Cast: Tom Hanks (Woody), Tim Allen (Buzz Lightyear), Joan Cusack (Jessie), Ned Beatty (Lotso)
For complete info, see IMDb's Toy Story 3 page.
I'm a huge fan of Pixar, so I'll see anything they do as soon as possible on the big screen. Naturally, I had to see Toy Story 3 in IMAX 3D while it was still available, which didn't give us much time before Eclipse opened.
Toy Story is one of my favorite animated movies and I enjoyed Toy Story 2, but Toy Story 3 was the only one of the series that got me to tear up near the end. I liked Toy Story 3 more than the second movie and will definitely be there for Toy Story 4 if they make it.
I know John Lasseter will never allow them to make a Toy Story movie without a great story and Toy Story 3 definitely lived up to my expectations. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend checking it out. Pixar knows how to make animated movies adults will enjoy as much as kids and they're keeping that tradition alive with Toy Story 3.
Grade: A
Labels: 2010, adventure, animated, comedy, Disney, family, Joan Cusack, movie, Pixar, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:21 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), Bruno Campos (Prince Naveen)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Princess and the Frog page.
This is the best non-computer animated movie Disney has put out since they first partnered with Pixar to make the amazing computer animated films. It's also the first Disney movie I bothered to see in a theatre that was not made by Pixar for ages. I don't have children, but I worked for Disney and I've always loved animation. Bolt was the first non-Pixar movie by Disney I truly enjoyed in years.
The Princess and the Frog has the first African American princess and one of the first hard working Disney princesses in a long time. I guess since Mulan, though she wasn't technically a princess. There have been a few other Disney princesses who didn't wander around looking for a guy to solve all their problems, but none of them has had as much spunk as Tiana. I loved the main character and the story had some cute twists and turns that made it a bit different from the typical story of the princess and the frog where she kisses the frog and he turns into a prince - end of story.
The animation was very well done, the story and music are great, the voice talents are wonderful... If you haven't seen The Princess and the Frog yet, it is still in a few theatres and I recommend catching it. If not, rent or buy it. I'll definitely own it on Blu-ray disc.
Grade: A-
Labels: Anika Noni Rose, animated, comedy, Disney, family, magic, movie, princess, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ed Asner (Carl Fredricksen), Christopher Plummer (Charles Muntz), Jordan Nagai (Russell)
Another winner from Pixar. I saw an article somewhere that said with this release Pixar has proven they can do no wrong. I think they had proven it a few movies ago. They haven't had a single movie I haven't enjoyed (okay, so I didn't think Cars was the best movie in the world, but I still own it).
Up is definitely worth seeing in digital 3D if possible. There's really no better way to see a Pixar movie.
The story of Up is surprisingly touching. I didn't expect to get teary in yet another Pixar movie. Since I was very close to crying in WALL-E, that makes two Pixar movies in a row that had me emotionally involved enough to tear up. It's amazing how much they can make me care about animated characters (human and robot, alike).
I don't want to spoil the movie, but it goes without saying that I recommend seeing it in a theatre, preferably before it leaves the digital theatres, so you can see the best possible quality film.
Needless to say, John Ratzenberger appears in this Pixar movie, too. All Pixar fans know they'll hear him at some point in every Pixar movie.
3D movies seem to be the in thing now. I was amazed by all the 3D previews. Of course, I'm already to see the original Toy Story re-released in 3D this October, so it obviously makes sense for them to animate (or re-render) in 3D.
Grade: A
Labels: 2009, 3D, animals, animated, Christopher Plummer, Disney, Ed Asner, family, John Ratzenberger, movie, Pixar
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny), Susie Essman (Mittens), Mark Walton (Rhino)
For complete info, see IMDb's Bolt page.
Bolt is the best non-Pixar animated movie I've seen released in years. This is by far the best Disney animated movie created for a long time. Having seen some of the really horrible animated movies Disney has released in the last few years, I was amazed at how well Bolt was done! It's clear that John Lasseter (head honcho of Pixar, now running all of Disney's animation department) is having a positive effect on Disney's Animation Studios. The only animated movies I've seen in a theatre in recent years are all the Pixar movies (the last one being WALL-E). If this is a sign of things to come from Disney, I may occasionally see a regular Disney animated movie in a movie theatre now. A couple years ago, I would have never thought I could think a Disney movie made without Pixar would be worth putting near the top of my rental queue, let alone seeing it on the big screen.
Bolt is a great story, it's well animated, they have amazing voice talents... It's definitely a must see movie. If you missed Bolt in theatres (and I don't blame you, Disney's animated movies had been horrible lately), rent it and enjoy. Thankfully, Bolt was released on Blu-ray, so the quality of watching it at home is better than many movie theatres would have had.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2008, animated, comedy, Disney, family, fantasy, John Lasseter, John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jack Black (Po), Dustin Hoffman (Shifu), Angelina Jolie (Tigress)
For complete info, see IMDb's Kung Fu Panda page.
To be fair to Kung Fu Panda, I have to say that I don't like live action Kung Fu movies (at all) and point out that perhaps that's a requirement for enjoying Kung Fu Panda to the fullest. I had heard such great things about the movie that I was pretty bummed I couldn't see it on the big screen. I did, however, see it on Blu-ray Disc on my pretty big TV, so it wasn't much of a downgrade. Though I'm glad I rented it, I'm not at all sad that I missed seeing it on the big screen. In fact, if I'd paid to see it in a theatre, I might have felt ripped off.
Perhaps the problem I have with most animated movies is that I compare them all to Pixar movies. I realize this isn't fair to the other movies, but Pixar has set the standard and this year's WALL-E was totally amazing. All other animated movies pale in comparison, but with all the positive comments I heard about Kung Fu Panda I expected it to be closer to the quality of Pixar's movies than it turned out to be.
That being said, I even enjoyed Disney's Mulan a lot more than I did Kung Fu Panda and I think Disney movies are a much more fair comparison. If you like animated movies and enjoy Kung Fu movies, I'd definitely recommend renting this one. If not, you might want to consider putting it pretty low on your rental list.
Grade: C+
Labels: action, adventure, Angelina Jolie, animated, comedy, Dustin Hoffman, family, Jack Black
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen
For complete information, see IMDb's The Pixar Story page.
This documentary wasn't quite as interesting as the book The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company, but you can cover a lot more in a book than you can in an hour and a half long documentary. I've been a fan of Pixar since they released Luxo Jr. and I love that they finally released the shorts on DVD last year (too bad I didn't realize it was available on Blu-ray before I purchased it). If you're at all interested in the history of Pixar, you will definitely enjoy this documentary. If not, then clearly it's not worth renting The Pixar Story.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2007, animated, documentary, John Lasseter, movie, Pixar, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ben Burtt (WALL-E & M-O), Elissa Knight (Eve), Jeff Garlin (Captain), Fred Willard (Shelby Forthright, BnL CEO), John Ratzenberger (John), Kathy Najimy (Mary), Sigourney Weaver (Ship's Computer)
For complete info, see IMDb's WALL-E page.
Another wonderful movie from Pixar! I see few movies in theatres these days (thanks to my great new TV and Netflix, I'm not missing much). I try to see those I want to see that are released in IMAX and those with special effects I know will look better on the big screen, but I often don't find the time. I always make time for Pixar movies and (as always) I'm glad I saw WALL-E in a theatre and I'll gladly see it again in a theatre if anyone I know wants someone to go with them to see it. It's possible that this will end up being my favorite Pixar movie, which is saying a lot.
It's amazing that a movie with so little dialogue (nothing is spoken for a LONG time and once there is speaking, there is very little until near the end) can be so captivating and engaging. If you would have told me that the relationship between two robots (one which reminds me a lot of the robots in Star Tours at Disneyland and Short Circuit) could involve me enough to where I'd get a bit teary at one point, I would have thought you were nuts. WALL-E is such a great story that I was completely involved in the outcome throughout the movie.
Everyone coming out of the movie (young and old) seemed to love it. I can't remember seeing such a wide range of people who loved an animated movie (even one by Pixar) - ever. WALL-E is wonderful and I can't recommend it enough!
Grade: A+
Labels: 2008, animated, comedy, Disney, drama, family, John Ratzenberger, movie, Pixar, romance, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, James Belushi, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo, William Shatner, Richard Kind, Greg Cipes
For complete info, see IMDb's The Wild page.
This movie was really cute and definitely worth renting if you have kids or like animated movies (or, if you love Kiefer Sutherland's voice). It was entertaining and had a good cast and a decent story line. I can't really explain why I liked it more than Madagascar, but I definitely thought The Wild was more entertaining.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2006, adventure, animated, comedy, family, Kiefer Sutherland, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Julie Andrews (Narrator - voice), Amy Adams (Giselle), Patrick Dempsey (Robert Philip), James Marsden (Prince Edward), Susan Sarandon (Queen Narissa), Timothy Spall (Nathaniel), Idina Menzel (Nancy Tremaine), Rachel Covey (Morgan Philip)
For complete info, see IMDb's Enchanted page.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Enchanted. It looked really cute, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much, even though Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz did the music and the cast was wonderful. Enchanted far exceeded my expectations of a cute Disney movie that I'd want to see once. The music is wonderful. The characters are completely lovable. Although they used aspects of almost every main Disney princess story (the apple and hag from Snow White, story book intro & ending used in many, the carriage and shoe from Cinderella, etc.), I thought the overall feel was very much like Sleeping Beauty, my favorite Disney movie. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Enchanted so much.
I highly recommend renting Enchanted if you missed it while it was in theatres. It's on my list of movies I need to own on Blu-ray DVD (when I get a Blu-ray player) and it's one of the few movies I watched twice before returning it to Netflix.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2007, adventure, Amy Adams, animated, comedy, Disney, family, fantasy, Idina Menzel, James Marsden, Julie Andrews, movie, Patrick Dempsey, romance, Stephen Schwartz, Susan Sarandon
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast Rob Reiner (Screwie), William H. Macy (Lefty Maginnis), Brian Dennehy (Babe Ruth)
For complete info, see IMDb's Everyone's Hero page.
This was a cute movie about returning Babe Ruth's stolen bat (which talks, of course). Not the best animation or story line, but it's still a cute movie. Good for kids, but not the best cross-over movie for adults. This is definitely no Pixar. Worth renting for kids, but if you don't have kids, skip it.
Grade: C-
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Patton Oswalt (Remy), Ian Holm (Skinner), Lou Romano (Linguini), Brian Dennehy (Django), Brad Garrett (Gusteau), John Ratzenberger (Mustafa)
For complete info on the talented voices and creative team, see IMDb's Ratatouille page.
Pixar did a great job, as always! I highly recommend Ratatouille. This great story about a rat who dreams of being a chef has amazing animation, great voice talents, and a wonderful story. Everything looked so real that at one point, my friend I went to see the movie with got creeped out due to all the rats running around. That's a huge compliment for an animated movie about rats.
Although the title is hard for people to pronounce, I'm glad to see audiences are going to see Ratatouille. It's another fun Pixar movie that's well worth the time and money to see it in a theatre.
I've liked Pixar since long before they hooked up with Disney and made the first full-length computer animated film (Toy Story) and I have yet to be disappointed with anything they've done. I love that they still show the latest short before their full-length features. It's always fun to see what they've been doing. Lifted, the Pixar short before Ratatouille, was also very well done. It's a cute little story about a teenage alien trying to learn how to abduct humans.
Grade: A
Labels: 2007, animated, Brad Garrett, comedy, Disney, family, John Ratzenberger, movie, Pixar
Reviewed by Kat at the 6:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Williams
For complete info, see IMDb's Happy Feet page.
Not long into this movie, I found myself in shock that Happy Feet beat out Cars (a Pixar film I completely enjoyed) for the Best Animated Feature award. I'm still in disbelief. About 5 minutes into this movie, David left to do other things. Althhough I found myself saying that I couldn't believe Happy Feet won any awards, especially when it was up against Cars and David said he could't believe this movie had been highly rated, I watched the whole thing and David came back about half-way through.
I'm not sure why Happy Feet won Best Animated Feature. Perhaps it was because of the positive message about being good neighboors to wildlife, especially those in the ocean. Perhaps it was because of Robin Williams, who is hilarious as always. I can't understand it.
Happy Feet is a cute movie and worth the rental, but I wouldn't rush out to rent it right away. It's not even close to any of the Pixar movies in animation or story line, but it's cute.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2006, animated, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:28 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Will Ferrell (Ted/The Man in the Yellow Hat), Drew Barrymore (Miss Maggie Dunlop), Eugene Levy (Clovis)
For complete info, see IMDb's Curious George site.
I wasn't expecting much of Curious George, since I know it got a lot of bad reviews (I don't read them, but the titles and final grades weren't very good). I loved the Curious George books as a child and thought the idea of an animated movie was great.
I liked the way that they started the story. The movie definitely needed to explain how the man in the yellow hat (who they named Ted) ended up having a pet monkey and I think they did a good job of it. The story isn't one that would work in an adult movie, but it was very cute and well done.
The animation in Curious George isn't the best, but the story is cute and has very good music. I highly recommend renting it if you loved the books or have kids.
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, animated, comedy, Drew Barrymore, family, Will Ferrell
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Bruce Willis, Wanda Sykes, Steve Carell, Garry Shandling, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, Thomas Haden Church
For complete info, see IMDb's Over the Hedge page.
Over the Hedge wasn't nearly as funny as I thought it would be from the ads, but it was definitely worth renting. It's very amusing to see how the animals work together. The animation wasn't as good as Pixar animation, but it was decent.
If you missed it in theatres, it's not a movie that you need to rent immediately, but it's worth putting Over the Hedge in your Netflix queue.
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, animated, comedy, family, movie, Thomas Haden Church
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Nightmare Before Christmas page.
Tim Burton's classic is even better in 3D! Everything I said in my initial Nightmare Before Christmas review still holds true and the 3D animation makes the movie all that more interesting.
It was also good to see Pixar's short Knick Knack animated in 3D, too. Of course, it was the Disney version (the mermaid and beach lady have no chests), but that doesn't change the spirit of the short at all. If you can catch Nightmare Before Christmas while it's playing in 3D, I highly recommend it!
Grade: A-
Labels: 2006, 3D, animated, Catherine O'Hara, comedy, family, Halloween, movie, musical, Tim Burton
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Paul Newman (Doc Hudson), Bonnie Hunt (Sally Carrera), Larry the Cable Guy (Mater)
For complete info on the amazing voice talents, see IMDb's Cars page.
Another amazing movie from Pixar! The new Disney regime made a great decision when they decided to buy Pixar. John Lasseter's direction is always amazing and I think the fact tht he cared so much about Cars (which he'd researched on his own before they decided to do the movie) really shows!
The voice actors were wonderful - even Jay Leny playing Jay Limo. Wonderful names for some of the characters, too. Of course, the funniest cameo is probably the Hummer who's the governor of California...
The story of Cars is fabulous! The movie is sweet and funny and a joy to watch! It's not just the typical hot shot gets stuck in a small town story. It's very sweet - and done with cars! Who would have thought you could care about the feelings of a car? This movie even made me (who couldn't care less about NASCAR or any other kind of car races) interested. That is amazing!
Another great thing about Cars is that there is no real bad guy. There is one section where they're chased, but there is never any real danger. This makes Cars one of the first Disney movies ever that is perfect for children of ALL ages! Grab the whole family and go see Cars!!
The animation is an example of the best out there, as always from Pixar. And, like every other Pixar movie, the credits are a joy to watch. The only problem with this is that I like to read the credits and I have to divide my time. Definitely stay around till the end of the credits, whether you like to read them or not. As always, you will not be disappointed.
Grade: A
Labels: 2006, animated, Bonnie Hunt, comedy, family, John Ratzenberger, movie, Owen Wilson, Pixar, sports
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Roseanne Barr, G. W. Bailey, Judi Dench
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Home on the Range page.
Well, not being a Roseanne Barr fan, I should have known this Disney movie would be even worse than most of theirs in the last few years. If it wasn't for Pixar, Disney's animated movie department would have died out...
This was a great example of why Disney movies haven't been doing as well as Pixar's in movie theaters or reviews. Simply a horrible movie. The old Disney movies are classics. The Pixar movies are amazing. Since Pixar came into the picture, Disney has stopped producing great animated movies for some reason. I'm not sure why, but if you want to see a Disney movie, rent one of the classics. Stay away from Home on the Range!
Grade: D
Labels: 2004, animated, comedy, Disney, family, Judi Dench, movie, musical
Reviewed by Kat at the 10:30 AM show | 0 screams
Cast (voices): Johnny Depp (Victor Van Dort), Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride), Emily Watson (Victoria Everglot)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Corpse Bride page.
I bought Corpse Bride without seeing it, since Tricia (my aunt and fellow Tim Burton and animation fan) told me that it was good and I didn't get to see it when it was still out in theaters. I figured I'd most likely buy it anyway, so I'd take the chance.
To be honest, the first song scared me a bit, since I really didn't enjoy it. However, the rest of the movie was wonderful. I definitely recommend it! Very good Tim Burton movie. Great cast of voices, and amazing Danny Elfman music.
Grade: B+
Labels: 2005, animated, comedy, family, fantasy, Johnny Depp, movie, musical, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Madagascar page.
The concept of some animals from the zoo who have been pampered all their lives wanting to escape to the wild and succeeding (partially due to some crazy penguins) is a great one! The movie looked so funny. The cast of voices couldn't get much better.
I think I should have stuck with the previews. Those were funny and allowed me to think that the movie would be great. The potential of the movie was better than the actual movie for me.
I think it might appeal more to kids, due to the crazy penguins, but for me they were a bit over the top and the other characters weren't quite interesting enough.
I know it's a short movie for the kids, which are clearly the target audience, but there are some great relatively short animated films out there and I had high hopes for Madagascar.
Grade: C-
Labels: 2005, adventure, animated, comedy, family, Jada Pinkett Smith, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams, Amanda Bynes, Mel Brooks
For complete info, see IMDb's Robots page.
Definitely better to see all the animation huge on an IMAX screen. The quality really makes the robot world look amazingly real. The story was definitely not as good as a Pixar story and the animation quality wasn't quite as good, but with Robin Williams to ad lib, there's always some great material in the movie!
The story about a young idealist traveling to robot city to join a company he finds was just taken over by evil new management and his fight to change the way it runs is very cute. It's got some good messages for kids and is definitely something I think everyone can enjoy.
Worth renting.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2005, adventure, Amanda Bynes, animated, comedy, Ewan McGregor, family, fantasy, IMAX, movie, sci-fi
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:00 PM show | 0 screams