The second film in Robert Rodriguez’s junior James Bond fantasies takes them to a sweet mad scientist creating preposterous dream-creatures hatched with a childlike love of puns.
Category: childhood
‘Spy Kids’ – pint-sized secret agents on Netflix
Robert Rodriguez brings a sense of whimsy to his family adventure of battling siblings (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) who discover their parents are retired international spies.
‘Moonrise Kingdom’ – Wes Anderson’s endless summer on HBO Max
Wes Anderson’s tale of young love and teenage adventure is funny, playful, and full of nostalgic blasts and period trappings, but most of all it is loving.
Steven Spielberg’s ‘Empire of the Sun’ – Innocence in wartime on HBO Max
Christian Bale made his film debut as British schoolboy in a Japanese prison camp in World War II Shanghai in this superb war drama.
‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ – a musical for all seasons on HBO Max
Vincent Minelli’s first Technicolor film is the ultimate in Hollywood Americana and a masterful musical that turned Judy Garland into a true leading lady.
‘Up’ – a wondrous animated odyssey on Disney+
The fantastical adventure from Pixar is a film of whimsy and wonder, mixing Jules Verne imagination with the bubble-gum colors of a children’s picture book and Pixar’s trademark bouncy humor, all stirred with memories of childhood dreams.
Matthew McConaughey is ‘Mud’ on Amazon Prime and Hulu
The third film from director Jeff Nichols is a story of childhood adventure steeped in the rural culture of life on the Mississippi and the mythology of Huckleberry Finn, but this boy’s adventure is also tangled in the world of adults and family bonds.
‘The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl’ on HBO Max
Robert Rodriguez collaborates with his kids on this whimsical fantasy that celebrates and encourages the fantasy lives of children. See a very young Taylor Lautner as Sharkboy.
‘Pete’s Dragon’ – A storybook wonder on Disney+
This live action Disney adventure is that rare breed of remake that outshines the original. Directed by David Lowery, it costars Robert Redford and the magnificent forests of New Zealand.
Taika Waititi’s ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ on Netflix
Based on title alone, you might expect Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) to follow the mockumentary spoofing of Taika Waititi’s previous film What We Do in the Shadows, his deadpan portrait of ancient vampires as eternal idiots on the fringes of Wellington nightlife. In fact it’s a coming of age comedy with a heartwarming soul […]