Miriam Margolyes Archives

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986)

Rating: ★★★★

Jan 25, 2017Jilted Woman's Elaborate Revenge

An acclaimed mini-series about a frumpy woman taking gleeful revenge on the husband who abandoned her. Essentially Fatal Attraction rewritten with a feminist manifesto with hilariously barbed results

Director: Philip Saville

Actors: Julie T. Wallace, Dennis Waterman, Patricia Hodge, Liz Smith, …

Category: Fantasy

25 January 20173 July 2026 by Roog

Ed and His Dead Mother (1993)

Rating: ★★★

May 22, 2001Zombified Mother Comedy

A very eccentric comedy in which momma's boy Steve Buscemi accepts a deal from a strange salesman to resurrect his beloved mother (Miriam Margolyes) from the dead

Director: Jonathan Wacks

Actors: Steve Buscemi, Miriam Margolyes, John Glover, Ned Beatty, …

Category: Fantasy

22 May 200130 January 2026 by Roog

Babe (1995)

Rating: ★★★★★

Sep 16, 2005Talking Animals

Runaway hit produced by George Miller of Mad Max fame that conducts what in any other terms would be an animated talking animals film in live-action with CGI and animatronics. The results are utterly charming.

Director: Chris Noonan

Actors: James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, …

Category: Fantasy

16 September 200524 November 2025 by Roog

Balto (1995)

Rating: ★★★

Jan 17, 2010Animation/Talking Husky Dogs

One of the better animated films produced by Amblin, this is based on the true story of a husky rescue in Alaska, albeit turned into a film where the dogs now talk

Director: Simon Wells

Actors: Miriam Margolyes, Kevin Bacon, Bridget Fonda, Jim Cummings, …

Category: Fantasy

17 January 201025 November 2025 by Roog

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Rating: ★★★★

Dec 1, 2000Fantastical Journey/Stop-Motion Animation/Roald Dahl Adaptation

Henry Selick's follow-up to The Nightmare Before Christmas, a Roald Dahl adaptation filled with enormous visual creativity as a boy and several talking insects set forth on a sea journey in a giant peach

Director: Henry Selick

Actors: Paul Terry, Miriam Margolyes, Joanna Lumley, Pete Postlethwaite, …

Category: Fantasy

1 December 200012 May 2026 by Roog

Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

Rating: ★★

Apr 3, 2001Talking Animals

For this sequel to the hit talking pig film, producer George Miller of Mad Max films fame steps into the director's chair. However, the cuteness of the original promptly becomes buried under careening slapstick

Director: George Miller

Actors: Magda Szubanski, James Cromwell, Mary Stein, E.G. Daily, …

Category: Fantasy

3 April 20016 July 2024 by Roog

Mulan (1998)

Rating: ★★★

Apr 10, 1999Disney Animation/Chinese Legend

Disney animated film based on the Chinese legend of the girl who posed as a warrior. Unlike the similar historically-based Pocahontas, this emerges as well rounded and satisfying

Director: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft

Actors: Ming Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, B.D. Wong, James Hong, …

Category: Fantasy

10 April 199925 November 2025 by Roog

End of Days (1999)

Rating: ★

Dec 1, 1999The Devil Returns to Earth at The Millennium/Action Film

Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on The Devil on the eve of the millennium. This is essentially The Omen and one of its ilk having been reworked as a mindless big-budget action and effects movie

Director: Peter Hyams

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak, …

Category: Horror

1 December 199931 January 2026 by Roog

Cats & Dogs (2001)

Rating: ★★★

Jul 6, 2001Talking Animal Spy Capers

Here the cutely appealing idea of a talking animals film conducted in live-action a la Babe has been blended with a tongue-in-cheek spy adventure. The results are enjoyably silly

Director: Lawrence Guterman

Actors: Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Miriam Margolyes, Tobey Maguire, …

Category: Fantasy

6 July 200129 December 2025 by Roog

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Rating: ★★

Dec 6, 2002Young Wizard

The second of the Harry Potter films and better than its predecessor. Chris Columbus has his tendency to overblown effects more in check but that does leave the film more dependent on J.K. Rowling's contrived deus ex machina plotting

Director: Chris Columbus

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane, …

Category: Fantasy

6 December 20021 July 2021 by Roog

Flushed Away (2006)

Rating: ★★½

Feb 11, 2007Animation/Talking Rats

Aardman Animation abandon Claymation for regular animation in this story of a pet rat thrown out of his comfort zone down into the sewers. Alas, this only serves to make it just another talking animals animated film

Director: David Bowers, Sam Fell

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, …

Category: Fantasy

11 February 200722 October 2025 by Roog

Happy Feet (2006)

Rating: ★★★★

Feb 11, 2007Animation/Talking and Dancing Penguins

George Miller of Mad Max fame makes a motion-capture animated film about a young penguin who sets out to fulfill his dream of tap-dancing. This ends up being a film of unexpectedly winning charms

Director: George Miller

Actors: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, …

Category: Fantasy

11 February 200729 October 2025 by Roog

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010)

Rating: ★★★½

Sep 21, 2010Animation/Talking Owls

Zack Snyder makes an exquisite motion-capture animated film for adults about talking owls. This has a story that comes with a sweeping mythic arc

Director: Zack Snyder

Actors: Jim Sturgess, Emily Barclay, Ryan Kwanten, Helen Mirren, …

Category: Fantasy

21 September 201021 June 2026 by Roog

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)

Rating: ★★★

Jul 15, 2011Young Wizard

I've never been a huge fan of the Harry Potter series but the final chapter rounds out the boy wizard saga in rousing style, mounting an epic-sized battle and finding characters depths that hold some of the best writing of the series

Director: David Yates

Actors: Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, …

Category: Fantasy

15 July 20111 July 2021 by Roog

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

Rating: ★

Mar 5, 2018Charles Dickens and the Writing of A Christmas Carol

Among the fad for biopics about writers and the origins of famous stories, this, about Charles Dickens and the creation of A Christmas Carol, is the most lunatic – and that's not counting the blatant lie of the title

Director: Bharat Nalluri

Actors: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce, Morfydd Clark, …

Category: Fantasy

5 March 20187 December 2025 by Roog

The Little Vampire (2017)

Rating: ★★

Aug 5, 2021Animation/Children’s Vampire Film

Animated film based on the popular series of children’s stories about a kid who befriends a vampire boy. The same stories had previously appeared as a live-action fllm

Director: Karsten Kiilerich, Richard Claus

Actors: Jim Carter, Tim Piggot-Smith, Alice Krige, Miriam Margolyes, …

Category: Fantasy, Horror

5 August 20215 August 2021 by Roog

Early Man (2018)

Rating: ★★

May 19, 2018Aardman Animation/Prehistoric Sports Comedy

Claymation film from Aardman Animations that is in effect a prehistoric comedy like The Flintstones or The Croods mixed up with a sports film, but is Aardman's slightest work so far

Director: Nick Park

Actors: Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams, Timothy Spall, …

Category: Fantasy

19 May 201828 January 2026 by Roog