‘Minions & Monsters’ Movie Review
“Minions & Monsters” is the seventh installment in the “Despicable Me” franchise that kicked-off with a heartwarming and highly entertaining 2010 picture that put Illumination on the map and showcased the instant charm of the Minions. They are hilarious and beloved — appealing to people of all ages. Everywhere you go — every store… every […]
Guest: ‘The Sheep Detectives’ Director Kyle Balda
Kyle Balda has had a great career in VFX and animation, including directing and co-directing four Illumination features — “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”, “Minions” (for which he was BAFTA nominated), “Despicable Me 3” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru”. Now he’s the director of the live-action / animated murder mystery family dramedy “The Sheep Detectives”, […]
Animation Scoop: Illumination Highlights
Ahead of the release of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie”, I’ve got Illumination feature film highlights for Animation Scoop. ————————— Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age of 7. Jackson has written over 1,000 reviews of new releases. And altogether he has seen […]
Animation Scoop: ‘Minions / The Office’ Q&A
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” co-director Brad Ableson also directed Illumination, Universal and Peacock’s “Minions / The Office” commercial, which is now nominated for a 2023 Annie Award. Here’s my Animation Scoop Q&A with Ableson. ——————————————– Lights Camera Jackson (a.k.a. Jackson Murphy) began his career as a film critic/entertainment reporter in 2006 at the age […]
‘Minions’ Attracting Teens & Twenty-somethings
Many analysts have been surprised that teenagers and twentysomethings are making up a large percentage of the moviegoers seeing “Minions: The Rise of Gru”. I’m not. And here’s why. 1) If you were six years old when the first “Despicable Me” was released in 2010, you’re now 18. And if you’ve been following along with […]
99.5 The River: ‘The Forgiven’, ‘Stay Prayed Up’
‘Despicable Me 3’ Review
In the opening scene of “Despicable Me 3”, animation studio Illumination Entertainment takes a quick stab at rival Pixar with a blatant and brilliant gag involving the Minions. Both animation giants have released threequels to wildly popular franchises this month. Pixar took a more serious approach with “Cars 3”, while Illumination’s “DM3” is as upbeat […]
