But far more of it is alien and strange: the inhuman-looking tower that's home the empress at the end of the universe, and the uncanniness of the empress herself, played by child actor Tami Stronach, but seemingly overdubbed either by Stronach or another performer, so her voice feels like it's radiating throughout the space rather than coming out of her mouth. So pour out a warm glass of milk, dim the lights, and tuck yourself into bed, because we're going on a journey into other worlds for the best films like "Slumberland. The story of Wendy Darling and her trip to Neverland is remembered as a timeless staple of pop culture, with its Disney animated adaptation a particular favorite that you may have seen. Another film adapted from the works of Neil Gaiman, the world of "Stardust" may not be imaginary like "Slumberland" or the author's own "Coraline, " but is nevertheless a similarly intriguing realm. But "The NeverEnding Story" is about the unfolding of a story, and so the framing device of the kid hidden in his school attic, breathlessly turning the pages, is interesting. Curious, he turns the pages and is immediately swept away on a grand adventure. While the source material for this one is firmly categorized as a children's story, the same can't quite be said for its unique film adaptation. While many of Disney's classics are remembered fondly for their boundless imagination, none are a better example of that than "Alice in Wonderland. But not many people are aware that Baum went on to write 13 more books in the series that deepen the worldbuilding and introduce the reader to an eclectic cast of characters. The first volume tells the story of one Dorothy of Kansas, who is swept into the Land of Oz as a result of a tornado. Set in the small town of Lark Creek, the movie introduces 11-year-old Jesse Aarons (Josh Hutcherson), a downtrodden boy just trying to get by. Tim Brayton is the editor-in-chief and primary critic at Alternate Ending.
That loneliness is, to be clear, exactly what The NeverEnding Story wants and needs; it is a tired, melancholy film about a tired world from which all the spark of imagination has been plucked away. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is now streaming on HBO Max. Selected by Asia Washington, Sales Associate. Until China in the 2010s, none of these experiments ever really took hold, but there's always something endless fascinating to me about seeing how filmmakers of all nations attempt to put their own stamp on American cinematic junk food. If you've only got time to rewatch one film in the Harry Potter franchise, it may as well be Order of the Phoenix. Like we said, it's '80s through and through. The Shape of Water is now streaming on Hulu. Until then, we're treated to scene after scene of Jim Henson's puppet magic on full display, as well as plenty of song and dance numbers by our eccentric antagonist.
Liar Liar is now streaming on Prime Video. The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994) – 3. Back to Main Series. Almerí, Germany, Spain & Vancouver Written by.
Maura Tierney, Cary Elwes, Anne Haney, and Jennifer Tilly also star. What similar themes are we looking for? So sit back and get reacquainted with classic titles like The NeverEnding Story, or catch up on newbies you may have missed like The School for Good and Evil. After moving from her home in a bustling city to a rural town in Oregon, the already strained relationship between Coraline Jones (Fanning) and her family is at a breaking point. Another story of a young girl who travels into a fantastical dream world all on her own, viewers of "Slumberland" who haven't seen Disney's animated "Alice in Wonderland" should stop right here and add it to their watchlist. Were children's movies this nihilistic in the old days? Bastian soon realizes he's the only one who can save Fantasia and the characters he's come to love — if only he uses his imagination. Muppets Most Wanted.
The NeverEnding Story. There is a lot we have to believe in "The NeverEnding Story, " and that's the other great strength of this movie. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is now streaming on Prime Video. Bridge to Terabithia. And it's not even one of those "expensive by the standards of a local film industry": DM 60 million was around $25 million at the time, not a ton of money, but enough to make The NeverEnding Story on par with the most expensive Hollywood productions of the same year (all of them dwarfed by the most expensive production of 1983, Return of the Jedi, but let's be reasonable, you can't just comparing things to Star Wars pictures, like that's a fair fight). But beyond a few notable changes, this animated Nemo goes on very much the same journey as his live-action counterpart. And and if I were a national determinist, I'd say that the unfeeling, even anti-human emptiness of basically every location, the feeling of unthinkable cosmic hollowness leaving the living characters like grains of sand blowing across a great stone corpse of the dead earth; I would say that yes, this feels like Germans trying to make a fake American fantasy movie.
Even though it's somewhat lesser-known when compared to a few of our previous entries, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is no less deserving of your attention. Like "Slumberland, " the adventures in Narnia had been adapted decades before as an animated movie, but the 2005 film would be the first big budget live-action film made from the literary classic. It's also an essential watch for any fans of "Slumberland" looking for similar films tackling stories of loss. Come to think of it, that too ties in with the strangely underbuilt world; it only makes sense, only feels like a contiguous, real place if you, the viewer, make it do so with the power of your own imagination. With an all-star cast that includes Angelina Jolie, David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Clarke Peters, and Michael Caine, it too sends its protagonist to a wondrous other world. The NeverEnding Story is all the more fascinating still because A) the filmmakers are doing this with exceptional self-awareness, filming the movie in English with a largely American-born cast, so the finished product was ready for international export to all the places that American films got distributed, and B) it was an unmixed success.
It's a bit sad at points, so despite the PG rating, a parent should be present to deal with questions or concerns. Even so, the film was a success and it left an indelible mark on the imaginations of a generation of children while also spending off several sequels. The 10-year-old again saw himself in the boys on screen, and he wondered aloud why Bastian didn't figure out his key role in opposing the Nothing until it was almost too late. J. Tolkien's characters are brought to life by an all-star cast including Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, and more. Well-reviewed by critics, "The Spiderwick Chronicles" is a worthy adaptation of its source material, and the rare 21st century adventure film that doesn't sequel-bait, content to stand on its own. All guests who present a ticket for a film screening, Tuesday through Saturday (and the first Sunday of every month), receive 10% off all food and non-alcoholic beverages at Fanny's.
Like "Slumberland" and so many other fantasy films for younger audiences, this one isn't just focused on delivering awesome fantasy moments (of which there's still plenty), but also some more grounded coming-of-age drama. He gets wrapped up in Fantasia, the fantasy world in the book, and its characters, including a young warrior named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) and a Luck Dragon called Falkor. This film is a 10 out of 10 on the rewatch. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). 13 Going on 30 is now streaming on Prime Video. Sure, The Legend of Hercules may not have done very well at the box office or have been a hit with critics, but how do you not love a story about a demigod with a sword that shoots lightning? The 2009 stop-motion animated film "Coraline" has its roots in the pages of a novel by acclaimed author Neil Gaiman. The Kaleidoscope Sisters by Ronnie K. Stephens is a gorgeous tale of magic and sibling bonds. But here comes the 2020 fantasy film "Come Away" to do something a bit different, mixing elements from both magical stories into something new and fresh.
In retaliation, the Nothing, or whatever force is driving the Nothing, sends its own champion to find and slay Atreyu, a large and vicious wolf-like creature with bright green eyes called the Gmork (one of three puppeteered creatures in the film voiced by Alan Oppenheimer). In most movies, this quest would be told in a straightforward way, without the surrounding story about the other little boy who is reading the book. The novel plays with the reader's escapist wishes by telling a story-within-a-story where the fictional reader and the tale are deeply aware of each other, and collaborate on the larger meta-narrative. What no one can expect, however, is that the path to victory may blur the lines between fantasy and reality. She experiences the fantastical adventures as a series of dreams or hallucinations, and is inspired by them. The company, AVA, which represents the Ende estate, has yet to comment on the activity. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more! Within the world of Fantasia, a young hero (Noah Hathaway) is assigned to complete a hazardous quest, sneak past the dreaded portals of some stone amazons, and reach the Ivory Tower, where he will receive further instructions from the empress. Though it wasn't the box office smash that Disney may have hoped for, "The BFG" delivers on the movie magic its talented director is so famed for. There's plenty of tension, along with magic, mystery, and murder. Sophia Anne Caruso (who played Lydia in the Broadway musical version of Beetlejuice) stars as Sophie, who was really hoping to be placed in the School for Good, but gets into the School for Evil.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). Chaos ensues until we find out if he's able to make things right. While exploring the new house seeking an escape from her dreary life, she discovers a passageway into another world nearly identical to her own. Do you have a movie you'd like to see reviewed?
And that illusion, in turn, helps reinforce the more conventional effects like animation, back projection, and so on. The wolf definitely came across as 'super scary' to him, a good reminder that even old-school film tricks look real to the littlest of the littles) When Artax the horse died, there were tears. Populated by some of the strangest creatures ever put to film at the time, Alice's journey through the realm is trippy to say the least, and defies convention in more ways than one. According to legend only a warrior from the hunters on the plains, a teenage boy named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), can locate the cure for the empress, and without having any other real ideas of what the hell to do, the imperial counsel sends Atreyu on a quest. This occasional series takes a look at older films viewed through the eyes of a modern six-year-old, a ten-year-old and their movie-loving Gen X mom who originally watched these films before she had kids. Whether they were or not, they didn't get there: one of the things that most stuck with me, decades after the one and only time I watched this in my childhood in the late 1980s (or very early 1990s), as a persistent sense of detachment between layers of the image, like Atreyu has not been composited into his fantasy world so much as floated atop it. The story is reminiscent of Harry's own journey from being a misfit in the Muggle world, to becoming a hero in the wizarding world. Peter Jackson's remake of the 1933 classic is every bit as heartbreaking as the original, taking a massive, fictional gorilla out of his home on Skull Island and keeping him captive in New York, where he's forced to be the spectacle in a Broadway show.
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear. He has been known to show up on Letterboxd, writing about even more movies than he does here. The only differences seem to be that just about everything in sight is better, with even her newfound family giving her the attention she's longed for. Canada & Germany Director.