Film and Family

The Meerkats

30 Jul 2009

There’s something about meerkats. Maybe it’s their little beady eyes, or their curiously stiff, upright posture that makes them appear to be striving to be human. Whatever that quality is, the camera clearly loves them, making the humble meerkat an…

War Horse

Unashamedly sentimental cinema from Spielberg

5 Jan 2012

(12A) 146m As War Horse begins, with soaring shots of rolling English hills and a sweeping John Williams overture, director Steven Spielberg sends a clear message: settle down for some large-canvas, unashamedly romanticised, old-fashioned big-screen…

Wallace and Gromit Present: A World of Cracking Ideas

31 Mar 2010

Oscar-winning characters Wallace and Gromit take centre stage at this Aardman Animations exhibition, as visitors get the chance to tour around Wallace and Gromit’s 62 West Wallaby Street home, as well as looking at, and interacting with, their most…

The Muppets' most memorable moments

A gallery of clips from our favourite frog and his friends

1 Feb 2012

The Muppets have a string of movies to their names already, including The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. Never ones to shirk away from serious film, darling, they’ve also had cameos in…

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief

25 Feb 2010

Having passed on the Harry Potter directing reigns after the second instalment, Chris Columbus attempts to kick-start another fantasy franchise with this adaptation of the first book in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and The Olympians series.

Hitlist: Films

17 Sep 2009

Army of Crime, The Beaches of Agnes, White Lightnin', The Godfather, Nagisa Oshima, Fish Tank, Adventureland, Three Miles North of Molkom, Inglourious Basterds, The Big Knife, The Stranger

Happily N'Ever After

1 Aug 2007

Although its makers claim they conceived Happily N’Ever After long before that big green ogre Shrek took over the box office swamp, animation filmmakers Paul J Bolger and Yvette Kaplan’s procrastinations mean that this contemporary take on olde fairy…

Preview of 2012 - Brave

Pixar’s highland fling has a lot of heart

6 Jan 2012

After dropping the ball with Cars 2 last summer – the only one of their 12 feature-length releases so far to have been deemed a bit lacklustre – the award-winning animation house will be looking to score big again with Brave. Set in the misty and…

Alpha and Omega

22 Oct 2010

(U) 88min Improbably dedicated to the late Hollywood wild man Dennis Hopper, who provides the voice of pack leader Tony, Alpha and Omega is a cutesy animation for toddlers only. Sultry alpha wolf Kate (Hayden Panettiere) is expected by her pack’s…

How to Train Your Dragon

22 Mar 2010

(PG) 97min Commendable new DreamWorks animation set in the mythical world of Vikings and dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell. Hiccup, a Viking teenager befriends a dragon. Voice work by Gerard Butler, America Ferrara and Craig…

Behind the scenes of The Fantastic Mr Fox

20 Oct 2009

Andy Gent, chief animator on Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr Fox, reveals the cinematic inspiration behind the project and the difficulties inherent in making a stop-animation film. ‘As well as being a huge fan of Roald Dahl, Wes loves old films like…

Ratatouille

4 Oct 2007

(U) 110min COMEDY/ANIMATION Writer/director Brad Bird’s animated version of The Iron Giant made him the obvious candidate to follow on from John Lasseter’s innovative groundwork at Pixar, where he scored an immediate hit with The Incredibles. So even…

Africa in Motion 2011 animation strand wins the day

Burkinabé animated film L'arbre aux esprits (Tree of Spirits)

4 Nov 2011

Animation is a small but rapidly growing genre in African cinema. L’arbre aux esprits (Tree of Spirits) is one of several animated films to be screened at Africa in Motion 2011 as part their children’s programme, taking place on Saturday. The story…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

The boy-wizard franchise goes out on a high

18 Jul 2011

(12A) 130min It gives this critic great pleasure to confirm that the final film in the franchise adapted from JK Rowling’s boy wizard publishing phenomenon is among the top three of the eight-part series. Since the series hit the ground running ten…

Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

22 Oct 2010

(PG) 90min Recommended to anyone keen to see a bunch of cartoon owls knocking lumps out of each other, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole marks the animated debut of Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen). Combining a talent better known for violent…

Toy Story 3 and The Illusionist among Edinburgh International Film Festival 2010 highlights

5 May 2010

With The Edinburgh Film Festival 2010, which runs between 16-27 June, only a matter of weeks away, the red carpets are getting waterproofed and the popcorn machines are getting serviced. Now in its 64th year, the twelve day festival, packed with…

Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang

22 Mar 2010

(U) 109min Sequel to popular 2005 family film. This time Maggie Gyllenhaal is single mum Isabel Green (hubbie Ewan McGregor is off to fight the Hun in WW2) with three out of control nippers to contend with and two insufferably posh evacuee cousins…

Race to Witch Mountain

2 Apr 2009

FANTASY/ADVENTURE Director Andy Fickman (She’s the Man, The Game Plan) revives one of Disney’s most venerable properties by pimping out 1975 ‘alien kid’ adventure Escape to Witch Mountain as a high-concept vehicle for the studio’s current star Dwayne…

Firehouse Dog

16 Jul 2007

FAMILY/COMEDY FIREHOUSE DOG (PG) 111min Rexxx is a pampered pooch star in the Rin Tin Tin mould, apparently known and loved by millions as the star of blockbusters such as Jurassic Bark. But when a stunt on his latest film, Terrier at…

New Pixar film Brave set in Scottish highlands

Stars Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane

17 Nov 2011

Pixar – the CG animation powerhouse behind hits such as Finding Nemo, Up and Wall-E – are turning their attention to Scottish shores for their next feature, Brave. Due to be released on Fri 22 Jun 2012, it stars Kelly Macdonald as the voice of Merida, a…

Monte Carlo

Flat romcom vehicle for Justin Bieber's paramour Selena Gomez

12 Oct 2011

(PG) 108min The star of tween drama Wizards of Waverly Place, but better known as the current squeeze of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez is being relentlessly packaged for fame. Her previous venture, last year’s Ramona and Beezus sank like a stone, and…

Cars 2

Uninspired sequel fails to keep the Pixar engine running

13 Jul 2011

(U) 112min After 25 years of animation production and a run of critical and commercial smash-hits, the super-smooth Pixar production line finally blows a gasket with Cars 2, a colourful but overstuffed, noisy and heartless sequel that feels more like…

Zookeeper

Kevin James stars in woefully bad family rom-com

13 Jul 2011

(PG) 101min Part rom-com, part Doctor Dolittle style family comedy, Zookeeper, starring lardarse comic actor Kevin James (The Dilemma, Grown Ups), is a wholly unsatisfactory experience for all but the most juvenile minds. The latest offering from…

Prom

Disney comedy is bland and generic tween fluff, starring Aimee Teegarden and Thomas McDonell

23 May 2011

(U) 103min After the huge success of the High School Musical franchise, Disney have been quick to cash in on the teen genre, and Prom is based on another event from the school calendar upon which it hangs a familiar story. But despite the assured…

Top five: Actors who steal the show from the animated characters they voice

In tribute to Johnny Depp's compelling performance in Rango

10 Mar 2011

Johnny Depp is usually famed for his leading roles in Hollywood blockbusters, his ageless face always strikingly present on the promotional canvases. However, there is talk buzzing about his brilliance in his latest film Rango, where he plays…an…