“Sly fox, dumb bunny.” Just when you think that storytellers have mined all they can from the odd couple trope, co-writers Jared Bush (Encanto) and Phil Johnston (Wreck-It Ralph series) found a way to invigorate the concept by not only… Read More ›
animation
Animated adventure “The Pout-Pout Fish” is an engaging, fun, and adventurous rollercoaster ride of silliness the whole family can enjoy.
Photosensitivity Warning: The final act of the film includes a sequence in which characters change colors to glow with a pulsating white light that may provide triggering for sensitive viewers. After it happens the first time, it’s easy to predict… Read More ›
Open Dialogue with “Arco” director/co-writer Ugo Bienvenu.
In this episode of Meet Me at the Movies, Thomas Manning is joined by Ugo Bienvenu, the writer, director, and producer behind the Oscar-nominated animated film Arco. Bienvenu opens up about the years-long creative journey behind this deeply personal project… Read More ›
Filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda’s “Scarlet” riffs on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in a time-bending animated adventure that challenges the validity of revenge.
Photosensitivity Warning: Several scenes in Scarlet may prove triggering for photosensitive viewers through the use of stylized lightning. It occurs a handful of times in the film and can often be predicted, enabling a viewer to shield oneself, but it’s… Read More ›
“The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” Digital Code Giveaway
Before 2025 ended, it gifted audiences with a brand-new theatrical adventure starring everyone’s favorite sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea: SpongeBob SquarePants! This time, a swashbuckling tale involving The Flying Dutchman with voicework from Mark Hamill (Batman:… Read More ›
Walt Disney Home Entertainment offers a 25th anniversary 4K UHD edition of “The Emperor’s New Groove” that’ll have you reaching for the lever.
Boom, baby. WRONG LEVER! The poison. The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco’s poison. Llama face! Why do we even *have* that lever? Beware the Groove…Squeaker, squeak, squeak, squeakin’. These are just a… Read More ›
On home video now, “Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie” seeks to remind the varied audience that we’re never too old to play.
Children’s entertainment is nothing new; in fact, it’s well-established and business is booming. Past generations grew up with Mister Rogers in his neighborhood (1968 – 2001) while newer ones grew and grow up with Mister Rogers’ own Daniel Tiger in… Read More ›
Mamoru Oshii’s “Angel’s Egg” is honored with a 4K restoration in its 40th year.
“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let… Read More ›
Heart, humor, and baloney flow throughout the poignantly funny and earnestly heartfelt family adventure “In Your Dreams.”
Dreams are incredibly powerful. Whether we experience them awake or asleep, our dreams shape our reality by imagining what could be. It may manifest in our minds as talking stuffies, personified num-nums, or twisted versions of those closest to us,… Read More ›
The voices too loud in your head? Need some positive affirmation with surreal art and zany songs? “Lesbian Space Princess” to the rescue!
There’s nothing wrong with a safe space. There’s nothing wrong at all with wrapping yourself in the things that make you feel at peace and serene; unless, of course, the energy spent maintaining said serenity comes at the cost of… Read More ›
Pull the cord and be ready to get messy as “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” tears into theaters (and your hearts).
“Our love is like a red, red rose … and I am a little thorny.” – The Mask in The Mask (1994). The manga series Chainsaw Man created by Tatsuki Fujimoto began publishing as part of Weekly Shōnen Jump in… Read More ›
GKIDS Films resurrects the first two tales in the “Rebuild of Evangelion” series with brand-new Blu-ray editions.
Photosensitivity Warning: The scenes involving Angels and/or Angels battling EVA Units, which make up a significant portion of the films, almost always involve flashing lights. Be prepared before watching. GKIDS Films gained home release control of Hideaki Anno’s polarizing and… Read More ›
“The Bad Guys 2” delivers the goods in family entertainment and significant ponderings on legal system reform.
There’s a strange dearth of family programming hitting theaters. There are plenty of films for older teens, young adults, and older, but titles that you can take younger kids to are oddly absent. Even worse, the ones that do get… Read More ›
Stop-motion gothic romance “Corpse Bride” will have you saying “I do” to its first-time 4K UHD edition.
Filmmaker Tim Burton means different things to different people thanks to his varied career in live-action and stop-motion (sometimes in the same picture) spanning more than four decades. From his first feature, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985), to producing Henry Selick’s… Read More ›
“Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires (Batman Azteca: Choque de imperios)” clings so tightly to its DC roots that it stifles the flair when it embraces its Mexican influence.
In 1991, DC Comics published Batman: Holy Terror, a tale featuring an alternate history for the United States in which it remained a Commonwealth of the United Kingdom. It shifts the origin story we know of Bruce Wayne into Batman… Read More ›
Manga Breathing First Form — “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” reaches the first part of its three-part cinematic finale in the blood-soaked “Infinity Castle.”
Manga author Koyoharu Gotouge’s fantasy adventure shonen Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) first published in February 2016, introducing audiences to Tanjiro Kamado, a young boy living in Taishō era Japan with his mother and siblings, making their living as… Read More ›
Disney & Pixar’s “Elio,” a standard but fun, visually dazzling cosmos adventure of self-esteem, comes home in digital HD.
From 2008’s WALL-E to 2022’s Lightyear (and 2020’s Soul, if you count The Great Beyond as a qualifier), Pixar started a tradition of traveling into the beautiful outer space cosmos. In 2025, they continued this tradition with Elio. The film… Read More ›
Mamoru Hosoda’s 2015 fantastical adventure “The Boy and the Beast” returns to theaters for one-night as part of Crunchyroll’s Anime Nights series.
2025 is a wonderful year to be an animation fan. In addition to various individual titles hitting the festival circuit like All You Need is Kill, ChaO, Space Cadet, and Arco, there’re also full-fledged festivals like Animation is Film and… Read More ›
When death is on your side, “All You Need Is Kill.” [Fantasia]
Live. Die. Repeat. Live. Die. Repeat. Live. Die. Repeat. Live. Die. Repeat. Before these words were linked to the Doug Liman-directed Edge of Tomorrow (2014), they belonged to Hiroshi Sakurazaka and his light novel All You Need Is Kill. Initially… Read More ›
“The Bad Guys 2” missteps with the second verse being the same as the first.
Upon its release in 2022, The Bad Guys proved to be a surprising smash hit. The reviews were quite positive, with praise on all accounts. This included the screenplay, voice performances, and very entertaining action. Add in a gross of… Read More ›