Luca [2021] – ★★1/2 Disney-Pixar’s Luca is an Italian Riviera-set animation that tells a story of a merman Luca and his family living underwater and having a hostile relationship with people living on land. Luca is a boy curious about the outside world, though, and soon becomes very interested in the “land” people. He meets…
Tag: Animation Review
“Chico & Rita” Review: Uneven, but Potent & Memorable
Before La La Land (2016), there was Chico & Rita, an adult Spanish animation which was nominated for an Academy Award and won the prestigious Spanish Goya Award for best animation. It tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, Chico and Rita, who meet and quickly fall in love in Havana, Cuba, and whose turbulent professional journeys make their love a real torment. Chico is a talented pianist with high ambitions and Rita is a stunning beauty with a voice of an angel and a desire to make it big. Pursuing the dreams of fame, both do not even realise how far from each other their destinies could take them.
“Soul” Review: Fun & Touching, even if a tad Random
Soul [2020] – ★★★★1/2 🎹 A hectic, but wonderful celebration of life, and a moving animated ode to New York City’s jazz scene. This new animation comes from the creators of Inside Out (2015), and is about a music teacher and aspiring jazz pianist, Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) who dies by falling into New York…
“Tekkonkinkreet” (“Treasure Town”) Review: Wondrous & Hard-Hitting
Tekkonkinkreet [2006] – ★★★★1/2 🛒Grim realism collides with childhood innocence in a striking, kaleidoscopic artwork. Based on a manga Tekkon kinkurito (1993) by Taiyo Matsumoto, Treasure Town is a well-made animation about two orphaned boys: street-wise and brave Kuro (Black), and lovable and innocent Shiro (White). Street-raised “Yin and Yang” of the cruel world around…
Spotlight on Film 