DESPICABLE ME 2
Co-directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud return for a shot at turning the unlikely “Despicable Me” premise into an animation…
Animation
WRECK-IT RALPH
Cinema has finally delivered a winning movie based on a video game — or in the case of Disney’s animated…
TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE — CLASSIC FILM PICK
This all-out adult satire pulls no punches and takes no prisoners. Cole Smithey.
FRANKENWEENIE
Tim Burton’s 3D stop-motion animated reductionist homage to the Golden Era of horror films — namely the Universal films of…
FRANKENWEENIE — SHOCKTOBER!
Animation, Black and White, Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, FIVE STARS, Horror, SHOCKTOBER!, Video Essay
Looking back at Burton’s flawed 1984 version of “Frankenweenie” is informative for the many layers of corrective narrative tissue the…
SIN CITY — CLASSIC FILM PICK
Animation, BDSM, Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, FIVE STARS, Neo-Noir, sex, Video Essay, Women's Cinema
“Sin City” is a high concept tour de force rendering of Frank Miller’s wickedly sexy and grotesque graphic-novel-homage to the…
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA
Partying with Dracula and his crew of monsters isn’t as enjoyable as you might imagine in this animated misfire. Cole…
FINDING NEMO 3D
Disney/Pixar’s 3D upgrade of its classic animated children’s movie — using the expensive Xpand 3D format — has the duel…
PARANORMAN
Fans of Aardman’s handcrafted style of animation will find much to enjoy in this wonderfully stylized stop-motion comedy-horror-thriller about a…
PARANORMAN —SHOCKTOBER!
“ParaNorman” has its share of jaunty chase sequences to keep kids on the edge of their seats. No matter how…
ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT
The “Ice Age” franchise runs out of steam with a narratively inert example of animated fluff. Young audiences won’t know…
BRAVE
Pixar’s latest contribution to the sparsely populated arena of PG-rated animated children’s fare is a droll fairytale built of ancient…
MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED
It took three directors to make the third installment in the “Madagascar” franchise, yet the compound collaboration has resulted in…
MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED
It took the orchestrated efforts of roughly 200 highly skilled artists to make “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.” So, it’s…
THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
Renewing their iconic brand of stop-motion animation (see “Chicken Run”), the peerless team at Aardman once again proves the dynamic…
THE LORAX
Agitprop, Animation, Children's Cinema, Corporate Corruption, FIVE STARS, Political Satire, Reviews Blog
Pro-ecology agitprop has rarely if ever been so eloquently expressed as in Dr. Seuss’ 1971 story. Funnyman Danny DeVito is…
DR. SEUSS’S THE LORAX
Pro-ecology agitprop has rarely if ever been so eloquently expressed than in Dr. Seuss’ 1971 story. “Welcome to Thneedville, a…
THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY
Animation, Children's Cinema, Fariytale, FOUR STARS, Literary Adaptation, Reviews Blog, Women's Cinema
Meshing Japanese animation styles with Mary Morton’s beloved 1952 children’s novel “The Borrowers,” animator-cum-director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and co-director Gary Rydstrom…
THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY
Meshing Japanese animation styles with Mary Morton’s beloved 1952 children’s novel “The Borrowers,” animator-cum-director Hiromasa Yonebayashi and co-director Gary Rydstrom…
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3D
“The most beautiful love story ever told” is about how true beauty comes from the inside. The Beast might be…
COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA
