Animated Movie Reviews »
Finding Nemo (2003) Movie Review
Let me confess that American-made animation is not the type of thing I go out of my way to see, since most movies always seem to be adaptations of other Disney movies, only with...
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The Animatrix (2003) Movie Review
Most of “The Animatrix”, 9 short animated episodes (about 10 minutes a piece) that takes place within the world of “The Matrix”, is superfluous. But there are three segments that have direct bearing on...
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Kite (1998) Movie Review
Yasuomi Umetsu’s one-hour animation, “Kite” (which is actually compiled from 2 25-minute episodes), suffers from what I like to call Dumb Action Movie Clich’s. DAMC is responsible for a lot of the things that...
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Black Magic M-66 (1987) Movie Review
As long as you don’t expect too much, I suppose Masamune Shirow’s 1987 effort, “Black Magic M-66″ isn’t a bad way to spend 45 minutes. At least 8 years before he would blow the...
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Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) Movie Review
Even if you had absolutely no interest in animated movies of any type, Hayao Miyazaki has a way of convincing you to rethink that notion. Miyazaki’s “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, a 1989 feature about a...
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Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) Movie Review
The only reason that could possibly explain the making of “Heavy Metal 2000″ is the cult following for the 1981 original. Unlike its predecessor, “Heavy Metal 2000: F.A.K.K. 2″ uses traditional cell animation in...
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Princess Mononoke (1997) Movie Review
I should first say that I have nothing against nature, forests, and all that other good ecological stuff. Hey, plants keep us alive, right? It just so happens that whenever someone attempts to make...
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South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut (1999) Movie Review
Depending on where you live, you may or may not know what “Southpark” is. For the uninitiated, “Southpark” is an animated cartoon that shows on Comedy Central, a basic cable channel here in the...
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Lilo and Stitch (2002) Movie Review
“Lilo and Stitch” is a new animation film from the house of the Mouse (re: Walt Disney). As such, it has all the trademarks and “touches” of the Mouse, namely manipulation of emotions, a...
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Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001) Movie Review
My memory of the original Vampire Hunter D, of which Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is a sequel to, is a little hazy. The original came out in 1985 and I saw it...
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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) Movie Review
I will first grant you that I find the main premise behind Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within to be just a little silly, with its focus on the Earth as a “living being” with...
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Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1998) Movie Review
A movie like Hiroyuki Okiura’s Jin-Roh is why the Japanese are considered the pioneers of animation. Over the last decade or so the shortcomings of American “cartoons” and animation have become painfully obvious when...
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Waking Life (2001) Movie Review
You know how when you’re talking to someone and instead of saying what they think or feel, they recall what they’ve read that someone else has said, and recite those sayings to you, as...
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Monsters, Inc. (2001) Movie Review
I’ve never been too fond of CGI animation. Sure, I enjoyed Toy Story, Shrek, and now Monsters, Inc., but I’ve just never been overly enthusiastic about seeing them. The simple reason is that I’ve...
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Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) Movie Review
Blood: The Last Vampire is my second Japanimation in as many days. Blood is a cinematic feature that runs just over 45 minutes long. In Japan, this would be akin to a movie-of-the-week, since...
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My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Movie Review
As the saying goes, Children do and say the strangest things. I couldn’t tell you if I ever saw a big furry creature that resembles a real-life teddy bear when I was 4 or...
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