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Certificate: 
Director: Henry Selick
Release Date: 8 May 2009
Tagline: Be careful what you wish for.
Main Cast: (voice)
Dakota Fanning … Coraline Jones
Teri Hatcher … Mel Jones / Other Mother / Beldam
Jennifer Saunders … Miss April Spink / Other Spink
Dawn French … Miss Miriam Forcible / Other Forcible
I really liked this. A beautifully crafted stop-motion animated tale about a bored girl whose explorations give her more than she bargained for. This is the first 3D stop-motion film to be made, although I can’t comment on if was a success or not as I watched the 2D version.
Coraline is rather an unlikeable character. Her family have just moved in to a rather peculiar house that has been divided in to apartments, and the other residents are all oddballs. Neither of her parents have much time for her so she’s left to find her own entertainment. She’s sullen and rude, and I kind of liked it when she realised how much trouble she’d got herself in.
She comes across a small door which leads her to a parallel universe where her parents are attentive and her every whim is catered for. She is offered a chance to stay with these ‘other parents’, but she must first replace her eyes with black buttons (all of the characters in the other world beyond the door have buttons for eyes). This doesn’t appeal to Coraline, and the true nature of her predicament becomes evident.
Coraline is a dark fairytale like story with some really creepy moments and a sinister undertone and is definitely not for small children. In fact, I can see this giving more than one or two a few nightmares.
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Certificate: 
Directors: Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier (co-director)
Release Date: 1 July 2009
Tagline: The sub-zero heroes are back, on an incredible adventure… for the ages.
Main Cast: (Voice)
John Leguizamo … Sid
Ray Romano … Manny
Denis Leary … Diego
If you liked the previous Ice Age films, then you’ll like this. There is quite a lot of character building in this one, which is quite unusual in animated films. Manny now has a family, and both Diego and Sid are feeling like their paths are beginning to lead them elsewhere. Sid especially is finding himself at a crossroads, and when he stumbles across three eggs he decides to pretend that they’re his family. However, when they hatch he gets more than he bargained for!
Scrat has a slightly larger role, and I did find the screaming a bit annoying in the end, but that’s just a small thing.
Another solid addition to the Ice Age films. Great animation and as funny as its previous instalments.
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Directors: Matthew O’Callaghan and Todd Wilderman (co-director)
Release Date: 27 January 2009
Tagline: This time it’s pets against wilds. Weiner takes all!
Main Cast: (voice)
Joel McHale … Elliot
Mike Epps … Boog
If you haven’t seen the original you might wonder what on earth is going on, so I recommend you watch Open Season first. You’ll get more out of it if you do. Of course, being a kid’s film it’s not essential, but I like to watch films in the correct order and you’ll get a better feel for the main characters if you do.
Whilst not in the same league as Pixar (but then again, who is?) I found this to be a really funny sequel and not in the least bit disappointing. There is plenty to amuse kids and adults alike (it had my husband laughing out loud!)
The poor old bunnies get a bit of a raw deal, but they are scene stealers! Their expressions are priceless!
Good, solid entertainment and I would happily watch it again.
Rating: 
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Directors: John Lasseter and Joe Ranft (co-director)
Release Date: 28 July 2006
Tagline: Ahhh… It’s got that new movie smell.
Main Cast: (voice)
Owen Wilson … Lightning McQueen
Paul Newman … Doc Hudson
Bonnie Hunt … Sally Carrera
Larry The Cable Guy … Mater
I have no clue why this received lukewarm reviews on release as it’s a very charming, funny and engaging film. How the animators managed to get so much character into cars I’ll never know. Humans and animals are easy to inject with emotion, but Pixar are proving to be exceptional at showing emotions on just about anything that they can put eyes on!
The film opens with a thundering race scene and the high octane thrills are fantastic, but its real joy is in the gentle and close knit town in which Lightning McQueen finds himself.
My favourite character has to be Mater, and my favourite scene is when he takes Lightning ‘cow’ tipping. Pure genius!
Cars is a visually stunning gem of a film. What more could you ask for?
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Directors: Chris Miller & Raman Hui (co-director)
Release Date: 29 June 2007
Tagline: Who’s ready for Thirds?
Main Cast: (voice)
Mike Myers … Shrek
Eddie Murphy … Donkey
Cameron Diaz … Princess Fiona
Antonio Banders … Puss in Boots
After reading reviews of this I wasn’t expecting too much. However, I thought it was much better than reported. I would have liked to have seen more of Donkey though, as I think he’s by far the best character. I do like the fact that Puss has now joined as a second sidekick to Shrek. As usual, there are plenty of little jokes in the background to amuse us adults.
Shrek the Third is not in the same league as the original, but I’d put it on a par with the second one.
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Directors: Eric Darnell & Tom McGrath
Release Date: 15 July 2005
Tagline: Ton on the run.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ben Stiller … Alex
Chris Rock … Marty
David Schwimmer … Melman
Jada Pinkett Smith … Gloria
Sacha Baron Cohen … Julien
Madagascar follows a group of four friends from New York’s Central Park Zoo. One of them has a mural of a lush, green landscape opposite him, and this inspires him to leave New York for the ‘wild’. It’s not done in a schmaltzy and sentimental way (thankfully), and when he leaves the unexciting but safe zoo, the other characters go off to find him and bring him back. Which they do. However, they find themselves being taken from the zoo and put on a ship bound for Africa. And so the adventure begins.
This is another good animation that will be enjoyed by both children and adults. It’s very charming and engaging with several laugh out loud moments. The actors fit their characters very well; I especially liked Sacha Baron Cohen as Julien.
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Directors: Chris Wedge & Carlos Saldanha (co-director)
Release Date: 22 March 2002
Tagline: The coolest event in 16,000 years.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ray Romano … Manfred
John Leguizamo … Sid
Denis Leary … Diego
Whilst not in the same league as Pixar’s finest, Ice Age is still very enjoyable for all ages. I would imagine that this is something that would pass most adults by, but if you are like me and enjoy great animation with a good script and talented voice artists then you should find this entertaining.
The basic plot is pretty standard stuff; there is a loner who somehow manages to find himself in the company of an annoying sidekick, but by the end of the film they are great friends. The straight man and the funny one – a classic combination. They are eventually joined by a third character which is a nice added element.
Simple yet very funny, Ice Age is one of those little gems that adults will probably miss, but should really give a chance.
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Director: Andrew Stanton
Release Date: 18 July 2008
Tagline: An adventure beyond the ordinar-E.
Main Cast: (voice)
Ben Burtt … WALL·E / M-O
Elissa Knight … EVE
Jeff Garlin … Captain
Sigourney Weaver … Ship’s Computer
Guess what? Pixar have come up with yet another masterpiece! WALL·E is utterly charming and totally brilliant from start to finish. The first part of the film has practically no dialogue, and the animators at Pixar have managed to create such a wonderful character that we need no words to follow the story.
WALL·E is the last of his kind – a clean-up robot on a barren and completely deserted Earth of the future. Whilst doing his job, he collects items that take his fancy, and he furnishes his home with them. In amongst his collection are a tv & VCR on which he plays a video of Hello Dolly! and is entranced by the love songs and the companionship he sees on screen. His loneliness is plain for all to see, and within a matter of minutes you get a real feeling of sympathy for this little robot.
Whilst going about his daily business, he has an encounter with a space ship which deposits a robot who has a rather destructive streak and clearly has a mission, although we don’t find out what the mission is until later on. WALL·E befriends EVE and the adventure begins.
Everything about WALL·E is exceptional. Watch it – and make it soon!
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Director: Dave Filoni
Release Date: 15 August 2008
Tagline: Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before.
Main Cast: (voice)
Matt Lanter … Anakin Skywalker
James Arnold Taylor … Obi-Wan Kenobi / 4-A7 / Medical Droid
Ashley Eckstein … Ahsoka Tano
Christopher Lee … Count Dooku
Ian Abercrombie … Senator Palpatine / Darth Sidious
Tom Kane … Yoda / Narrator / Admiral Yularen
I am so sick of the Star Wars prequels whiners, and even more sick of those who hated them so much that they are seemingly willing to trash all present and future ventures. Why can’t these people get it into their heads that they have grown up (at least physically) and therefore must accept that there are going to be elements that seem pretty childish.
This is aimed at children but there is also plenty for us older fans to like. The battle scenes are pretty exciting, and the lightsaber duels are very good.
I really liked this and can’t understand the terrible reviews it had. One critic panned the animation, but I thought it was superb. The Clone Wars has a look and feel all its own and works well not only as a lead up to the new series, but also as a companion to the original Clone Wars animation shorts. I also can’t understand the same critic’s view that the actors were poor. I thought that James Arnold Taylor, Ian Abercrombie and Tom Kane were very convincing as Obi-Wan, Palpatine and Yoda respectively. Matt Lanter also made a credible Anakin.
I did find the character of Ahsoka quite annoying. I can understand that they needed to give Anakin someone to converse with, but they could have come up with a better character. I hated the nickname “Sky Guy” and I also didn’t like Jabba the Hutt calling his son “Punky Muffin”. That’s just plainly unacceptable and cheapens Jabba (whose voice actor was also very convincing).
Overall, it’s not perfect but if you can get over the “Sky Guy” and “Punky Muffin” atrocities then you’ll have a good time.
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Director: David Silverman
Release Date: 25 July 2007
Tagline: See our family. And feel better about yours.
Main Cast: (voice)
Dan Castellaneta … Homer
Julie Kavner … Marge
Nancy Cartwright … Bart
Yeardly Smith … Lisa
I’m a big fan of The Simpsons (who isn’t?!) and doubted somewhat whether a film would work. It was obviously going to require some sort of plot to sustain the probable length of approximately 90 minutes (the film is actually 87 minutes), and I was unsure what they were going to come up with. Although I enjoyed the film (there are some very funny moments), I just couldn’t really get fully into it. The regular episodes all have believable plots (give or take a crazy moment or two), but the film strays from this somewhat! It also borrows heavily from overused storylines e.g. Lisa falls for another gentle soul who is just like her (his appearance in Springfield is rather Deus Ex Machina, which, oddly enough, they admit to doing in a different part of the film), and she’s on the environmental campaign trail once again. Ok, so this is The Simpsons, and a complex plot was neither expected or required. I just wish it had been a little more like real life.
So, did it work? Yes and no. It was an interesting experiment, but one that I don’t think needs to be repeated.
One last thing – if you watch through until the end of the credits, Maggie says her first word. Personally, I think this is a mistake. She should always remain the enigma that she is – has she not learned to speak yet, or does she just elect to be a wry observer who thinks that actions speak louder than words?
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