Loving home is a place you always carry in your heart. Le Retour des Vagues (The Return of Waves) is a French short animation about a young man who returns to his hometown and finds that time has stopped there. It is a 2020 graduation project work by three students (Manon Cansell, Alejandra Guevara Cervera…
Tag: Animation
Salvador Dalí-Disney’s Short Animation “Destino”
Destino is a Salvador Dali-Disney (John Hench)’s collaboration on an animation that first started in 1945 and only finished in 2003 when Walt Disney’s nephew Roy E. Disney found the unfinished project materials in 1999. The surrealist animation was eventually directed by Dominique Monféry, and the music was written by Armando Domínguez and performed by Dora…
“Luca” Review: Endearing, but also Generic & Plotless
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…
“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…
3 Underappreciated Songs in Animation
I. “You Know Better Than I” from Joseph: King of Dreams [2000] This song, written by John Bucchino and performed by David Campbell, is from the straight-to-video animated film Joseph: King of Dreams. The song is inspirational and feels very personal. It is sung by Joseph when he finds himself near to despair and at…
“Tekkonkinkreet” (“Treasure Town”) Review: Wondrous & Hard-Hitting
🛒Grim realism collides with childhood innocence in a striking, kaleidoscopic artwork.
Documentary Reviews: “Love, Antosha”, “Tower”, & “13th”
I. Love, Antosha (2019) This is a moving documentary that explores the life of actor Anton Yelchin (Star Trek (2009), Green Room (2015), Thoroughbreds (2017)), from his birth in Russia to his last films. This is an engaging and respectful feature that aims to pay tribute to this person of great potential taken too soon….
Too Much “Let It Go” and Not Enough “I’m Sorry”? Disney’s Frozen (2013) Teaser Trailer Is The Definition of Plagiarism On Screen
Christmas is getting nearer, and I hope everyone is excited! People are probably also excited about Disney’s Frozen II, and, for those who do not know, I want to draw attention to the plagiarism case below, concerning the Frozen (2013) teaser trailer (the first video below) and the short animation titled The Snowman by independent…
Classic French Animations: Fantastic Planet, and The King & The Mockingbird
I. Fantastic Planet (La Planete Sauvage) [1973] – ★★★★1/2 Once in awhile comes one animation which is so powerful in its message and so unusual in its presentation, it becomes quite unforgettable. Fantastic Planet is precisely such adult-themed animation, co-produced between France and Czechoslovakia. A winner of the Cannes Special Prize in 1973, this French-language animation…
The Winter in July Blogathon: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Sword in the Stone [1963] – ★★★ My second post for Debbie’s Winter in July Blogathon is on Disney’s animation The Sword in the Stone (1963), and, like my previous post, take note of spoilers! Once again I would like to extend my thanks to Debbie for hosting such an amazing blogathon, and also check out…
The Winter in July Blogathon: Frozen (2013)
There is nothing like snowy and wintery films to cool us all down in the middle of this summer, and Debbie at Moon in Gemini hosts The Winter in July Blogathon for this very purpose. For this fun blogathon, I chose to write on animated films Frozen (2013) and The Sword in the Stone (1963)….
“Millennium Actress” Review: Transcendental & Beautiful
Millennium Actress [2001] – ★★★★1/2 A cinematic journey to stardom and to finding answers as to identity, history and inexplicability of love, while “playing” with time and fusing reality and make-believe. “All the world’s a stage, [and] all the men and women [are] merely players”, famously stated William Shakespeare. It appears that this quote is…
“Big Fish & Begonia” Review: Other-Worldly & Beautiful, even if a tad Confusing
Big Fish & Begonia [2016] – ★★★★1/2 Often perplexing, but still uncanny, almost mystical and visually-stunning cinematic experience. This fantastical tale is about Chun, a girl who is a member of a tribe of mythical beings (“neither humans nor gods, but others”) living underwater, capable of controlling tides and knowing the secrets of nature. As…
Unpopular Opinion Tag (Films) II
Last year, in August, I posted a similar post – Unpopular Opinion Tag (Films), where I talked about three movies that people generally love, but I hated. Now, it is time to do a “reversal” post. Here, I will be talking about three films that people or critics do not like much, but I actually…
“Coco” Review: Engrossing, Mesmerising & Heart-felt
Coco [2017] – ★★★★★ A fun, twisty tribute to the Mexican folklore, showcasing touching love for music and one’s family. Coco is a delightful Pixar-produced Academy Awards nominee of 2018. Taking the Mexican folklore and tradition on board, it tells the story of Miguel, a boy living with his family of zapateros or shoemakers in…
“Tokyo Godfathers” Review: Socially Astute & Uplifting
Tokyo Godfathers [2003]- ★★★★1/2 👶 A fun and heart-warming Christmas tale about homeless “misfits” that sheds light on many of Japan’s social problems, including alcoholism, poverty and discrimination. The co-director and scriptwriter of this little gem is no other than Satoshi Kon, the man who brought to the masses such great animated films as Perfect…
“Miss Hokusai” Review: Idiosyncratic, Poetic & Inspiring
Miss Hokusai [2015] – ★★★1/2 🎨A gentle anime-biography, unveiling the character of Katsushika Ōi and the mysteries of art-making. Based on a manga series by Hinako Sugiura, Miss Hokusai is a Japanese animation about the daughter of the famous real-life Japanese painter Hokusai. Her name was Katsushika Ōi. A great artist herself, Ōi helped her…
“Wolf Children” Review: Heart-Warming & Relatable
Wolf Children [2012] – ★★★★ A touching, beautifully-presented story that makes a stance against discrimination, encouraging learning to live with one’s differences. Wolf Children is a 2012 animation directed by Mamoru Hosoda, the man behind very creative The Girl Who Leapt through Time (2006) and equally inventive The Boy and the Beast (2015). This film…
Studio Ghibli: “Only Yesterday” & “Kiki’s Delivery Service”
I. Only Yesterday [1991] – ★★★★1/2 “What “drives” animation is the will of the characters” (Hayao Miyazaki). Only Yesterday has a plot filled with highly emotional undercurrents and intelligence: a 27-year old unmarried woman, Taeko from Tokyo, visits countryside while reminiscing over her childhood of when she was a shy and creative fifth grader. Through…
Spotlight on Film 