A mismatched pair of blue macaws return for adventure in the Amazon with their new family in tow in the animated sequel Rio 2. When last we saw Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway), they were together and safe in their brand-new bird sanctuary in the jungles of Rio de Janeiro. With a […]

It’s no secret that I’m underwhelmed by origin stories when it comes to superhero movies. I understand why they exist, and I tolerate them with every reboot of the Spider-Man and Batman franchises. I prefer the films where they assume that you already know something about the characters and just plop them in the middle […]

A blue macaw and his human owner form an unbreakable bond that’s jeopardized when he’s stolen by smugglers in the animated Rio. Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) is a blue macaw who’s made the most of his coexistence with humans. He and his adoptive owner Linda (Leslie Mann) spend their days in symbiotic bliss. They do […]

Had Noah stuck to an extended version of the classic tale, it would have been a powerful, dramatic film instead of the mixed bag that results

I grew up at the perfect time for the Muppets. I was a child when Sesame Street started airing on PBS, and The Muppet Show came a few years later with a whole new batch of characters that were better in many ways than the iconic creations on Sesame Street. The Muppets jumped to the […]

An opportunistic concierge is framed for murder and sets out to clear his name in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson‘s latest quirky comedy is a powerful addition to his anthology of the absurd. If you’ve never encountered any of Anderson’s unique films, be forewarned that they’re somewhat of an acquired taste. His latest tale […]

An erudite beagle and his adopted son meet history’s most famous figures as they travel through time in the animation redux Mr. Peabody & Sherman. In this new, slightly reimagined update of a classic cartoon spin-off, Mr. Peabody (voiced by Ty Burrell) grows up as an outcast. He’s not at all interested in conventional canine cavorting. […]

Each year brings minor trends in movies, whether it’s a cluster of films with the same actor — like Benedict Cumberbatch in the last months of 2013 — or a series of flicks based on young adult novels. The spring and summer of 2014 may just include a trend of disaster movies. First up is Pompeii, with […]

I first encountered LEGO bricks in the late ‘70s. I was torn between sinking all of my meager savings from chores, birthdays and holidays into LEGO sets or my new Atari 2600, and the video games prevailed. Were it not for a greater addiction to video games, I could have gone down that path of […]

A perpetual daydreamer, longing to break free from his mundane life, jumps at an unexpected opportunity in James Thurber‘s classic tale The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is your typical geeky introvert. He goes through each day wondering what life would be like if only he could escape the chains of […]

When I first heard about the planned adaptation of The Hobbit, I thought that the book would translate well into a long, amazing movie. Later on, the project passed through many hands before landing back where it belonged in the lap of director Peter Jackson. In the era of adapting single books into multiple films […]

Hans Christian Andersen‘s classic tale The Snow Queen is reimagined in Frozen, Disney‘s latest animated feature. In the kingdom of Arendelle, there are two young girls — Princess Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) and her younger sister, Princess Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa’s a precocious young girl with a very special secret — she can transform anything into ice and snow. As […]