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REVIEW: “The Odyssey” (2026)

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(Source: IMDb )  Christopher Nolan has come a long way from independent filmmaking to large-scale productions over the last three decades. This year, he brings us his most ambitious and episodic project to date with an adaptation of Homer’s centuries-old story of Ancient Greek figures. Specifically, The Odyssey chronicles the 20-year journey of Greek hero Odysseus, from fighting in the Battle of Troy to his years-long trek to return home to Ithaca, to his wife and son. Said journey involves war, adventure, a cyclops, giant soldiers, gods, sirens, and any other obstacle you can imagine (physically, morally, spiritually, mentally, psychologically). Ditto themes of a kingdom without a king, others wanting to take the throne, and a son who has grown up without a father.  The Odyssey marks a significant milestone in moviemaking and cinemagoing. Since he made The Dark Knight almost twenty years ago, Nolan has been using IMAX cameras for select sequences in all but one of his subs...
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REVIEW: “Moana” (2026)

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(Source: IMDb )  Disney’s apparently never-ending, live-action slate continues this summer with a remake of one of their most recent and beloved hits. Like 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man , the 2026 version of Moana  arrives nearly ten years after its predecessor first premiered in theaters. Brought to life by stage director Thomas Kail (known for Hamilton ), this flick certainly benefits from cultural representation. But it’s basically the same movie as its animated 2016 counterpart.  This anticipated tentpole has already been getting negative reviews. It’s basically a shot-for-shot remake, with nothing really surprising or very exciting, except maybe a few small moments and more intense action that slightly differentiate it from the animated blockbuster. I stand by my belief that, when Disney remakes their animated films, they do much better when they do something new and unpredictable (which is why adaptations like Cinderella and The Jungle Book worked so well). Even l...
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REVIEW COLLECTION: DreamWorks Animation, Part 4c

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(Source: Variety )  Orion and the Dark  (2024)  Although DreamWorks has made several TV series for Netflix, they (for now) have only made one feature film for the streaming service. UK author Emma Yarlett’s children’s book, Orion and the Dark , was adapted by screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (his first turn in animation since the stop-motion adult drama  Anomalisa ), while first-time director Sean Charmatz presents a colorful, bright, and surprisingly deep, surreal fantasy .  The main story centers on the titular Orion (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), who seems to be afraid of everything. Talking to girls. Being rejected. Being bullied by classmates. Dying. But mostly, he (like most kids) is afraid of the dark. He tells us so through quirky voiceover narration. One night, Dark personified (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser) actually shows up and decides to show Orion his job for one night, to try to convince the boy that what he’s afraid of isn’t actually so bad.  Recall...
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REVIEW COLLECTION: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (PHASE ONE)

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(Source: Logopedia )     Iron Man (2008)  Last year, when revisiting each existing film and documentary I could/did on The Fantastic Four , I commented on how different studios had owned the previous rights to certain characters from Marvel Comics, including (but not limited to) the X-Men at 20th Century Fox and Spider-Man at Sony. It wasn’t until the mid-2000s (during which time Christopher Nolan revitalized the Batman saga) that Marvel decided to produce and finance their first movie independently—with distribution from Paramount Pictures—under the banner of “ Marvel Studios .” Led by producers Avi Arad and Kevin Feige, their choice of character and story came from an obscure series that most of the general public wasn’t familiar with, but most diehard comic book fans were : a tech billionaire who leads a double life as a hero in a mechanized suit of armor.  Not since Johnny Depp was initially cast as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean has a major studio ...
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REVIEW: “Minions & Monsters” (2026)

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(Source: IMDb )  The yellow, pill-shaped henchmen of supervillain-turned-super-spy dad Gru from Illumination’s ever-popular Despicable Me series have arguably become more iconic than their costars from that same series. So much so, that they’ve not only been the mascots of Chris Meladandri’s CGI company (based in France). They’ve had three standalone movies up to this point. Their solo debut in 2015 traced their origins from the dawn of time to the 1960s, while their 2022 follow-up chronicled their early days with a much-younger Gru, when the latter wanted to be part of a league of supervillains.  With this year’s Minions & Monsters , the setting takes place in 1920s Hollywood, as the little guys not only keep looking for a dastardly master to serve (a carry-over from their first flick), but also (quite accidentally) break out into the film industry, including the transition between silent pictures and talkies, and black-and-white to color. It sort of retcons their backsto...
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