There has always been an archly hallucinogenic element to Spongebob Squarepants. I don’t mean the conceit of a sentient aggregate life form living in a pineapple under the sea. No, Spongebob has used it to tackle the existential from time to time while also being deliciously silly and being unapologetically full of heart. One need… Read More »
A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX
By the end of Rodney Ascher’s A GLITCH IN THE MATIX, you may well be questioning the definition of reality. That, of course, is part of his point. Bur far from a light-hearted romp about the fringe-ish theories that posit our living in a computer simulation, Ascher is interested in more than the Mandela Effect,… Read More »
OVER THE MOON
OVER THE MOON sensitively takes on a difficult subject, the loss of a mother with the subsequent prospect of a blended family. It becomes a film that is respectful of the issue, yet triumphantly uplifting in it message of moving on while still honoring the past. Along the way, we learn about the importance of… Read More »
THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
The animation in THE CROODS: A NEW AGE is just as lovely as it was in the original. As we find our cave family going through some changes, though, the story, while lively, has a distinctly mid-century sit-com vibe, and not just because that Partridge Family anthem, “I Think I Love You”, is on repeat… Read More »
SOUL
Pixar’s SOUL is as slyly unpredictable as it is playfully brilliant. Nothing less than a deconstruction of what life means, it is both raucous and Zen as it tells the story of a jazz musician who is not ready for the Great Beyond, thereby becoming a perfect koan, and possibly the best movie of the… Read More »
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Considering it only lasted two seasons in its initial run back in the 1960s, the television version of Charles Addam’s gruesomely enchanting New Yorker cartoon, The Addams Family, has become a powerful pop culture touchstone. It’s a favor that the current animated version amply repays, rife as it is with pop and political references. And… Read More »
ABOMINABLE
ABOMINABLE is a sweet, if unremarkable, movie. With a plot that offers little in the way of novelty and characters who are as familiar to fans of contemporary animated films aimed at kiddies as Harlequin was to fans of the commedia dell’arte, it does boast some fine animation and a mythical creature that is undeniably… Read More »
ALADDIN
The live-action version of ALADDIN does many things, including blurring the line between animation and live-action, not unlike the once and future AVATAR. It is more animation than live action and perhaps at some point there should be specific designation for cinematic efforts of this kind. But I digress. Most of what makes the film… Read More »
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD
Ah, the timeless tale of a boy and his dragon. As recounted in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON I and II, it was magical. Even more magical is that the final part of the trilogy, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD is the equal of the first two without being a repeat of either installment.
WELCOME TO MARWEN
There is little that tugs more insistently at my heartstrings, cinematically at least, than a film that genuinely means well and falls short. And so it is with WELCOME TO MARWEN, a showcase of CGI and of Steve Carrell’s dramatic chops, but of little else. The story is based on the life of Mark Hogencamp,… Read More »
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