Ema (2019)
[This review is part of my ongoing coverage [...]
Animated
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Big Hero 6, the latest animated adventure from Disney, illustrates one of the greatest assets and also one of the greatest set-backs of the studio’s recent animated product. It is created with perfect, loving details, but falters when it gets to the main story. Disney has historically been good at both, but recently the greatness […]
The Book of Life (2014)
The Book of Life is a joyful, giddy experience, brimming with energy and life, which is odd to say since much of it takes place in the land of the dead. But don’t let that description dissuade you, just because it is about the dead does not mean it’s a dreary experience. It’s more about […]
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
When it’s all over, after you’ve wallowed in the den of scum and villainy wrapped up in the spiky heart of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, you may come away with a sense of hollow indifference. That’s really surprising and achingly disappointing if you have fond memories of the original Sin City from […]
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is a big movie – even epic. Where most animated movies these days are mousy and small, this one has a giant canvas with a visual sweep that reminds you of The Lion King and Finding Nemo. It’s a fun movie to behold. The animation makes the sky into […]
BLOG: The best Batman movie you’ve (probably) never seen.
Last week a photograph emerged from the set of the new Batman vs. Superman movie featuring Ben Affleck in the new Batman suit – not a scene, merely a photograph. Unless I missed my guess I think there was more reactive energy that came from that photograph than from the bemoaning news that Affeck had […]
The LEGO Movie (2014)
“The LEGO Movie” is a happy and exhilarating ball of fun. It’s a bright, colorful, quick-witted adventure that stretches the animated form as far as it can possibly go, spinning its characters into other dimensions and other realms. In short, it does exactly what animation is supposed to do. It plays around in a magical […]
Frozen (2013)
It is sort of disheartening going into Disney’s production of “Frozen” to report that this is a project that Walt himself had been tinkering with as far back as the 40s, disheartening because the result falls far short of spectacular. After all these years, after all this effort, what has come to the screen is […]
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
It is refreshing to report that the only uninspired thing about “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” is it’s dull generic title. The rest of the movie is a joyful work of imagination, silliness and a harmless fun. In the case of both films, with the 2009 original and the sequel, the filmmakers put […]
