Chris Columbus

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)
Rating: ★★
Jun 28, 2013Anime/Boy's Adventures in Dreams
Anime film based on Winsor McCay's celebrated comic strip about a boy's adventures in dreams. Despite a script from Ray Bradbury, the film waters the comic-strip down to the formula of the modern children's film
Director: ,
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Bicentennial Man (1999)

Bicentennial Man (1999)
Rating: ★
Dec 21, 1999Robot Gains Self-Awareness/Isaac Asimov Adaptation
Isaac Asimov may not have been the best science-fiction writer ever but his stories buzzed with challenging ideas. In the hands of Chris Columbus, one of Asimov's robot stories is reduced to mawkish sentimentalism
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Rating: ★★
Nov 18, 2001Young Wizard
The first of the Harry Potter films. The first is the weakest and lumbers due to being placed in the hands of the perpetually banal Chris Columbus who allows visual effects wow and simplistic emotional cues to dominate
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

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:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Night at the Museum (2006)

Night at the Museum (2006)
Rating: ★★
Feb 11, 2007Museum Exhibits Come to Life
Popular family hit with Ben Stiller as a night watchman at New York’s Museum of Natural History who discovers that the exhibits come to life at night. More a cute idea than a full film, there is some fun to the characters and effects
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Rating: ★★
Feb 14, 2010Greek Myth in the Present Day
Chris Columbus seeks to emulate the success of the Harry Potter films with this adaptation of a Young Adult series about the children of Greek gods. The film falls apart due to Columbus's typical banal cues and effects overkill
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Rating: ★★
Aug 16, 2013Greek Myth in the Present Day
This sequel is marginally better than the first film (largely due to Chris Columbus no longer being in the director's chair), being more dramatically engaged and with effects that feel less like random eye candy. That still doesn't disguise the fact that the Percy Jackson series is no more than a lightweight and forgettable Harry Potter knockoff
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)
Rating: ★
Jan 24, 2015Museum Exhibits Come to Life
The third entry in a franchise that seems to be stretching to find anything to do with its premise beyond the first film. Everyone involved seems to have only turned up to collect a paycheque and be going through the motions in a show that entirely coasts by solely on your familiarity with the characters
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

Pixels (2015)

Pixels (2015)
Rating: ★★
Jul 25, 2015Alien Invaders Bring Classic Videogames to Life
This has a certain cuteness to its premise – of seeing a bunch of classic videogames brought to life. Beyond that, Pixels is a one gimmick film that suffers from two people whose films I hate – the perpetually banal Chris Columbus and the irritatingly smug presence of Adam Sandler
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by

The Witch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

The Witch: A New-England Folktale (2015)
Rating: ★★★★
Feb 27, 2016Puritan Era Fear of Witches
A fascinatingly different and original work. A scrupulous effort is made – from the dialogue and clothing – to place us inside a 17th Century setting dominated by insanely legalistic religious superstitions and fears, at contrast to which there lie a series of phantasmagoric visions of witches
Director:
Actors: , ,
Category:
by

I Kill Giants (2017)

I Kill Giants (2017)
Rating: ★★★
Apr 1, 2018Girl Believes in Giants
The title leads you to expect a variation on Jack the Giant Slayer but instead we get a very good story about a troubled girl who believes in giants. Very similar to A Monster Calls, this is carried by a fantastic performance from 15 year old Madison Wolfe
Director:
Actors: , , , , …
Category:
by