Disney has released our first full look at one of this summer's biggest blockbusters, The BFG. One of this summer's biggest blockbusters, The BFG. The film reunites Oscar winner Mark Rylance with director Steven Spielberg, the two worked together on last year's Best Picture nominee Bridge of Spies.
Spielberg also reunites with screenwriter Melissa Mathison, who wrote the screenplay for E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial, which you could make a strong case is Spielberg's best film. Mathison adapts Roald Dahl's novel about a Big Friendly Giant (Rylance) who befriends an orphan named Sophie (newcomer Ruby Barnhill).
This trailer gives us a much better look inside the incredible world the visual effects team has built. The original teaser only gave us an ominous glimpse at the titular character. The movie appears to have all the hallmarks of classic Spielberg: lonely kid protagonist? Check. Strange, misunderstood creature? Check. Incredible special effects? Check. I'm still a bit skeptical, since I've been cooler on Spielberg's recent work than most critics, but it's also been a very long time since he's made a movie aimed at kids. (I don't know if I would count The Adventures of Tintin necessarily.)
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
