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We can safely stop calling Star Wars a movie and recognize it for what it really is: a virulent media infection.

It's a great movie to be sure, but there are many superior movies, and none of them have inspired, say, thousands of people to dress up as faceless, nameless secondary characters. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a great movie, but you don't see 200 sanitarium orderlies marching in the Rose Parade.  read more »

Filed under: Animation, New Releases, DVD Reviews, New on DVD, Home Entertainment, Comic/Superhero/Geek  read more »

Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: Here??s a good reason for the movie studios to worry: 2007 could be the first year in which consumer spending on DVDs actually declines. Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Pali Research, addressed that issue and a few others in a research note on Friday. The basic issue on DVD sales, Greenfield reports, is that there has been a decline in catalog sales, as the ??halo effect?? from an expanding DVD consumer base is over. In short, almost everyone now has a DVD player, and they??ve replaced their VHS catalog titles - so now the market will be driven largely by the ability of the studios to produce hits. Greenfield notes that household penetration of DVD players is now over 80%. He says ??wholesale pricing is going to come down on DVDs,??  read more »

November is lining up to be Animation Month here in San Francisco, not only with the San Francisco Film Society’s International Animation Festival mid-month, but kicking off with a rare public appearance by award-winning animator Richard Williams at San Francisco’s Balboa Theatre on Sunday, November 2, 7:00PM.  Winner of three Academy Awards, animation director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and author of the definite The Animator’s Survival Kit , Williams will be in the Bay Area to meet with animators at Pixar, ILM and other effects and animation houses.  He has agreed to appear at this public showing to benefit the local Animation Association, ASIFA-SF .  General Admission is $9.00.  Seniors and children under 12 years are $6.50.  Advance tickets are available here . As Gary Meyer has advised, Richard Williams has been in the animation business for over 50 years.  He created the Oscar-winning A Christmas Carol , directed the animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (two more Oscars), created memorable opening titles for features ( The Return of the Pink Panther , The Pink Panther Strikes Again , What’s New Pussycat?  read more »

Above: You Don't Mess with the Zohan, The Happening, Sleeping Beauty  read more »

Above: Incredible Hulk, Flight of the Red Balloon, The Strangers  read more »

Filed under: Animation, Classics, Comedy, Family Films, Cinematical Seven,  read more »

IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 21, 2007<br><br>With a fine cast and fun in-jokes, Disney?s ENCHANTED is sure to cast a spell over both children and adults. It begins with a 2-D animation sequence reminiscent of the company?s beloved past. Surrounded by dozens of cute animals, Giselle (voiced and later played by Amy Adams) sings about her desire to find her one true love. Meanwhile, a handsome prince (James Marsden) overhears her, and they meet and fall in love. In many Disney movies, this is w  read more »

Chinese writer-director-comedian Stephen Chow (SHAOLIN SOCCER, KUNG FU HUSTLE) takes a break from his usual action-comedy adventures for an E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL-inspired tale of family bonds and personal integrity. Chow stars as Ti, a down-on-his luck widower who must funnel all of his wages into the private school education of his nine-year-old son, Dicky (Xu Jiao). The two are reduced to living in an abandoned building and scrounging for necessities, as well as playing nightly games of "clobber the cockroaches." Ti tries to appease Dicky's desire for a trendy new toy by bringing home a mysterious green orb found at a garbage dump.  read more »

With a fine cast and fun in-jokes, Disney?s ENCHANTED is sure to cast a spell over both children and adults. It begins with a 2-D animation sequence reminiscent of the company?s beloved past. Surrounded by dozens of cute animals, Giselle (voiced and later played by Amy Adams) sings about her desire to find her one true love. Meanwhile, a handsome prince (James Marsden) overhears her, and they meet and fall in love. In many Disney movies, this is where the story ends, but ENCHANTED is just starting out on its journey. The prince?s wicked stepmother (Susan Sarandon) can?t stand to lose her throne, so she pushes Giselle down a well, and the beauty ends up in the real world. Gone is the animated fantasy, and a live-action Giselle lands in the middle of Times Square in New York City.  read more »