By John Corrado The latest addition to Disney’s Signature Collection is their 1953 animated classic Peter Pan, which also happens to be celebrating it’s 65th anniversary this year. A spirited take on J.M. Barrie’s classic novel and stage play, which Walt Disney savvily acquired the rights to in 1938 with the full intention of turning… Read More Blu-ray Review: Peter Pan: The Signature Collection
By John Corrado Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, The Breadwinner follows an 11-year-old girl in Afghanistan named Parvana (Saara Chaudry). When her father (Ali Badshah) is taken by the Taliban, she has to cut her hair and start passing herself off as a boy, so that she can get work to provide for… Read More DVD Review: The Breadwinner
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) I recently came across a new edition of Munro Leaf’s famous 1936 children’s book The Story of Ferdinand while in a store, and decided to look through it. It’s a short book, perfectly formatted for young readers, so I had time to read it cover to cover in only… Read More Review: Ferdinand
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The latest claymation feature from Aardman, and the first directed by Nick Park since helming the animation studio’s Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005, Early Man is a delightful caveman comedy that boasts their trademark mix of clever visual humour and witty one-liners.… Read More Review: Early Man
By John Corrado The first ever fully hand painted feature film, Loving Vincent takes place a year after the suicide of Vincent Van Gogh (Robert Gulaczyk), and follows a postman’s son (Douglas Booth) who is tasked with delivering a lost letter that the Dutch artist had written to his brother, and ends up becoming intrigued… Read More iTunes Review: Loving Vincent
By John Corrado Following the wacky adventures of plastic toys Cowboy, Indian and Horse, A Town Called Panic is a stop motion animated series from Belgium that has gained somewhat of a cult following over the years. Now all twenty short films are available for the first time on Blu-ray in A Town Called Panic: The Collection, which… Read More Blu-ray Review: A Town Called Panic: The Collection
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) Lloyd (Dave Franco) is a lonely teenager who is a misfit at school, but leads a double life as the powerful Green Ninja, fighting alongside a group of other ninja warriors and being trained by his wise old uncle Master Wu (Jackie Chan). But Lloyd is tired of… Read More Blu-ray Review: The LEGO Ninjago Movie
By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Based on the children’s novel of the same name by Canadian author Deborah Ellis, The Breadwinner is a timely and moving animated tale for both kids and adults, which has been lovingly brought to the screen by director Nora Twomey with the help of Angelina Jolie, who serves as… Read More Review: The Breadwinner
Coco Review By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) At this point, Pixar has a pretty stellar track record of delivering films that draw us in with their dazzling animation, and keep us hooked with precision storytelling, memorable characters, and powerfully moving scenes. And Coco, the studio’s latest – which I have been anticipating for several… Read More Three Views: Coco
By John Corrado ★½ (out of 4) Gene (T.J. Miller) is a “meh” emoji, who lives in the messenger app inside the phone of a constantly texting high schooler named Alex (Jake T. Austin). The trouble is that Mel has more than one emotion, much to the chagrin of his parents (Steven Wright and Jennifer… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Emoji Movie
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) Taking place in Japan during World War II, In This Corner of the World follows Suzu (Laura Post), a young woman who leaves her childhood home in Hiroshima to get married, and moves to the nearby city of Kure to live with her husband Shusaku (Todd Haberkorn) and… Read More Blu-ray Review: In This Corner of the World
By John Corrado Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is forced to confront the end of his racing career following a terrifying crash in Cars 3. Wanting to go out as a champion, but realizing that he is struggling to keep up in a world of newer racers, Lightning teams up with a perky young trainer named Cruz… Read More Blu-ray Review: Cars 3
By John Corrado On October 17th, Shout! Factory released special edition Blu-ray and DVD combo packs of the six Studio Ghibli films My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo, which are all directed by the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki. These updates from the Disney releases not only… Read More Blu-ray Reviews: My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo
By John Corrado It’s hard to believe that SpongeBob SquarePants has been on the air for nearly two decades after premiering in 1999, but the ninth season of the long running animated series wrapped up earlier this year, and is now available on DVD. This set features all 26 episodes from the season which mostly… Read More DVD Review: SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Ninth Season
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) At the start of Loving Vincent, a title card tells us that we are about to see the first ever fully hand painted feature film, crafted by a team of a hundred dedicated artists, many of whom spent years working on the film. The result is an astonishing… Read More Review: Loving Vincent
By John Corrado The latest addition to Disney’s Signature Collection is their iconic 1994 classic The Lion King, which has just gotten a shiny new Blu-ray release. Released a few years into the fabled Disney Renaissance, the film remains one of the studio’s finest and most acclaimed achievements, and it still holds up beautifully over… Read More Blu-ray Review: The Lion King: The Signature Collection
By John Corrado ★★½ (out of 4) The first fully animated Smurfs movie, Smurfs: The Lost Village finds Smurfette (Demi Lovato) struggling with the fact that she was created by the dark wizard Gargamel (Rainn Willson), and searching for her true identity and purpose as the only female in a world of male Smurfs. When… Read More Blu-ray Review: Smurfs: The Lost Village
Cars 3 Review By John Corrado ★★★½ (out of 4) Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is back on the racetrack in Cars 3, but now he is faced with confronting the end of his career as a world champion racer following a brutal crash, and thinking about how he will leave his mark in a world… Read More Three Views: Cars 3
By John Corrado ★★ (out of 4) Existing as a spinoff of sorts from 2014’s The LEGO Movie, The LEGO Batman Movie finds its dark and brooding hero (Will Arnett) going up against his arch nemesis the Joker (Zach Galifianakis), who is vying for the place of Batman’s favourite enemy and is working with tons of other… Read More Blu-ray Review: The LEGO Batman Movie
By John Corrado Walt Disney’s 1942 animated classic Bambi is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and has gotten a new Blu-ray release as part of their Signature Collection to honour the occasion. Adapted from Austrian author Felix Salten’s 1923 novel, Bambi follows a young deer who is destined to take over his father’s place… Read More Blu-ray Review: Bambi: 75th Anniversary Edition
