Life Before STAR WARS: Aliens, Apes, and Animated Weirdoes
Before Star Wars proved they could be big business, sci-fi and fantasy were the province…
Life Before STAR WARS, Part One: Long Ago and Far Away
Star Wars has become the tree that’s impossible to see for the forest. It’s ceased…
Danny Devito’s Matilda Captured the Essence of Ronald Dahl Better Than Most Adaptations by James Williams
In 1996, two Roald Dahl adaptations, Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach and Danny…
Year of the Month: Persia on ORPHEUS
Did you know that Jean Cocteau was lucky enough to have the most beautiful lovers…
Year of the Month: FANTASIA
The Walt Disney Studio is responsible for some of the greatest films of all time,…
MOOD INDIGO: Half Mess, Half Masterpiece
Michel Gondry’s followed his muse to many great successes in his career, but that muse…
Year of the Month: The Transcendent Kitsch of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD
It should be no secret by now that I’m a great lover of kitsch, of…
Year of the Month: The Total Inexplicability of SANTA AND THE ICE CREAM BUNNY
In last December’s article on Manos: The Hands of Fate, I may have undersold the…
Monarchy for Kids
Disney takes a lot of heat for its princess line, in part because it’s supposed…
Burton Begins: The Strange Dream of HANSEL AND GRETEL
It’s the stuff of urban legend. A deeply disturbing, ultra-low-budget version of Hansel and Gretel…