I have to be real, even if I risk being raked ’cross the coals: I find the original British source material of Matilda much less engaging than its 1996 Americanized film adaptation. Perhaps this is my own American bias coming out, rare as that is with films, or maybe I’ve just been stewing on Roald Dahl’s anti-margarine stance ever since I read the novel. But Danny DeVito’s direction of a young Mara Wilson captured me so entirely as a child watching another child overcome her circumstances through telekenesis, kindness, and a refusal to bend to authority no matter how loud it screams. Put me in the chokey if you must, but I cannot tell a lie: I love Matilda (1996) over all other iterations. – James Scott
