Disney makes a much-heralded return to its 2D hand-drawn animation roots with The Princess and the Frog. The return to a medium considered dead (at least in the eyes of dimwitted studio execs) is historic enough. But it also marks the debut of Disney’s first black princess, Tiana. The setting for the story, New Orleans [...]
Read More animation, blu-ray, Disney, DVD, family, Fantasy, G, Musical, romance, The Princess and the Frog, willAfter his turn in the delightfully dark World’s Greatest Dad, it’s a little disappointing to see Robin Williams go back to starring in a broad Hollywood comedy. Yet without him, or co-star John Travolta, the lazy and predictable Old Dogs would have little going for it. The nearly 60-year-old stars play single childhood buddies and [...]
Read More blu-ray, Bryan Adams, comedy, David, DVD, family, John Travolta, Justin Long, Kelly Preston, Lori Loughlin, Matt Dillon, Old Dogs, PG-, Robin Williams, Seth Green, Walt BeckerFirst of all, anyone worried about this film staying true to the art of the original should know that author Maurice Sendak gave his full approval to director Spike Jonze, writer Dave Eggers, and their conceptual interpretation of his classic of childrens’ literature Where the Wild Things Are. This is not the Sendak book I [...]
Read More adventure, Alex, blu-ray, Catherine Keener, Dave Eggers, drama, DVD, family, Fantasy, Forest Whitaker, James Gandolfini, Karen O, Lauren Ambrose, Maurice Sendak, Max Records, Paul Dano, PG-, Spike Jonze, Where The Wild Things AreAnybody reading this who knows the name Hayao Miyazaki probably won’t need any convincing from me to check out his latest film Ponyo. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Japanese master animator, he is widely and ever-increasingly recognized as one of the greatest filmmakers working today, and you owe it to yourself [...]
Read More adventure, animation, blu-ray, Cate Blanchett, DVD, family, Fantasy, G, Hayao Miyazaki, Joe Hisaishi, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Ponyo, Tina Fey, willI’m not overly familiar with the 1980 version of Fame aside from its hit title song, but I do know it was rated R, which alone gives it an edge over this slick, but bland PG revamp that, despite periodically producing a beat you can dance to, acts too much like a soap you’d see [...]
Read More Bebe Neuwirth, Charles S. Dutton, comedy, David, Debbie Allen, drama, DVD, Fame, family, Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Tancharoen, Megan Mullally, Musical, PG-I don’t know if anyone was exactly hungering for a film version of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, but this one from directors Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) and Phil Lord is a well-rendered and fairly entertaining CGI effort that might literally make you hungry.
Read More Andy Samberg, animation, Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Bruce Campbell, Chris Miller, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, David, DVD, family, James Caan, Neil Patrick Harris, PG-, Phil LordEven before I took my three younger nephews (ages 4, 6, and 7) to see this somewhat frantic, effects-filled kid flick about super spy guinea pigs, they were quoting one-liners from its trailers. Especially funny to them was the sight and sound of one of the rodents farting inside a tricked-out, super-fast hamster ball.
Read More action, adventure, Bill Nighy, DVD, family, Fantasy, Hoyt Yeatman, Jon Favreau, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, PG-, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tracy Jordan, Will Arnett, Zach GalifianakisWhen the eminent Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron was brought on to direct the third (and still best) Harry Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban, he proved that the franchise would be strongest when it departed from a rote retelling of J.K. Rowling‘s books and charted its own identity and style. As the books progressed, each [...]
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, DVD, family, Fantasy, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon, PG-, Steve Kloves, willWhile this second entry in Ben Stiller‘s family-friendly, Mannequin-inspired franchise is certainly calmer and more entertaining than its hyperactive predecessor, it earns points alone for featuring Darth Vader and Oscar the Grouch in the same scene. It sees Stiller infiltrating the Smithsonian Institute to help his wax figure friends, who have been shipped there, along [...]
Read More action, adventure, Amy Adams, Ben Stiller, Bill Hader, Christopher Guest, comedy, David, DVD, family, Hank Azaria, Night at the Museum 2, Owen Wilson, PG-, Robin Williams, Shawn Levy, Steve CooganOnce while I was in the 5th Grade, I wrote a story about a pair of kleptomaniacal chimpanzees who escape from the San Diego zoo and, after a series of adventures, end up flying around in a raft kept aloft by two parachutes filled with wind. When Pixar made Up, a tale of an old [...]
Read More adventure, animation, DVD, Ed Asner, family, PG-, Pixar, Up, will