The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Funimation: $64.98, 5 discs, (4 Blu-ray and one DVD) Despite the series title, Haruhi Suzumiya (Wendee Lee) is hardly melancholy. She’s one of the prettiest girls in her high school, but also the strangest and the loudest. Haruhi dismisses normal people as “boring” (“What kind of fun does a ‘normal’ […]
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Charles Solomon Reviews “The Wild Life”
September 9th, 2016 
Charles Solomon Although 2016 brought us Norm of the North and Ratchet and Clank, The Wild Life is the odds-on favorite for the Worst Animated Film of the Year trophy. Despite the title, it’s an uninspired, overly tame movie that would once would have been consigned to the direct-to-video bin. The story, credited to Lee Christopher, Domonic […]
Charles Solomon Reviews: “Kubo And The Two Strings”
August 15th, 2016 Charles Solomon Travis Knight’s Japanese-influenced Kubo and the Two Strings ranks as the best film the artists at the Portland-based Laika Studio have made, with a strong story, assured direction and strikingly original designs. One-eyed Kubo (voiced by a very appealing Art Parkinson) is a street performer in a seaside village, supporting himself and his widowed mother […]
Charles Solomon Reviews: “Ice Age Collision Course”
July 21st, 2016 Charles Solomon Fourteen years ago (!), the original Ice Age premiered. It had clearly been made on a limited budget that forced the artists to use their imaginations. The designs were simplified but appealing; the textures were less elaborately rendered; the backgrounds were often reduced to little more than a white field. But the film felt fresh […]
Anime Blu-Ray Review: “Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun”
July 6th, 2016 Charles Solomon When Chiyo Sakura (Juliet Simmons), the heroine of the broadcast series Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun (2014), awkwardly tries to confess her love to classmate Umetaro Nozaki (Ty Mahany), she mistakenly says “I’m your fan!”–and he responds by giving her an autograph from a special pad. Nozaki is tall, handsome and terminally clueless; he’s also the creator […]
ANIME REVIEW: “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”
June 29th, 2016 Charles Solomon Although he had worked as an animator and director on numerous TV series and three “Digimon” features, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was the first film to showcase Mamoru Hosoda’s talent as a director. If you were to ask her, Makoto Konno (Emily Hirst) would say she regards herself as a normal high school […]
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Comments Off on ANIME REVIEW: “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” ANIME REVIEW: “Shonen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49”
June 26th, 2016 Charles Solomon The Japanese pop music industry is famous–or infamous–for manufacturing pop groups that become the flavor of the month, then quickly fade from view. Shonen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49 (2014) offers a mildly upbeat look at the phenomenon.
“Assassination Classroom: Season One Part One”
June 6th, 2016 Charles Solomon Based on the manga by Yusei Matsui, the series Assassination Classroom has a premise that’s bizarre, even by the freewheeling standards of anime. An alien destroys 70% of the moon, leaving just a permanent crescent. He threatens to do the same to the Earth unless certain conditions are met. The creature insists on being made […]
BOOK REVIEW: “Blanc et Noir: Takeshi Obata Illustrations”
May 22nd, 2016 Charles Solomon Takeshi Obata is a noted manga-ka, or manga artist, whose work includes the popular titles “Hikaru no Go,” “Death Note” and “Bakuman,” all of which have been animated. The first two have also been adapted to live action. This large-format (10.5” x 15”) anthology showcases his artwork for magazine covers, posters, calendars, etc. The illustrations […]
Charles Solomon Reviews “The Angry Birds Movie”
May 19th, 2016 Charles Solomon Laboriously unfunny, tasteless and derivative, The Angry Birds Movie feels both unwelcome and overdue—like an obnoxious cousin who shows up for your parents’ 50th anniversary party a week late. Created by the Finnish company Rovio, the Angry Birds game debuted in 2009, became a huge fad, then, inevitably, faded. (How long ago was 2009 in […]
REVIEW: “Ratchet & Clank”
April 29th, 2016 Charles Solomon Ratchet & Clank, a new CG feature based on a long-running PlayStation game, hits the screen with a clunk. Even for viewers who’ve never played the game, it feels stale and derivative, with elements that recall Star Wars, The Incredibles, The Phantom Menace, Tiger & Bunny, George Pal’s Tulips Shall Grow, The Simpsons, and pretty […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Eden of the East: The Premium Edition”
April 10th, 2016 Charles Solomon American animated characters sailed unscathed through the financial meltdown of 2008 and its after effects: Po could afford all the dumplings he could eat, Hiro and his friends had the cutting-edge technology and supplies they needed, and Hiccup wasn’t underwater on his father’s hut. Their Japanese counterparts wrestled with problems of money and motivation in […]
COMMENTARY: Children or Adults? Can “Kubo” Find It’s Audience?
From Pinocchio and Fantasia to The Iron Giant, the history of animation is littered with good, sometimes great, films that failed to reach the audiences they deserved on their initial release. Sadly, Kubo and the Two Strings seems to be the latest addition to that list. Its hard to say why the film hasn’t done […]