Articles in Animated Movie Reviews
Dead Leaves (2004) Movie Review
“Over the top’ is an expression loosely thrown about by film critics to describe anything a little too far out of the ordinary in terms of violence, sexual content or any other thematic material of a transgressive nature. However, in the case of the Japanese animated film “Dead Leaves,” ‘over the top’ doesn’t even begin [...]
December 13th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 comments | Read MoreViolence Jack (1986) Movie Review
Anime is seen by many a film enthusiast as a deep form of cinema, on par with the noirs and cult classics of the world. And with films like “Akira”, “Perfect Blue”, “Tokyo Godfathers” and “Spirited Away”, it’s hard to disagree with the fan base. However, for each of these four great movies there are [...]
October 9th, 2005 | Andrew Mackenzie | 0 comments | Read MoreFinal Fantasy 7: Advent Children (2004) Movie Review
For followers of the Final Fantasy games, “Advent Children” comes as a reward for those long hours spent in front of the TV pushing buttons and ignoring a social life. For everyone else, this is pure eye candy, especially since the film has a story continued from the game, with no background setup whatsoever for [...]
October 4th, 2005 | Alex Lui | 3 comments | Read MoreStewie Griffin: The Untold Story (2005) Movie Review
Is it laugh out loud funny? That depends. Do you like “The Family Guy’s” brand of over-the-top and sometimes over-the-line sense of humor? If the answer is Yes, then Yes, you’ll find the direct-to-video feature-length “Family Guy” movie “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Funny” to be laugh out loud funny.
As with the show, the film’s [...]
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Movie Review
With Disney and Pixar firmly entrenched on the side of CGI for their animated efforts, it looks like Japan and the FOX Network are the last bastions of hand drawn animation. Perhaps the most revered name from this old school is Hayao Miyazaki, best known in the US for “Princess Mononoke” and the Oscar-winning “Spirited [...]
June 17th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 comments | Read MoreVoices of a Distant Star (2003) Movie Review
“Voices of a Distant Star” is a movie unique in a number of ways, starting with its creation. You don’t think of animation as a one-man operation, but writer/director Makoto Shinkai created his short film almost exclusively on a Mac G4 computer using mostly off-the-shelf software. As a result, “Voices of a Distant Star” impresses [...]
June 11th, 2005 | Erick Kwon | 0 comments | Read MoreSteamboy (2004) Movie Review
It’s Manchester, England, and the year is 1866, sometime during the Industrial Revolution. Our hero, mechanical whiz kid Ray Steam, toils as a mechanic at the local textile plant, when one day a package arrives from Ray’s grandfather, Lloyd. Inside is a mysterious ball-shaped metal device accompanied by blueprints and instructions. No sooner has the [...]
June 2nd, 2005 | Erick Kwon | 0 comments | Read MoreLaputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) Movie Review
It’s always difficult to put a stamp on any film as being ‘the best,’ whether of all time, a certain genre, or what have you, but I believe a strong argument could be made that “Laputa: Castle in the Sky” is, in fact, the greatest animated film ever made. It is in my mind the [...]
March 2nd, 2005 | Oshram | 0 comments | Read MoreIchi the Killer, Koroshiya: Episode 0 (2004) Movie Review
Takashi Miike’s infamous splatter-fest “Ichi the Killer” has proved to be a controversial cult favourite, and so it comes as no surprise that it has inspired a spin off in the form of an anime prequel. Although the initial reaction for fans of the original film may be to sigh with cynical disgust, it should [...]
February 11th, 2005 | James Mudge | 0 comments | Read MoreKaena: The Prophecy (2003) Movie Review
Truth be told, the only notable thing about “Kaena: The Prophecy”, which is hyped as the first French 3D animated film ever, is that American movie star Kirsten Dunst is the voice of the lead character, the titular Kaena. Which, by itself, brings some baggage, in particular the fact that everytime you hear Dunst’s voice [...]
January 30th, 2005 | Nix | 0 comments | Read MorePerfect Blue (2002) Movie Review
Ahhhh, the vagaries of stardom. Plenty of money, private jets, fast cars, an entourage of “Yes” men doing your bidding, and millions of screaming fans. However, fans sometimes become a star’s worst enemy. We’ve all seen news reports of obsessed fans stalking and sometimes harming the celebrities they’re fixated upon. This obsession sometimes spins out [...]
January 14th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 comments | Read MoreNausicaa of the Valley of the Winds (1984) Movie Review
“Nausicaa” (also known by the longer title, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”) is based on the manga series of the same name, written and drawn by the film’s writer/director Hayao Miyazaki. The story is set 1,000 years from now, in a so-called Ceramic Age, where the human race is about ready to join [...]
December 21st, 2004 | Erick Kwon | 0 comments | Read More














