Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I mostly enjoyed the parts that I stayed awake for and can remember.

This is more than I can say for most of the MCU films.



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Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I really enjoyed the new Star Wars movie a lot, but I hear George Lucas hated it, and do you know what I have to say to him?

"GOOD, GEORGE--NOW YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS!"


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OSCAR NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2015: ANIMATED

This year's selections were the best they've been in some time; I think my favorite is Me and My Moulton.

Sadly, though, the award may well go to the very pretty but completely uninspired & unoriginal Disney entry, Feast.

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Big Hero 6

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to follow this, as I'd missed the first 5 movies, but I ended up liking it a lot!

The best part of the movie, by far, is the very final minute or so.



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Khoobsurat

Surely this Disney take on a Bollywood flick pleases fans of neither.

Everything that makes Bollywood fun had been watered down--and a princess plot added--in what looked like the results of binge watching Disney Channel made-for-TV movies.

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Frozen (late post)

Double the princesses!

Double the merchandi$ing might!



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Oscar Nominated Short Films 2014: Animation

A bunch of sh!t, and also a Mickey Mouse cartoon.  

Actually, I liked two of them--three, if you count the ostrich & giraffe "hosts" (they would be my second-favorite). 


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The Oscar-Nominated Short Films 2012: Animation

I was eager to see whether there was a film more amazing and award-worthy than "Paperman."

There really wasn't.

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Paperman

In my review of "Wreck-It Ralph," I forgot to mention the absolutely best part of that movie.

It was this amazing, creative, short that aired before the movie, and featured a beautiful classically-animated style!





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Wreck-It Ralph

What was so great about this movie was seeing all of the classic video game characters, and watching for semi-hidden references in the background--it's a shame the pedestrian story ended up getting in the way!

This feature really would have benefited from having its best bits pared down to an eight-minute, star-packed comedy.

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Chimpanzee

I'm always amazed by how they do these beautiful DisneyNature documentaries, if a little suspicious of the personalities involved.

It's as if your new neighbor just sat around on their front porch taking phonecam shots while your home was being ransacked & burned.

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John Carter

What nerve, what a letdown: watching that cheezy preview, this was certainly something I didn't want to see.

And then the movie has the nerve to kick the sorry ass of Avatar and all THREE Star Wars prequels-- going so far as to even make me want to read the original story!


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The Secret World of Arrietty

Wait, did I just see a family-friendly movie that had NO FART HUMOR?

What it did have was plenty of suspense, whimsy and action, and I can’t wait for the next movie from Studios Ghibli.

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Lion King 3D

Yes, I'm a hater of the 3D fad, but this works--and I knew it would.

It's like a great-big View-Master reel.




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Winnie-the-Pooh

I'm sorry this film was made; I really wish the creative people at Disney & Pixar would focus on breaking new ground, rather than the current tread toward sequels & retreads.

That being said, this was an excellent accomplishment.



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African Cats

DisneyNature's annual Earth Day release, this is the classic "nature show," in that the viewers find themselves rooting for either the hunter or the hunted.

As I do during many of thes movies, I constantly found myself wondering, "how'd they get that footage?"

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I was kind of looking forward to seeing this fourth "Pirates" movie, having heard that it was shorter than the others.

Unfortunately, I don't think it was at all short enough.

Gnomeo and Juliet

The first minute or so shows a lot of promise, and I'm really impressed with the textures & even much of the human animation.

In the end, though, the movie is merely "cute" rather than "awesome" or even "good," and the crappy forty-year-old Elton John music totally ruins it for me.

Tron: Legacy

Like "Star Wars" without the heart.

Like a video game without the satisfaction.

Tangled

This is the closest Disney has come in SO LONG to its old fairy-tale magic, with humor, cool sights, a couple of good songs, and tributes to the classics weaved throughout.

They would have come a lot closer, though, if they could have dumped the CG rendering of the story for a traditional-style approach.