We’re officially into the second half of 2012, but it’s time to look back at the best performances and movies from the first six months with my annual “Half Year Awards”: Best Picture: Live-Action Bully Game Change Marvel’s The Avengers Seeking a Friend for the End of the World Snow White & the Huntsman Best […]

While in NYC last weekend I saw the Broadway musical “Newsies”, which is based on the 1992 Disney film that starred a young Christian Bale and Robert Duvall. The movie pretty much bombed, but the show is surprisingly good. The story, which set in 1899, is about the poor, mostly orphan boys who sold the […]

Normally live-action superhero films are on the big screen and the animated superhero movies (from B-level studios with C-level animation) are either produced for TV or direct to DVD. But Disney and WB have decided to bring comic book and Lego action stars to movie theaters. WB’s “Lego” (opening February 28th, 2014) will star the […]

Writer and director Nora Ephron has passed away. Ephron was nominated for three Academy Awards for writing the Meryl Streep-Cher drama “Silkwood” and the romantic comedies “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle”. Both of those films starred Meg Ryan – “Sally” with Billy Crystal and “Sleepless” with Tom Hanks. Ephron’s scripts always featured […]

UPDATE: “Brave” opens with a strong $66.7M for the weekend. This marks the 5th highest-grossing open for a Pixar film behind “Toy Story 3” ($110.3M), “The Incredibles” ($70.5M), “Finding Nemo” ($70.3M) and “Up” ($68.1M). “Brave” barely beat “Cars 2″‘s open from last year ($66.1M). We’ll see if that changes once the actuals come-out. ——————————————————————————– It’s […]

It’s always one of the most eagerly-anticipated movie events of the year: the release of a Pixar film. The studio’s latest, “Brave”, comes out this Friday and the promotion and publicity for the film has been heavy. But will that result in a huge box office? The average opening for a Pixar movie is $61.5M. […]

Just in time for Father’s Day, here are five recent movies focused on the bonding between father and son that the whole family can enjoy watching: “The Incredibles” – Pixar’s Oscar-winning animated action/comedy about a family of former superheroes who come out of retirement to take down an evil villain. Mr. Incredible bonds with Dash […]

LCJ: Obviously it takes hundreds of animators and effects artists to make a feature-length film such as “Madagascar 3”. You are an “Effects Lead”. What, specifically, are your duties? GG: I’m part of the movie for a couple of years. In the beginning we need to figure out how we’re going to build the effects. […]

UPDATE: Alex the Lion proves he’s King! “Madagascar 3” beats “Prometheus” $60.4M to $50M. This weekend is the first real competition this year for the top spot at the box office. Let’s break it all down for you to see which new release will win the weekend – “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” or “Prometheus”: […]

This weekend is the first real competition this year for the top spot at the box office. Let’s break it all down for you to see which new release will win the weekend – “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” or “Prometheus”: “MADAGASCAR 3” Genre: Animation/Family/Comedy Rating: PG Studio: DreamWorks Animation Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, […]