Grab the popcorn and a blanket – here’s our guide to 10 of the best family films to watch this week on terrestrial television or stream at home while most cinemas are closed…
1. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN (Screening on Film4 on Wednesday, November 11th at 6.50pm and streaming on Netflix)
Belgian writer Herge’s plucky reporter with the distinctive ginger quiff screeches into the 21st century courtesy of state-of-the-art motion capture, which translates actor Jamie Bell’s movements into the performance of an incredibly detailed digital character.
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn is a breathlessly entertaining romp, littered with eye-popping action set pieces that would simply be unthinkable, not to mention astronomically expensive, as live action. A dizzying motorcycle chase through the winding alleys of a Moroccan marketplace is accomplished in a single take and booze-sodden Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) takes charge of an explosive bi-plane flight.
The script, co-written by Peter Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, delivers some big laughs like when Haddock reveals that one of his crew has no eyelids. “Aye, it was a card game to remember!” growls the salty sea dog. The unspoken perils of gin rummy.
2. DIRTY DANCING (Screening on 5 Star on Thursday, November 12th at 9pm and streaming on Amazon Prime Video)
Can it really be more than three decades since Patrick Swayze’s hip-swivelling hero first uttered the immortal line “Nobody puts Baby in a corner”? Time flies but the charm and simmering sensuality of Dirty Dancing endures thanks to an infectious soundtrack festooned with the Oscar-winning ballad (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, She’s Like The Wind and Hungry Eyes.
Jennifer Grey plays prim and proper Frances “Baby” Houseman, who heads to a 1960s hotel resort in the Catskills with her well-heeled parents (Jerry Orbach, Kelly Bishop) and promptly falls in love with her dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Swayze). Tension between the couple boils over and Baby becomes entangled in the disastrous romantic dalliances of Johnny’s dance partner Penny (Cynthia Rhodes), who has fallen pregnant by womanising waiter Robbie (Max Cantor).
Emile Ardolino’s film soars well before Swayze and Grey perform their signature overhead lift. A frothy script penned by Eleanor Bergstein addresses thorny issues of abortion and prejudice with a light touch that won’t alienate teenage viewers.
3. EARLY MAN (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix)
In the three decades since Wallace and Gromit blasted off to a Moon made entirely of cheese, Aardman Animations has charmed us with a menagerie of unforgettable stop-motion creations. In Early Man, the Bristol-based studio turns back the clock thousands of years for an engaging comedy of errors that traces the history of football to our club-wielding prehistoric ancestors.
The beautiful game turns exceedingly ugly in a knockabout script co-written by Mark Burton and James Higginson, which scores a couple of own-goals with groansome puns. Thankfully, cute visual gags compensate, including a caveman hanging up washing using baby crocodiles as pegs and a butcher trading as Jurassic Pork.
Eddie Redmayne’s vocal performance brings sweetness and vulnerability to his hirsute hero, a caveman called Dug. Meanwhile, Tom Hiddleston mangles vowels with villainous glee as Bronze Age tyrant Lord Nooth, perfecting the most exaggerated French accent since Monty Python And The Holy Grail.
4. GOOSEBUMPS (Screening on ITV2 on Saturday, November 7th at 2.50pm and streaming on Netflix)
Comic whirlwind Jack Black ramps up his manic energy to gale force 10 in a fast-paced fantasy adventure based on the series of children’s books by RL Stine. Directed with brio by Rob Letterman, Goosebumps is a wicked delight, packed full of spooks and scares that should have adults jumping out of their seats almost as often as little ones.
Explosions of comic book violence, including a slip-sliding tussle between the Abominable Snowman and high school students on an ice rink, are orchestrated with black humour and vim. Darren Lemke’s lean script barely pauses for breath between the eye-popping set pieces but still finds time to flesh out a compelling teenage love story that remains the right side of sickly sweet.
Digital effects are impressive, seamlessly integrated with live action to conjure scenes of large-scale destruction including a runaway Ferris wheel and a town under attack from a giant praying mantis. A tricksy post-Halloween treat.
5. THE GRINCH (Streaming on Netflix)
A good heart – even one that is two sizes too small – isn’t hard to find in a charming computer-animated retelling of Dr Seuss’s seasonal fable from the makers of Despicable Me and The Secret Life Of Pets. Co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, The Grinch is an early Christmas present crammed to bursting with cute critters, slapstick and bountiful community spirit.
Casting Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, then asking him to adopt an American accent, is nonsensical but the London-born actor teases the dual aspects of his character’s gnarled personality.
Michael LeSieur and Tommy Swerdlow’s script retains some of Dr Seuss’s rhyming couplets word for word but deviates noticeably in a slickly executed mid-section, which boasts a screaming goat and an excitable reindeer with a penchant for aerosol whipped cream.
A trim running time and crisp visuals decked in retina-searing colours of the season should jingle the bells of families looking to sweeten the bitter pill of lockdown.
6. MINIONS (Screening on ITV2 on Sunday, November 8th at 5.05pm and streaming on Netflix)
Despicable Me’s goggle-eyed hench-creatures become unwittingly heroes of their own big screen adventure co-directed by Kyle Balda and Pierre Coffin. The pint-sized “knights in shining denim” venture to 1968 New York City in search of a worthy arch-villain. They pledge allegiance to bouffant criminal mastermind Scarlet Overkill (voiced by Sandra Bullock) and her inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm), who are plotting to steal the Crown Jewels from Queen Elizabeth II (Jennifer Saunders).
Minions milks every drop of our enduring affection for the clumsy, yellow anti-heroes with a deranged computer-animated caper that swings its flares to a soundtrack of The Kinks and The Who. Animation is colourful and pristine, opting for shiny surfaces and sharp angles that reduce the need for meticulous detail and realism.
Very young children, who gurgle with glee at the Minions’ bonkers vernacular combining Esperanto and gobbledygook, will adore the slapstick, pratfalls and the tiniest member of the Minions clan, Bob, who clutches a well-loved teddy bear called Tim.
7. NANNY MCPHEE & THE BIG BANG (Screening on ITV on Sunday, November 8th at 2.10pm and streaming on Netflix)
Adapted from the Nurse Matilda books by Christianna Brand, Susanna White’s colourful sequel introduces the mysterious nanny with a snaggle tooth, warts and an oversized nose to a family in crisis in wartime Britain. Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang is a glorious, rumbustious romp that once again demonstrates Emma Thompson’s magical touch in front of and behind the camera.
As screenwriter, she crafts believable, funny and endearing characters, whose plights move us to laughter and tears as the plot twists and turns in unexpected directions. In her guise as the eponymous guardian angel, Thompson underlines the central message about inner beauty. She gels wonderfully with young co-stars, who capture the emotional distress of children separated from their military-bound fathers.
The explosive ending, promised in the film’s title, leaves a genuine lump in the throat that keeps the barn door open for another visit from the enigmatic governess. Come back soon, Nanny McPhee.
8. READY PLAYER ONE (Streaming on Netflix)
Set in the mid-21st century, Ready Player One is a dystopian fantasy, which imagines a resource-depleted world that relies on virtual reality as an escape from the gloom of the everyday. On more than one occasion, Steven Spielberg’s film issues dire warnings about the zombification of entire generations, who believe “meaningful” relationships can be forged online. “Reality is the only thing that’s real,” proclaims one pivotal character.
Anchored by a strong performance from Tye Sheridan as a teenage gamer with the skills to incite a virtual uprising, Spielberg’s picture is a tour-de-force of technical wizardry. Action sequences are orchestrated with pulse-quickening aplomb including a destruction derby that incorporates a rampaging Tyrannosaurus Rex and King Kong, and a breathtaking return to The Overlook Hotel as imagined in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film The Shining.
Keep your eyes peeled for myriad pop culture references including Knight Rider, A Nightmare On Elm Street and a killer joke with the Chucky doll from Child’s Play.
9. THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (Screening on E4 on Saturday, November 7th at 7.15pm and streaming on Disney+)
Springfield’s most dysfunctional family makes a seamless transition from TV to widescreen, complete with little Ralph Wiggum (voiced by Nancy Cartwright) emerging from within the 20th Century Fox logo to sing shrilly along with the famous opening fanfare. A bigger budget allows director David Silverman to realise a couple of impressive set-pieces: Bart skateboarding naked through town and briefly flashing his “doodle”, and the march of a torch-wielding lynch mob.
A script credited to 11 writers and four consultants assumes a haphazard approach to disintegrating American family values including one plot thread devoted to eco-friendly Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and her crush, an Irish boy named Colin (Tress MacNeille) whose father is “definitely not Bono”.
Danny Elfman’s theme tune is given a rockier edge by Green Day, while the end credits unveils Springfield Anthem, a shameless rip-off of La Marseillaise including the new lyrics “Here’s a song we stole from the French. There’s a few things they do well, like making love, wine and cheese.” Sacre bleu.
10. THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS (Streaming on Netflix)
Never judge a book by its cover or a film by its unwieldy title. The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants sounds alarmingly like a chick flick about mobile lingerie saleswomen. Although Ken Kwapis’s hugely enjoyable feature is indeed a chick flick (albeit targeted at teenage girls), the pants in question are a pair of supposedly magic jeans.
America Ferrera, Blake Lively, Alexis Bledel and Amber Tamblyn play best friends, who trade reports of their summer holiday escapades while wearing the same pair of denim trousers. In a break with teen tradition espoused by Dawson’s Creek, The O.C. and their ilk, the four girls speak to one another in language that rings true: sometimes stilted, sometimes clumsy, often clouded with uncertainty – but true. They ply a nice line in cynicism too: “Parents screw up… it’s what they’re good at.”
Aside from a surplus of music video interludes, director Kwapis ensures the trials and tribulations fit snugly into just under two hours.
