Angel's Anime Rating Guide

Today, Mom and I went to see the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker ... While the First Order continues to ravage the galaxy, Rey finalizes her training as a Jedi. But danger suddenly rises from the ashes as the evil Emperor Palpatine mysteriously returns from the dead. While working with Finn and Poe Dameron to fulfill a new mission, Rey will not only face Kylo Ren once more, but she will also finally discover the truth about her parents as well as a deadly secret that could determine her future and the fate of the ultimate final showdown that is to come. Tony took Mom and I to the theater today to see the latest incarnation of Star Wars featuring supposedly the last of the Skywalker saga. Tony stopped by early this morning and we had breakfast at the local golden arches. Then, we headed out the Franklin Mills Mall which for some reason that defies description, wants to be called Philadelphia Mills Mall. Thanks go to Lillian who graciously provided the free tic...

Over the weekend, Mom and I saw the theatrical release of Frozen 2 ... Why was Elsa born with magical powers? The answer is calling her and threatening her kingdom. Together with Anna, Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, she'll set out on a dangerous but remarkable journey. In Frozen, Elsa feared her powers were too much for the world. In Frozen 2, she must hope they are enough. We arrived at the theater a bit early and had our usual seats. Mom tried out the hot dogs and they are much better than they used to be. Previously, the theater offered hot dog infused with a spice like sage and had a rather odd aftertaste. Now, the theater is offering Nathans brand hot dogs. We had nachos and pretzel bites and the usual overpriced soda and settled into our seats for the pre-show commercials and trailers. Frozen 2 picks up sometime after the events of the last movie and introduces flashbacks with Elsa and Anna's parents as they tell the tale of a magical forest shrouded in a perpetual mist...

This weekend, I saw the theatrical release of Abominable ... When teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him Everest and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home. Abominable is a heartwarming tale of love, loss, friendship and family. Join Yi as she seeks to return her newfound Yeti friend to his home and family. Along the way, Yi rediscovers the importance of family and the power of friendship. Standing in the path of our brave heroes is a wealthy and obsessed explorer who has been ridiculed in the past for claiming to have encountered a Yeti and havi...

Today, I saw the theatrical release of Angry Birds 2 ... Red, Chuck, Bomb and the rest of their feathered friends are surprised when a green pig suggests that they put aside their differences and unite to fight a common threat. Aggressive birds from an island covered in ice are planning to use an elaborate weapon to destroy the fowl and swine way of life. After picking their best and brightest, the birds and pigs come up with a scheme to infiltrate the island, deactivate the device and return to their respective paradises intact. I really wanted to get out and see a movie, so, Mom and I headed over to the local theater to see Angry Birds 2 . We arrived a bit early, but, as it turned out, we got there even before the theater opened for business. We wanted to catch the morning showing at 11:25am, but, the theater didn't open until 11:15am. It was a bit closer of a call than Mom and I would have liked. We actually missed the twenty minutes of commercials that are shown before the p...

Over the weekend, Sammy, Mom and I went to see Solo .... Young Han Solo finds adventure when he joins a gang of galactic smugglers, including a 196-year-old Wookie named Chewbacca. Indebted to the gangster Dryden Vos, the crew devises a daring plan to travel to the mining planet Kessel to steal a batch of valuable coaxium. In need of a fast ship, Solo meets Lando Calrissian, the suave owner of the perfect vessel for the dangerous mission -- the Millennium Falcon. We had made alternate plans for this weekend, but, in the end, events conspired against us and we ended up seeing a movie instead. Upon reflection, I realized that I've seen every theatrical release in the Star Wars franchise since the beginning. It's been a while since Sammy was able to join me, so, he was looking forward to the latest feature. We arrived a little early and found our usual seats waiting for us. There was quite a bit of action and few twists and turns in the story and overall, it was a very nice ad...

Recently, Mom and I decided to head out to our local theater and see Star Wars: The Last Jedi . Luke Skywalker's peaceful and solitary existence gets upended when he encounters Rey, a young woman who shows strong signs of the Force. Her desire to learn the ways of the Jedi forces Luke to make a decision that changes their lives forever. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren and General Hux lead the First Order in an all-out assault against Leia and the Resistance for supremacy of the galaxy. The next installment of the Star Wars franchise picked up where the last feature left off - with Rey standing on a lonely island across from a grizzled-looking Luke Skywalker. The aftermath of the long-awaited meeting between Luke and Rey was a bit disappointing, but, somewhat understandable given Luke's issues with Kylo Ren and his reluctance to see things go horribly wrong with Rey. Meanwhile, the resistance finds themselves in dire straits as imperial forces close in on the last remnants of their ran...

Over the weekend, I saw the theatrical release of Wonder Woman ... An Amazon princess (Gal Gadot) finds her idyllic life on an island occupied only by female warriors interrupted when a pilot (Chris Pine) crash-lands nearby. After rescuing him, she learns that World War I is engulfing the planet, and vows to use her superpowers to restore peace. Wonder Woman  follows Diana's growth from a young girl to adulthood and her fateful meeting with Steve. Trapped on Diana's island home, Steve wants to return to his people to complete his mission and Diana wants to venture out into the world beyond her island home, to go to the front lines of a conflict that has embroiled the entire world and threatens humanity itself. So, Steve and Diana head out into the battlefields of World War I on an epic quest to save humanity. There is some violence, but, the feature is not particularly gory. Overall, Wonder Woman was very entertaining. Even Mom, who doesn't usually get excited about mo...

Today, I saw the live-action version of Beauty And The Beast in my local theater... Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directed this live-action retelling of the Disney animated classic from 1991. As before, this fairy tale centers on a young woman named Belle (Emma Watson), who is forced to live in an enchanted castle with a prince who is cursed to look like a hideous Beast (Dan Stevens). In time, the pair fall in love as Belle learns to see the good man hiding behind the Beast's monstrous exterior. The film co-stars Luke Evans as Gaston, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Ian McKellen as Cosgworth, Kevin Kline as Belle's father, and Josh Gad as Gaston's sidekick LeFou. I went to an early afternoon showing of Beauty And The Beast . This feature is essentially the same story as the cartoon with some extra scenes and even more singing. That being said, the live-action version is a bit more intense in some spots, than the cartoon version, so, the youngest Disney...

I went out to see the big-budget Hollywood live-action version of Ghost In The Shell with Scarlett Johansson... Scarlett Johansson stars in this sci-fi action film as a cybernetically enhanced policewoman who's hunting a dangerous hacker. Michael Pitt and Juliette Binoche co-star. Directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman), Ghost in the Shell is based on a popular Japanese manga series, which was already adapted into an iconic anime film. John , a contributor to the AnimeNation  blog, expressed his concerns about this incarnation of the Ghost In The Shell franchise... I really do want to like this American adaptation, and I'm both hoping for the best and keeping an open mind. However, I’m very conflicted over this extended preview. Scarlett Johansson is a good enough actress (see, for example Under the Skin as evidence), and she's played enough secret agent roles to pull off Motoko Kusanagi convincingly. The look and the action is commendably faithful t...

This past weekend, I saw Rogue One in the theater... From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. For weeks ahead of time, I played and replayed the trailers on my phone. When the time came, Mom and I along with Anthony, went to a late afternoon showing of Rogue One in our local theater. We got to the theater a bit early so we could reserve our usual seats. Anthony and I got the snacks while Mom camped out in the theater. As we were getting settled, Anthony carefully folded his jacket and promptly sat on his snacks -- Oops! The crowd was a little rowdy during the previe...

Over the weekend, Mom and I saw Zootopia ... In a city of anthropomorphic animals, a rookie bunny cop and a cynical con artist fox must work together to uncover a conspiracy. We saw previews for Zootopia a few months ago and it looked like something we would want to see on the big screen. We picked out a reasonably quiet weekend and got to the theater early. But, much to our dismay, our favorite seats had already been snatched by another family that came even earlier than us. Even with this setback, we still had a good time. Judy Hopps really stole Mom's heart and the rapport between her and Nick Wilde was just fantastic. Zootopia does have a twist in the story that we didn't expect, but, we were very pleased with the end result. Overall, even though we didn't have our usual seats, we still had a really good time. I would give Zootopia a 4 our of 5. The Zootopia soundtrack CD has 22 tracks and I liked just the one track, Try Everything with Shakira  for a total o...

Over the weekend, Mom and I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens ... Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises. The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance. We caught a late afternoon showing at our local theater. As usual Mom and I like to arrive a bit early so we can secure our favorite seats and have enough time to get snacks and still catch the previews. We weren't entirely sure what to expect from this new installment in the franchise, but, for better or worse we were going to see the movie. There is certainly a lot of action in this installment, so, those of you who've been living under rocks since the 70's or those of you too young to know any better, you might still enjoy the feature without knowing the background. Of course, if you do know the background, this feature answers some important questions while also creating some new questions. We...

Over the weekend, I saw Inside Out ... Emotions run wild in the mind of a little girl who is uprooted from her peaceful life in the Midwest and forced to move to San Francisco in this Pixar adventure from director Pete Docter (Up, Monsters Inc.). Young Riley was perfectly content with her life when her father landed a new job in San Francisco, and the family moved across the country. Now, as Riley prepares to navigate a new city and attend a new school, her emotional headquarters becomes a hot bed of activity. As Joy (voice of Amy Poehler) attempts to keep Riley feeling happy and positive about the move, other emotions like Fear (voice of Bill Hader), Anger (voice of Lewis Black), Disgust (voice of Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) make the transition a bit more complicated. I've been looking forward to seeing Inside Out for a while, so, this weekend, Mom and I went to see it in the theater. We left over an hour early, but, there was a lot of traffic on Columbus Bouleva...

Mom and I went to see Pixar's latest movie, Brave , over the weekend... An impetuous princess discovers that her reckless choice has put both her family and her father's kingdom in peril in this animated adventure from Pixar films. As a toddler, Merida (voice of Kelly MacDonald) saw her father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly), do battle with one of the fiercest animals in the kingdom -- a horribly scarred hulk of a bear named Mordu. Though Fergus lost his leg defending his family, Merida and her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), managed to escape the beast before it vanished back into the forest. Years later, Merida has grown up to become not just a skilled archer, but also a beautiful princess who inspires a competition among the eligible bachelors in the land. But Merida has little interest in getting married, and the harder her mother pushes the issue, the more fiercely she resists it. When the tournament for her hand gets under way and a deep divide opens between mother ...

Last night Mom and I saw Puss In Boots . According to Wikipedia ... Puss in Boots, a 2011 computer-animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation, is a spin-off prequel to the Shrek franchise, which follows the character Puss in Boots on his adventures before his first appearance in Shrek 2 in 2004. The film starts with Puss escaping a bounty hunter and entering a nearby town. Puss learns that two murderous outlaws, Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) have the magic beans he's been looking for half his life, which lead to a giant's castle holding valuable golden goose eggs. When Puss tries to take them from the two outlaws, another cat with a mask interrupts. Both fail and escape, and Puss follows the cat back to his hideout, where they have both a dance and a sword fight. After getting hit in the head with a guitar by Puss during their fight, the other cat reveals that she is female, much to Puss's surprise. Puss then meets his old childhood fri...

Over the weekend, I went to see Tangled  -- the Disney-fied retelling of the classic story of Rapunzel . When the kingdom’s most wanted -- and most charming -- bandit Flynn Rider (voice of Zachary Levi) hides out in a mysterious tower, he’s taken hostage by Rapunzel (voice of Mandy Moore), a beautiful and feisty towerbound teen with 70 feet of magical, golden hair. Flynn’s curious captor, who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, strikes a deal with the handsome thief and the unlikely duo sets off on an action-packed escapade, complete with a super-cop horse, an over-protective chameleon and a gruff gang of pub thugs. In theaters this holiday season, Tangled is a story of adventure, heart, humor and hair -- lots of hair. According to Wikipedia ... The movie's visual style is based on the painting The Swing, by the French Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Because (former) director Glen Keane wanted this to be an animated movie that...

Over the weekend, I saw Despicable Me ... In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon. (Yes, the moon!) Gru delights in all things wicked. Armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air, he vanquishes all who stand in his way. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes. I enjoyed Despicable Me a lot. I wouldn't mind seeing it again in the theatre, but, it looks like I...

I saw Avatar on the big screen twice. I've seen the movie with and without 3-D -- the 3-D version didn't work very well for me, but, what little I did manage to see looked AWESOME. Even though the 3-D version didn't really work for me, I was still very impressed. Unlike a lot of CG-rich movies that I've seen in the past, Avatar doesn't feel as artificial. The story is very reminiscent of "Dances With Wolves", where a soldier heads out to the frontier and meets the natives -- hence the term "Dances With Smurfs". But, Mom and I came to be entertained and James Cameron's Avatar didn't disappoint. There's a lot of action -- a bit too much for the youngest viewers -- and at two and a half hours, it's a bit long... A paraplegic ex-marine finds a new life on the distant planet of Pandora, only to find himself battling humankind alongside the planet's indigenous Na'vi race in this ambitious digital 3D sci-fi epic from Academy A...

I had seen the previews and read the comments on the web regarding "Dances With Smurfs". After talking to a few people who saw the movie and were generally pleased, I decided that I would not wait until the DVD came out to see Avatar . On New Year's Day, Mom and I thought it would be a good idea to head over to our favorite local movie theater in South Philly to see the movie. With the house being full of people, catching one of the early shows was out of the question. So, we settled on the 8:00pm showing. This is the first time I'd ever gone to see a movie on New Year's Day, so we were expecting the theater to be crowded. And, as we approached, all of the parking lots surrounding the theater were completely full -- there were even cars on the sidewalks and even though the strip malls in the area were closed, all of the parking lots were filled to capacity. As we drove past the theater, we could see that the line wasn't very long, but, without parking we wer...

Over the weekend I saw WALL-E . After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen. Joining WALL-E on his fantastic journey across a universe of never-before-imagined visions of the future, is a hilarious cast of characters including a pet cockroach, and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots. I have been eagerly awaiting the release date for WALL-E for some time now. I recorded the Starz Inside feature: A Pixar...