MEGAMIND
Whether or not the screenwriters, director, cast or crew were consciously aware that they were participating in a piece of…
Animation
MEGAMIND
Riffing on the same wrongheaded villain-as-good-guy character motif that contributed to the confused premise for “Despicable Me,” “Megamind” is a…
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE
Incredibly lush animation can’t disguise a tone-deaf narrative in director Zack Snyder’s (“300”) foray into animation. There’s no way to…
ALPHA AND OMEGA
A gentle courtship guide for youngsters, “Alpha and Omega” is a free-spirited animated comedy where acrobatic chase sequences, featuring wild…
MY DOG TULIP
Co-directors Paul and Sandra Fierlinger take a graphic novel approach to adapting to film J.R. Ackerley’s 1956 novel about his…
TALES FROM EARTHSEA
Goro Miyazaki proves a pale imitation of his gifted animator father Hayao Miyazaki. “Tales from Earthsea” is an ill-conceived story…
DESPICABLE ME
As a shiny apologia for corporate malfeasance, the film’s message, “just because he’s a bad guy doesn’t mean he’s a…
TOY STORY 3
An obvious split between the accomplished progression of first two movies and the inferior final installment is the departure of…
TOY STORY 3
An obvious split between the accomplished progression of first two movies and the inferior final installment is the departure of…
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
It’s possible that co-screenwriters Josh Klausner (writer on “Shrek the Third”) and Darren Lemke have elevated the franchise into a…
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
With the ongoing dearth of children’s films that parents can take their little ones to see before repeatedly watching the…
THE SECRET OF KELLS
Inspired by stone carvings from the Megalithic period, lush hand-drawn geometric animation carries an otherworldly import of medieval Celtic art…
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Sadly, there isn’t much to fall in love with in Robert Zemeckis’s visually overpowering motion-capture-animation fiesta with its trademark cardboard-looking…
FANTASTIC MR. FOX — THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Wes Anderson is famous for his quirky sense of absurdist humor. Although he might argue against it, Anderson seems to…
FANTASTIC MR. FOX — THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Although he might argue against it Wes Anderson, famous for his quirky sense of absurdist humor, seems to have found…
MARY AND MAX
Animation mastermind Adam Elliot’s adult absurdist film is a droll, stylistic comic vision that’s anything but conventional. Cole Smithey.
9
This extended version of Shane Acker’s Oscar-nominated 11-minute animated UCLA student short follows a group of retro “stitchpunk” doll characters…
9
Tim Burton and Russian visionary Timur Bekmambetov take producing credits for a movie your kids won’t get, and you won’t…
PONYO
“Ponyo” is an entertaining fantasy movie for kids in which painstaking attention is given to balancing physical reality with magical…
ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS
For a kids’ movie with the potential to be at least somewhat historically accurate in the interest of informing children…
COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA
