The Wind in the Willows (1996)
Aug 18, 2015Talking Animals/Absurdist Adventures
Monty Python's Terry Jones conducts a live-action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic children's story
Stephen Fry
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999)
Nov 20, 2019Coming of Age Story/Eccentric Psychic Father
Eccentric Coming of Age story set during the 1970s punk era where, among the usual other funny travails, the protagonist's father starts demonstrating psychic abilities
Gormenghast (2000)
May 27, 2007Imaginary Castle World
I enjoyed Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast books far more than J.R.R. Tolkien. Alas, the sublime texture and eccentricity is completely missing in this BBC tv version, which aims for colourful silliness
Thunderpants (2002)
Jun 9, 2003Kid with Super-Powerful Farts
Likeable film about a kid with incredibly powerful farts who uses his ability to launch a rocket. It's mind-boggling to think such a premise was ever given funding nd a greenlight
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
May 2, 2005Gonzo SF
The big-budget film version of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide phenomenon is a disaster that fumbles Douglas Adams’s absurdist wit and blows everything up with big-budget effects and a pitch to American audiences
MirrorMask (2005)
Feb 11, 2007Fantastical Dream World
Neil Gaiman and comic-book artist Dave McKean create a venture into a fantasy world with an extraordinary level of visual imagination and peopled with a remarkable panoply of creations. The results are quite unlike any other film you have seen
Stormbreaker (2006)
Nov 10, 2006Teenage Spy
Film adaptation of a popular series of Young Adult books about a teenage spy. Made not long after the Austin Powers films, this seems unable to decide if it is being serious or a parody
V for Vendetta (2006)
Apr 2, 2006Graphic Novel Adaptation/Totalitarian Future England
Adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel with a script from The Wachowskis. Moore's repudiation aside, this is a fine and literate work that retells the story of an anarchist trickster and potently politicises it for the era of the George W. Bush.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Mar 9, 2010Alice in Wonderland Adaptation/Epic Adventure
Tim Burton takes on Lewis Carroll but Carroll gets lost beneath Burton doing his usual quirky eccentric thing and a plot that seems to want to turn Alice's adventures into a modern epic fantasy
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Dec 14, 2013Epic Fantasy Adventure
The Hobbit became Peter Jackson's equivalent of the Star Wars prequels and this is the weakest work he has produced under the J.R.R. Tolkien banner. Five picaresque chapters of the book are extruded into bloated set-pieces
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Dec 20, 2014Epic Fantasy Adventure
After two bloated and over-padded Hobbit films, Peter Jackson finally gets it together and produces what everyone was expecting him to deliver, even if it means dragging one battle scene out to last an entire film
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Jun 4, 2016Alice in Wonderland Sequel
Sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. This has even less in common with Lewis Carroll's book sequel than its predecessor did – a total of two scenes. The sets and effects are just pretty eye candy
Missing Link (2019)
Jul 27, 2019Bigfoot Comedy/Stop-Motion Animation
Amiable knockabout stop-motion animated film from Laika Entertainment, although the title is a misnomer and the film is actually about a Bigfoot rather than a Missing Link