Ewan MacGregor provides the voice of Rodney Copperbottom in “Robots,” the 2005 release about a world where everything is robotic and to stay healthy, you need to upgrade. Rodney is an inventor and has big dreams of traveling to the city and meeting his idol, Bigweld, possibly the greatest inventor of all time. Rodney wants to work in Bigweld’s factory and help him make life better for robots everywhere. He says goodby to his parents and begins his journey, full of optimism. That optimism is soon crushed when he arrives at Bigweld Enterprises and is told by the gate guard … Continue reading →

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) lives in the zoo and has never known any other life. He is the star of the show and loves the way that the crowds gather around to watch him ferociously roar and strut his stuff. Each night, the zoo staff brings his steak on a silver platter, and he couldn’t be more pleased with life. His best friend Marty (Chris Rock) is a zebra with a desire to run free. He has a treadmill in his cage, but it’s not the same as taking off across the savannah. It’s Marty’s birthday, and all he … Continue reading →

“Spirited Away” is another film directed (and written by) Hayao Miyazaki, who also did “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Howl’s Moving Castle”. His style of storing telling and animation is so unique, and so very different from Disney movies. Miyazaki doesn’t assume that kids can’t understand more complex plots or be interested in something for shorter periods of time (most of his movies clock in around two hours or more). “Spirited Away” is the story of young Chihiro, who is on her way with her parents to their new home. She’s not happy about it, and is quite pouty and immature … Continue reading →

Fresh off the heels of rewatching “Emma”, I was excited to watch this movie (plus, all the commercials had made the movie look terribly romantic). I really thought I would like “Pride and Prejudice” more. I thoroughly enjoyed Emma, but that movie has much more lightness and fun about it. This version of “Pride and Prejudice” isn’t anywhere near as fun to watch. The story involves the Bennett family, whose matriarch is anxious to marry off her five daughters. They hope to match the eldest, Jane with Mr. Bingley. The engagement seems eminent (though I kept finding myself wondering why … Continue reading →

If you’ve never seen one of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films, you are truly missing great works of art. Normally cartoons are intended for younger audiences, but Miyazaki’s films are just as much for adults. The story lines are smart (though sometimes a bit confusing) and interesting. “Howl’s Moving Castle” is no exception. Sophie is a young hat maker who, after an encounter with a wizard, is turned into an old woman by a vengeful witch called the Witch of the Waste. Sophie takes her transformation in stride and leaves her home in search of someone who can transform her back. … Continue reading →

Usually when we hear that the end of the world is coming, we think of it as a far off event or we think that the prophet of such doom is a quack. Well, in this case they aren’t quacks; they’re dodos, and I’m not sure what sound they make but it’s probably pretty close to a quack, being birds and all. Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios present “Ice Age,” the story of our world centuries ago. Primitive man exists, living in huts and hunting with spears, and saber-tooth tigers and mammoths still roam the earth. So do … Continue reading →