Matinee with Snacks
As always, Pixar preceded their feature with a short, called Presto. The rabbit who stars is an atypical sort of character design for Pixar, which made me nervous initially. Never fear! Presto plays with the laws of cartoon physics in another lovely, wordless short that is reminiscent of the madcap […]
A certain Seussian purist I know refused to see this movie with me (or at all) on the grounds that’s all wrong and is doing with Jim Carrey what Aladdin did with Robin Williams. Statistically speaking, that is the most likely scenario from the people who brought you Ice Age, but… She also […]
Based on the autobiographical graphic novel of the same name by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis chronicles how a little Iranian girl has come to live in France today. It’s as simple and as complex as that – and the animation follows suit. Almost entirely in black and white, Persepolis finds its visual complexity in […]
Matinee Price, begrudgingly
If you’re going to see Beowulf, at least see it in the 3D Imax if at all possible. There is little substance or poetry in this adaptation of the oldest written story in the English language, but it certainly wants your undivided attention for the stuff it added. (Note to students: […]
Bee Movie is smarter than it is funny. That’s not to say there isn’t funny stuff in there, it just means that Jerry Seinfeld and his writers probably had very little intention of dumbing down their writing for animation purposes. And thank heavens for that! There is plenty of kid-movie slumming in […]
The hype, oh the hype! After releasing intriguing teaser trailers with lots of content but nothing to help you infer a plot, Fox has been flinging this movie in our face wherever we turn. That desperate feel, coupled with the lengthy wait for this big-screen event, can make one wary. However, unlike […]
Ratatouille
Matinee with Snacks
Pixar’s last outing, Cars, reflected their poor relationship with the Walt Disney company. It was careful, a little sterile, merchandise-friendly, and while beautifully rendered, was largely forgettable. Still, you’re not doing too badly when something as sweet and pleasant as Cars is your worst film. Ratatouille is a welcome, delicate return to the […]
Longtime Cinerina readers well know that I am no Shrek fan. Oh sure, the first movie was full of sly digs at Walt Disney animation studios and various corporate America icons - but funny? A little. Not better than Pixar’s Monsters Inc., which it inexplicably beat for the first ever Animated Feature […]
My companion summed up this odd little movie best, though I would change the recipe slightly: “Part March of the Penguins, part Grease, and part Apocalypse Now…[one section] was like, all Apocalypse Now.” I would substitute Newsies for Grease, but that’s being particular. Newsies is more about a group united in effort, with dancing, and […]
Aardman Animation is best known for their amazing and innovative claymation work, such as Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit films. Flushed Away was done with computer animation instead of painstaking stop motion, largely due to the practical concerns of animating with so much water, but it loses none of the fabled Aardman […]
