TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: animated film

Showing posts with label animated film. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Review: "GHOST IN THE SHELL" is Still a Stunning Feat

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 147 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kokaku kidotai (1995) – anime

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

Ghost in the Shell (1996) – U.S. English dub release

Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – R

DIRECTOR: Mamoru Oshii

WRITER: Kazunori Ito, based upon the graphic novel by Masamune Shirow

PRODUCERS: Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Ken Iyadomi, Ken Matsumoto, and Yoshimasa Mizuo

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Hisao Shirai (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Shuichi Kakesu

COMPOSER: Kenji Kawai

ANIME/SCI-FI/ACTION

Starring: (English dub voices) Mimi Wood, Richard Epcar, Christopher Joyce, William Frederick, Ben Isaacson, Abe Lasser, and Hank Smith

Kokaku kidotai is a 1995 sci-fi, cyberpunk, and action-thriller anime film from director Mamoru Oshii. It is best known by its English title, Ghost in the Shell. This animated film is based on the manga, Ghost in the Shell, from creator, Masamune Shirow. Ghost in the Shell the film follows a cyborg policewoman and her partner as they hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called “the Puppet Master.”

Some aficionados consider the film, Ghost in the Shell, to be the second greatest anime (Japanese animation) film of all time behind the venerable Akira. However, at the time of its release, Ghost in the Shell so stunned audiences with its futuristic look and dazzling blend of traditional and computer animation that some people considered it to be the future of anime and also the top achievement in the history of anime.

Ghost in the Shell opens in the year 2029. A female cyborg cop, Major Motoko (Mimi Woods), and her partner, Batou (Richard Epcar), hunt a mysterious and powerful computer hacker called “The Puppet Master” (Abe Lasser). In the year 2029, society is information driven, and humans are connected on a mass basis to an omnipresent interactive information network.

Sophisticated criminals are hacking into the network, so the government forms “Section 9,” which is led by powerfully advanced cyborgs like Motoko, who hunt the hackers. But in order to discover the secrets of the Puppet Master, Motoko will have to unravel the secrets of “Project 2501.”

Ghost in the Shell's story can get a little confusing at times. The writer of the manga upon which this movie is based put a lot of thought and research into his project. The “ghost” of the title is a soul or psyche, and the “shell” of the title is the body of the cyborg. I would suggest, dear readers, that you pay close attention and follow the dense social, political, and philosophical ideas of the film. In fact, this Ghost in the Shell anime was one of the smarter, science fiction movies of its time, granted that it does occasionally get ahead of itself and spews too many ideas.

As good as the story and script are, the grand achievement of this film is its animation. Anime filmmakers have been ahead of everyone else in animating the human figure in a dramatic context. No one really approaches the grace and the artistry of movement in the animated humans in Disney film, but Japanese animators have done excellent work in creating animated figures that move with fantastic bursts of energy during action sequences that depict sword duels, gunfights, martial arts and hand to hand combat, and wielding great arcs of eldritch and magical energy.

The quality of Ghost in the Shell’s car chases and gunfights rival those found in big, budget live action films, which makes this film feel bracing and invigorating. The beauty of both the hand rendered animation and computer animation totally captures the power of action and movement. Ghost in the Shell is explosive eye candy; imagine the artistry of Disney matched with the intensity of a James Cameron action flick.

Fans of anime and of science fiction love this film, but it is something special, So it should be enjoyed by people who love film and spectacular cinematic achievement.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

EDITED: Wednesday, April 1, 2026

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Saturday, October 25, 2025

Review: "KPOP DEMON HUNTERS" - They Will, They Will Rock You!

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2025 (No. 2044) by Leroy Douresseaux

KPop Demon Hunters (2025)

Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG for action/violence, scary images, thematic elements, some suggestive material and brief language

DIRECTORS: Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang

WRITERS: Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan and Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kanga; from a story by Maggie Kang

PRODUCER: Michelle L.M. Wong

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gary H. Lee

EDITOR: Nathan Schauf

COMPOSER: Marcelo Zarvas

ANIMATION/MUSICAL/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Adren Cho, May Hong, Ji-young Yoo, Ahn Hyo-seop, Yunjin Kim, Ken Jeong, Daniel Dae Kim,Liza Koshy, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, Andrew Choi, and Lee Byung-hun

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

KPop Demon Hunters is one of the best and most unusual animated musical films I have ever seen

Sterling characters, jukebox rocking music, and stellar animation make it a winner

KPop Demon Hunters will not only entertain its target audience – young viewers, but it will also capture that imaginations of older folk (like me) as well

KPop Demon Hunters is a 2025 American animated musical fantasy film from directors Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film is a “Netflix Original” and began streaming on the service June 20, 2025. It also received two-day limited theatrical release on August 23rd and 24th. KPop Demon Hunters focuses on the members of a world-renowned K-Pop girl group, who are also secret demon hunters, as they confront the rising popularity of a new boy band whose members are also demons.

KPop Demon Hunters is set in a world, where long ago, demons preyed on humans and fed the souls of humans to their ruler, Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun). Eventually, three women became demon hunters and sealed the demons away with a magical barrier called the "Honmoon." The legacy of these women warriors continued across the generations. With each new generation, three new women arose and used their singing voices to maintain the Honmoon. The goal was and is to eventually strengthen the Honmoon into the “Golden Honmoon.” which is the final seal that would banish demons from the human world permanently. Also, when demons masquerade as humans, they can be identified by marks known as “demonic patterns.”

In the present day, the new generation of demon-hunting young women are the members of the K-pop girl group, “Huntrix” (stylized as “Huntr/x”). Huntrix is comprised of three young singers. Rumi (Arden Cho with Ejae providing Rumi's singing voice) is the lead singer, and her hunter's weapon is a “saingeom” sword. Mira (May Hong with Audrey Nuna providing Mira's singing voice) is the dancer and rapper, and her hunter's weapon is a “gokdo” polearm. Zoey (Ji-young Yoo with Rei Ami providing Zoey's singing voice) is the singer-songwriter, and her hunter's weapons are “shinkal” throwing knives.

One of the members of Huntrix has a dark secret. Rumi has a secret demon heritage, and she has demonic patterns that are slowing spreading over her body. Rumi's foster mother, Celine (Yunjin Kim), has told her that turning the Honmoon gold (the Golden Honmoon) would cause the erasure of her demonic patterns.

However, trouble arrives in the form of a new rivals in the world k-pop for Huntrix. In the demon world, Gwi-Ma has grown enraged at the failure of his minions to defeat Huntrix. He creates his own K-pop boy band, the “Saja Boys,” featuring four demons and a lead singer who is a former human named Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop with Andrew Choi providing Jinu's sing voice). The Saja Boys begin to steal Huntrix's fans, but it is Jinu's affect on Rumi that could turn the fate of the world over to Gwi-Ma. And the “International Idol Awards” is where the final showdown will occur and where Rumi, Mira, and Zoey's fates will be decided.

Korean popular music or “K-pop” emerged in the 1990s in Korea and was heavenly influenced by American music, especially R&B, dance music, rock music, and, of course, rap and hip-hop. [In the 1980s, many white people insisted that rap was a fad, and now, hip-hop and rap, specifically, are omnipresent and influence music and culture all over the world.] I like K-pop, but I am really not a fan... yet. However, after watching the deliriously entertaining KPop Demon Hunters, I could become something of a fan.

The film's characters are an utter delight, and I found myself mesmerized by Huntrix's trio and by Juni. Juni's Saja Boys mates are also quite fetching – in their human forms. If fiction needs interesting characters, then, KPop Demon Hunters has that in an embarrassment of riches, thanks to sparkling voice performances and sterling singing voices.

Sony Pictures Animation basically always turns out high-quality computer-animated films. KPop Demon Hunters may be Sony's best animated film outside of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). In terms of character movement, backgrounds and environments, colors, and special effects, KPop Demon Hunters rivals the films of DreamWorks Animation, which is also known for vibrant and their visually rich worlds and for their expressive and emotional characters.

KPop Demon Hunters is a winner. I love it. Its unexpected and breakout success apparently made it Netflix's most-watched title ever. I highly recommend that you feel the music.

9 of 10

A+

Saturday, October 25, 2025

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Thursday, August 21, 2025

Review: "THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP" is a Pure "Looney Tunes" Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 of 2025 (No. 2042) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2025) – animated

Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)

Rated: MPA – PG for cartoon violence/action and rude/suggestive humor

DIRECTOR: Pete Browngardt

WRITERS: Darrick Bachman, Pete Browngardt, Kevin Costello, Andrew Dickman, David Gemmill, Alex Kirwan, Ryan Kramer, Jason Reicher, Michael Ruocco, Johnny Ryan, and Eddie Trigueros

PRODUCERS: Michael Baum (line); Alex Kirwan (supervising)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Sam Register and Pete Browngardt

EDITOR: Nick Simotas

COMPOSER: Joshua Moshier

ANIMATION/SCI-FI and COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore, Carlos Alazraqui, Kimberly Brooks, Laraine Newman, and Wayne Knight

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

-- Fans of traditional, hand-drawn animation and fans of the “Looney Tunes” will want to give “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” a try for the simple fact that it is a traditional, hand-drawn, Looney Tunes animated film

-- However, it is good, not great, but it goes down like nostalgia-infused hot cocoa.

-- Eric Bauza's voice performances as both Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are so pitch perfect that I would swear that Looney Tunes voice legend, Mel Blanc, had performed the roles

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a 2025 American animated science fiction comedy from director Peter Browngardt. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Ketchup Entertainment, the film stars two classic “Looney Tunes” characters, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. In The Day the Earth Blew Up, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig try to save the Earth from an alien invasion involving a creepy new flavor of chewing gum.

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie opens in the town of Grandview. There, The Scientist (Fred Tatasciore) discovers an asteroid heading towards Earth, and then, he discovers a UFO hurtling alongside the asteroid. When the UFO crashes onto Earth, The Scientist goes to investigate the crash site, where he vanishes.

The story moves to Daffy Duck (Eric Bauza) and Porky Pig (Eric Bauza), and the story of how they were raised by Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). When Daffy and Porky become adults, Farmer Jim leaves everything to the duo under the promise that they would learn the power of responsibility through relying on each other. Now, however, Daffy and Porky are in danger of losing the home Farmer Jim left them because they fail a city home inspection.

In need of cash for home repairs, the duo gets a job at the “Goodie Gum” factory, where they meet Petunia Pig (Candi Milo), a Goodie Gum scientist who is trying to develop the perfect chewing gum flavor. Porky falls in love with Petunia, while Daffy keeps causing disasters. That is all interrupted when the trio discovers that their is an alien conspiracy, initiated by “The Invader” (Peter MacNicol), and assisted by The Scientist, who is now possessed. The Invader seemingly wants to control the world, using the launch of Goodie Gum's new flavor, “Super Strongberry.” Are Daffy, Porky, and their new pal, Petunia, up to the challenge of saving the Earth from being... blown up?

There have been Looney Tunes films for several decades. Those include The Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981), Daffy Ducks Quackbusters (1988), and the live-action animation hybrid, Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). However, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is the first fully animated and theatrically released Looney Tunes film that consists of entirely original material. I hope that it is not the last, but The Day the Earth Blew Up isn't a great film.

Don't get me wrong. It is entertaining, visually inventive, full of clever sight gags, and energetic. The voice performances are exceptional, and Canadian voice actor, Eric Bauza, matches the sound and spirit of classic Looney Tunes voice actor, the late Mel Blanc (1908-89). Two of Bauza's three Emmy Award wins are for his Looney Tunes work, and he should win some awards for his work in this film.

The Day the Earth Blew Up is charming and also respectful of its Warner Bros. animation roots and cartoon legacy. For all its energy (mostly in the second half) and novel story elements, this film feels a bit too long. Too much of the movie feels forced, and I get why Warner Bros. Pictures passed on distributing this movie itself. The Day the Earth Blew Up is niche entertainment, and its limited box office appeal probably wasn't worth the time and costs of distributing it theatrically.

Luckily, Ketchup Entertainment didn't feel that way, and it gave this film a theatrical release, both domestically and internationally. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie deserved that, because despite my reservations, I believe it can start something. Maybe, Looney Tunes can again be a really big thing with the youngest generations the way it once was with the oldest generations.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

"THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP" is available on Blu-ray and DVD at Amazon.

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Friday, April 11, 2025

Review: "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is a Good Thing

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 of 2025 (No. 2021) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024) – anime

Running time: 134 minutes (2 hours, 14 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for strong violence

DIRECTOR: Kenji Kamiyama

WRITERS: Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou; from a story by Jeffrey Addis & Will Matthews and Philippa Boyens (based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien)

PRODUCERS: Philippa Boyens, Joseph Chou and Jason DeMarco

EDITOR: Tsuyoshi Sadamatsu

COMPOSER: Stephen Gallagher

ANIMATION: Sola Entertainment

ANIME/FANTASY/WAR

Starring: (voices) Gaia Wise, Brian Cox, Luca Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Shaun Dooley, Benjamin Wainwright, Yazdan Qafouri, Laurence Ubong Williams, Michael Wildman, Janine Duvitski, Bilal Hasna, and Miranda Otto

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a 2024 anime fantasy film from director Kenji Kamiyama. The film is based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien and is thus connected to his two most famous works of high fantasy, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). The film is a production of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, Domain Entertainment, and Sola Entertainment, which provides the animation. The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of a king's daughter who fights to defend her father's kingdom from a traitor to their people and his rebel army.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is narrated by Eowyn (Miranda Otto). She tells a tale set in the human kingdom of Rohan around 200 years before the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, finds the “One Ring” (as depicted in the 2012 film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey). At that time, Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) is the King of Rohan. He has two sons, Haleth (Benjamin Wainwright) and Hame (Yazdan Oafouri), and one daughter, Hera (Gaia Wise).

Freca (Shaun Dooley), a “Dunlending” lord, arrives at Edoras, the seat of Helm's court, for a “witan” (council). Freca wants his son, Wulf (Luca Pasqualino), to marry Hera, which he claims will unite his family with Helm's, but what Freca really wants is to use the marriage to usurp Rohan's throne. Although she and Wulf are friends from childhood, Hera spurns Wulf's offer of marriage. That leads to a deadly confrontation between Helm and Freca.

Four years later, Wulf leads an army of hill-tribe rebels against Rohan. Helm is forced to lead his people to the ancient stronghold of “Hornburg,” and there, waits for allies to come to the aid of Rohan. With the former shieldmaiden, Olwyn (Lorraine Ashbourne), and the bard, Lief (Bilal Hasna), at her side, Hera struggles to hold her people together. Her only hope is her cousin, Lord Frealaf Hildeson (Laurence Ubong Williams), who is himself hold up in the fortress at Dunharrow. Can Hera and her people make a daring last stand in Hornburg, and will help come in time to save them?

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is well connected to the two Tolkien film trilogies, The Lord of the Rings (2001-03) and to The Hobbit (2012-14). The War of the Rohirrim is narrated by Eowyn, who appears in two films in The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy, The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). Miranda Otto, who played Eowyn in those films, also performs the voice for the character here. The War of the Rohirrim also has multiple other references to these two film trilogies, but how good is this animated film on its own?

The War of the Rohirrim reminds me of the Japanese anime film series that began with Berserk: The Golden Age Arc 1 – The Egg of the King (2012). Although I like The War of the Rohirrim, I don't like it as much as I liked the Berserk films that I saw. I find this LOTR film lacks magic and the supernatural; in fact, it is well past the halfway point in the story before this films drops some dark magic and sorcery. The film is too much like a war movie, but considering the high stakes involved in this war, the film also lacks the spectacle of the live-action LOTR movies, which were essential war movies – fantasy war movies – but still war movies.

Although some reviewers and critics did not like the quality of The War of the Rohirrim's animation, I do admire it, and I also like the animation's vivid colors and the character designs. The characters and narrative drama are good, not great. While the story strikes familiar notes in terms of plot and setting, I found myself very emotionally involved in a lot of this movie's narrative; it tugged at my heart in spite of its imperfections.

The War of the Rohirrim seems more like Earth “Middle Ages” than Tolkien's “Middle-earth,” but I consider myself lucky to have an anime Tolkien film. It has been almost four and half decades since audiences had animated feature films based on the work of the English writer J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973). It is not great, but it is great that we have The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Friday, April 11, 2025

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Thursday, March 13, 2025

Review: "DAFFY DUCK'S QUACKBUSTERS" Mixes Old and New Quite Well

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 250 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters (1988) – animated

Running time: 78 minutes (1 hour, 18 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTORS: Greg Ford and Terry Lennon with Friz Freleng; Chuck Jones; Robert McKimson; and Maurice Noble

WRITERS: Greg Ford and Terry Lennon (story) with John W. Dunn; Michael Maltese; and Tedd Pierce

PRODUCER: Steven S. Greene

EDITORS: Treg Brown; Jim Champin

ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Mel Blanc, Julie Bennett, Roy Firestone, June Foray, Ben Frommer, B.J. Ward, and Mel Tormé

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is a 1988 animated compilation film directed by Greg Ford and Terry Lennon. The film is comprised of classic Warner Bros. Cartoons animated shorts with animated bridging sequences and other new material. It was released to theaters in September 1988 and was released on VHS in July 1989, which is how I saw it.

This film was the final theatrical production in which the primary “Looney Tunes” voice actor, Mel Blanc, provided the voices of the various Looney Tunes characters before his death in July 1989. Daffy Duck's Quackbusters focuses on Daffy Duck who opens a detective agency for the supernatural with the help of his Looney Tunes buddies in a bid to deal with meddlesome ghosts.

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is preceded by Night of the Living Duck, a 1988 Daffy Duck animated theatrical short. It works as a kind of appetizer for what comes next. Then, comes Daffy Dilly, a 1948 Chuck Jones cartoon in which Daffy Duck (Mel Blanc) tries to earn a rich reward by making ailing millionaire J.B. Cubish (Mel Blanc), who hasn’t laughed in ages, laugh one more time. This short is the jump-off point for Quackbusters' story, as it ends and new animation footage and the film’s main plot and narrative begin.

The plot concerns Daffy who has inherited the bulk of J.B. Cubish’s fortune, but Cubish’s will stipulates that Daffy must use the money to further business and enterprise and also for goodwill. Daffy brushes off the stipulation, but he soon discovers that Cubish’s spirit/ghost/poltergeist can reach beyond death and take his millions with him to the next world. Every time Daffy lies, cheats, or acts like a jerk to someone, cue the lightening and magic and Daffy’s inherited millions start to disappear as wads of cash fade away.

Enraged, Daffy forms a ghost-busting agency, “Ghouls ‘R’ Us,” a group of “paranormalists” who fight meddlesome ghosts (like Cubish), as well as monsters, aliens, and other weird creatures. The agency is really a front for Daffy, behind which he can hide and pretend to do good. He convinces Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) and Porky Pig (Mel Blanc), as well as Porky's pet, Sylvester the Cat (Mel Blanc), to join the agency. Daffy sends them out ghost and monster hunting, but in the end, as with all his machinations, Daffy is destined to fail.

I have been anticipating the new animated film, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024), which just went into wide theatrical release in the United States. With that in mind, I decided to re-edit my review of Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters. This film falls into the tradition of such Warner Bros. Looney Tunes films as Daffy Duck’s Fantastic Island (1983) and The Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981). Quackbusters is a kind of “clip show” movie in which the filmmakers combine new, original animated film footage with footage from classic “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons – also called a “compilation film.”

Writer-directors Greg Ford and Terry Lennon and their fellow filmmakers seamlessly weave classic cartoons with new animation. In fact, one has to look carefully to see where the Ford/Lennon-directed animation ends and old cartoons by famed Looney Tune/Merrie Melodies directors begin and then move back to Ford and Lennon’s work. In fact, only 40 percent of this film is classic animation from the 40s and 50s. These include The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961) with Bugs and Daffy; Hyde & Go Tweet (1960) with Sylvester and Tweety; The Prize Pest (1951) with Porky and Daffy; Punch Trunk (1953); Scaredy Cat (1948); and its 1954 remake, Claws for Alarm (1954), both with Porky and Sylvester; and Transylvania 6-5000 (1963) with Bugs.

The other 60 percent is made of brand new animation and two of Ford and Lennon’s late 80’s animated shorts. That includes The Duxorcist, which, when it appeared in 1987, was the first Warner Bros. animated theatrical short in 20 years, and also the aforementioned Night of the Living Duck. The new animation and narrative is so well done and incorporated with the older material that Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters is the best of the clip show movies. In fact, the new animation, while not nearly as good as the “Golden Age” Warner material, only looks a little off in a few minor instances.

Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters is not great, but is certainly good. It is fun, kid’s stuff that is as surprisingly entertaining as it is well put together and designed. I think Looney Tunes fans, in moments of nostalgia, will like this, so it is too bad that Warner has not tried this again (as of this writing).

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Re-edited: Thursday, March 13, 2025

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Thursday, January 2, 2025

Review: Skadoosh! "KUNG FU PANDA 3" Finds Itself in the End

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2025 (No. 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)

Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)

MPAA – PG for martial arts action and some mild rude humor

DIRECTORS: Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni

WRITERS: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger

PRODUCER: Melissa Cobb

EDITOR: Clare Knight

COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ANIMATION/MARTIAL ARTS/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, J.K. Simmons, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim, and Jackie Chan

Kung Fu Panda 3 is a computer-animated, martial arts and comic-fantasy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the third entry in the Kung Fu Panda film series. In Kung Fu Panda 3, Po must finally discover if he is really the legendary Dragon Warrior when faced with a threat to everything dear to him.

Kung Fu Panda 3 opens in the Spirit Realm. There, Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) fights General Kai (J.K. Simmons), his former friend, who has attacked him. Kai is a yak and spirit warrior who has defeated all the other deceased kung fu masters and has also stolen their vital energy or “chi” (here, personified at a flat jade stone). Kai steals Oogway's chi, but Oogway warns Kai that someone is destined to stop him. Kai returns to the Mortal Realm where he plans to destroy Oogway's legacy.

Meanwhile, in the Valley of Peace, Po (Jack Black), the giant panda, is living his best life as the legendary “Dragon Warrior.” Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) surprisingly announces that he is retiring from teaching and names Po as his successor. Although he does not believe that he can replace his master, Po finds that he is suddenly supposed to teach his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan).

Another surprise comes with the arrival of Li Shan (Bryan Cranston), a giant panda who turns out to be Po's father, which upsets Mr. Ping (James Hong), the Chinese goose who is Po's adoptive father. The excitement is tempered by the fact that Kai has begun his assault, but Po and company learn that Kai can only be defeated by a true master of chi. Po and Ping follow Li to the secret panda village where Li claims he can teach Po to master Chi. Now, Po must learn who he really is? Is he truly the Dragon Warrior and does he know himself enough to reach the Dragon Warrior's legendary destiny?

Like Kung Fu Panda (2008) and Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Kung Fu Panda 3 does have some really nice fight scenes. I had avoided it until I realized that I really wanted to see Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024), which meant I had to see the third film first. The film has the requisite visual splendor of dazzling colors, impressive production design, and superb character animation, However, this third part in the series is more about growth and development and about the transformation and inner journey of a character that is also known as the “character arc.”

Kung Fu Panda 3 is about Po finding out who he is and also about him learning to embrace what he can do – his destiny. He is meant to be the Dragon Warrior, he simply needs to believe it and also to understand that he cannot do it alone. Along the way, Kung Fu Pa 3 embraces the idea of families – traditional and blended. This film also has plenty of playful new characters (Kate Hudson's Mei Mei, the ribbon dancing panda) and rascally young'uns characters that are meant to engage younger audience members.

Kung Fu Panda 3 does meander quite a bit during its first act and also during quite a bit of its second or middle act. However, the film embraces it story of characters discovering that they are more than they know and that they can have more than one role in the lives of the people they love. This film has a scary villain in J.K. Simmons' General Kai, but he is just a side piece in the arc of Po's struggle. Kung Fu Panda 3 is really about the most difficult and consequential part of Po's journey – the journey into himself. Skadoosh!

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, January 2, 2024

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Saturday, December 7, 2024

Review: Disney's "MOANA 2" Sails Towards New Horizons

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 of 2024 (No. 1999) by Leroy Douresseaux

Moana 2 (2024)

Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40)

MPA – PG for action/peril

DIRECTORS: David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller

WRITERS: Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller; Jared Bush & Dana Ledoux Miller and Bek Smith

PRODUCERS: Christina Chen and Yvette Merino

EDITORS: Michael Louis Hill and Jeremy Milton

ORIGINAL SONGS: Opetaia Foa'il, Mark Mancina, Abigail Barlow, and Emily Bear

COMPOSER: Mark Mancina

ANIMATION/FANTASY/MUSICAL and FAMILY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualalai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Amhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Gerald Ramsey, and Alan Tudyk

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

Moana 2 is not as inspired as the original film, but this sequel charts its own path towards adventure

The title character, Moana, is still a hero who takes her friends and the audience on the greatest of adventures, and that is more than enough reason for fans of the original film to come back for more in Moana 2

Moana 2 is a 2024 American computer-animated, fantasy-adventure, and musical film directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller. It is produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios – the 63rd full-length animated feature film produced by that studio, and it is a Walt Disney Pictures release. The film is a direct sequel to the 2016 animated feature, Moana. Moana 2 finds Moana and Maui on a journey to find a lost island that could reunite the people of the ocean.

Moana 2 opens three years after the adventures Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) had with the demigod, Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and the island goddess of Te Fiti (as seen in Moana). Moana is now officially her people's “wayfinder.” She has spent the time since then exploring the islands near her home island of Motunui in the hope that she will find other people connected to the ocean.

During a celebration, Moana has a vision of her wayfinding ancestor, Tautai Vasa (Gerald Ramsey). He reveals why none of those peoples are connected anymore. A long time ago, the malicious storm god, Nalo, wanted power over the mortals. To gain that power, Nalo sunk a legendary island called “Motufetu,” the island which connected all islands and the people of the sea, down to the depths of the ocean. Tautai also warns Moana that the people of Motunui will go extinct in the future if Moana cannot find a way to raise Motufetu.

Moana assembles a wayfinding crew of people from Motunui: the clever craftswoman, Loto (Rose Matafeo); the tribal historian and Maui fanboy, Moni (Haulalai Chung); and a grumpy elderly farmer, Keke (David Fane), alongside her pet pig, Pua, and pet rooster, Heihei. They set off in a boat designed and built by Loto, to follow the path of a meteor that Tautai says will blaze a trail across the ocean towards Motufetu. But first, Moana and her crew must find Maui, who just so happens is being held prisoner by the forces aligned against Moana's quest.

I wrote this in my recent review of the first film, Moana: I always struggle with writing reviews of modern Disney computer-animated feature films. The animation is always superb. The character design is consistently imaginative and inventive, and the character animation – regardless of whether the characters are human, animals, creatures of fantasy, or machines – is flawless. The production design, art direction, set decoration, and graphic design are so good that just about every Disney animated movie gets its own art book – deservedly so.

Well, I don't have to struggle with my review of Moana 2 because it looks just as good as the first film. While the tattoos on Maui's body are still good, they don't get as much screen time as they did in the original film, so they can't steal the show. Instead, Moana has a little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert Tsuda), who does that in several scenes set on Motunui.

Moana 2 is very entertaining, but it is not quite as good as the original film. Because we know many of the characters, especially Moana and Maui, there is not the same joy of discovery. The call to adventure is not as complicated in Moana 2 as it was the first time. It is pretty straightforward here: find Motufetu. And the big showdown in Moana 2 is not quite the showdown the first film offered. Moana 2 simply lacks the inspiration of Moana.

That said, Moana 2 offers stunning imagery that overrides the moments when the story drags or goes adrift, and the film moves towards new horizons for the franchise. Moana, once again superbly given voice by actress Auli'i Cravalho, and Maui, once again made cool by Dwayne Johnson's voice performance, are still great characters. And they go on the best adventures.

Moana 2 is the kind of big, colorful, soaring animated adventure that we expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is not perfect, but it is the kind of film that keeps me loving the world's longest-running animation studio. Fans of Moana and of Disney Animation will not want to miss Moana 2.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 7, 2024

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Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Review: "MOANA" Sails on a Sea of Delights

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 of 2024 (No. 1997) by Leroy Douresseaux

Moana (2016)

Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)

MPAA – PG for peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements

DIRECTORS: Ron Clements and John Musker with Don Hall and Chris Williams (co-directors)

WRITERS: Jared Bush; from a story by Ron Clements, John Musker, Don Hall, Chris Williams, Pamela Ribon, and Aaron Kandell and Jordan Kandell

PRODUCER: Osnat Shurer

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Alessandro Jacomini, Daniel Rice, and Nathan Warner

EDITOR: Jeff Draheim

ORIGINAL SONGS: Opetaia Foa'il, Mark Mancina, and Lin-Manuel Miranda

COMPOSER: Mark Mancina

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/FAMILY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, Alan Tudyk, and Troy Polamalu

Moana is a 2016 American computer-animated, fantasy-adventure, and musical film directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. It was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios – the 56th full-length animated feature film produced by that studio, and it was released by Walt Disney Pictures. Moana follows a girl who heeds the Ocean's call that she find a lost demigod and force him to help her end the terrible curse that he incurred in the distant past.

Moana introduces Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), a girl who lives in ancient Polynesian on the island of Motunui. She is also the daughter of Motunui's Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison). The inhabitants of the island worship Te Fiti, the mother island. Long ago, Te Fiti brought life to the ocean using a stone called “the heart of Te Fiti” as the source of her power. Then, along came Maui (Dwayne Johnson). He was a demigod of the wind and sea, a warrior, a trickster, and a shape-shifter who used a huge magical fish hook to wield his shape-shifting powers. Maui stole the heart and caused Te Fiti to disintegrate, but he immediately attacked by the volcanic demon “ Te Kā.” Maui lost both the heart and his magic fish hook to the depths of the sea.

A thousand years later, blight strikes Motunui and begins to kill the vegetation and shrink the number of fish available for the islanders to catch. The Ocean gives Moana the heart of Te Fiti and chooses her to find Maui and force him to restore what he took from Te Fiti. Only then, will Motunui and other islands be saved from the destroying blight, which is apparently a curse from Te Kā. In order to do that, Moana must do something she always wanted to do, but was also afraid to do. She must cross the barrier reef that surrounds Motunui and sale far into an ocean full of danger. That danger includes the kind of waves that can destroy the small boat upon which Moana sets sail.

I always struggle with writing reviews of modern Disney computer-animated feature films. The animation is always superb. The character design consistently is imaginative and inventive, and the character animation – regardless of whether the characters are human, animals, creatures of fantasy, or machines – is flawless. The production design, art direction, set decoration, and graphic design are so good that just about every Disney movie gets its own art book – deservedly so. That said, the tattoos on Maui's body steal the show; it's like they are their own film reel of hype men and Greek choruses.

Moana offers Disney's time-tested formula, telling the story of a girl who goes on a journey of discovery about what she expects of herself after living a life of doing what others expect of her. It has popped up recently in such films as Frozen (2013) and Zootopia (2016). Of late, Disney has offered girls who are not white or European as the stars of such stories, as seen here in Moana and also in Encanto (2021), a film released several years after Moana. The visual elements of this film might say non-white girl, but the voice actors bring a universal appeal to their voice performances that emphasizes the Moana's broad themes of bravery and redemption and also of the struggle between tradition (represented by Moana's father, Tui) and progress (represented by Moana herself).

By the way, Moana's original songs, written by Opetaia Foa'il, Mark Mancina, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the film score by Mancina are some of the best Disney music produced this century. It is hard to pick a favorite song from this film, but I like Mancina and Miranda's “Shiny” as much as like Miranda's “How Far I'll Go,” which is essentially the film's theme.

I avoided Moana when it was first released to theaters in 2016, and I finally decided to see it because Moana 2 is due this month (November 2024). I would have loved to have seen it on the big screen. Although I think the film drags a little in its last act, I really enjoyed its story and its bouncy songs and soaring score. Moana is one of Disney's great recent adventure films – live-action or animation – and I think fans of animated feature films – Disney or otherwise – are denying themselves an exceptional work if they don't see it.

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, November 26, 2027

NOTES:

2017 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Ron Clements, John Musker, and Osnat Shurer) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Song” (Lin-Manuel Miranda for the song, “How Far I'll Go”)

2017 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Ron Clements and John Musker)

2017 Golden Globe Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Original Song-Motion Picture” (Lin-Manuel Miranda for the song, “How Far I'll Go”) and “Best Motion Picture - Animated”

2017 NAACP Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance-Television or Film” (Dwayne Johnson)

2017 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Voice Performance” (Dwayne Johnson)

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Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Review: "DESPICABLE ME 2" Will Make Kids Happy, Happy, Happy...

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 of 2024 (No. 1971) by Leroy Douresseaux

Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)

MPAA – PG for rude humor and mild action

DIRECTORS: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

WRITERS: Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul

PRODUCERS: Janet Healy and Chris Meledandri

EDITOR: Gregory Perler

COMPOSERS: Heitor Pereira (score) and Pharrell Williams (songs)

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY and ACTION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher Russell Brand, Benjamin Bratt, Moises Arias, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Pierre Coffin, and Chris Renaud

Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 computer-animated action-fantasy and comedy film directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud. The film is produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is a direct sequel to the 2010 film, Despicable Me. Despicable Me 2 finds bad guy-tuned-dad guy, Gru, recruited by a secret organization to discover who stole a deadly chemical.

Despicable Me 2 finds Gru (Steve Carell), formerly the world’s number one super-villain, settled into his role as the adopted father of the three orphan girls: Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher). All is not well at home, however. Gru is trying to get his “jams and jellies” business to succeed, while one of his female neighbors tries to set him up on a blind date. Also, Gru's longtime gadget man, Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), quits so that he can take a job that will allow him to be a bad guy again.

But Gru's old life comes calling when the Anti-Villain League (AVL) demands that he help them discover who stole the dangerous transmutation serum, “PX-41.” They appoint AVL agent, Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), as his partner. The two set up in a fake business, a bakery named “Bake My Day,” in Paradise Mall, a shopping mall near Gru's home. As for the thief of the serum, Gru has a suspect in mind, a former super-villain who supposedly died in a volcano, but AVL doesn't believe him. Meanwhile, someone is stealing some of Gru's little helpers, the Minions.

I really liked the original Despicable Me, but when Despicable Me 2 arrived back in 2013, I decided not to see it because... well, because the first was enough. I'd gotten all the cuteness of Margo, Edith, and Agnes that I needed, and I had gotten the best of Gru's character arc and transformation from villain to father.

However, I was shocked to find that I really liked the first full-length trailer for the upcoming Despicable 4 (2024). So I decided to watch Despicable Me 2 for the first time, and I was right the first time. The first film was really enough for me. The girls are still cute, but there is less of them so that there can be more screen time for Gru's burgeoning relationship with Lucy Wilde. I'm only kinda interested in that. Gru's character arc in this film isn't as engaging as it was in the first film. Clearly, the Minions needed more screen time than they got here, although they do play a pivotal part in the villain's wacky plot. In fact, two years after the release of this film, the Minions got their own movie, 2015's Minions.

Despicable Me 2 isn't bad, but the film's storytellers play it safe rather than advance the elements that made the first film a surprise hit. It earned two Oscar nominations, one for Pharrell Williams' song, “Happy,” which was practically ubiquitous from July 2013 to well into 2014. I'm just not sure how invested I can be in this franchise, although the fourth film has sort of captured my interest. It is really in the last twenty minutes of the film before the end credits that Despicable Me 2 really comes to life. That's okay for me, but I'm sure family audiences will find it more than okay.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

NOTES:

2014 Academy Awards, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin, Christopher Meledandri) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Pharrell Williams-music and lyrics for the song, “Happy”)

2013 BAFTA Children's Awards: 1 win: “BAFTA Kids Vote – Feature Film”

2014 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Film” (Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin)

2013 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film”

2014 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Song” (Pharrell Williams-Performer & Writer for the song “Happy”)

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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Review: DreamWorks' "ORION AND THE DARK" Takes on Childhood Fears

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 of 2024 (No. 1956) by Leroy Douresseaux

Orion and the Dark (2024)

Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)

MPA – not rated

DIRECTOR: Sean Charmatz

WRITERS: Charlie Kaufman (based on the book by Emma Yarlett)

PRODUCER: Peter McCown

EDITOR: Kevin Sukho Lee

COMPOSERS: Kevin Lax and Robert Lydecker

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices): Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Mia Akemi Brown, Ike Barinholtz, Nat Faxon, Golda Rosheuvel, Natasia Demetriou, Aparna Nancherla, Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina, Nick Kishiyama, Shino Nakamichi, Werner Herzog, and Angela Bassett

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Orion and the Dark is a unique animated film that is about a child learning to accept fear as a part of life without letting it control him.

Orion and the Dark has an eclectic cast full of surprising characters, but Orion and Dark are this film's winning pair.

Orion and the Dark is a good family film, especially for parents and for children who are of middle grade age and younger. I find it to be too deep in its feelies, but it will tug on the heartstrings of its intended audience.

Orion and the Dark is a 2024 animated fantasy-adventure and comedy-drama film directed by Sean Charmatz and produced by DreamWorks Animation. The film is animated by French production company, Mikros Animation, and is also a “Netflix Original” that began streaming on Netflix February 2, 2024.

Orion and the Dark is based on the 2015 children's book, Orion and the Dark, from author Emma Yarlett. Orion and the Dark the movie focuses on a boy whose active imagination causes him to be scared of everything and on the entity that takes him on an incredible journey.

Orion and the Dark introduces 11-year-old Orion Mendelson (Jacob Tremblay). He is a severely anxious child with a long list of irrational fears. He is a schoolboy with a fear of speaking in front of class, being bullied, ending up in a toilet, and a fear of speaking to Sally (Shino Nakamichi), the girl of his dreams, of course. Outside of school, he also has a bunch of fears, including the fear of getting eaten by a shark, but at home its is worse.

Orion is afraid of the night, especially of the dark and of all the dark places in his bedroom. Orion's father (Matt Dellapina) and mother (Carla Gugino) have a difficult time getting him to bed. One night a giant, smiling creature slithers into his room. He introduces himself as “Dark,” the embodiment of Orion's worst fear, the dark. Tired of hearing Orion's constant complaints about him (the dark), Dark takes the 11-year-old on an adventure to help him overcome his fears and to appreciate the benefits of nighttime and of the dark. But there are plenty of dangers along the way, including Dark's rival, “Light” (Ike Barinholtz), and Orion's own deep-seated fears.

Orion and the Dark is a beautifully animated film with simple, but evocative character and concept design. It took me awhile to remember that Orion and the Dark reminds me of the 2014 DreamWorks Animation film, Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Both films share a visual aesthetic, possibly because artist and designer, Timothy Lamb, served as the production designer on the two films. Both films also convey their fantastical settings and surreal environments via eye-appealing art and design that have a children's picture book quality.

I do have one gripe about Orion and the Dark. The film does have a heart – a center – which is that both Orion and Dark have to learn something about themselves and to overcome self-doubt. The film, however, also has sentiment, and it is, at times, exceedingly sentimental, which can be both heartwarming and saccharine. Orion and the Dark is sometimes too much in its emotions and feelies, so much so that by the end, I thought the film was trying to give me an insulin attack. Orion and the Dark pounds on its parent-child themes and dynamics with schmaltzy consistency.

I want to avoid spoilers. Still, I will say that Orion and the Dark does have a time-travel subplot courtesy of screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind), who is known for creating elaborate, twisty, meta screenplays. Orion and the Dark has several interesting supporting characters, especially Dark's fellow “Night Entities,” so many so that I could see it becoming an animated television series. Orion and the Dark is unique and quite well made, and many may find its heartwarming insistence just what we need in these dark times.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

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Monday, February 19, 2024

Review: DreamWorks "ANTZ" Can Still Dance

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 of 2024 (No. 1955) by Leroy Douresseaux

Antz (1998)

Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)

MPAA – PG for mild language and menacing action

DIRECTORS: Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson

WRITERS: Todd Alcott and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz

PRODUCERS: Brad Lewis, Kenneth Nakada, Aron Warner, and Patty Wooton

EDITOR: Stan Webb

COMPOSERS: Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring: (voices): Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, Jennifer Lopez, Paul Mazursky, Grant Shaud, John Mahoney, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtain, and Christopher Walken

Antz is a 1998 computer-animated adventure comedy film from directors Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson. It was produced by DreamWorks Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, and Pacific Data Images and released by DreamWorks Pictures. Antz was also DreamWorks Animation's debut film. The movie focuses on a neurotic ant who bucks the system of his ant colony in order to pursue an ant princess, which sends them both on a perilous journey.

Antz opens in an ant colony, the home of a race of anthropomorphic ants (walk and talk like humans). The focus is on Z (Woody Allen), an anxious and neurotic worker ant who chafes at the state of conformity in the colony. While at the local bar one night, Z has a chance encounter with the Queen Ant's daughter, Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), and he falls in love with her. Z doesn't know that Bala is struggling with her suffocating royal life, although her mother, the Queen Aunt (Anne Bancroft), is the ruler of the colony. Bala also has misgivings about her planned marriage to General Mandible (Gene Hackman), the cunning and arrogant leader of the colony's ant military.

Z wants to see more of Bala, but as a worker ant, he can't get near her. He convinces Corporal Weaver (Sylvester Stallone), a soldier ant, to switch places with him. This causes a series of events that finds Z and Princess Bala on a perilous journey outside the colony. Meanwhile, General Mandible uses this turn of events to serve his own plans.

I am about to watch DreamWorks Animation's most recent release, Orion and the Dark, which was animated by the French production company, Mikros Animation. So I decided that it was time to finish my review of DreamWorks' first animated feature film, Antz.

Early in Antz, I was not impressed by the CGI-animation. It looks stiff and not imaginative, but as the film progresses, especially once the story leaves the colony, Antz begins to show some visual inventiveness. The film's technical prowess improves as the story demands more complicated and involved action set pieces.

I like the voice cast, which I would call stellar; nine members of Antz's voice cast have won or been nominated for an Oscar – some several times. However, I'm not that crazy about Woody Allen as the lead character, Z. It's not that he doesn't do a good job; he does, but Allen is playing a character type that is familiar from his own films, such Hollywood Ending (2002) and Scoop (2006). At times, Woody doing Woody doesn't really serve this film well. As much as I like Sharon Stone, I can think of other actresses who could have given a better performance as Princess Bala. I can say, however, that Gene Hackman is convincingly menacing as General Mandible.

So I'm glad that I finally watched Antz. 2023 was the 25th anniversary of its initial wide theatrical release (specifically October 2, 1998). It is not as good as even recent DreamWorks Animation productions like The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Still, Antz is what kicked off a line of fine animated feature films.

6 of 10

★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, February 15, 2024

NOTES:

1999 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Special Effects” (Ken Bielenberg, Philippe Gluckman, John Bell, and Kendal Cronkhite

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Sunday, February 11, 2024

Review: Pixar's "TURNING RED" is Universal and Unique

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 of 2024 (No. 1952) by Leroy Douresseaux

Turning Red (2022)

Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)

MPA – PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language

DIRECTOR: Domee Shi

WRITERS: Domee Shi and Julie Cho; from a story by Domee Shi, Julie Cho, and Sarah Streicher

PRODUCER: Lindsey Collins

CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Mahyar Abousaeedi and Jonathan Pytko

EDITORS: Nicholas C. Smith with Steve Bloom

COMPOSER: Ludwig Goransson

SONGS: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, Jordan Fisher, Finneas O'Connell, and James Hong

Turning Red is a 2022 animated fantasy and comedy-drama film directed by Domee Shi and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It is Pixar's 25th full-length animated feature film, and it is the first to be solely directed by a woman. Turning Red focuses on a teen girl who is dealing with her demanding mother and the changes of adolescence when she suddenly discovers that becoming really excited causes her to turn into a giant red panda.

Turning Red opens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2002. It introduces a Chinese-Canadian girl, 13-year-old Meilin “Mei” Lee (Rosalie Chiang). She lives with her parents, mother Ming (Sandra Oh) and father Jin (Orion Lee). Mei is a dutiful daughter to her mother who calls her “Mei-Mei,” and she helps take care of the family's temple, “the Lee Family Temple,” one of the the oldest temples in Toronto. The temple honors the Lee family ancestors instead of gods, and it is dedicated to Mei's maternal ancestor Sun Yee.

Mei is also dedicated to a trio of girl friends: Miriam (Ava Morse), Priya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), and Abby (Hyein Park), and all three of them are dedicated fans of the boy band, “4*Town.” Life is busy, but it's about to get complicated. The morning after a night of humiliation, Mei wakes up to discover that she has been transformed into a giant red panda. This is a condition that happens when Mei is overly excited, but it can be cured. But what does Mei really want?

In the early days of the Disney+ streaming service and in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walt Disney Company released three Pixar feature films as direct-to-streaming releases: Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red, declining wide theatrical releases for the films. These were and still are three of Pixar's greatest films, but they are finally getting belated theatrical releases in early 2024. [Soul in January 2024; Turning Red in February 2024; and Luca in March 2024.]

Turning Red is an incredible coming-of-age story, and like Pixar's Oscar-winning Brave (2012), it is a story of transformations and of mother-daughter relationships and all the love and support and trials and tribulations that come with it. Its beautiful, terracotta-like colors amplify the film's sense of magic and magical realism. The variety of faces, body types, skin colors, hair styles, and clothes and costumes are a testament of how culturally expansive Pixar's films set in the human world are. Everything about Turning Red invites the entire world of moviegoers to come along on this timeless, universal tale of a child coming into her own and learning to love herself as she is becoming and to love her parents for what they were, are, and can be.

Domee Shi and her co-writers, Julie Cho and Sarah Streicher, have created a character, a world, and a scenario of which I believe I can be a part. I am an old-ass Black man, a million miles away from a 13-year-old Canadian girl of Chinese descent, but Turning Red makes me understand that what the girl experiences are in some ways similar to what I've experienced. In a way, I am jealous of Turning Red and of Meilin Lee because I could never embrace the messy strangeness in me to the extent that she does. I definitely did not want my freak flag fluttering in the wind too much.

There is so much to like in this film. As usual, the animation is up to Pixar's astronomical standards, and Ludwig Goransson's score infuses itself into the film so much that it seems as if the animation is performing a concert. Speaking of music, I'm embarrassed to admit that I like 4*Town, the band, and its three songs performed in the movie, which are written by the sister-brother team of Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell. And I couldn't love the movie if I wasn't crazy about actress Rosalie Chiang's multi-layered and energetic voice performance as Mei. Chiang makes Mei feel like a real girl, genuine child in the throes of change and transformation.

Some have said that Turning Red's setting and its lead character, Mei, make the film not timeless and universal like Pixar's other films. They can go screw themselves. Turning Red is universal like other Pixar films and also unlike other Pixar films. Turning Red is Pixar high art and Disney magic, and it is a truly great film that I plan on watching again and again.

10 of 10

Sunday, February 11, 2024

NOTES:

2023 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 BAFTA Film Awards: 1 nominee: “Best Animated Feature Film” (Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins)

2023 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nominee: “Best Motion Picture – Animated”

2023 Image Awards (NAACP): 1 nominee: “Outstanding Animated Motion Picture”

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Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Watch Two Versions of "STEAMBOAT WILLIE" Here

Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.[2] It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studios. It is considered the debut of both "Mickey Mouse" and "Minnie Mouse," although both characters appeared several months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy, an animated silent short film. Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed.

Steamboat Willie entered the public domain on Monday, January 1, 2024 because its copyright expired.

Top: the edited seven-minute and twenty-two seconds (7:22) version. Bottom: the seven-minute and forty-six seconds (7:46) version.

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Amazon has a Steamboat Willie page.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

Review: First "CHICKEN RUN" Runs Wild at the End

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 of 2023 (No. 1943) by Leroy Douresseaux

Chicken Run (2000)

Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)

MPAA – G

DIRECTORS: Peter Lord and Nick Park

WRITERS: Karey Kirkpatrick; from a story by Peter Lord and Nick Park

PRODUCERS: Peter Lord, Nick Park, and David Sproxton

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dave Alex Riddett (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Mark Solomon

COMPOSERS: Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell

BAFTA nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring: (voices): Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Tony Haygarth, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, and Benjamin Whitrow

Chicken Run is a 2000 stop-motion animated fantasy and comedy film directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. It is a British, French, and U.S. co-production produced by Pathe and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Chicken Run was Aardman's first feature-length animated film and, as of this writing, remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in worldwide box office history. Chicken Run is set at a British chicken farm where the chickens hope that an American chicken can help them escape the farm's vicious owners.

Chicken Run opens in post World War II England, specifically at an egg farm that is run like a prisoner-of-war camp. The farm is owned and operated by the cruel Mrs. Malisha Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and her submissive husband, Mr. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth), who eat and kill any chicken that is no longer able to lay eggs. Inside the chicken yard, a rebellious chicken, Ginger (Julia Sawalha), is constantly engaged in escape attempts. Her goal is to help all her fellow chickens escape the farm and find a new home in the land that lies behind a hill some distance from the Tweedy's farm.

One night, Ginger witnesses a rooster glide over the coop's fences. She learns that he is an American rooster, Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson), a.k.a. “Rocky the Flying Rooster” a.k.a. “Rocky the Rhode Island Red.” Believing that Rocky can fly, Ginger begs him to help teach her and the other chickens how to fly so that they can escape the farm. Rocky is not quite what he seems, however, and time is running out as Mrs. Tweedy has devised a new way to get more money out of the farm's large population of chickens.

I have been putting off seeing Chicken run for 23 years. Then, I discovered that a sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, was set to debut on Netflix December 15, 2023, so I decided to finally watch it. I am a fan of the later feature-length animated films that Aardman Animations produced in partnership with DreamWorks Animation, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). I have also enjoyed a few of Aardman's animated short films, including A Grand Day Out with Wallace & Gromit (1989) and Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers (1993).

In the end, I like Chicken Run, not as much as I like other Aardman works I've seen. Chicken Run takes some inspiration from director John Sturges 1963 war and adventure film, The Great Escape. Chicken Run is also described as an adventure film, but it is really a sedate comedy and drama that only occasionally plays with its edgier elements. Honestly, I think the storytellers under-utilize the Tweedys who are delightfully menacing and are endlessly funny as a dysfunctional couple. The film is filled with interesting characters, inventive production design, and a novel plot, but the filmmakers seem to keep holding back the narrative's energy for the big ending – more than they need to as far as I'm concerned.

Chicken Run does not really live up to its comic and adventure potential until the last 20 minutes of the story before the end credits start. The film suddenly seems to wind up and then explode in a final act of flying contraptions, determined poultry, and maniacal farmers. In fact, the finale is the first time in the film that Mel Gibson's Rocky does not seem like an extraneous character. I will try to see the sequel on Netflix, but for the time being, finally seeing Chicken Run seems to be the only run I really need to make at the story.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 16, 2023

NOTES:

2001 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Peter Lord, David Sproxton, and Nick Park) and “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Paddy Eason, Mark Nelmes, and Dave Alex Riddett)

2001 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical”

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