A variety of actors have put together outstanding bodies of work over the past several years. But no one can match the success of Tom Hanks. With his latest performance, as the title character in “Captain Phillips”, about to hit theaters let’s look back at the impressive list of accomplishments of Hollywood’s “Man of the […]
In 2009, Sony Pictures Animation’s adaptation of the classic children’s story, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, was served-up to moviegoers, complete with an updated twist. Actually, it was a major overhaul. In fact, the only thing the popular book and the movie script had in common was the title. But the energetic food-fest about a young inventor with […]
While “Justice League” is still TBD for 2015, there are at least two dozen other blockbuster films already set for release the year after next. Either 2015 will play out like 2011, when it was Big Movie after Big Movie and it was impossible for moviegoers to see them all, or the film industry will […]
With the release of “Planes”, I thought it’d be a good time to look back at the recent animated films that Walt Disney Pictures has distributed but didn’t actually produce. In other words, these are all non-Walt Disney Animation Studios/non-Pixar films: DisneyToon Studios created a bunch of hand-drawn animated films in the late 90’s and […]
“Planes” is a Disney animated film. However it’s not a Pixar film or from Walt Disney Animation Studios (which recently made “Bolt”, “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph”). Instead, “Planes” was created by DisneyToon Studios, who usually make Direct-to-DVD films. And that’s exactly what this film was supposed to be. That is, until late last year, when […]
When it came out this summer “Turbo” drew obvious comparisons to “Cars”, Disney/Pixar’s animated film about auto racing. But this clever DreamWorks creation can stand-out on its own, thanks to a simple, but sincere script which contains a whole lot of heart. Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) is a snail with a dream: He wants […]
Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks could receive a double Oscar nomination this year for his upcoming roles as Captain Phillips in “Captain Phillips” and Walt Disney in the making-of “Mary Poppins” movie “Saving Mr. Banks”. He also just ended his Tony-nominated run on Broadway in the play “Lucky Guy”. This past weekend I was […]
“Monsters University” is Pixar’s 14th animated feature. It’s also their first prequel, to a film that many have near the bottom of their list of all-time favorite Pixar films. 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.” grossed $255 million but lost the first-ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature to DreamWorks’ “Shrek”. Recently I watched “Monsters Inc.” again, and […]
For a while now, studios have been setting release dates for their upcoming films YEARS in advance. However a new trend in Hollywood is taking this practice to a ridiculous level. Studios are “grabbing the date” by announcing untitled projects (often ones that haven’t even been discussed) with openings way in the future. For animation […]
The Summer Movie Season will kick back into high gear next weekend with the highly-anticipated release of “Man of Steel” – the Superman film millions have been waiting for. While director Zach Snyder’s previous films (2010’s animated “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” and the 2011 flop “Sucker Punch”) underperformed, “Man of Steel” […]