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Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n

As you can see, the animation in Millennium Actress<\/em> is absolutely stunning. I love the way the colors pop with the monochromatic characters and how nearly every frame has 3 or more layers of animation going on. We also see influences of traditional Japanese art mixed with modern more stark imagery. It's stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, the animation in Millennium Actress<\/em> is absolutely stunning. I love the way the colors pop with the monochromatic characters and how nearly every frame has 3 or more layers of animation going on. We also see influences of traditional Japanese art mixed with modern more stark imagery. It's stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n

Millennium Actress<\/em> tells the story of a reporter, Genya Tachibana, and his cameraman Kyoji Ida as they interview a famous movie star named Chiyoko Fujiwara. As they interview her we see her memories play out in the past while an earthquake occurs upsetting the present. Genya also gives Chiyoko a key at the start of the interview, and we see in flashback how that key is important to the many events of her life. The clever thing is that Genya and Kyoji show up in the memories as if they are kind of guardian angels throughout the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, the animation in Millennium Actress<\/em> is absolutely stunning. I love the way the colors pop with the monochromatic characters and how nearly every frame has 3 or more layers of animation going on. We also see influences of traditional Japanese art mixed with modern more stark imagery. It's stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Millennium Actress<\/em> tells the story of a reporter, Genya Tachibana, and his cameraman Kyoji Ida as they interview a famous movie star named Chiyoko Fujiwara. As they interview her we see her memories play out in the past while an earthquake occurs upsetting the present. Genya also gives Chiyoko a key at the start of the interview, and we see in flashback how that key is important to the many events of her life. The clever thing is that Genya and Kyoji show up in the memories as if they are kind of guardian angels throughout the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, the animation in Millennium Actress<\/em> is absolutely stunning. I love the way the colors pop with the monochromatic characters and how nearly every frame has 3 or more layers of animation going on. We also see influences of traditional Japanese art mixed with modern more stark imagery. It's stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

Page 7 of 23 1 … 6 7 8 … 23
\n

Sometimes as anime fans we can get a little stuck on Studio Ghibli and forget about the other rich and beautiful films Japan has given us. One such film, 2002's Millennium Actress,<\/em> is coming to theaters for a 2 day Fathom<\/a> Event on August 13 and 16th. This is a special chance to see a stunning work of art from famed director and animator Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Paprika<\/em>) on the big screen and something I highly recommend making time for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Millennium Actress<\/em> tells the story of a reporter, Genya Tachibana, and his cameraman Kyoji Ida as they interview a famous movie star named Chiyoko Fujiwara. As they interview her we see her memories play out in the past while an earthquake occurs upsetting the present. Genya also gives Chiyoko a key at the start of the interview, and we see in flashback how that key is important to the many events of her life. The clever thing is that Genya and Kyoji show up in the memories as if they are kind of guardian angels throughout the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, the animation in Millennium Actress<\/em> is absolutely stunning. I love the way the colors pop with the monochromatic characters and how nearly every frame has 3 or more layers of animation going on. We also see influences of traditional Japanese art mixed with modern more stark imagery. It's stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the Fathom Events screenings you can see both a new English dub (August 19) or the subbed (August 13th). I always recommend watching in subbed to get the full experience but either way you definitely should make time to see this gorgeous film. It's not that long at 87 minutes and takes you on a journey of Chiyoko's life and the many things that happened to Japan in those years. The music by Susumu Hirasawa has a modern electronic edge to it that works perfectly for the narrative. It's really a film you will never forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wfnRYdTpzbs\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make sure to grab your tickets for Millennium Actress<\/em>. You won't regret it! They will also have a 'conversation with Millennium Actress<\/em> producers Taro Maki and Masao Maruyama after the film airs.\" Go to Fathom Events to find out where it is playing near you and how you can experience this classic anime film. http:\/\/bit.ly\/2xWm5Xy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/h3>\n","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Millennium Actress' (Classic Anime)","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-millennium-actress-classic-anime","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:09:00","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:09:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53365","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":54392,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-08-03 01:55:00","post_date_gmt":"2019-08-03 08:55:00","post_content":"Over my years of reviewing films for rotoscopers I have found there is a particular type of cgi movie that it is very difficult to get people, even animation addicts, to give a shot. It usually comes in the form of cgi animated films with small budgets (around $15 to $20 million). I'm not sure why this is the case? Perhaps terrible films like Norm of the North<\/em> give these movies a bad name, but you can often find real gems if you have an open mind (like the sweet The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>.)\n\n\"\"\n\nWell, today we are looking at a film in this category called Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em>. This Italian animated film tells the fictionalized story of Leonardo Da Vinci as a young inventor and artist. Over the course of the film, young Leo goes on an adventure to find treasure and save his friend Lisa (get it Mona Lisa<\/em>) from an angry father and a forced marriage.\n\nThere are some fun aspects of this film. Small kids will enjoy the moments of adventure with Leo facing off against pirates to find the treasure. Also the professional voice actors all do a good job (I'm not sure how old Leo and Lisa are supposed to be here?) and the animation is serviceable (in the closing credits they show the 2D sketches of the animators, and I so wish I could have seen that movie!).\n\n\"\"\n\nUnfortunately, I had major problems with Leo's <\/em>script with my biggest issue being I did not like the romance. At times elements felt outdated and uncomfortable. For example, Lisa being forced into a very young marriage and then being treated unfairly by all the characters including Leo at times. On the other hand, moments of girl-power thrown in randomly felt cloying and unearned. The characters seemed too young to be facing these very adult situations, which made it seem awkward and hurt the chemistry.\n\n\"\"\n\nThere are also a lot of scenes that rang flat like Leo's crazy shenanigans while inventing stuff or weird attempts to impress Lisa. I also didn't care for the music.\n\nIf you are looking for a babysitter for you child Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa<\/em> has enough adventure to entertain them but it won't have much cross-over appeal to adults. I hate picking on these smaller animated films but this film is a definite skip. Maybe stream it if it looks fun but not worth a full priced ticket at the theater.\n

\u2605\u2605.5<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Leo Da Vinci: Mission Mona Lisa'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-leo-da-vinci-mission-mona-lisa","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-30 18:12:51","post_modified_gmt":"2019-10-01 01:12:51","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.rotoscopers.com\/?p=53316","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52533,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-07-07 00:00:02","post_date_gmt":"2019-07-07 07:00:02","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nEven if it is only for a few days, it is always exciting when we get a new anime film released here in the United States. The latest entry comes out this week for a 2 day engagement on July 11th (subtitled) and 15th (dubbed) with Fathom Events and is called Sound! Euphonium: The Movie. <\/em>Just like last year's Liz and the Blue Bird,<\/em> this film is part of the anime TV series Sound! Euphonium,<\/em> which is all based on a manga of the same name.\r\n\r\nWhile I have not watched the anime series, I did see Liz<\/em> last year, and the overall concept is simple enough I didn't have any trouble following the plot of this film (<\/em>at the Fathom Event they will show an exclusive recap of seasons 1 and 2, which was not made available to me for this early review).\u00a0 Basically, the film follows a group of students in a competitive high school band over the course of a year. We get the highs, the lows and everything in between.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nHowever, where Liz\u00a0<\/em>focused on only 2 students and their relationship, this film introduces us to many students led by series protagonist Kumiko Oumae. She is a sophomore in high school and is responsible for helping the new students feel welcome and included. As in any band or group you have feuds between members, auditions for solos, big competitions to prepare for and lots of difficult practicing. There is also a fair share of romantic entanglements and worrying about what the future will bring for each of these students. Oh the melodrama!\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe animation is perhaps not as groundbreaking as it is in Liz<\/em> but it is still very pretty and the voice actors (I watched the dub) all do a great job creating these teenage characters. I also found the overall message to be less confusing than Liz,<\/em> so in some ways I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure what fans of the series will think, but I sure enjoyed it, and am interested in now catching up on the series.\r\n\r\nIf you've ever participated in a high school band, choir or any other group you will enjoy Sound! Euphonium: The Movie<\/em>. I definitely recommend checking it out and attending the Fathom Event on either July 11th or 15th. Tickets can be purchased here<\/a>.\r\n

\u2605\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Sound! Euphonium: The Movie'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-sound-euphonium-the-movie","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-07-07 23:04:34","post_modified_gmt":"2019-07-08 06:04:34","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52533","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":52039,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_date_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content":"It's funny how films are often released with similar themes or types of characters at a similar time for seemingly no reason. In a given year, we'll get two \"Attack the White House\" movies - White House Down<\/em> and Olympus Has Fallen - <\/em>or two movies about ants (ANTZ<\/em> and A Bug's Life<\/em>). Well, this month, we have another doubling, although the final takeaway is quite different. Penguins<\/strong> seem to be on Hollywood's mind so we have Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> and the anime film Penguin Highway<\/em>. They are both very impressive and definitely worth checking out.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nLet's start out with real penguins from Disneynature's Penguins<\/em>. In the grand tradition of Disney documentaries, the team at Disneynature seeks to craft a narrative around the animal they are profiling in the hopes of both teaching and entertaining kids. In Penguins <\/em>they choose a plucky little Ad\u00e9lie penguin they call Steve. He has a lot of free spirit and is always lagging a bit behind the other penguins, which of course makes him even more adorable.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe film basically followed Steve as he enters mating season in Antarctica. He must prepare the nest, find a willing partner, guard the eggs from snow and predators and then feed\/train the chicks after they hatch. It's all very sweet and delightful.\r\n\r\nThe only small flaw with Penguins<\/em> is the music cues were a little over-the-top, as were the puns from narrator Ed Helms at times. That said, the adorable penguins make up for any flaws and kids will especially love it.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNext up is the new anime film from director Hiroyasu Ishida called Penguin Highway<\/em>. Aside from having the same kinds of small penguins, this film is completely different from Penguins<\/em>. It's actually a sci-fi mystery that reminded me a little bit of the show Stranger Things<\/em> - but with penguins!\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> tells the story of a 4th grade boy named Aoyama-kun who is fascinated by science and exploring the mysteries of the world. He keeps several notebooks and writes about all the strange things he sees around him. One day, he is startled to find a flock of penguins at his town park. They aren't indigenous to his town so he can't figure out where they have come from. When more penguins keep appearing the mystery deepens and he discovers a woman named On\u00ea-san may be the key to figuring out all the answers.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe best parts about Penguin Highway<\/em> are the unpredictable script and beautiful animation. I didn't know where the mystery was going and surprised me at every turn. It also has a ton of heart as we see Aoyama come out of his shell and grow more confident with each discovery. And of course there is nothing cuter than all these anime penguins!\r\n\r\nThe downside to the film is that On\u00ea-san is a grown woman so her interactions with Aoyama can sometimes be a little awkward especially his fascination with her bosom. I wish they had made them more similar ages like they do with Eleven and Mike in Stranger Things<\/em>.\r\n\r\nBut I can ignore this flaw because everything else works so well and Penguin Highway<\/em> is such an imaginative, beautiful, fun film. I highly recommend seeing it and Disneynature's Penguins<\/em> as soon as possible.\r\n\r\nPenguin Highway<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e\u272e<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDisneynature's Penguins<\/em> \u272e\u272e\u272e.5<\/strong>\r\n

If you've seen either of these films let us know what you thought in the comments section. Thanks!<\/strong><\/h3>","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Penguins' and 'Penguin Highway'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-penguins-and-penguin-highway","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-04-20 10:20:27","post_modified_gmt":"2019-04-20 17:20:27","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=52039","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":51851,"post_author":"41","post_date":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_date_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nI must admit when I signed on to review Wonder Park,<\/em>\u00a0I was very hopeful it would be a under-the-radar film I could really champion. It looked like it might be a special film like Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero<\/em><\/a> or The Son of Bigfoot<\/em><\/a>--both movies I love and was proud to review here on Rotoscopers. Unfortunately I walked away from Wonder Park<\/em> with very mixed feelings, which is the most challenging kind of film to write about. It's not awful. In fact, it had many sweet and wonderful aspects to it, but I also had major issues particularly with the animation that kept me from completely embracing the film.\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\nLet's talk about the positives, which are many. First of all, I liked the lead protagonist June voiced by Brianna Denski. She's creative and fun, but also has a darker side such as being unkind to friends, depressed, and sarcastic. Some may find her unlikable, but I appreciated the script kept her a complex character.\r\n\r\nJune also has a wonderful character imagination. With her mother's (Jennifer Garner) encouragement, she has designed a fantasy amusement park they call 'Wonderland' (the park is never referred to in the film as Wonder Park<\/em>, which is kind of strange). When her mother gets sick, June struggles to express her emotions and ends up alone in a forest and stumbles upon the park of her imagination. All the rides and characters are there but there is a black cloud over everything and they must work together to save Wonderland and help June to get her confidence back.\r\n\r\nAll of these story and character elements are really lovely and the voice cast is excellent including Matthew Broderick, Kenan Thompson, Mila Kunis, John Oliver and more.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nNow let's get to the parts I did not like. I saw Wonder Park<\/em> in 2D and I have no idea why they made this choice for the screening because it is obviously made for 3D. There were so many shots that looked like they were taken with a fish-eye camera lens. People and animals faces were often close up against the screen and morphed into strange proportions. The characters all have the giant eyes we often see in CGI-animated films, but the way they made the shot selection made all<\/em> the facial features feel large and rather garish. Often I wanted to yell to the camera to take a step back. Let us actually see the characters interacting with their environment not just mugging at the camera.\r\n\r\nThe moments where they do allow a little exploration of the park can be quite magical but then the characters start talking and it is back to our poor choices. Most people will probably not find this problematic, but it really bothered me.\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nThe sad part is the animation kept me from enjoying the sweet moments and the heart put into the script. The first Nut Job<\/em> had this same problem but the humor was more obnoxious in that film than in Wonder Park <\/em>(and characters were less well written).\r\n\r\nI know there will be people who see Wonder Park<\/em> and think it is really great. They won't notice the animation problems like I did and will get caught up in the sweet story, but I can only comment on my experience. It was very distracting for me so I can't recommend the film. If you do see it definitely watch it in 3D as it is clearly designed for that experience.\r\n

\u2605\u26051\/2<\/h1>\r\n

If you see Wonder Park let me know what you think. I would love to read your thoughts in the comments below.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\r\nEdited by: Morgan Stradling","post_title":"[REVIEW] 'Wonder Park'","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"review-wonder-park","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-03-15 12:13:42","post_modified_gmt":"2019-03-15 19:13:42","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/rotoscopers.com\/?p=51851","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":7},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_3o3","class":"jnews_block_5"};

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Rachel Wagner

Rachel Wagner

Rachel is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved film critic that has loved animation since she was a little girl belting out songs from The Little Mermaid. She reviews as many films as she can each year and loves interviewing actors, directors, and anyone with an interesting story to tell. Rachel is the founder of the popular Hallmarkies Podcast, and the Rachel's Reviews Podcast and YouTube channel, which covers all things animated including a monthly Talking Disney and Obscure Animation show. Find her on X @rachel_reviews

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