After attending an advance screening of “A Dog’s Purpose”, I learned of the TMZ video and controversy involving one of the dogs in the film being forced to perform a stunt on set, clearly against his will – and the dangerous situation that followed. The video is shocking and it’s not surprising that PETA and […]
Nearly 10 years after Sony Pictures Animation released their Oscar-nominated penguin surfing mockumentary “Surf’s Up”, the studio has returned to Pen Gu Island – and brought some of the biggest WWE superstars with them – for the entertaining direct-to-DVD sequel, “Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania”. The opening few minutes recap the climactic events of the original […]
As is the case with all of Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn animated dramas, including “Ponyo” and “The Wind Rises”, their latest, “The Red Turtle”, is incredibly picturesque. The scenery, consisting of landscapes, seascapes, sunrises and shots of the glowing moon, is absolutely gorgeous. However, even though it’s never uninteresting and presents challenges in its interpretation, “The Red Turtle” […]
I’ve always been fascinated by The Space Race. For me it’s one of the coolest, most interesting chapters in American History. During my Junior year in high school I read The Right Stuff (which focused on the Mercury 7 astronauts and “The New Nine”). In the Summer of 2015, ABC aired the fantastic 10-part miniseries, […]
In the world of “Sing” (as was the case with this spring’s “Zootopia”), animals talk, behave and live like humans. As a young child, koala bear Buster Moon loved going to the theatre with his dad. Years later they decided to open The Moon Theatre. But after countless grand productions, Buster finds himself with an […]
In Disney’s “Moana”, the title heroine sings a song called “How Far I’ll Go” (which is performed in its entirety twice and reprised two more times). In it, there’s a line that perfectly sums-up this movie: “Everything is by design”. With this latest effort, Disney shows it’s till stuck in the 90s, serving-up a formulaic, […]
While listening to Justin Timberlake’s latest smash-hit “Can’t Stop the Feeling” for the first time six months ago, I had a “feeling”, that the movie it would be featured in was in good hands. As Executive Music Producer and lead voice actor, Timberlake breaks the glass ceiling on the limits of animation with DreamWorks’ answer […]
Many thoughts were swirling around my head as I was watching “Storks”. The opening montage reminded me of the stork delivering baby Dumbo to Mrs. Jumbo in that Disney classic. Hearing Kelsey Grammer as the voice of the stork delivery company boss made me think of his role on the TV drama, “Boss”. I enjoyed […]
In the opening narration of “Kubo and the Two Strings”, our young hero asks of us, “If you must blink, do it now.” Turns-out – it’s difficult to take your eyes off the screen while watching one of the most visually striking and emotionally intense movies of the year. “Kubo” is the latest stop-motion animated […]
“Pete’s Dragon” is Disney’s latest re-imagining of one of their past favorites. However, the 1977 original isn’t actually regarded as being on the upper tier of the Disney catalog, so it was definitely an interesting, if not risky choice. But director and co-writer David Lowrey (“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”) took a serious, old-fashioned and sincere […]