Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois are among the most influential names working in animation today. Their record includes Lilo and Stitch for Disney and the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, with DeBlois directing the last two installments for DreamWorks. They have teamed up again for a highly regarded new film, The Wild Robot. DreamWorks […]
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
REVIEW: “Pencils Vs. Pixels”
November 6th, 2023 
Greg Ehrbar To anyone who knows the enchantment of animation, many of the people in this new documentary are superheroes. Among the generous abundance of studio clips and nearly a dozen on-camera interviews, all have something of value to add: animation artists, historians, and celebrities, including Mulan’s Ming-Na Wen, who narrates. But in chronicling the saga of […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Lonely Castle in the Mirror”
September 24th, 2023 Martin Goodman Some stories must be told, especially to those caring enough to understand them, lest they eventually destroy the teller. Such is the theme of Keichi Hara’s 2022 anime, Lonely Castle in the Mirror. (Henceforth “Castle” for the purpose of this review). Adapted from a novel by Mizuki Tsujimura, The story concerns seven middle-school students who […]
REVIEW: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
August 15th, 2023 Martin Goodman In writing this review, I found limiting the piece to a simple assessment of the movie challenging. Three levels of critique are to be considered; teasing them apart proved adequate to explain only one aspect of Mutant Mayhem in light of the interplay between the factors involved. Therefore, I present my readers with part review, […]
Posted in Nickelodeon, Paramount, Reviews 
Tags: Nickelodeon Movies, Paramount Pictures 
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REVIEW: “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse”
June 7th, 2023 Martin Goodman It is best, perhaps, to consider Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Henceforth, ATSV) in its correct context for the purpose of this review. The film is not a sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, but a carefully planned second part of a trilogy scheduled to conclude in March 2024. This escaped the notice of some irate moviegoers […]
REVIEW: “Suzume” An Epic Anime Event
April 12th, 2023 Jackson Murphy The breathtaking love story, Weathering with You was my favorite animated movie of 2019. Makoto Shinkai, the writer/director of that Annie nominee, as well as 2016’s acclaimed Your Name, returns with another triumph. Suzume is a spectacular anime adventure that makes you believe in the unbelievable.
REVIEW: Netflix “The Magician’s Elephant”
March 16th, 2023 Martin Goodman Fairy tales have been genuinely magical of late. First, we got the charm, humor, and animation brilliance of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, an overwhelming critical and box office success. Then, in early 2023 we are treated to The Magician’s Elephant, helmed by first-time director Wendy Rogers. Rogers has been involved with animation and […]
REVIEW: “New Gods: Yang Jian”
January 23rd, 2023 Martin Goodman Yang Jian is the second feature in the New Gods series, a continuation of Nezha Reborn, both directed by Zhao Ji. It is not necessary to see the first feature to appreciate Yang Jian, but those who wish to can dial it up on Netflix to gain a bit of depth. The New Gods series […]
REVIEW: “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish”
January 5th, 2023 Martin Goodman DreamWorks Animation has found a new sport: outperforming far more costly and heavily promoted Disney movies. As a result, the latest entry, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (PIB2 for the duration of this review), is better, livelier, and far more creative than the tedious and disappointing Disney opus Strange World. One might think this […]
REVIEW: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
December 29th, 2022 Martin Goodman I have not seen every film based on Carlos Collodi’s 1883 Italian novel Pinnochio; the essential story has spawned countless variations and thematic similarities. In truth, I have seen six or seven, none especially notable other than the 1940 Disney animated classic, which remains the ne plus ultra of the bunch. That said, the 2022 […]
REVIEW: “DC League of Super Pets”
August 26th, 2022 Martin Goodman The idea for this animated film originated in DC’s Adventure Comics #239 with the origin of the Legion of Super-Pets. The hallowed lineup that faced off against the deadly brain-globes were: Krypto the Super Dog, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo the Super Monkey, and Comet the Super Horse. Proty II would join the party later. […]
REVIEW: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank
August 22nd, 2022 Martin Goodman This is a difficult film to review because, while it is undoubtedly an animated feature, it is also a remake of a live-action comedy. Therefore, how one feels about the film will directly correlate to how one thinks about the original movie. The predecessor to Paws of Fury is the beloved 1974 film Blazing Saddles, […]
REVIEW: Pixar’s “Lightyear”
July 6th, 2022 Martin Goodman We all remember that 27 years ago, a boy named Andy received a futuristic spaceman action figure as a gift. As he was known, Buzz Lightyear joined a coterie of toys, completing the main cast of Pixar’s Toy Story franchise. Although Buzz seemed to come complete with a background story as a stalwart Space Ranger, […]
REVIEW: Dreamworks “The Bad Guys”
May 13th, 2022 Martin Goodman While DreamWorks may not be able to summon the financial and technical resources that you-know-who possesses, that does not mean that they cannot produce a good film, and with their latest effort, The Bad Guys, they mostly succeed. Though the world-building is weird, and some character reversals are rather facile, this is one entertaining flick […]
REVIEW: “DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms” – More Questions Than Answers. So Far
December 22nd, 2021 W.R. Miller When it comes to dragons, there’s no stopping DreamWorks Animation. Based on the best-selling How to Train Your Dragon novels by Cressida Cowell, the franchise has so far spawned three feature films with a combined box-office take of $1.6 billion worldwide, five short films, a “Snoggletog Log” video and a 118-episode TV series collectively titled […]
