Recently I’ve seen a few animated movies, and while they don’t have anything in common, I thought I’d present them together in a set of capsule reviews. 9 When Elijah Wood last played a diminutive hero courageously seeking to save the world (in Lord of the Rings), it took over 10 hours to tell the…
Category: Animation
15 Flicks for Fall 2009
On the pop-cultural calendar, the climax of the year is supposedly the summer blockbuster season. Fall is when we begin the year again with new TV and more serious cinema (leading up to the Oscars). After a lacklustre summer (where even the stalwart Harry Potter franchise left me disappointed), we could really use some fresh,…
Up – Movie Review
I defy you not to be charmed by the new Pixar movie, Up (such a non-descript title for such a fun film). In a field that is rapidly filling with vapid imitators, Pixar continues to keep itself above the others by creating lovable, fresh characters and heart-warming stories, even while skimping nary a pixel on…
Monsters vs. Aliens – Movie Review
After having seen Monsters vs. Aliens in full IMAX 3-D, probably the worst thing I could say about it is that it’s ordinary. Don’t get me wrong, the animation is top-notch. Everything looks very impressive: from the cavernous spacecraft down to the fabric and textures of the main character’s outfit, there is an amazing attention…
Books come to life: Coraline and Inkheart – Movie Reviews
I really like the trend to bring books to the screen. I especially like it when they bring fantasy books to life because the technology has reached the point where they can really make magical elements look convincingly real. That hurdle out of the way, fantasy books (especially children and young adult fantasy) have so…
Oscar, Schmoscar 2009
Last year’s Oscars are pretty dead to me. Even to this day I have not watched any of the big winners (I didn’t even do an “Oscar, Schmoscar” post in ’08). This year is a whole other story. I was excited about many of the movies before they even got nominated. I’ve already reviewed The…
2008: The Year On Screen
2008 Favourite Movies With the after-effects of the writers’ strike, and the resulting string of mediocre disappointments, 2008 was not a great year at the cinema. Hollywood continues to play it safe, even in the highly-imaginative realm of sci-fi, and we were bombarded mostly by sequels, remakes and adaptations. It was difficult to pick favourites…
Bolt – Movie Review
With every new animated movie, there comes the inevitable comparison to the gold standard laid down by megastudio Pixar. Bolt comes from Pixar’s parent company Disney, and while the animation quality is up there, and the kid-friendly humour and endearing characters are there as well, Bolt still just misses that Pixar mark. Perhaps there is…
Fall TV 2008, part 4
Here I was thinking that this fall premiere season was going to be boring simply because all my top shows (Lost, 24, Battlestar Galactica, Medium, Dollhouse, Burn Notice) were not coming until mid-season, but now I’m writing a 4-part post about new and returning shows. Go figure! Well, this will be the last part. There…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 