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
MEET THE TRIBE ROCKING THE STONE AGE. When a rabbit-hunting tribe of cavemen are driven out of their valley by Bronze Age warriors, young Dug is taken to the invaders’ city and learns all about a mysterious game that’s popular there. Another stop-motion adventure-comedy from Aardman Animation, this time depicting a clash between two eras, … Continue reading Early Man
LOVE COMES TO THE FOREST FOLK… AND TO YOU, IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST LOVE STORIES! I had forgotten about Bambi a little bit. I did see this movie many years ago, thought it was very good, and that was it. When I bought it on Blu-ray and saw it again now, I was … Continue reading Bambi: Life of a Prince
THE CELEBRATION OF A LIFETIME. The world premiere of Coco took place in Morelia, Mexico, not Hollywood. During the making of the film, Pixar’s talents went south of the border to learn more about the culture and folk art, to find the right inspiration and local color for their tale about the Day of the … Continue reading Coco: A Visit to the Land of the Dead
BUILT TO FIGHT. BORN TO LOVE. A Spanish bull called Ferdinand grows up preferring to smell the flowers rather than fighting with the other bulls; however, he finds it hard to escape what’s considered his destiny. The Ice Age and Rio director’s adaptation of a classic children’s book was previously filmed by Disney as a … Continue reading Ferdinand
FROM THIS MOMENT, EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE. When Lightning McQueen crashes during a race with a cocky, younger talent, he starts fearing retirement but tries to find his way back at a new racing center, and with a new, annoyingly enthusiastic trainer. The third film reconnects with the original in several ways. Beautifully designed in 3D, … Continue reading Cars 3
In 2006, Texas Monthly writer Pamela Colloff published an oral history of the 1966 massacre in Austin where a 25-year-old former Marine went to the 28th-floor observation deck of the tower at the University of Texas, found a suitable position and assumed the role of a sniper. Charles Whitman shot 42 people on campus that … Continue reading Tower: 96 Minutes of Terror
OH BROTHER. After failing to capture a former child actor turned supervillain, Gru and Lucy are fired from the Anti-Villain League… but then they meet Gru’s long-lost twin brother Dru. Another contrived sequel in this series, but one that’s very hard to dislike, right from the hilarious opening chase. Steve Carell is clearly having fun … Continue reading Despicable Me 3
IT FOUND A VOICE… NOW IT NEEDS A BODY. In 2029, Major Motoko Kusanagi and her team are hunting a hacker known as the Puppet Master who’s infiltrating a vast electronic network that uses cybernetic bodies. The film that inspired the Wachowski siblings to make The Matrix (1999) is an impressively staged, creative thriller about … Continue reading Ghost in the Shell
THE OCEAN IS CALLING. The 16-year-old daughter of a chief leaves her tribe and Polynesian island to find the demigod Maui, bringing a mystical stone that was lost for a millennium. Inspired by Polynesian mythology and the stories about the shapeshifting Maui in particular, the legendary Disney directors delivered their first entirely computer-animated film in … Continue reading Moana
STORIES ARE WILD CREATURES. Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is dealing with his mother’s terminal illness and a bully at school when late one night he has an encounter with a ”monster”, a giant yew tree that has three stories to tell him. Patrick Ness brings his children’s book (and Jim Kay’s illustrations) vividly to life … Continue reading A Monster Calls
