Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 17th, 2019
Short stories and films are often great ways to focus in on a singular theme. Whether you get yourself down to a few pages or fifteen minutes, you really get your message across instead of being misinterpreted across a longer medium. Disney and Pixar have done this for a number of years, and even though many have dismissed them as simple shorts or cartoons, it's often the part of the movie that holds the viewer in the strongest way. Japanese studios such as Studio Ghibli have done this as well. Studio Ponoc, founded in 2015 and fronted by Yoshiaki Nishimura, released the smash film, Mary & the Witch's Flower in 2017. Then last year, they came out with a trio of shorts for all of us to enjoy. Let's take a look.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2019
"So much has happened. I don't know where to start. First it was all the school shootings. Then these WiFi scooters showed up. And now we know that Manbearpig is real and we could all be dead in a matter of years."
That's true, but I suspect that when we are all dead and gone there will be two things we can count on continuing beyond the end of human civilization. The cockroaches will inherit the world, and they will all be watching South Park, the only television show still running. It's already been 22 years, and doesn't it feel like 50? I don't mean that in a mean way. I love South Park, but I'm starting to find it hard to remember what life was like without it. I'm convinced it will survive us all, and AI versions of Parker and Stone will be producing it until the planet is finally vaporized... and I'm not sure even that will stop this show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 18th, 2019
"Legend says that when the ground quakes or lava spews from the earth, it's the dragons letting us know they're still here. Waiting for us to figure out how to get along. Yes, the world believes the dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all. But we Berkians, we know otherwise. And we'll guard this secret until the time comes when dragons can return in peace."
It is surreal to know less about a subject than your six-year-old daughter, but that was the case going into How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World. Aside from a knowledge of this franchise’s existence, I knew next to nothing about the films as a whole.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2019
Hayao Miyazaki is an amazing Japanese animator and filmmaker. His films include Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl's Moving Castle among other legendary pictures. I can safely say I have enjoyed most of his films but unfortunately only owned a couple at the time of writing this review. That's why I was quite astonished when this collector's edition of Princess Mononoke came across my desk. I was ready to dive in with both feet and re-visit this movie that I had not seen since, well, almost twenty years ago.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2019
If it wasn't clear enough before, I think the Avengers: Endgame box office mauling put the final point on the situation between Marvel and DC. When it comes to Cinematic Universes, DC has had an impossible task of keeping up. Avengers took in more on the first weekend than Aquaman did its entire run. The box office round goes to Marvel, and it appears DC has started to come to grips with that fact and has started to transform their own films away from the team-up/combined universe and is going back to basics. Where DC has built a rather strong shared universe for their characters is in the animated feature department. In the last handful of years DC has released some very strong animated films, and that's where there appears to be a place where they not only compete with Marvel but leave them in the dust. The latest proof of that idea comes with the Warner Brothers release of Justice League vs. The Fatal Five out on UHD Blu-ray in 4K. It's a solid film with plenty of cheerful action and adventure that always got bogged down in the films with the notable exception of Wonder Woman.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2019
All good things must come to an end, and so it was at Walt Disney Studios. The Golden Age of feature film animation had started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. By the end of the 1970's, it was all but gone. As the studio entered the 1980's the things had gone from bad to worse. Walt was gone, and so it seemed was the magic. Most of The Nine Old Men had either retired or passed away. The studio leadership was considering closing the animated studio and moving on to live-action films only. It was a dark time for the artists and creative folks at the Mouse House. A shadow had fallen. Sounds pretty much like the beginning of a Tolkien tale, doesn't it?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2019
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a sequel to the hit Disney animated film Wreck it Ralph. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, we follow our heroes from the last movie, Ralph and Vanellope, as they travel the internet in search of a broken part for Vanellope’s arcade game. They find the missing steering controller on eBay, and it’s the last one in existence. Up for auction, they give the winning bid for $27,000. They now must find a way to earn the money to pay for the controller with a deadline in five hours, or they will lose Vanellope’s game forever. Ralph Breaks the Internet is a painfully average film, and compared to its predecessor, a huge disappointment. This sequel wasn’t bad, however, but it wasn’t too great either. There’s one big problem I had with this movie, and it’s Ralph. Ralph in the first movie had already gone through his character arc and was a very well developed character by the end of the film. In this movie it feels like they purposely broke the character just for a story line. Ralph in Ralph Breaks the Internet is now a needy, clingy, and annoying character. Throughout the movie Ralph is constantly holding Vanellope back from doing the things she wants to do to save herself. People who relate to her should start to feel how annoying Ralph can be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 15th, 2019
It is interesting to see two or more of a director's works in a short period of time. One sees similarities, differences, and how the filmmaker hones his craft as they improve with every production. Masaaki Yuasa is certainly one of those directors, and if you enjoyed my review on Night is Short, Walk on Girl, then you will want to go ahead and read my review today on Lu Over the Wall. While there are similarities, I can safely say that is quite the departure from the previous film. Let us take a look in the animated world of merfolk and the people who live around them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2019
Bigger is not always better, and more is not always better. If the holiday season release of Dr. Seuss's The Grinch is a testament to anything, it is that those two ideas are absolutely true. The Grinch has everything that the 1966 How The Grinch Stole Christmas could never have hoped to have had. The film delivers on some of the best computer-generated animation that Hollywood studio money can buy. It had a $75-million budget. It will get a wide release with millions of more dollars put into a global marketing campaign. And it will make a ton of money. After all, the Grinch is the modern age Scrooge from Dickens' classic story. These are the kind of stories that are timeless and popular. Still, there's one thing this film doesn't have over the 1966 television short, and that is that its heart is two sizes too small.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 1st, 2019
I have had many story ideas in my head for quite sometime. Putting them on paper is indeed another thing. One such story is a road trip between some friends that starts out normally, but little by little it becomes unraveled until it represents a tremendous and crazy affair. Unfortunately, I only got through nine chapters, and it hasn't seen a word since. Today's review is focused on an anime that is named The Night is Short, Walk On Girl. It involves the story of a girl who starts a normal night drinking through town. However, little by little the people and events around her become more extraordinary and bizarre as the night carries on. Hopefully this one makes it well past the ninth chapter.
