Five Magical Circuses from the Movies

admin — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 22:50:50 +0000

From The Night Circus to American Horror Story, circus stories are well-known. But there are also stories that aren’t about a circus, but has a circus that holds something super important. These places hold vulnerability, where anything can happen. Children can find parents, soulmates meet, bears can dance, and people can live forever. Here are five circuses that sneak into non-circus stories, ready to make anything possible.

Matilda the Musical (2022)

In this adaptation, Matilda tells a tale to anyone who will listen, about a circus where an escapologist and an acrobat want nothing more than to have a child. It’s some of the most heartbreaking sequences in this tale of a girl who just wants to survive the cruelty of the adults around her.

Across the Universe (2007)

Across the Universe takes all the hits of The Beatles and turns it into a story about friends haphazardly reaching adulthood during the Vietnam War. Mr. Kite’s segment is definitely a weirder one, as their acid trip concocts a magical tent. As Mr. Kite says, you just have to be there to believe it. This is a small respite for the main characters to see how fantastical the world could be … if they didn’t have to live in the 1960’s.

Dumbo (2019)

Okay, I know, Dumbo is all about a circus. But hear me out. While the story focuses mostly on Medici’s circus (aka Danny DeVito’s circus), I’m looking at the other one that doesn’t show up until halfway through. Dreamland (or Michael Keaton’s circus). Fun lore on this one: Dreamland was ostensibly the name of the theme park that Walt copied for his own Disneyland. Michael Keaton’s character is very clearly Walt. Dreamland has all the money in the world to make your dreams come true, but at what price? What do you have to give up in order to get everything you wanted? I just find the meta-commentary fascinating.

Big Fish (2003)

Ewan MacGregor as bright-eyed Edward Bloom arrives at … (checks notes) … Danny DeVito’s circus. This time, Danny’s running the Calloway Circus, and time literally freezes when Edward sees a beautiful girl across the ring from him. Magic envelops these two soulmates, before time speeds up and Edward must find a way to find her again. Mr. Calloway says he’ll give Edward one fact about her for every month he works in the circus. While this movie is full of moments of magic, there’s something vulnerable and sweet about this place where true love is possible.

Finding Neverland (2004)

When Barrie meets the lost boys for the first time, he immediately welcomes them to Neverland by turning his dog into a dancing bear at a circus he conjures out of nothing. The camera only sees little flashes, enough to entice us and make us believe that Barrie is wondrous.

So grab some popcorn and head to the circuses where anyone can be vulnerable and anything can change!

The First Bright Thing is out now from Tor.

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Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Review: A Rousingly Revolting Musical

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 13:41:33 +0000

This vivaciously imagined film adaptation of the Matilda stage musical by the same creative team behind the multi-award-winning West End and Broadway show is beautifully choreographed and as amusingly gross as Roald Dahl’s novel published in 1988. Featuring a fantastic ensemble cast of young newcomers and big British actors, and with new songs written by Tim Minchin, the film kicks off with a gleeful energy that occasionally lets up for some tender, tear-jerking moments between Matilda (Alisha Weir) and the kind Miss Honey (an incredible Lashana Lynch singing her heart out).

Emma Thompson is having a blast as the villainous Miss Trunchbull, the authoritarian headmistress who Matilda encounters when her selfish parents (Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough being entertainingly unpleasant) are forced to send her to school. Already a bookworm and certified genius, Matilda uncovers new telekinesis powers when driven to the edge by Trunchbull’s iron fist ruling, and leads a glorious revolution with her school chums.

Fans of the book may be put off by the musical numbers, but Minchin’s songs possess a charming childlike sensibility and add a new emotional layer to the material. The way ‘When I Grow Up’ plays out on screen perfectly captures the innocent aspirations of childhood, such as gobbling sweets for dinner. The film also retains the mischievous and macabre humour of the novel, balancing it out with a few heartfelt moments that may have you reaching for the tissues. The dynamic between Weir and Lynch is particularly poignant as their characters’ affinity with one another is handled with creative verve, and the two actors share a delightful chemistry.

Though the film may run a bit too long for little ones, at nearly two hours, it does manage to maintain its momentum thanks to the particularly game cast belting out tunes and in the darker moments the inspired CGI wizardry really sings and rousingly speaks to modern times.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical was seen and reviewed at the 2022 London Film Festival. It will be in cinemas on 25 November.

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