By John Corrado Elio, the very sweet new animated film from Pixar, uses the age old question of “are we alone in the universe?” to explore the very real topic of loneliness, namely that of the titular Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab). Elio is a space-obsessed kid who has been left living on a military… Read More Movie Review: Elio
By John Corrado Disney has just released the first teaser trailer for Zootopia 2 (which will likely play in front of Lilo & Stitch this weekend). This teaser, which is set to music, doesn’t show us much. But it does give us a glimpse at some of the new worlds that our heroes Nick Wilde… Read More First Teaser for Zootopia 2
By John Corrado DreamWorks Animation has always had two modes, which is what allows the studio to balance prestige animated films with more cartoony efforts. So for every How to Train Your Dragon, there’s a Boss Baby. This is why the studio is able to so effortlessly follow up a great film like last year’s… Read More Blu-ray Review: Dog Man (Collector’s Edition 2000)
By John Corrado Disney has just released the brand new “official” trailer for Pixar’s upcoming film Elio. This trailer shows off a lot more of the plot behind this animated sci-fi action comedy, including the friendship between the titular Elio (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) and an alien named Glordon (Remy Edgerly). Set to Queen’s “Don’t… Read More New Trailer for Disney and Pixar’s Elio
By John Corrado Please note that this is a review of the 4K Ultra HD release of The Wild Robot. For my full thoughts on the film itself, you can read my TIFF review right here. Last month, DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot was released on 4K Ultra HD. Adapted from Peter Brown’s book, the… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: The Wild Robot (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado The British inventor and his pantomime dog return in Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, the second feature-length outing for the characters following 2005’s Oscar-winning The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Co-directed by series creator Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, this charming and funny new adventure for the stop-motion man and dog… Read More Movie Review: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)
By John Corrado Dream Productions, the new Disney Plus limited series “from the world of Inside Out,” presents somewhat of a departure for Pixar. It’s not only their first stab at episodic storytelling, but also done in the style of a mockumentary. The four-part series is presented as a “behind the scenes” look at Dream Productions,… Read More Review: Dream Productions (Disney+)
By John Corrado Disney’s Moana became a box office hit when it was released eight years ago in 2016. The film has enjoyed a strong shelf life with audiences since then, so it was inevitable that, for better or for worse, the studio would want to do more with these characters. Enter Moana 2, which began life as… Read More Movie Review: Moana 2
By John Corrado In 2009, director Adam Elliot, the Australian animator behind the 2003 Oscar-winning short film Harvie Krumpet, released his debut feature Mary & Max. The excellent claymation film had a lovingly hand-crafted feel to it, and told the tender story of the pen-pal friendship between a girl and an autistic man, which Elliot explored with… Read More Movie Review: Memoir of a Snail
By John Corrado Transformers One is technically the latest entry in the blockbuster franchise based on the Hasbro toys, but sets itself apart by being both a prequel and the first fully animated film since 1986’s The Transformers: The Movie. And it’s a decent animated film that easily ranks as one of the better entries… Read More Movie Review: Transformers One
By John Corrado The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 5th to 15th, more information can be found right here. In his second animated feature Flow, following his 2019 debut Away, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis captures the wordless saga of a group of animals trying to survive a flood on their island. The creatures… Read More #TIFF24 Review: Flow (Centrepiece)
By John Corrado The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5th to 15th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here. The Wild Robot is the latest animated film from DreamWorks, and it’s one of the best movies the studio has ever produced. In adapting the children’s novel by author Peter… Read More #TIFF24 Review: The Wild Robot (Gala Presentations)
By John Corrado This week, Paramount is releasing the R-rated 1999 animated musical comedy South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut for the first time on 4K Ultra HD, in honour of the film’s 25th anniversary. Directed by Trey Parker and co-written by Matt Stone, the film finds the South Park boys getting corrupted after going… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
By John Corrado Making a sequel to Inside Out was always going to be a difficult task. The 2015 film is widely considered to be one of Pixar’s finest achievements, and is a late-stage masterpiece from the California animation studio. This leads us to Inside Out 2, a sequel that somehow manages to build upon… Read More Movie Review: Inside Out 2
By John Corrado This week, Paramount is releasing the streaming special South Park: Joining the Panderverse on Blu-ray. The 49 minute animated special from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone skewers everything from “woke” culture, to useless college degrees, multiverse movies, and token diverse characters in Disney reboots. The wide-ranging special, which premiered… Read More Blu-ray Review: South Park: Joining the Panderverse
By John Corrado Please note that this is a review of the 4K Ultra HD release of Kung Fu Panda 4. For my full thoughts on the film itself, you can read my original review right here. The fourth film in the DreamWorks Animation franchise that began in 2008, Kung Fu Panda 4 is one… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: Kung Fu Panda 4 (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado Garfield, that lazy, lasagna-loving orange cat from the Jim Davis comic strips, returns to the big screen in Sony’s aptly titled The Garfield Movie. Arriving two decades after the live action Garfield, which had Bill Murray voicing the sarcastic feline, this first fully animated theatrical feature works as an enjoyable caper, that… Read More Movie Review: The Garfield Movie
By John Corrado The stop-motion animated movie The Inventor is best described as an elaborate, lovingly crafted tribute to old school Rankin/Bass specials, inspired by the final years of Leonardo da Vinci’s life. The film begins in Rome circa 1515, where da Vinci (voiced by Stephen Fry) is a kooky inventor with a long white… Read More Movie Review: The Inventor
By John Corrado The latest animated work from co-directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, the filmmakers behind the Oscar-nominated Chico and Rita, They Shot the Piano Player is an ambitious if uneven mix of animation and docudrama. The film opens at the Strand Book Store in New York City, where fictitious music journalist Jeff Harris… Read More Movie Review: They Shot the Piano Player
By John Corrado Jack Black returns as the voice of Po in this fourth instalment of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda series, which began sixteen years ago now in 2008. It’s easy to say that, by this belated fourth go around, the series is starting to show some wear, and Kung Fu Panda 4 does… Read More Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda 4
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