Reviews Archive for Randall Cyrenne

Flip The Frog: The Complete Series

Thunderbean’s greatest achievement is here, as Steve Stanchfield and his team bring Ub Iwerks’ 1930s creation to high definition disc, with all shorts lovingly restored and accompanied by scads of quality bonus features.

The Puppetoon Movie Volume 3

With 21 stop-motion puppet films and seven hand-drawn animated shorts, this third volume of George Pal’s classic cartoons is overflowing with creativity, fun, and simply amazing artistry!

Popeye The Sailor: The 1960s TV Cartoons

See why one of the most popular cartoon TV shows in history had such variable quality, in this informative and insightful book from Popeye expert Fred M. Grandinetti.

Star Trek – Lower Decks: Season 1

Really, this is a Star Trek show! The missions are real, but seen through a comedy lens. The writing is sharp, the performances are great, and Trek fans can enjoy some genuine character comedy without being subjected to camp.

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2

Featuring brilliant restoration work, this new compilation of classic George Pal stop-motion shorts astounds the viewer with its animation, music, and color. Also included are rare European films, including ones with hand-drawn animation.

Warning From Space

Arrow Video brings out the Japanese classic, allowing a reappraisal after years of low-quality TV broadcasts and public domain DVDs. It’s good, too, once you get past the silly-looking starfish aliens.

Star Wars – Rebels: Complete Season Four

Lucasfilm’s TV show brings pain to our heroes, who constantly have to turn losses into wins. The final season provides both tears and cheers in the best Star Wars tradition.

Mary And The Witch’s Flower

Studio Ghibli fans will be happy that sort-of successor Studio Ponoc has made a beautiful debut film. The tale of a girl who finds herself a witch may be familiar on the surface, but the seeds of future greatness are obvious.

The Breadwinner

This Oscar-nominated film tells of a young Afgan girl who disguises herself as a boy to support her family, after her father is arrested by the Taliban, in an eye-opening story that sees oppression fought with courage and love.

Justice League Action – Superpowers Unite: Season One, Part One

The World’s Greatest Superheroes battle the forces of evil in colorful bite-sized stories that are perfect for younger kids and their parents.

Star Wars – Rebels: Complete Season Three

The crew of the Ghost face off against Grand Admiral Thrawn as the penultimate season of Rebels sees the Alliance fully formed and the story inches towards A New Hope.

Adventure Time: The Complete Seventh Season

Continuing its creative storytelling and ambitious world-building, this show doesn’t lose any of its spark, also experimenting with its first miniseries: Marceline-centric Stakes.

The Red Turtle

The award-winning Studio Ghibli film, that actually is a European production, has characters that never speak, but the film has plenty to say.

Miss Hokusai

This tale of famous Japanese artists – a man and his daughter – is told using Buddhist ideas of life’s simple pleasures, rather than trying to fit a Western-style genre. Its rewards are subtle and may be unexpected.

Adventure Time: Islands

The event mini-series fulfills its promise of revealing the answers to a few of the hit series’ greatest mysteries, as Finn, Jake, and Susan Stong sail off on a journey to find more humans and the secrets to their pasts.

Lego Star Wars – The Freemaker Adventures: Complete Season One

This slick and exciting Lucasfilm show earns a surprising amount of credit for crafting a credible Star Wars story, even if it is told in a humorous fashion.

The Venture Bros.: The Complete Sixth Season

The Ventures relocate to NYC, The Monarch takes on a bold new identity as his wife also takes a new job, and this very funny show finds its best rhythm yet.

Adventure Time: The Complete Sixth Season

Finn finds his newly found father to be a crushing disappointment, Gunter gets an origin, and lots of crazy stuff happens in the latest run of Cartoon Network’s insane hit.

Star Wars – Rebels: Complete Season Two

All the excitement of Star Wars is present in Rebels, with solid specs and the addition of great bonus features in this second season set.

April And The Extraordinary World

GKids gives us yet another slick international feature, this time an exciting steampunk adventure that utilizes the conceptual skills of cartoonist Jacques Tardi.

Only Yesterday

A young woman from Tokyo reflects back to her life at age ten, leading to a re-evaluation of who she is now. The final theatrical Studio Ghibli film to make it to disc in North America is now here.

Batman: Bad Blood

Following Batman’s disappearance, Dick Grayson dons the cowl of the Bat, and is joined by more members of an expanding Bat-family.

Star Wars – Rebels: Complete Season One

Bridging the gap between the film trilogies, Rebels’ initial season inches its way towards being epic, setting up what promises to be an even stronger second season.

Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem

The caped crusader gets yet another incarnation, this time living in a high tech Gotham threatened with computer terrorism by The Joker. Kids will enjoy the many guest stars and action aplenty.

Lego Justice League: Attack Of The Legion Of Doom

There’s nothing more fun than mixing Lego and superheroes, as in this kid-friendly movie starring DC’s biggest heroes. Add in a great extra on the sound, and you have a hit!

Justice League: Gods And Monsters

A darker League from an alternate timeline must fight the law while solving a murder mystery. Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett craft a wonderfully unique tale for this DC animated movie.

Adventure Time: The Complete Fifth Season

Season number five of the Cartoon Network phenomenon is here to dazzle us with strange romance, endearingly bizarre characters, and of course mathematical adventures.

Spirited Away

Miyazaki’s greatest film finally comes to Blu-ray, with top-notch technical quality showing this masterpiece in the best possible light.

Insider Access To Inside Out

The sneak peek at Pixar’s latest was a worthwhile evening that included some nice bonus features, but the main attraction was Pete Docter’s extraordinary film.

Batman Vs. Robin: Exclusive Figure Edition

The script tries hard to make a sophisticated story of father-son conflict, but the movie’s action-fueled direction brings it close to being just another fight-filled exercise in excess.