Tag: Animated Film

Animated

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Review: Animated April

All due respect to “Big Hero 6” and “Toy Story 3” & “4,” but the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise going 0-3 in the Best Animated Feature category is one of the greatest mistakes in recent Oscar history. Director Dean DeBlois’s trilogy is not only great entertainment, but powerful emotional storytelling about what it means to grow up, and be responsible for others. 2019’s “The Hidden World” brings this franchise’s ideas full-circle, and delivers what might be one of the most satisfying conclusions to a trilogy in movie history. Continue reading How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Review: Animated April

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Animated

Anastasia Review: Animated April

For this Animated April, I decided to return to a few films that I adored as a child. In the past I have returned to the likes of “Thumbelina”, a film that I realised wasn’t as good as I had remembered it. I’ve always been wary about revisiting some of the other films that played a significant role in my childhood such as “The Little Mermaid” and “The Fox and the Hound” however I’ve decided to rewatch them both. I always felt very wary about re-watching “Anastasia” which had been a real favourite of mine. I really connected with Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, with singer Liz Callaway doing the songs for Ms. Ryan) who was a spunky, no-nonsense young woman who just so happened to be a princess. I think a lot of girls secretly wish they were royalty even though they try to make out that they’re not ‘girly’. I was one of those types of girls. Continue reading Anastasia Review: Animated April

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Animated

Klaus Review: Animated April

Wanting to watch something to feel the spirit of Christmas is how I ended up watching “Klaus” (2019) the first time. It ended up being a film that we all loved and deemed eminently re-watchable. This film has all the makings of a new Christmas Classic to be enjoyed by the whole family. It steps away from the traditional tales of how the legend of Santa Claus came to be and creates an entirely new story that still manages to explain the toy-making, the sleigh, the reindeer, the naughty list, the red suit, and, of course, the timeless tradition of Letters to Santa. This film further subverts other Christmas Classics because the central character is not Santa Claus but the new local postman, Jesper (Jason Schwartzman). Continue reading Klaus Review: Animated April

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Animated, Retrospect Reviews

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: How One Movie Revolutionized Animation Again

Since the dawn of movies, animation has been one of storytelling’s most essential mediums, from stitched photography to the first hand-drawn renderings of dwarves and fair women to digitally enhanced visual effects (which are, in effect, an animation unto themselves) to the movements of clay through any number of frames. Animation is even so essential to filmmaking as to render otherwise unfilmable stories accessible to a wide scope of audiences – such was the case with “Flee” (2021) during this past year’s awards season. But not since the days of “Toy Story” (1995) has this filmmaking medium taken such a gigantic leap as in December of 2018, when “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” swung onto silver screens to chronicle the ascent of one Miles Morales from a semi-known comic book/video game character to the throne of all Spider-Man movies.  Continue reading Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: How One Movie Revolutionized Animation Again

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Animated

A Whisker Away Review: Animated April

Back in 2020 “A Whisker Away” (Nakitai watashi wa neko o kaburu ) was meant to premier at the cinema in Japan and the USA but because of the Corona virus outbreak it was picked up by Netflix instead and premiered worldwide on Netflix. It was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed the film to be seen by a wider audience, and it’s a film that should be seen by as many people as possible for it’s charming, feel-good-factor and it’s rather attractive animation. It may not be the most visually impressive animated film to emerge out of Japan in the last five years, but there’s something about “A Whisker Away” that draws you in and keeps you invested in the narrative and the characters. Continue reading A Whisker Away Review: Animated April

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Activism, Animated, Documentaries, Female Characters, Female Filmmaker, Female Filmmakers, Female Writer, Film Festivals, Reviews, Women in Film, World Cinema

GFF2021 Review: My Favorite War

Year: 2021Duration: 1h 22mWriter/Director: Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen By Caz Armstrong This animated documentary memoir by Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen tells the story of her own childhood growing up in Soviet-era Latvia in the 1970s to 1990s. She explores the relationship between choice and happiness in the context of growing up under an authoritarian regime. Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen’s early childhood seemed idyllic even though it was tinged … Continue reading GFF2021 Review: My Favorite War

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Animated, Documentaries, Film Festivals, Film Reviews, Reviews

Sundance Review: “Flee”

Year: 2021 Runtime: 83 minutes Director/Writer: Jonas Her Rasmussen By Morgan Roberts No two immigration stories are ever the same. Sometimes the immigration story for survival differs from the one in reality. In “Flee” (2021), one such story is told. Amin is a refugee from Afghanistan. Since his youth, he has been living in Denmark, fleeing to the country as an unaccompanied minor. His entire … Continue reading Sundance Review: “Flee”

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Animated, Film Festivals, Film Reviews

Wolfwalkers: #LFF2020 Review

Cartoon Saloon ranks alongside Laika as one of the most exciting animation studios emerging in this new century of cinema. Their style is akin to the classic 2D hand-drawn animation of old-school Disney. But, through their own loose linework, their films feel much more singular. If children’s picture books were given motion, the films of Cartoon Saloon is probably what they would look like. With “Wolfwalkers” (2020) gracing this year’s London Film Festival, Cartoon Saloon may have produced their best film yet. Continue reading Wolfwalkers: #LFF2020 Review

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Animated, Mental Health, Retrospect Reviews

Mental Health Awarenss Month, Retrospective Review: Mary and Max

A two-fold coming-of-age narrative ‘Mary and Max’ (2009) charters the progression of Mary’s, a young, ‘chubby’ and socially anxious Australian into a woman, friendship with Max, a middle-aged Atheistic Jew in America. Pen pals, a support system, their friendship grows as Mary seeks an escape from her abusive, sherry-soaked mother Vera, all marvellous narrated by Australian treasure Barry Humphries. At random, fascinated by the states, Mary picks an address from a U.S phonebook and hopes to receive a reply to her letter. Gradually, as life moves on the pair grow distant, and after taking a degree in psychology, Mary uses her experiences with Max, who suffers from anxiety and lives in isolation due to his Asperger’s syndrome, as a case study for a book. Continue reading Mental Health Awarenss Month, Retrospective Review: Mary and Max

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