Andy De Emmony’s Four Kids and It (available June 30 on digital, Blu-ray, DVD, and on demand, including major digital platforms including iTunes, Amazon Prime and Vudu) is the perfect start-of-summer film for the whole family, even if the kids - ahem - have been on unofficial holiday with schools closed since March because of the pandemic. The whimsical story is a twist on a more than 100-year-old novel by E. Nesbit and based on the more modern children’s writer Jaqueline Wilson’s ‘Four Children and It.” It stars a few somewhat known entities like Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) as mom Alice, Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Crown) as dad David and the venerable for all time Michael Caine as the voice of the beach creature Psammead. And there’s a collection of child actors starring as a soon to be blended family, the one with the highest profile – the movie is a vehicle for her possible stardom - Ashley Aufderheide as Smash. The story begins as two families meet up at a vacation rental on the Cornish coast, just to get acquainted and have a little fun. Of course, the kids immediately hate one another and are sullen and suyly to their parents. Smash personifies her name and is the most precocious. “You ruined my life – again!” she shrieks at her hapless mom. But the kids start to get along and go on hikes together. They land at a beach and see some weird movement in the sand. It turns out to be a beyond-prehistoric creature called a Psammead. Whoever designed this grotesque figure did a more than excellent job. It’s a combination of elf, bunny, shriveled human and planetary alien – both horrific and cute as a button. And with the voice of the inimitable Michael Caine it’s all the more charming. The Psammead has magical powers and can grant wishes. There’s a stipulation. The wish runs out at sunset. “Come back tomorrow, if you survive this one,” Psammead guffaws. Meanwhile a dastardly neighbor (Russell Brand) seeks to capture the elusive creature, adding a secondary plot. The most spectacular of the kids’ wishes is the one, of course, involving Smash. And it indeed shows off the child actor’s voluminous talent. Will your family enjoy the film? Probably. Parents may be a little bored unless they recognize some of their own, ah, poor parenting skills. But for the kids it's a lock with all the essential elements - fantasy, derring-do, a lovable monster and heroic juvenile personalities they can more than relate to.
Was I surprised the 16th edition of the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) has been cancelled? Not particularly. Though I thought the call might come later than it did last week. After all, WIFF doesn’t run until early November. But it takes a lot of work to plan a festival and I would imagine scheduling films far in advance is part of that. But let’s face it, the organizers were just being prudent. Even though the festival was four months away who can predict the future with this pandemic? As executive director Vincent Georgie told The Windsor Star, what happens if there’s second wave of Covid-19, hitting right around the time of late fall? Last year, the one-time little festival that has grown into an amazing 10 day offering – huge for a midsize Canadian city and IMO the best film festival in either Windsor or Detroit - sold 42,000 tickets. It has the moniker of the #1 Volunteer-run Film Festival by the Toronto International Film Festival Film Circuit.
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