WE’RE HEADIN’ FOR THE LAUGHIN’ PLACE! It’s not like this classic Disney flick is banned. Since its premiere, Song of the South has been rereleased in theaters on several occasions, the last time in 1986. It has been made available for home viewing in Europe and Japan. But that still hasn’t happened in the U.S. … Continue reading Song of the South: Disney’s Bad Conscience
WORDS CAN BE STRONGER THAN WEAPONS. An ambitious film many years in the making that takes us to Angola after the start of the civil war in 1975, when the Polish reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski risked his life behind the front lines. A novel way to present a documentary; interviews with people who were in Angola … Continue reading Another Day of Life
20 years into the future, the mayor of a Japanese city banishes all dogs to an isolated island after an outbreak of canine influenza. Wes Anderson returned to animated films after Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), once again with talking animals in the leads. The director was inspired by Kurosawa films and the Rankin/Bass animation from … Continue reading Isle of Dogs
BACK TO WORK. At a time when the public has no trust in superheroes anymore, a billionaire contacts the Parrs and offers them a way to relaunch their careers. It took Pixar and Brad Bird 14 years to produce a sequel, but it was worth the wait. Firmly grounded in the original’s visual look, but … Continue reading Incredibles 2
YETI OR NOT, HERE THEY COME. High up in the Himalayas, a yeti called Migo accidentally makes contact with a ”smallfoot”, but the leader doesn’t believe him and banishes Migo from the yeti community. A 3D comedy-adventure, slightly reminiscent of The Croods (2013). The meeting between man and yeti has amusing consequences with dark undertones, … Continue reading Smallfoot
THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. Big changes are coming in the Lego universe, as Duplo invaders keep terrorizing Bricksburg; Emmett and Lucy will face the Queen behind it all. An intense 3D sequel that can’t quite deliver the freshness of the original, but still makes an attempt to throw every clever idea and pop culture reference … Continue reading The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Ralph and his best friend Vanellope enter the Internet, hoping to find a steering wheel and thereby saving the arcade game that is home to Vanellope and many other game characters… The sequel to Wreck-It Ralph (2012) is an improvement on the original, throwing its characters into an Internet that takes physical form, providing brilliant … Continue reading Ralph Breaks the Internet
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE. In the early 1990s, during the production of the songs for Disney’s upcoming animated adventure The Lion King, West End legend Tim Rice had been hired to write the lyrics. When his attempts to get Benny Andersson as a composing partner fell through, he turned to Elton John. The pop star … Continue reading The Lion King: Feeling the Love
FAMILY VACATION. IT WILL SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF YOU. Mavis books a cruise for Dracula and the whole gang; after reluctantly boarding the ship, the old vampire falls head over heels for its human captain. The third chapter introduces new environs for the gang, which is a good idea. There’s a lot to like … Continue reading Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT IS WHAT MAKES YOU SPIDER-MAN. At the same time as Spider-Man battles Kingpin, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is bitten by a spider and gains the same superpowers as Spider-Man. A comic-book character in danger of being overexposed gets a new look in the shape of a biracial teenager and throws him … Continue reading Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
In 1920s Japan, young Jiro Horikoshi dreams of building planes and heads to an engineering school in Tokyo; his work will also take him to Nazi Germany… What was originally called Hayao Miyazaki’s last film before retiring is not for children, but an animated biography of the man who built the fighter planes that Japan … Continue reading The Wind Rises
WHY SO ANGRY? On Bird Island, Red, who’s attending an anger management class, becomes suspicious of a boat full of green-colored pigs that arrives one day; what are they after…? After the success of The Lego Movie (2014) there would obviously be more attempts to take a lucrative commercial franchise and try to make something … Continue reading The Angry Birds Movie
IT IS NOT WHAT IS OUTSIDE, BUT WHAT IS INSIDE THAT COUNTS. In 1992, Disney was on a roll. After the success of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), the studio had entered a renaissance and more hits were to come. Still, when Howard Ashman suggested adapting a Middle Eastern folk … Continue reading Aladdin: Arabian Anarchy
