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, […]

Box Office Mojo.com is a very reliable site that I rely on for news and box office projections and totals. Earlier this week, when I went to their “New Dates & Changes” section and saw the all the moves being made and set for release by the studios, I was stunned. Here’s the break-down: – […]

Paramount’s decision to move “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”‘s release date from June 29th (just a month away) to March 29th, 2013 is shocking. And their main reason – wanting to convert the film to 3D – is puzzling. Clearly there’s more to this move than that. Here’s why it doesn’t add-up: – This was Paramount’s big […]

I’ve thought about making this list for a long time. Big budget studios release blockbuster animated films each year. But what about those “smaller” animated films that may have underperformed at the box office, but were strong with critics? Or even those that may have had neither. Here is a list of animated films that […]