bypeterfenton Reviews

Transient (2024)

An excellent low-budget sci-fi drama/thriller feature

[8/10 · 14 May 2024]

This was a glitchy, trippy sci-fi drama/thriller feature film in all the best ways! Incredible cinematography, vibes, and production design really grounded you in the story and the production did an excellent job of achieving a lot with very little resources--scaling the screenplay properly to tell an engaging story with just a few characters within a small amount of locations. Transient poses some interesting questions, too, exploring themes about the ethics of dwelling on memories and the lengths we go to when we wish to avoid conflict.

Chris Ruppert and Sugey Cruz put together an amazing story with Transient and put together an excellent cast and crew to bring the film to life.

Peter Pan & Wendy (2023)

Yep, that was Peter Pan

[6/10 · 21 June 2023]

Don't get me wrong, this was definitely one of the better Disney live-action remakes I've seen, but I-think I liked it? It's definitely not a must-see, but not bad. It's very self-serious, kind of reminds me of the Narnia movies from the mid-2000s. I think what bugged me is that visually the photo realism made for a drab and melancholy look to the whole thing, it's not quite as "fun" looking or feeling as I'd think a Peter Pan story should be. The desaturated art direction kind of reminded me of something like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess when I would've rather seen Ocarina of Time.

It felt almost like Disney was trying to make this go of Peter Pan "not just a kids' movie" and so they cut down on the whimsy, but my biggest problem is this movie didn't do too much to replace that whimsy with-which is basically what I think has happened with pretty much all of their live action remakes. The dramatic arc for Wendy at the heart of the story was pretty good across the boards and I had enough fun taking in this adventure. Most importantly, the pacing was good and the movie didn't feel bloated for the sake of runtime. Every scene served something to the narrative.

Jude Law's portrayal of Hook was great even if his character arc was middling and I though the girl they had playing Wendy was fantastic. I think the boy they had playing Peter could've been great if they let him have a bit more fun-he was played very matter-of-fact and I won't fault the child actor, but I'm not sure if it was a shortcoming of the screenplay or direction.

All told, glad I watched it. It was one of the more competently made adaptations of Peter Pan I've seen but I'm not sure how much kids would enjoy it.

Office Space (1999)

Holds up pretty well in 2023

[6/10 · 7 April 2023]

Watched Office Space for the first time ever tonight-it was really fun! Genuinely a funny comedy movie that definitely felt set in the 90s but not completely uncomfortably so. Great visual comedy and the comic beats in the script were pitch-perfect-the first ten minutes or so were a genuine masterclass in both visual comedy and laser-focused satirizing of cubicle hell. A very funny plot, witty satire, and pretty solid cinematography across the boards.

Characterization was not great across the boards, but I doubt anyone was watching this movie for a poignant character drama. The movie could've done something a little more interesting with Jennifer Aniston's character than just "Rachel from Friends", and Rob Livingston's lead character was likable enough at the beginning but I didn't feel much sympathy toward him by the end. Milton and his red stapler was my favorite arc, and overall I did like what the movie was trying to say about office work-it's pointless hell. Excellent work.

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Fun follow up to a fun first movie

[7/10 · 5 March 2023]

I had fun with this movie, I liked it very much. I'd say much of the same commentary and critique I had for the first one applies to this one. It's a great cast-Millie Bobby Brown is infectiously likable as Enola Holmes, Helena Bonham Carter is especially well-cast as her mother, Louis Partridge is such a fun presence in each of his not-nearly-enough scenes, and I really enjoy the stylized way the titles are presented throughout the film and I personally find it fun the way MBB turns to the camera and addresses it like a British period mystery adaptation of Dora the Explorer. Honestly, as a mystery, I'd say this movie holds up far better than the first. Great twist villain I genuinely didn't see coming, and very fun to see Enola holding up just as well as a detective alongside her brother, Sherlock.

I think the one thing holding Enola Holmes 2 back from that next level for me is the very fact it's a sequel. Coming off the heels of the first film, which is a movie I loved and wanted to see how the world and stakes could be expanded... that first movie was a tough act to follow! Enola 2 was nonetheless a very good movie in its own right and another fun installment in a promising franchise. I'd love to see what could be done with a third film.

Christopher Robin (2018)

This is how you do cartoon CGI in a "realistic" environment!

[7/10 · 22 February 2023]

I really enjoyed this movie, much more so than other recent late-stage Disney live-action forays. While yes there is quite a bit of that bland, safe "sameyness" quality to this film-it is a Disney live-action remake adjacent film after all-this one manages to have a heart to it. I really loved the exploration of the relationship between Pooh and an adult Christopher Robin-the portrayals by Jim Cummings and Ewan McGregor were incredibly believable for a premise that made the suspension of disbelief remarkably easy.

The live-action versions of the Hundred-Acre Wood crowd were fantastic and really what made this film great. There was beautiful CGI animation on the plushies and their expressions and vocal performances so wonderfully captured the personalities of Disney's Pooh crew. That's the biggest difference in favor of Christopher Robin for me over, say, the Lion King remake.

With all of that being said-the human characters outside of Christopher Robin and his daughter, as well as the overall "London" plot, were all quite bland. I would've much rather spent the entire movie in the Hundred-Acre woods and we could've definitely seen more scenes of the young Christopher Robin, that child actor gave a great performance. I know nostalgia rides hard and the heartstrings were absolutely tugged. I'm not sure how I'd rate this movie if I didn't already have attachment to the Winnie-the-Pooh universe but this was an easy 7/10, I really enjoyed this.

Watch this one instead of that other movie where Christopher Robin returns to the woods as an adult (although, the unique experience of watching Blood and Honey right before watching this movie for the first time made some of the scenes in this movie very funny)

Disaster Movie (2008)

Yikes

[1/10 · 20 February 2023]

This movie (and I'm being generous with the term) waste of an hour and a half of my life. I thought I was being an edgy teen going to see that movie, but walking out of that movie when it was finally over, even 13-year-old me wondered, "who on earth was this for?"

I'm honestly shocked that the team behind this movie went on to make a couple others after this one. This movie was a disaster and the title was so fitting. I suppose the one thing this movie could be useful for would be for someone looking back on the year 2008 and trying to figure out what had come out within the last year and a half or so. Most of the jokes amounted to a character appearing and announcing "hi! I'm (insert name of pop culture icon)" and then getting killed somehow. 1/10 feels generous.

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

Could have been great with a more imaginative script

[2/10 · 20 February 2023]

Trust me when I tell you that I actually really, really, really wanted to like the Winnie-the-Pooh slasher movie. I gave it about as fair of a shake as I could and I have to say-it's a missed opportunity on just about every level. Using such a beloved, universally heartwarming series as fodder for a creepy horror film could have been a grand slam with imaginative subversions of the classic story, but this really just wasn't it. It really just felt like a cheap slasher movie where the killers looked like adult men wearing bear and pig masks. I will say though, the acting was better than I expected across the boards and the storybook opening sequence was pretty fun. Everything else, though, left a lot to be desired.

I look forward to more clever public domain uses of Winnie-the-Pooh in the future and will almost certainly skip this film's sequel.

Cats (2019)

Production design really works against a talented cast with odd material

[2/10 · 18 January 2023]

I've never really been a cat person. All jokes aside, I didn't like the musical, so I'm not shocked I didn't like this movie; but I feel like this could have had a better shot at not being completely audience-alienating had this been animated. The costume design and production design really repulsed me and made it incredibly hard to enjoy any part of watching this movie.

I do actually really like "Beautiful Ghosts" and "Memory" so I'll keep them. Jennifer Hudson is a treasure, as are Jason Derulo, Ian McKellan, Judi Dench, and Taylor Swift. It's a talented cast on the whole and they're doing their best with a strange collection of stories. Honestly though, that's why despite liking the cast and a few songs, I feel like everything else in this jellicle production can go straight to jellicle hell.

Hook (1991)

I've seen better Peter Pan, I've seen better Robin Williams, and I've definitely seen better Spielberg

[4/10 · 31 December 2022]

Seriously, who among us on this earth hasn't looked at the Peter Pan mythos and thought "this story is nice and all but I really wish Peter Pan was a middle aged lawyer"?

There was nice production design and acting, for sure. Maggie Smith is a treasure. The practical effects were pretty good and don't look too bad thirty years later (it's a Spielberg, so it will look pretty good no matter what). This film had a decent storyline worthy of a sequel to the original book but I found the moment to moment dialogue and pacing was a bit lacking. I didn't have all that much fun watching this version of Peter Pan and Neverland, and that's honestly heartbreaking to put Robin Williams in your movie playing Peter Pan and not give him a particularly fun script to play with.

I suppose had I seen this as a kid, I'd have more nostalgia for the film but I watched this for the first time in my upper 20s and I've seen better Peter Pan, I've seen better Robin Williams, and I've definitely seen better Spielberg. Hook will be an easy skip for me if it comes up on the rewatch.

Glass Onion (2022)

Timely, satirical, witty, and overall... fun!

[8/10 · 28 December 2022]

Every great film is propelled by a pithy major dramatic question it seeks to answer and this film is no different. The question? "What if Elon Musk had friends?"

Really, it's an excellent movie and a worthy follow-up to 2019's first installment. I busted up laughing out loud multiple times throughout with the quick, witty script and excellent performances from Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae, and Kathryn Hahn as standouts in a very well-rounded ensemble on both a casting and writing front. I will also say this is the first pandemic-era movie I've seen that I think makes great use of making the piece quintessentially set in 2020 without feeling intrusive or awkward... it was played very true to how things were early on in Covid times.

Timely, satirical, witty, and overall fun... it was exactly what I was looking for in a Knives Out sequel and truly a movie I'm excited to rewatch soon (especially knowing now what the mystery really is and how it's solved). Also now that I've finished the movie, it's now clearer than ever to me why Elon Musk doesn't have friends!

Matilda: The Musical (II) (2022)

So much fun. A great adaptation of the musical

[9/10 · 27 December 2022]

Oh my goodness. Where to start with Matilda the Musical the Movie? It was so fun, so clever. Highly recommend as a pick for family movie night. As a film on its own merits, as a movie musical, it really works. Strong performances across the board, Matilda, Miss Honey, the Trunchbull, the children's ensemble, even the librarian-this was a strong group of actors and the musical numbers were choreographed so creatively. The eye-catching production design and the whimsical lighting and dark comedy of it all felt like it was ripped right out of the pages of Roald Dahl's original novel. And if this were an original movie, that's probably where I'd end the review and give it a solid 8/10, but I'm not done.

This movie is a masterclass in how to adapt a stage show (and a stage show I'm not especially fond of, to boot) into a strong cinematic experience. The writing team and director really seemed to have their fingers on the pulse of what it was that made the stage show work and drew out only the very best of it, in the spirit of it, to live and breathe as a film. I think the cuts and expansions they made were pitch perfect and I really didn't miss the Wormwood parents' musical numbers at all. The film moved along at a great clip and it really didn't feel like two hours had passed by the time it was over. They left me wanting more and I imagine a rewatch will be coming in my near future. Matilda the Musical the Movie is a triumph!

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Best adaptation of Christmas Carol we will ever see

[8/10 · 9 December 2022]

Go watch the 1992 Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+ if you haven't or haven't in a while.

It is the best adaptation of Christmas Carol we will probably ever see in our lifetimes, and so much of it rests on Michael Caine just going for it.

Another actor might've phoned it in for Muppet Christmas Carol, but Michael Caine is a PROFESSIONAL. The man understood the assignment and gave us the best performance of Ebenezer Scrooge in history against a bunch of puppets in a children's movie.

The use of muppets in this movie augments the story rather than detracts from it, and I think the balance of dark and levity really works in an unexpected way. It's a great movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Andrew Garfield is excellent, film is otherwise kinda meh

[5/10 · 3 August 2022]

Did I hate this movie? No, I really didn't. Andrew Garfield is incredibly likable and makes an excellent Spider-Man. But... it just really didn't grab me. The plot was fairly dull on a macro-level and the dialogue within the script was pretty bland. I would've loved to see Andrew Garfield's take as Spider Man with a better script. The visuals were fine (it's a superhero movie) and Sally Field is always fun to see, but not much else really is sticking with me about this film beyond Andrew Garfield's infectiously likable performance. Didn't hate it, but I won't remember it.

Also, I have to say-I really couldn't get on board with the school scenes. The single least believable thing in this film (a film including a giant lizard monster and someone getting superpowers from a radioactive spider, mind you) is the fact that someone who looks like Andrew Garfield was a loser in high school. Nope. Kid would've called all the shots in my high school and many others. The man is a demigod and radiates that energy in any role he's in... which makes him hard to buy as a social outcast.

Dark Shadows (2012)

Brilliant script, really fun performances, plot was a bit clunky

[7/10 · 5 July 2022]

I was not expecting to like this movie nearly as much as I did! I typically don't love-love Tim Burton and largely feel indifferent about Johnny Depp, but this film felt like a really fun sandbox for the two of them to play. Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter we're also quite good in their respective roles. Seth Grahame-Smith's script was consistently hilarious and the special effects were fun and The production design was gorgeous-it was a really fun blending of 70s aesthetic with 18th-century vampire aesthetic. Loved every frame of it visually.

The story, however, was kind of a mess. I recognize this work was the feature film adaptation of a tv show and I have to say, I think this would've worked better either if they kept all the plot threads they wanted to explore and adapted the script into a TV series or if they had scaled down the script to follow just a few members of the family. I didn't care enough about any of the characters outside of Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer to really get invested in the final battle (which I will say, was nonetheless entertaining to watch). Some plot threads and characters seemed to pop up out of nowhere and I think really could've shined if they had a bit more time to get invested in them, so perhaps a series would've been a better homage to the original show-and I have to say, I would immediately be hooked in for a series version of this film and creative direction!

Dark Shadows was a fun watch, if a little overpacked. Loved the darkly comedic humor, actor performances, and visual style.

Turning Red (2022)

Good movie, just not for me

[6/10 · 3 July 2022]

Turning Red was an expertly animated movie and I think one of the first major productions I've ever seen that feels realistic to what being a teenager is really like: painfully awkward and hilariously cringey. That felt so very lifelike and brought me right back to being 13 years old. I love that Pixar captured that dimension of the human experience and thought the overall message of the film was great... I can imagine it started some helpful conversations between kids and parents.

I can't really speak firsthand to the cultural authenticity of this film as I am neither Chinese nor Canadian, but I appreciated the attention to detail making this film feel applaud Pixar naming Domee Shi to be the director of this film. I can't imagine this film being as good as it was without Shi as director. So... it's a well-made, beautifully animated, film that explored an interesting slice of life and adolescence that I haven't seen explored to death before. So why am I not rating the final product higher than I am? Turning Red really just didn't grab me that much as a story. It was a good film and I appreciated it, it just was something I'm aware wasn't quite for me.

West Side Story (2021)

An entertaining, expertly made film whose story I don't care for

[8/10 · 29 March 2022]

This was actually the very first exposure I've had to the Broadway classic, West Side Story. Man, this story is a downer. The storyline is probably half the reason this isn't a 5/5 for me. However! This was an expertly made film. This was a movie musical that felt like an uncompromised vision that used its choreography and musical numbers effectively and found ways to make it truly cinematic. Spielberg really is a master in capturing inspired characters and visuals, and it felt like a fresh, shiny original film and not like "a film adaptation of a musical written 60+ years ago". Props to Spielberg and the cast for creating something that felt so fresh and fun (even if, as I said, I don't really like the storyline).

I do need to make special shouts out to Ariana DeBose's portrayal of Anita (who more than earned her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress)-she was magnetic and felt like a force, I wish the movie was about her... but then also, Rachel Zegler was stunning in her film debut. So very talented and so very young. I imagine she will have a wonderful film career ahead of her!

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

Genuinely very funny rom-com, if predictable and basic plot

[8/10 · 18 March 2022]

I'll get this out of the way up top: I didn't love the plot of this movie, it was fairly standard rom-com arc (even when helmed a strong East Asian-dominated cast), the pacing was a little off in most of the film, and I grew to care enough about these characters that I almost wish it was more of a dramedy to more fully explore the compelling themes they propose in their characters.

Everything else about Always Be My Maybe was flawless. Absolutely flawless. Such a genuinely fun hour and a half of my life, and it is so evident from every frame of this finished product that this movie was fun to make. I rarely laugh out loud at movies when I watch them by myself and I couldn't count on my hands the number of times I laughed out loud at this. The screenplay and performances were so genuinely fun. Is this a movie that changed anything about my life? Great question, no. But it was so fun. I applaud this movie for its representation of Asian-Americans and a strong female protagonist in Ali Wong's celebrity chef Sasha Tran without feeling awkwardly token as many attempts at representation can feel... which I will point out, I think having women and Asian-Americans at prominent levels of the writing, directing, and production staff had something to do with that success.

Anyway-Always Be My Maybe was a lot of fun! I enjoyed it and laughed a bunch. Definitely watch this if you're wondering if you should.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

A better exploration of the world set up in the first film

[7/10 · 16 March 2022]

Coming hot off the heels of the first film (which I did not love), I actually really liked its sequel, Catching Fire. (Which now that I think about it, I do recall enjoying the second book more than the first) While I do not think it would've been a strong standalone film, it does pay off a lot of the thematic questions and feelings I had coming off of the first film. The world is explored so much deeper, and the general "huh, these games seem like a really bad idea and reflect poorly on humanity if they were ever implemented," is explored to a satisfying degree and I think that strength lies in both how incredibly evil President Snow is and also in the characterization of the other competitors that are not named Katniss and Peeta.

Each of these Hunger Games All-Stars-through the writing, through the acting-you really get the sense that they have lives and it's heartbreaking that every single one of them has to enter this "kill or be killed" pageant. I think this installment was better paced than its predecessor and I was able to have more fun with it-though I will say, Katniss's "complex" attitude toward Peeta was more confusing to me than intriguing. I still don't really get what the film was trying to say about that relationship.

The ending was very obviously a sequel hook, which I do think makes the final few minutes suffer. With a more satisfying ending to this story as its own thing, I definitely think this would have been something genuinely great. Otherwise, it's a fun installment in a franchise with an intriguing premise that was explored well.

The Hunger Games (2012)

Squid Game taught us that these sorts of deadly game media really needs an R rating

[5/10 · 14 March 2022]

What to say about The Hunger Games? 10 years out from its initial release, I can pretty confidently say my feelings about this movie are mixed. There were definitely things I enjoyed, why don't we start there? The acting is pretty good across the boards, I think Jennifer Lawrence brought Katniss Everdeen to life really well and Stanley Tucci's game show host and Donald Sutherland's ice-cold President Snow were additional standouts in a pretty solid cast. As an adaptation of the novel, I think the screenplay did a very good job capturing the first-person energy of the novel and broadening it out to a more objective reality-the world-building was compelling and the production design was fantastic.

So why don't I really like The Hunger Games that much? This movie is kind of a joyless slog for a good portion of its two-plus hour runtime and the dystopia really hasn't aged well on this side of 2016 or 2020. The action sequences, while admittedly compelling, are few and far between and weighed down considerably from its shaky cam cinematography (I can't imagine how many people seeing this movie in IMAX got sick). While the novel was written for a young adult audience, I think the very nature of these sorts of deadly games-media can only shine with an R rating, as we saw recently in Squid Game.

All in all, I don't hate The Hunger Games, but I'm in no hurry to revisit this first installment anytime soon.

Shrek 2 (2004)

A really resonant sequel

[8/10 · 13 March 2022]

Upon revisiting Shrek 2 for only the first time since it came out in 2004, I can so easily see why it's commonly seen as the best of the Shrek franchise. I enjoyed how seamlessly the plot and characters built on what was already established through the events of the first film (which I re-visited last night) in a way that didn't reset any character development and didn't rehash any plot beats.

It was a fantastic sequel, but was it a good movie on its own? Yes! I thought the parodies of classic Disney like Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, and Cinderella were executed hilariously and the movie told a surprisingly adult, resonant story about changing for the person you love and being accepted by your partner's parents when you are so different from them and so different than who they pictured their child marrying (like it seemed almost like it could've been an allegory for an interracial or same-sex marriage). The animation has aged a bit, but the story hit me well. I really liked Shrek 2.

Shrek (2001)

The brilliant film that launched eight thousand crappy wannabes

[7/10 · 13 March 2022]

Shrek really was one of the greatest and worst things to ever happen for animated kids' movies. While about eight thousand films tried to replicate it in the years to come of the early aughts which may have created cynicism and reactionary fatigue directed toward the Shrek franchise as a whole, it cannot be overstated how revolutionary of a product the original Shrek movie was. Revisiting it some 20 years later, the first two thirds are a hilarious and scathing parody of the Disney animated films of the '90s. I applaud Dreamworks for creating such a well-crafted parody that I understood perfectly as an adult (how did anyone hear the name "Lord Farquaad" and think this was a film for kids?).

That being said-even if you don't understand the historical context it was released in and have intimate knowledge of the films it parodies-Shrek is a compelling narrative in its own right. While I do think in the last third of the film it sort of becomes the kind of film it seeks to parody, there is no denying the movie created a compelling set of characters and emotional beats able to stand toe-to-toe with the best of Disney. I don't really love gross out humor all that much (never loved it as a kid, either), but Shrek is a fun movie. Solid 7/10 for me.

His Girl Friday (1940)

A fun little surprise

[6/10 · 8 March 2022]

This was a fun little surprise! What made this movie work and what made it truly as fun as it was was how fast that dialogue was spit out-I'm really in awe of the universe this movie sets up where every single person is witty and talks a mile a minute. I really don't think it would work even at 75% speed. It was a fun little story and Rosalind Russell's character really was something special for a movie made in 1940. I loved the gender politics in the film and the matter-of-fact dark comedy worked really well. That being said, the plot and characters and filmmaking really weren't anything to write home about but I did enjoy this movie.

Death at a Funeral (2007)

Great script and performances, cast was a bit big for its attempt at drama

[7/10 · 4 March 2022]

I've heard a lot of people say this movie is peak British humor, but I'm not sure that's true. It felt like peak human humor. The comedic writing and performances translate so well across the pond I can see why the film was remade in America just three years later. The whole comedic ensemble hung together so well, but I have to give special mention to Alan Tudyk's performance, that man playing a normal guy on a drug trip for the entire film had me laugh out loud every time he was on screen.

I had seen this movie a couple years ago and remember really enjoying it, but I had genuinely forgotten there was a bit of drama to the story. I appreciate what the film tried to do, but I think with such a large (and hilarious!) cast, the family drama following Matthew Macfayden and his relationship with his brother and dead father didn't land for me quite as well as the comedy did. However-this movie is so fun and I highly recommend you take some time and watch it.

The 39 Steps (1935)

Visually excellent throughout, story was a bit patchy

[6/10 · 4 March 2022]

Alfred Hitchcock was way, way, way ahead of his time. I had genuinely no idea this movie was made in the '30s until looking it up on Letterboxd just now to write the review. I'm shook. Now I will say, as a script and story, did I love this film? No, not really at all. I imagine I will forget the characters and storyline about as quickly as I watched the film. (However, I will say the dynamic between Hannay and Pamela in the second act is magnetic and hilarious. I wish the movie was more about that; also, the scene at Professor Jordan's house was head and shoulders the best in the film for story tension and conflict)

But this movie wasn't really about its characters or its story, but rather, to me it was a tour de force of Alfred Hitchcock as a visual artist. The cinematography is decades ahead of its time and some shots I saw throughout I could identify as influential for years of films to come. I can very easily see how the filmography of Hitchcock is almost a genre unto its own. While the story may not stay with me long, the visual trickery and masterful cinematography certainly will.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Really fun script and characters, not the best filmmaking. Love this movie anyway!

[6/10 · 24 February 2022]

I feel like with a lot of these movies from the '80s that are insanely popular and nostalgic, I feel like I completely missed the boat and don't find much of anything to enjoy about it (lookin' at you, Labyrinth).

I'm happy to say Princess Bride is not one of those movies! I actually really enjoyed seeing this for the first time in college seven-ish years ago and rewatching it tonight for this review. On a film-as-a-work-of-art level, this movie really suffers. The production design is pretty cheap, the cinematography is fine at best and pretty uninspired at worst, and the score is pretty cheesy all the way around. That being said, though, the tone is what makes Princess Bride works-at no point does this movie want you to take it seriously and that's why it has endured so well.

The screenplay and comedic performances are where Princess Bride really shines. There are so many iconic lines and bits in the film, it would be futile to try to compile the list here of times I smiled or laughed. The ensemble cast was full of lovable characters spouting iconic lines of dialogue, definitely worth revisiting again and again. I have to point out the child acting performance of the boy who played the boy being read the story. His line delivery was pitch-perfect, and I laughed out loud more than a few times at his running commentary on the story.

This movie is so fun and I adore it, but as a finished product of cinema, I've definitely seen better. But that definitely doesn't mean I don't love it.