I was never a fan of the original "Pete's Dragon" (a late 1977 film) and I know it has a 'cult' following that truly LOVE it but as much as i tried with each viewing it simply got worse for me rather than better, the musical numbers & the animated dragon simply didn't work (for me) and yet many of these films from around this time (the 1970's & 80's) are probably the one's that made the most impression on me (although I would later discover many different films from various genres that did not fall into any of these time-frames)

Now i mention this only because i had heard that the latest version was truly MAGICAL & a little EMOTIONAL & IT IS, i purchased it for a few reasons!
I'm a massive Robert Redford fan, LOVE Bryce Dallas Howard & wanted to see Karl Urban as a baddie had also heard it had a bit of a Spielberg vibe to it, i can see this! Spielberg has always been good with getting good performances from kids and so to do this director.

It's a simple (even slow) story but beautiful told and photographed and one i would whole heartily recommend for CHRISTMAS DAY Tv viewing & if you are lucky enough to have a Big Screen Tv or better still a Projector then play it on one of these...such BIG creature features always look better on a bigger screen (kinda brings these creatures even more to life)

This is so much more better than the original that this 2016 version (not really a remake, more a re-imagining) is one of my favourite films of the year that i've seen (Yup, THAT GOOD really!) oh and the kids are delightful here too....but the DRAGON, Oh the DRAGON!!! what a wonderful & MAGICAL creation it is!

It really boils down to a story about FAMILY and after watching this you might want to kiss & hug your kids to death!
It's sentimental but hey it's CHRISTMAS & your Kids are GONNA LOVE IT (my reverse take on Marty McFly's speech)


Then we come to something all together different and certainly NOT for children but in it's way every bit as good, i speak of Tv's...
"WESTWORLD" which is coming to a close this week after a 10 week run & although a bit of a slow burner at times, the performances have been excellent especially from Anthony Hopkins & Thandie Newton (a brave performance from her here i think)
I LOVED the original film as a kid featuring the gunslinger in black (Yul Brynner) and this is taking it to a different level, some of the ideas & thoughts make for interesting discussion?
I wonder if this will progress to include "FutureWorld"? a fun movie sequel to "Westworld" not so sure they'll probably stick with this western world for now? but it certainly makes you think of where it is we might be heading & the decisions & morals we might have to consider in the future (perhaps near future?)

One film and One Tv series i would highly recommend to you GOOD folks out there.