Mamoru Hosoda: A New Japanese Animation Master

One of the joys of the TV off-season is the opportunity to catch up on movies. Recently, I spent five evenings binge-watching the works of new Japanese master animator, Mamoru Hosoda. When it comes to Japanese animated films, most people think of Studio Ghibli, founded by master animator Hayao Miyazaki. Their kinds of movies are…

Summer Movie Catch-Up 2018 part 2

Unfortunately I’m not making it through a lot of movies, but here’s the second batch of movies that I’ve watched as part of my summer catch-up exercise (including recent genre hits, and Studio Ghibli rewatch). Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Going into this one I had no illusions that it was…

Summer Movie Catch-up 2018

Now that summer is in full-swing, it’s time to catch all the big-budget blockbusters making their way to the theatres, right? Well, I don’t know if every movie these days is worth its weight in ticket-sales. So, between movie-going, I’m going to take some time to catch up (in the comfort of my  living room)…

Looking forward to 2014 Movies

As the harsh winter sends us all scurrying indoors, I’m looking forward to some promising movies in the first half of 2014. Don’t be too disappointed in me if the vast majority of these are sequels, prequels, or adaptations. They’re the ones that I know more of what to expect (I’ve been well-trained by the…

The Secret World of Arrietty – Movie Review

Studio Ghibli (like its American cousin/rival, Pixar Studios) has such a flawless reputation for producing beautiful, magical, creative, and original masterpieces of feature animation that audiences are predisposed to liking any new movie that they produce. The Secret World of Arrietty is the latest from these Japanese animation masters and for me, while it is…