Tag Archive | Best Animated Feature
Finding Dory
Time for a little catch-up. Expect it all month-long. You see, things I saw weeks ago, took a back seat to Oscar for the first two months of 2017. If “Finding Dory” had actually scored an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, you can be certain that I would’ve reviewed it earlier. It didn’t…and you […]
Kubo and the Two Strings
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 89th Annual Academy Awards Nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 89th Annual Academy Awards Travis Knight makes his directorial debut for Laika with “Kubo and the Two Strings”. Mr. Knight has worked as an animator on all of their features (“Coraline”, “ParaNorman”, and “The Boxtrolls”, before this), […]
“Finding Dory” v “Zootopia”
Is there any doubt, that come Oscar time (the Academy Awards broadcast will be on Sunday, February 26th), that the battle will be between these two Disney behemoths? Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Dory” crossed the worldwide box office one BILLION dollar mark this past weekend. Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia” pulled off that SAME feat, earlier in the […]
When Marnie Was There
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 88th Annual Academy Awards You know, when you set the bar so high… I don’t want to knock Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s “When Marnie Was There”, because it is actually quite good. It’s beautifully animated, as just about everything out of Studio Ghibli tends to be. And it is emotionally […]
Boy & the World
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 88th Annual Academy Awards More often than not, this past decade, the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars, serves up a beautiful surprise from a foreign land. Last year gave us the gorgeous, Japanese epic, “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”, from Studio Ghibli. And 2011 brought […]
Anomalisa
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 88th Annual Academy Awards While everyone was waiting for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, I was waiting for this. From the genius mind of Charlie Kaufman, the writer/director of the brilliant “Synecdoche, New York”, and the multiple award-winning screenwriter of “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation” and “Eternal Sunshine of […]
“Minions” = Millions
I was only mildly entertained by 2010’s “Despicable Me”, however I actually found 2013’s “Despicable Me 2” to be a little bit stronger. But undeniably, the breakout “stars” of both films were the little yellow-skinned, blue-overalled, jibber jabbers–the Minions. And so, what else was Universal Studios to do, but give the diminutive guys their own, […]
“Poltergeist” rebooted.
“Poltergeist”, in its original form, hit cinemas in the late spring of 1982, when I was 16 years old. It was officially directed by Tobe “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” Hooper, but even back then it was heavily rumoured to be guided by the hand of official “producer”, Steven Spielberg. It was SS’s story, and partially […]
“Tomorrowland” from Brad Bird
If track record proves anything…we may be in for a real treat come Memorial Day weekend. “Tomorrowland” from Disney, starring George Clooney, Hugh Laurie and Britt Robertson, is rumoured to be somewhat based on the futuristic-themed section found at the various Disney parks. But that’s not the information that should be getting you excited…the identity […]
Song of the Sea
I’ll be getting to “Big Hero 6”, last month’s Best Animated Feature Oscar winner, at some point in March. And it better be good! Here’s the thing, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” was the expected winner, and while nothing extraordinary, I found it to be smart and fun. “The Boxtrolls” was even better, and […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 