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Poll: What should the March theme for our monthly TV/Movie club be?

Every month we choose a theme for our Movie/TV Club. In the past we’ve highlighted directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock and David Cronenberg. Other times we’ve concentrated on events such as the Academy Awards. February’s theme spotlights actor Keanu Reeves. Now we are asking our readers to decide what we should do in …

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‘Paperman’, Disney’s animated short that screened before ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ in theatres, is now online

Before the days of computer-generated imagery, hand-drawn images were the primary means by which animated features were made, and few were better at the endeavour than Disney studios. The recent turn away from traditional animation has thus left many fans of classic Disney films upset, and Disney has been putting in efforts that indicate they …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘The Rescuers Down Under’

The Rescuers Down Under Directed by Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel Written by Jim Cox, Karey Kirkpatrick, Byron Simpson, Joe Ranft Starring Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, George C. Scott The level of faith the Walt Disney Company places in its own products never ceases to be amazing if inexplicable. Each era at this massive corporation …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, and Jay Wolpert Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush Captain Jack Sparrow is the worst thing that ever happened to Johnny Depp’s career. The prevailing wisdom is that the constantly …

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‘Frankenweenie’ a visually striking Blu-ray release with sparse supplements

Maybe Tim Burton should stick to stop-motion animation from now on. Some of his most creative films, his biggest qualitative successes, haven’t been in live-action or overdosed on computer graphics. You may think of him as the director of Batman or of Beetlejuice, but Burton’s impact is most powerfully felt in the 1993 Disney film …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘Monsters, Inc.’

Monsters, Inc. Directed by Pete Docter Written by Andrew Stanton and Daniel Gerson Starring Billy Crystal, John Goodman, James Coburn, Steve Buscemi Here’s a question that has nagged at me for the last few years: what, really, is the difference between a film made by Pixar Animation Studios and a film made by DreamWorks Animation? …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘The Rescuers’

The Rescuers Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery, Art Stevens Written by Larry Clemmons, Vance Gerry, Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Burny Mattinson, Fred Lucky, Dick Sebast, Dave Michener Starring Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page, Pat Buttram, George Lindsey One of the most fascinating aspects of our podcast is watching the struggle within the Walt …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘One Magic Christmas’

One Magic Christmas Directed by Phillip Borsos Written by Phillip Borsos, Barry Healey, Thomas Meehan Starring Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, Elisabeth Harnois, Gary Basaraba I suppose it’s perfectly fitting that religion became a topic of discussion on our most recent episode, seeing as the movie we were discussing was set at Christmas, one of …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘Enchanted’

I have rarely seen a movie as undeserving of its lead performance as I have with Enchanted and Amy Adams. And I want to reiterate, in this column, what I said on the podcast: I think Adams’ work in this film is one of the best lead performances in any American film in a long time. It is a monumentally difficult, brave, and daring role to play. Whatever opinion people have of Enchanted is first informed by their opinion of Adams’ performance as Giselle. If she’s not so sparkling and lively and entertaining in this film, we would not be thinking of it fondly in any form. It’s not just that this is a character-driven film, it’s that it’s so singularly performance-driven, to the overall film’s detriment.

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‘Cinderella’ and ‘Santa Paws 2’ direct-to-DVD releases for the die-hard princess and dog lovers only

Blu-ray technology is a blessing and a curse. Because it’s now the standard in home media creation and distribution, the basis behind this innovation has perhaps become obscured. Some of the greatest films of all time have been given new life on Blu-ray, as recently as last week, for example. (One can only imagine how …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride Directed by Darrell Rooney Written by Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus Starring Matthew Broderick, Neve Campbell, Jason Marsden, Nathan Lane, Suzanne Pleshette, Andy Dick, Moira Kelly Is it enough for a movie to not be terrible? On the face of it, this question’s pretty easy to tackle. Any movie, …

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‘Brave’ and ‘Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 2’ Blu-rays offer insightful special features

There’s no better proof of Disney’s unparalleled dedication to giving you your money’s worth with their home media than two new releases, Brave and the Pixar Short Films Collection, Volume 2 (though more the former than the latter). Both Blu-rays come out today, and if you’re a Pixar completist, you’ll want to either get them …

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On Blu-ray, ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ comes to life once more

As much as you may want to fight it—OK, as much as I may want to fight it—the Christmas season continues to start earlier and earlier each year. This year, it’s safe to say that Disney assumes Christmas begins right after Halloween ends, as evidenced by their newest catalog release on Blu-ray, the 1992 family …

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The Tao of ‘Wreck-It Ralph’

Wreck-It Ralph Written by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee with additional story material by John C. Reilly Directed by Rich Moore USA 2012 imdb If you haven’t seen Wreck-It Ralph, go see it, it’s really good, no matter what my Grouchy McGroucherson co-host on the Mousterpiece podcast has said and written, but the purpose of this …

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‘Wreck-It Ralph’ a scattered piece of animation boasting one great performance

Wreck-It Ralph Directed by Rich Moore Written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston USA, 2012 If, as some theorists believe, there are alternate universes where the vast infinity of possibilities in life actually come true, there’s a world out there where The Princess and the Frog was Walt Disney Animation Studios’ biggest hit since The …

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‘Wreck-It Ralph’ is a nice diversion but far from top-tier Disney

Wreck-It Ralph Directed by Rich Moore Written by Jennifer Lee, Phil Johnson U.S.A., 2012 There was a time when the big family film of the year that everyone wanted to see was in fact the Disney animated feature. It was so for decades literally, up until 1995 when Pixar, which sees its films distributed by …

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‘Secret of the Wings’ a bland, inoffensive entry into the Disney DTV canon

Secret of the Wings, the latest in the Disney Fairies series, is the movie-length definition of the word “innocuous.” It’s hard to imagine that anyone would be truly offended by the film, and that any children would be too scared or frightened by the extremely friendly, candy-colored world of Pixie Hollow and the neighboring Winter …

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‘The Great Mouse Detective’ and ‘Pete’s Dragon’ arrive on Blu-ray with sparkling transfers, while lacking features

On one hand, it’s hard not to applaud the Walt Disney Company for its recent and seemingly tireless efforts to release as many of its older films that aren’t considered categorically huge successes onto Blu-ray. (Later this year, we’ll see everything from the Santa Clause trilogy to Babes in Toyland get a high-definition release from …

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