When my children were younger, we must have watched the Disney classic live-action film Mary Poppins dozens of times. It’s light, it’s sweet, it has some great songs, and even now I find myself referencing the “practically perfect in every way” scene with my teen. It also had a ghastly performance by Dick Van Dyke too: his Cockney accent is atrocious, just painful to hear, but that’s another discussion entirely. What people who watch Mary…Read More
Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox
In a world of children’s films increasingly characterized by technological accomplishment and sophisticated rendering in lieu of good old-fashioned storytelling, it was a breath of fresh air to enjoy the stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox. Tapping the considerable voice talents of George Clooney (Mr. Fox), Meryl Streep (Mrs. Fox), Bill Murray (Badger), Michael Gambon (Franklin Bean), Owen Wilson (Coach Skip), Willem Dafoe (Rat) and Jason Schwartzman (Ash), director Wes Anderson has managed to take the quirky…Read More