Kubo and the Two Strings

Out of animation studio Laika (Coraline, The Boxtrolls), this is one of the best movies of the year by a long shot. I've cooled to Pixar during this boom of sequels (since 2011) - Finding Dory, Monsters U, Cars 2. I wasn't as charmed by Inside Out as everyone else. How can emotions have emotions??? RIP Bing Bong though. In Kubo Laika is beautifully rendered in stop-motion that is the matte to Pixar's glossy approach. It has a more lived-in feel while bringing an original, flowing visual style, i.e. all of Kubo's oragami puppet performances. More than that, the theme of death, and the death of parents no less, is universally terrifying. Also terrifying - the floating evil ghost twin sisters that pursue our hero. Not since The Shining have twins been so creepy. Matthew McConneghy and Charlize Theron's voices are surprisinglyn unrecognizable in the parts of Beetle and Monkey. And the score, led by Kubo's 2 strings has an undeniable charm.

ausage Party

Sausage party is an animated sex comedy with such balls, that you're first reaction is "what the fuck?". Talking foodstuffs are living in a world that is a metaphor of our own. The story begins in a realm of happy-go-lucky Pixar-esque foodthings living in ignorant bliss. Reality bites as they say and they are cooked and eaten. We are in our own state of bliss when we look past the inevitablity of death and believe in better times ahead. Nature is uncaring and brutish and death random. Well this has been a dark couple of takes on animated movies. The movie's answer to our perilous state is one of acceptance and fun. I won't spoil it. And it's goes to another level by becoming meta-contextually aware, through the guiding spirit of Bill Hader as a perpetually stoned bottle of booze. Also, visual gags galore! Go see this movie!

he Little Prince

Rounding out the troika of superb animated films, the Little Prince recently came to Netflix. A story-in-a-story - a tale of helicopter parenting and achievement culture overlays the original book's story which is narrated by the eccentric old man next door to our child heroine. Using a beautiful mix of stop motion and traditional animation, fantastical places are vivid and leave lasting impressions. We share in the joy of this girl as the story inverts the traditional coming-of-age tale and shows us how she becomes a kid again, having been in lost in the competitive academic world kids live in these days. Have we lost that curiosity and amazement and danger that comes from unscheduled summer hours wandering the neighborhood? Yeah almost certainly.