Into the Woods is eighty minutes of energy and joy followed by forty more of tiresome, by-the-numbers visual effects. The drop-off in quality is notable. It’s a shame, as the first two-thirds are filled with crowd-pleasing tunes, beautiful set designs, and a playfulness that jumps off the screen. All of… Continue reading
The Boxtrolls is another dark, edgy, macabre story from the same team that brought us ParaNorman and Coraline. If you’ve seen one or both of those films, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect here. Directors Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi and their team have created some of… Continue reading
Ivory Tower is a competent, slickly-produced documentary that takes a hard look at the cost and perceived benefits of higher education in the United States. That the price of college has been on a steady rise for decades hardly qualifies as new news, but the toll it is taking on… Continue reading
There’s way more going on in The Lego Movie than initially meets the eye. This is a high-energy, smart, and surprisingly touching family film that truly delivers something for everyone – and maybe even more so for adults. What could have been nothing more than an annoying product placement film… Continue reading
Spoiler alert: Mary Poppins gets made. But it’s the long and frustrating journey to reach the final product that is the subject of Saving Mr. Banks, a refreshingly insightful look into the mind of the troubled author who wrote the book. This could have easily been two hours of Disney… Continue reading
Frozen contains all of the timeless ingredients of Disney’s wildly successful past: royalty, magical powers, familial drama, and visual splendor. All of these elements feel familiar, but Frozen puts enough energy and witty spin on them to create something new and memorable. It won’t get any bonus points for breaking… Continue reading
Frankenweenie sure feels like a deeply personal film for Tim Burton, the world’s favorite outsider director. It is, after all, a touch-up of his 1984 short film of the same name. This one comes up with the full Disney works: 3D, stop-motion, and daring black-and-white (I can only imagine the… Continue reading
Why are these movies so depressing? Having seen both Happy Feet films, I have left both with a sense of puzzling sadness. That takes some effort considering the central basis for the films are talking, singing penguins. But both films have also had unsettling agendas, putting our beloved penguins in… Continue reading
The Muppets is an absolute treasure, both as a tribute to devoted fans and for kids today, who likely haven’t even heard of them until now. In a Hollywood practically driven by crass consumerism and gimmicks, The Muppets never feels like such for an instant. This one is from the… Continue reading
Look no further than the Toy Story short and the extended The Lion King re-release trailer that precede Cars 2 for reasons why this latest Pixar film just doesn’t cut it. The former two films have true character development, well-written, well-told stories, and spectacular animation. Cars 2 only has the… Continue reading