Animation

The Land Before Time: where careers go extinct

You all remember The Land Before Time, right? The 1988 Stephen Spielberg/George Lucas-produced, Don Bluth-directed cartoon about talking dinosaurs learning important life lessons, that incited millions of kids to nag their parents into a weekly Pizza Hut pilgrimage just so they could ram their tiny hands inside the ill-fitting plastic puppets... right?

Review: 9

We are told that 9 is brought to us by the visionary directors Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, which immediately conjures up images of gothic fairytale whimsy and flashy action. Although containing elements of both, this film is actually more like an epic adventure - and it's just a little too ambitious.

Review: Up

Have Pixar outgrown the animation industry? You could certainly argue they have. Typically the domain of sassy talking animals and cutesy characters, it's a playground which Pixar seem to have grown bored with.

Review: Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs

The first Ice Age was one of the first indicators that Pixar had some serious contenders in the animation department. Ice Age: The Meltdown came along soon after and proved that the busybodies at Fox were still a threat with a much improved sequel. Now, the whole gang is back for a third instalment of the animated franchise, tak...

Review: Coraline

There's something deeply disturbing about button-eyes. Maybe it's the lack of reflection or emotion that leaves a certain 'deadness' about them. But if your Other Mother is more loving and attentive than your real mother, surely that's a good thing? Even if she has button eyes, right? Coraline (Fanning) is an adventurous but ...

Review: Monsters Vs Aliens

Like so many brides to be, Susan Murphy's wedding day consisted of getting up early to be faffed and fluffed over; sneaking off to see her groom before the ceremony; being squished by a quantonium-laden meteorite and subsequently transformed into a 49-and-a-half-foot government secret codenamed Ginormica. It's a timeless tale. ...

Review: Bolt

In recent years, there have been two types of animated movie released by Disney. You have the Pixar movies, loved by all and heralded as works of genius; think WALL-E, Finding Nemo and Toy Story. Then, on the other hand, you have the rest of the crap. Think that's unfair? I give you The Wild and Chicken Little. Bolt, coming from...

Review: Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder

With the release of this fourth and final feature-length movie, once again we come to the 'end' of Futurama as we know it. These days, TV shows never really die - they're just put on hiatus until outraged fans buy enough DVDs (come on Browncoats, resurrect Firefly!). But given the mixed reception these new releases have received...

Review: Futurama: Bender's Game

Good news, everybody! Futurama's back! It's been a strange old scenario ever since the show was resurrected from TV Hell. Instead of another series of 22-minute episodes, Fox - in their infinite wisdom - recommissioned Futurama in the form of four feature-length DVDs, each of which are basically four episodes back to back (to be...

Review: Space Chimps

In a computer-animated world where Pixar and Dreamworks are Kings, it can be tough for little guys like Vanguard Animation to get much of a look in. With the likes of WALL·E and Kung Fu Panda dominating the box office and holding parents to ransom over the school holidays, this cheap and charmless little film about monkeys in sp...