ghosts of Dublin
Peculiar film where Alfred Molina is the landlord of a pub who is visited by two ghosts appearing out of a rocking chair
Alfred Molina
The Trial (1993)
Feb 22, 2005Bureaucratic Nightmare World/Kafka Adaptation
All-star adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel that gets a far better sense of the book's black ironies than the previous Orson Welles version
Hideaway (1995)
Apr 17, 2001Psychic Link with a Serial Killer
Dean R. Koontz adaptation from the director of The Lawnmower Man, this turns out a numbingly predictable film in which Jeff Goldblum returns from the dead to find he has a psychic link with a serial killer
Species (1995)
May 28, 2003Alien Sex Fiend
Slick and rather silly copy of Alien that conceptually cross-hatches it to emerge as essentially Basic Instinct with tentacles
Dudley Do-Right (1999)
May 5, 2007Cartoon in Live-Action
Live-action film adaptation of the old animated tv show with Brendan Fraser in the title role, this drowns in excruciating slapstick and one-dimensional pantomime caricatures
Chocolat (2000)
Jan 19, 2001Magical Realism
Magical Realism film where Juliette Binoche's magic chocolates serve to unleash passions in a conservative French village. An incredibly overrated film that was for some reason nominated for an Academy Award Best Picture
Identity (2003)
Sep 11, 2003Remote Motel Psycho-Thriller
John Cusack leads a star cast line-up in what appears to be a slasher where a group of people gathered at a motel are being killed. Big conceptual twists ensue
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Jul 5, 2004Comic-Book Superhero
Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire get it just right in the second entry in their trilogy of Spider-Man films. The writing team deliver a fantastic Soul of the Superhero script while Raimi delivers some superheroic action sequences that are about as exciting as it is possible to get (*)
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Jun 21, 2006Secret History of Christianity/Historical Conspiracy
Ron Howard directed film version of Dan Brown's phenomenally best-selling book. The book is historical nonsense woven into a fancifully absurd conspiracy theory (that people at the time managed to take seriously); Howard does no more than offer an illustrated version of the book
The Lodger (2009)
Dec 13, 2010Modern-Day Jack the Ripper Killings
Fourth version of the classic tale, originally filmed by Alfred Hitchcock, about a family who believe their boarder might be Jack the Ripper. This updates the setting to present-day and abandons most of the story, winding it in a mind-bending pretzel of identity speculations
Wonder Woman (2009)
Jan 27, 2011Animation/DC Comics Superheroine
Fine animated version of the DC Comics superheroine that gets the character just right and tells the story in a way that eclipses all previous filmed versions
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
May 28, 2010Videogame Adaptation/Arabian Nights Adventure
Adaptation of the popular videogame that ventures into Arabian Nights adventure, this was a box-office flop. It swashbuckles entertainingly but Jake Gyllenhaal feels badly miscast as a buffed adventure hero
The Tempest (2010)
Jul 10, 2011Shakespeare Adaptation
Version of the Shakespeare play that gives us a female Prospero (Helen Mirren) but is otherwise surprisingly faithful. Director Julie Taymor opens the play up with considerable visual extravagance
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)
Jul 17, 2010Apprentice Wizard
Live-action version of the Fantasia segment from Jerry Bruckheimer is a film of empty-headed special effects that ironically fails to conjure any magic of its own
Rango (2011)
Mar 13, 2011Animation/Talking Animal Western Homage
Gore Verbinski makes an eccentrically different animated homage to the Western, all cast with talking animals. The animation comes from Industrial Light and Magic and is quite unlike any other animated film.
Monsters University (2013)
Jun 21, 2013Pixar Animation/Monsters in the Closet
Pixar's creative decline has been the point they started making these sequels to their hits. This is a disappointing prequel to Monsters, Inc. that largely recycles the cliches of the Revenge of the Nerds films and seems lacking in any of the wacky humour or moments of cuteness we expect of a Pixar film
Strange Magic (2015)
Feb 6, 2015Animation/World of Fairies
George Lucas's venture into animation was critically pilloried. It's not bad, just no different from a formula film like Rise of the Guardians or Epic. From the man who made Star Wars, you had higher expectations
Justice League Dark (2017)
Mar 19, 2017Animation/Team of Occult Superheroes
We are familiar with the Justice League but this gives us an alternate League whose members have supernatural abilities or are versed in dealing with the occult.
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
May 12, 2019Disney Animation/Videogame Characters Venture Onto the Internet
I had a lot of liking for Disney's Wreck-It Ralph, a depiction of the inside of a videogame from the viewpoint of the characters. This expands the concept to the internet. Despite being the ultimate product placement film, this also rather appealingly shows Disney poking fun at themselves
Frozen II (2019)
Feb 22, 2020Disney Animation
Frozen was the most successful animated film of all time. It also felt the most formulaic and least inspired Disney film of the 2000s. As part of Disney's new business policy of wringing all they can out of everything that bears their name, this is a sequel.
Don’t Let Go (2019)
Jun 21, 2021Cellphone Calls Across Time
Blumhouse film that borrows the basics of Frequency where a detective starts receiving phone calls from his murdered niece from several days in the past and tries to prevent her murder
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Mar 19, 2022Comic-Book Superhero
Sony’s Spider-Man franchise ingeniously competes with Marvel’s shared universe by bringing all their previous incarnations of Spider-Man together
DC League of Super Pets (2022)
Sep 4, 2022Animation/DC Comics Superhero Pets
Superheroes have overrun screens. It is starting to seem a little too much when we now get a film about animal superheroes who form their own Justice League