Review: “Across the Spider-Verse” is a Pinnacle of Animation

By Ben Miller

I am not prone to hyperbole but I'm having a difficult time not calling Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse the greatest animated film ever made. Maybe some time and distance will back that up. For now, let's call it a monumental feat of both animation and entertainment.

Following the events of Into the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales (again voiced by Shameik Moore) is now protecting his city and universe as its Spider-Man. He encounters a new and inexperienced villain named The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), which attracts the attention of multiversal Spider-Men...

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Yes No Maybe So: "Asteroid City"

Sometimes I think I'd feel more at home outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Wes Anderson's new film Asteroid City, which takes place in a fictional townin 1955 arrives in theaters on June 16th. The official synopsis goes like so...

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"Klaus" is (half) a masterpiece...

Our resident animation expert will be looking at several of the movies vying for a nomination in Best Animated Feature. First up, a Christmas movie.

by Tim Brayton

The new animated feature Klaus is being pulled in a lot of directions. It's the directorial debut of Sergio Pablos, a former Disney animator who splits time between Hollywood projects (as screenwriter, he created the Despicable Me franchise) and nurturing his own company, SPA Studios, based in his hometown of Madrid. It's also the first animated feature produced by Netflix, which has been making sure to emphasize that fact in all of its marketing efforts. And it's not just any old Netflix production: this is part of the streaming service's increasingly deep bench of Christmas-themed movies.

It's hard not to think about this while one is watching the movie. Depending on how you approach it, Klaus is either a masterpiece, or a frankly irritating collection of tin-eared dialogue, odd casting choices, and dated clichés of kids' movie screenwriting...

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Beauty vs Beast: Ye Olde Switcheroo Movie

Jason from MNPP here with this week's "Beauty vs Beast" -- this Friday the latest iteration of the freak-filled Halloween franchise hits theaters, but what of another Freaky Friday that cast the great Jamie Lee Curtis in a pivotal role? In 2003 - yes it turned 15 this past August, if you want to feel ancient) Mark Waters' remake of Freaky Friday with Curtis playing mama (then daughter) to daughter (then mama) Lindsay Lohan hit theaters, and it was a great big hit success with everybody. (I mean Jamie Lee should've snagged an Oscar nom, dammit.) So why don't we all eat a fortune cookie and repeat after me...

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PREVIOUSLY We ventured back to Wes Anderson's Rushmore last week and y'all took Bill Murray's side in a squeaker (just 53%) - said lylee:

"Team Blume only because Max is so annoying (even though they're both annoying, and Blume in some ways has less excuse to be so immature)! Really, the beauty here is Olivia Williams, whom I found very appealing in this, if a little softer-edged than in her later roles. She's still one of my favorite slightly-below-the-radar actresses out there today."

Beauty vs Beast: School's Out Forever

Jason from MNPP here with our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" -- tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of Wes Anderson's film Rushmore, and so you celebrate the battle between Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) and Herman Blume (Bill Murray) we shall. This was Anderson's second film (after Bottle Rocket) and an instant cult hit - it only made 17 million dollars in theaters (it ranked 97th at the box office, between The Big Lebowski and 54) but I was in college at the time and believe you me, us youngins loved it right out of the gate.

Now it's rightly heralded as a classic - you're not going to hear an unkind word from me on the hermetically crafted direction that Wes started taking his film-making after this (Moonrise Kingdom is my favorite of all his films, after all) but Rushmore does feel airy in a way that he's moved far far away from (especially with the to the millimeter specificity of his animated efforts) and it might be nice to see him sample some of this looseness again?

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PREVIOUSLY I'm real glad that Judith O'Dea got to beat back the zombie horde this one time with last week's Night of the Living Dead anniversary edition - poor Barbra has had enough to deal with. Said Nick T:

"Without getting into details, I'd say this answer was a NO BRAINER!!! Hyuk hyuk hyuk"