David Lowery

If you’ve ever wondered why fantasy has always been a popular genre in fiction, it might help knowing that all fiction is a form of fantasy, and that stories are a type of self-preservation. Take Martin Scorsese’s wildly entertaining and greatly underappreciated Shutter Island, in which the main character, Teddy, is on a mission to prove he is innocent, only for the truth to reveal that he is anything but. As Teddy becomes fully aware, he finds out that he has created an elaborate fantasy, a hyper-fiction as a ruse to shield himself from the harsh reality.

Let’s be honest, if you’re stuck in a forest without other people, it’s cooler to pal around with a dragon than with apes. Sorry Tarzan, but Pete had a way better messed up childhood than you. While Pete’s Dragon doesn’t quite fit into the live-action reboot trend that Disney is on, it’s certainly of the same mind.