The Divorce Cartoon one excellent element of this that gives it a two. Whoever designed the blocking/ staging is someone I want to meet again. The way the scenes are ‘shot’, mostly just beyond what a camera can do, and the way the aggressive editing...
When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters—an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire—to rescue him.
Dream Stories see. How many stories are within this story. There's the show at the beginning which our heroine watches that gets transformed into her dream about the capture of the grandson she'll never have. When that show comes alive as reality, it gets mirrored back...
When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it and recover it before damage is done: Paprika.
His Own Mirror happens when you see a wonderful film, a truly wonderful one, and you are disappointed because the very last one you saw was from the same filmmaker and was very much better? I should have watched some trash first. The better film I'm...
Marcel is an adorable one-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother Connie and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. When a documentarian discovers them amongst the clutter of his Airbnb, his resulting short film brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers and a new hope at finding his long-lost family.
Self with Shoes On I understand it, this was conceived in the breakup of a marriage. The voice and most of the script is by the disappointed wife, and the surrounding framing by the presumably inadequate husband. The actual events had some videos posted to YouTube,...
A solitary cat, displaced by a great flood, finds refuge on a boat with various species and must navigate the challenges of adapting to a transformed world together.
Flow of Worlds with many long form projects, you have the world and somewhat separately you have characters moving through that world. In the noir form we have here some innocent characters are selected, seemingly at random, to be tossed by world forces for our...
After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana journeys alongside Maui and a new crew to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she's ever faced.
Lacks Discovery readers know that the original ‘Moana’ is on my list of fours, films that I believe are important, effective, and added to my life. At the time, I attributed much of that to what Lin Manual calls ‘the swell’ where a musical hook...
Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
Fan Service nothing novel about observing the trap that franchises fall into. The template is what attracts us because we recall a pleasant experience, we understand and like the world, and we trust the story machine. But it runs the risk of being too familiar,...
By a fortunate coincidence, Juan is inspired and encouraged by a girl with the same name. Therefore, he decides to form a lion dance troupe with his friends, Cat and Dog, to break the constraints of reality and fight for themselves for once.
Sacrificial may find this a bit hard to see, and I am puzzled why it has not gotten an English dubbed release in our content hungry streaming platforms. I suspect it is because it is so focused on a young Chinese audience that it would...
Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.
Gently Weeps film hit a sweet spot for me. It merges essential Shintoism, magic and origami in a story about storytelling, four subjects of deep interest for me. This is orgasmic level engagement, this mix. I need to see it again in 3D to see...
Betty Boop goes to see the fearsome Old Man of the Mountain for herself; he sings the title song and a duet with Betty.
Spooky Black Magic music videos derive from this little masterpiece. It had an earlier incarnation in 'Minnie the Moocher' where Betty goes to a subterranean hell, enticed by the devil's music. While there, she encounters demons with whom she 'dances.' In both of these, the music...