★★★
A third screen telling of Dr Seuss’ ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ was hardly atop many wish lists for the coming festive season but parents with hyper young tots should at least appreciate the distraction. Fiercely colourful, soft of heart and rather brilliantly animated, Illumination’s Grinch is ultimately forgettable fun and lacks the sharp edges warranted by its story. Put it this way, the Chuck Jones shorter take on the tale still tops the pile.
★★★
Which came first: the short film or the feature? Either way, there’s a grander scheme to Jonathan and Josh Baker’s directorial debut than can be contained within either a fourteen nor hundred minute runtime. Based on the brothers’ own 2014 mini movie Bag Man, Kin expands the mythos of that first outing by answering and posing questions along the way. While a box office drubbing for the film stateside makes further exploration of the story unlikely, a future here isn’t an entirely unwelcome prospect.
★★
Filmed three years ago but only released this October, Waiting For You is a whisper of a drama and feels long at an hour and a half. Directed by feature first timer Charles Garrad, the film is well cast, competently produced and nicely shot but comes across as far too slight to register in any meaningful or memorable way.
The Film Blog 