September 9th, 2019
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This week, the live action Aladdin comes out on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD for the first time, while the original animated Aladdin gets a Blu-ray re-release and debuts on 4K Ultra HD. I’ve previously reviewed the 1992 animated film and I consider it a classic. How does the new remake live up to the original? And is the re-release of the original worth picking up?
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March 27th, 2017
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first in a series of standalone movies movies Disney is planning for the Star Wars franchise. There were some who questioned whether or not audiences would show up to a Star Wars movie if it wasn’t directly part of the overall story. Turns out the answer to that question is yes, to the tune of over $1 billion worldwide. This was nearly 50% less than The Force Awakens earned, but is it also much weaker in terms of quality?
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March 5th, 2017
Moana was the third animated film distributed by Disney this year. All three earned excellent reviews, but Moana was by far the weakest at the box office. Is it also the weakest in terms of quality?
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June 4th, 2016
Zootopia is slowly making its way to $1 billion worldwide [Copy Ed: It passed $1 billion this weekend], but in the meantime, it arrives on the home market this week. It is one of the biggest hits of the year so far and earned Oscar-worthy reviews. Will my voice be added to choir of praise? Or will I be part of the dissenting minority?
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February 23rd, 2015
Big Hero 6 just won the Oscar, which is great timing, as it hits the home market this Tuesday. Many were surprised that the film won. Should they be? Is this really the best animated film of the year?
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November 1st, 2013
October ended on a winning note, but it was the only time the entire month that 2013 topped 2012 in the year-over-year comparison. This is quite shocking, as Gravity crushed expectations with more than $200 million and counting. Even with that surprise monster hit, the month still couldn't keep pace with last year. Compared to October, November looks a lot better with three films that could be monster hits: Frozen, Thor: The Dark World, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. On the other hand, those are the only three movies with a 50/50 chance or better to top $100 million compared, while there were seven films that reached that milestone last November. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire should make more than last year's number one film, Skyfall, but the depth last year could prove too much to deal with. 2013 might dip below last year's pace sometime during the month, but hopefully it won't stay there too long.
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March 18th, 2013
Strange Frame is a low-budget animated film with an LGBT twist to it. When I got the chance to review it, it sounded so weird I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Will it appeal to its target demographic? Will it have more mainstream appeal? Or is it just too weird for anyone?
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March 4th, 2013
Wreck-It Ralph was one of three Disney animated films that earned Oscar nominations this year. It was considered by many to be the favorite to win; however, it lost out to fellow Disney creation, Brave. I'm a huge video game nerd and I've been playing video games since the Commodore 64 days. MULE, Archon, Impossible Mission, Epyx Summer Games franchise, Defender of the Crown. So many awesome old school games. I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, but I'm a little worried my expectations have grown too high. Is that the case?
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November 1st, 2012
October was pretty good with a few films really crushing expectations, which made up for the few duds that opened at the end. 2012 gained about $100 million over 2011 during the month of October. We really needed this success and hopefully November will continue this push forward. However, November is a bit of a weird month. There are five weekends, but only eight true wide releases, half of which open on the Thanksgiving long weekend, leaving the other four weeks with just one true wide release each. There are a couple others opening in the semi-wide level and another opening in limited release with a planned wide release, but even so, it is not a busy month. That said, it is a case of quality over quantity. There are four films that are pretty much guaranteed to reach $100 million, one of which should reach $300 million. By comparison, last November only produced one $100 million film. Granted, that film was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which made nearly $300 million, which is a huge number no matter how you look at it. But this year, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 should top that number and with the other $100 million movies pulling in more than $400 million combined, it should be a very profitable month at the box office.
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