“The Croods” is a film about creativity, and discovering curiosity. I enjoyed the opening sequence, where the entire family works together to get a hard-earned meal. It was interesting how they all cooperated to obtain an egg for their breakfast, and how little food they had at the time. The film is a great movie for kids, with a lot of wit and imagination. The movie is very humorous, especially in physical humor; such as when one of the Croods catches on fire and fights through dry grass. Another thing that was funny was that Grug was always hoping that his mother-in-law would die, probably because she was burdening the group. The visuals are stunning, such as the endless shades of green in the rainforest, and the color of the various creatures of the Crood’s universe.

I know a lot of my friends and fans have been waiting for my best list of 2010 films for a while.  The year 2010 has been a “Perrific!” year for G/PG-rated films, especially animation and thought-provoking documentary.  Mom (Zhu Shen) & I saw not only impressive major studio releases, but also amazing indie films at film festivals.

Have you ever wondered what the life of a young journalist is like? Of course, you could probably hear my story, but my career as a journalist is far less dangerous, mysterious, and exciting than that of Tintin, a boy reporter with spiky orange hair in the movie “The Adventures of Tintin” directed by Steven Spielberg. In the film based on a comic, Tintin is a well-known public figure for being a skilled reporter and detective. He and his faithful dog Snowy had solved many a puzzling mystery together, but none as confusing as the Secret of the Unicorn.

 

The movie Epic is the highlight animation film of the year! The visual effects are absolutely magical, especially scenes with the stunning armored hummingbird riders. What sets this film apart from the rest is the magic, wonder, and enchantment that it brings to the audience. This movie makes you pay more attention to little things in nature. Nowadays, people are too focused on their lives and their work in the digital world, and rarely pay much attention to the natural world around them.

Ten-year-old Perry Chen of San Diego is making a name for himself as a film critic. Check out his interview with NPR's Liane Hansen as they discuss the latest DreamWorks film, How To Train Your Dragon as well as his KUSI San Diego TV interview/review.

Have you ever wondered how Santa delivers millions of presents in a single night?  The 3D animation film Arthur Christmas (Aardman production for Sony Pictures Animation) will reveal exactly how things work in Santa’s mysterious Arctic Headquarters. In this movie the clever idea of multiple generations of Santa Clauses is introduced for the first time. In a busy underground snow fortress, countess elves operate advanced technology to calculate how many presents are given, children’s locations, and how naughty or nice they have been, while the Claus family is busy as well, managing the letters and elf teams.

On November 18^th 2011, my mom and I went to the Creative Talents Network (CTN) Animation Expo. It was the third year for this event, although it was the first time for me. When we arrived at the entrance of the Burbank Convention Center where this event was held, we were enthusiastically greeted by Dan Sarto, the Publisher of Animation World Network (AWN) where I am an expert blogger on animation films and events. He told my mom earlier that he really enjoyed CTN Expo which focused on the artists, and it’s a lot easier to meet people than at a huge event like the Comic-Con.

 

 

Do you believe in magic? Do you remember how you felt when you saw a magic trick for the first time? Have you ever wondered what a magician’s life is really like? That is the story behind The Illusionist, a rapturously animated feature film by French animation director Sylvain Chomet about the languishing art of amusement, recently nominated for an Oscar.

 

2011 was a great year for animated short films. All of the shorts that were nominated for the Oscars had artful animation. My first film, Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, (http://ingridpitt.co.uk)  in collaboration with Oscar-nominee Bill Plympton, was actually among the initial 45 animated shorts that qualified for an Academy Award! See the AWN list:

http://www.awn.com/news/short-films/academy-screens-next-oscar-winning-animated-short

I went to various film festivals in LA and San Diego, showed my film at DreamWorks Animation, and got to see all the nominated short films, thanks to Shorts International, the distributor of all nominated shorts and my own film.  My review and filmmaker interviews below for the 5 nominees are in the order from my least favorite to my favorite, with a prediction of Oscar winner at the end.

 

 

What if you signed a contract that was supposed to make all your dreams come true, but found out that it was a dreadful trick?

Everyone’s favorite green ogre Shrek finds himself in a huge dilemma in this DreamWork’s 4th and final Shrek movie, opening TODAY (May 21, 2010).

Everyone loves Shrek and I can see why.  There is drama, action, and comedy packed into an hour and half long film, that it seems to leave little room for flaws.  But the flaws are major ones in my view.