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Maleficent (2014): Looking Beyond the Horns
Anyone who knew Maleficent only through Disney’s Sleeping Beauty had every reason to remember her as pure evil. She appeared at a royal celebration, cursed an innocent baby, and looked exactly like…
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Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist (2014): Why Ryu and Ken Fight Alike
Ryu and Ken have always seemed like two variations of the same fighter. Their personalities are different, but many of their signature techniques come from the same foundation. Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist…
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Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984): When an Old Science-Fiction Film Still Feels Close
Macross: Do You Remember Love? was released in Japan in 1984 as a theatrical reconstruction of the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross television story. It is not a digital production, despite how…
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Zootopia (2016): Disney at Its Cutest
Zootopia is filled with the kind of charming character design that Disney animation handles especially well. From Judy Hopps’s expressive ears and determined face to the many animals adapted to city life,…
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The Boss (2016): Business Ambition Turned into Comedy
The Boss builds its comedy around Michelle Darnell, a wealthy and highly confident businesswoman whose success collapses after she is sent to prison for insider trading. Once released, she tries to rebuild…
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Luck-Key (2016): A Sign of How Far Korean Comedy Has Come
Luck-Key takes a familiar identity-swap premise and turns it into an energetic Korean action comedy. After a highly skilled assassin loses his memory in a bathhouse accident, he is mistakenly led to…
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Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016): When Chi Connects Two Worlds
Kung Fu Panda 3 expands Po’s adventure beyond the familiar mortal world by introducing the Spirit Realm, where the supernatural warrior Kai has been collecting the chi of kung fu masters. The…
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Ghostbusters (2016): A New Team Takes on a Familiar Comedy
Ghostbusters returns with a new team of four women played by Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Rather than continuing the original story, the 2016 film reimagines the premise…
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Our Brand Is Crisis (2015): Sandra Bullock in a Darker Political Comedy
Our Brand Is Crisis places Sandra Bullock at the center of a political campaign where comedy and seriousness constantly overlap. She plays Jane Bodine, an experienced American campaign strategist hired to help…
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Time Trip App (2014): A Samurai Who Chooses Peace Over Bloodshed
Time Trip App sends a high school teacher and her students back to 1868, when the shogunate is collapsing and a battle over Edo appears imminent. There they encounter Katsu Kaishu, a…