Rate The Last Movie You Saw

Where has poor Mickey gone? (1964)

This is one of those I found on Talking Pictures TV. It's quite low key and plays out more like an extended Tales of the Unexpected. 3 young ner'do'wells go about their usual night out dressing sharp and intimidating the local populus and picking up a new (learned) recruit on the way. They eventually break into the premises of an old Italian magician (Warren Mitchell) and begin to regret their actions. It's quite good if you seep into the 60s feeling but, as I say, it is like a Roald Dahls short story.

The Wild Robot has some tough competition when it comes to animated movies about robots.

Will it ever be as highly regarded as WALL·E, Big Hero 6, or The Iron Giant?

Time will tell; if kids go for it in a big way, it could be the beginning of a new Dreamworks franchise.

And it seems like Dreamworks has gone a bit beyond the usual effort here; there is a really good voice cast headed by Lupita Nyong'o and Pedro Pascal, and the animation is definitely a step above the usual Dreamworks project (some of their most recent efforts have looked downright lazy).

Now, while the movie undoubtedly means well, there is something slightly disturbing about the tale of a sophisticated robot that takes becomes the adoptive mother of a young gosling, because at some subconscious level, it might make kids that technology could, in some not-too-distant future, be a perfectly adequate substitute for the love of a biological parent.

It's possible some kids will take to the idea and maybe even think it's kind of cool; but in a world where AI is already replacing humans in a lot of different endeavors, there's also something kind of sinister about the whole premise, especially when presented in such an otherwise adorable way.

If you have young kids and you don't mind them warming up to the idea that perhaps some kind of artificial intelligence could suddenly become a cute replacement for you, if something should happen to you, maybe this movie is exactly what you're looking for.

A Merry Single Christmas





It was on at work. I had nowhere to hide.


I give it half a star.

Tonight is the night for a volcano....Dante's Peak. A pretty western town, favored by hotel goers is threatened by a volcano. Of course, authorities don't do enough, but just what CAN you do when your neighboring volcano is about to devastate the town? Call Pierce Brosnan of course, an expert with a sad history with another volcano. Linda Hamilton runs a local business. Everybody runs and screams, rocks fly through the air, lava flows, and the whole mountain blows up.

Nothing is a surprise, but, if you're in the mood for a disaster movie, this one is pretty good.

I give it 3 stars for being just what I wanted.