I've been very busy with life and not able to post recently. But I did manage to take in some of the summer films.
I got to see From Up On Poppy Hill in the theaters. Which turned into a financial disaster for GKIDS and Ghibli. I'm not at all surprised to see that Ghibli has linked a new deal with Disney for US distribution. I actually enjoyed the GKIDS adaptation. It was funny how they ducked the incest taboo in the translation.
Monster's U was written to action movie spec. It was predictable and trite. It added nothing to the original. It's an example of everything that is wrong with Pixar these days. I found it sad. 1.5/4 stars.
Planes turned out to be the second best performing movie in DisneyToon's history after Return to Neverland. This was another spec film. The CG was middle of the road and the characterization is poor and full of archetypes. But I actually enjoyed it. For the intended audience of young boys it succeeds. 2/4 stars.
In the rentals department I've only picked up Epic. Which I was pretty disappointed with. Clearly a cookie cutter, by the numbers, CG film. I found it boring. Pretty but airheaded. 1.5/4 stars.
I'm still waiting for the first 2013 film to wow me.
