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If I mention a movie called Lord of the Rings, you will likely envision the Peter Jackson films that were released from 2001-2003. Those are excellent movies, and some of the best fantasy films ever made for sure.

However, Ralph Bakshi, known for making animated films for a more mature audience, made this Lord of the Rings film in 1978, and while it's not quite as great as Peter Jackson's films, this is still an extraordinary undertaking. Ralph Bakshi's vision is a masterpiece all on its own.

The story is just like the Peter Jackson films, and the books by J. R. R. Tolkien. It follows Frodo, a hobbit who receives the One Ring that must be taken to Mordor to be destroyed, lest it end up in the hands of an evil entity like Sauron or even the Smeagol called Gollum. With brave friends at his side, he battles and strives to complete his quest.

Well, "complete" is a strong word. The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy, and this film only adapts the first 2 books in it- The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Long story short, this was a result of budget issues and studio disagreements. While this film does not tie all its bows, judging it as what it is, an adaptation of Fellowship and Towers, it is still a grand achievement in animation.

(Rankin-Bass, the duo who made Christmas specials like Rudolph and Frosty, worked together to finish the trilogy with The Return of the King as a TV movie, which aired in 1980 on ABC. That said, the movie is technically an "unrelated project".)

While I have not read the books, I have seen the Peter Jackson films, and much of the movie had similar scenes and that helped me to follow the plot. The character designs are unique and it's easy to distinguish Frodo from Sam from Aragorn, etc. Personally, Gollum and the rotoscoped orcs were my favorite designs.

I also loved Gollum's deep voice. While not raspy like Andy Serkis's interpretation, he did have a deep British-like voice that still gave me chills at the sound of "precious" being spoken.

Speaking of voices, there are some high-profile celebrities involved, such as John Hurt from Alien as Aragorn, and Anthony Daniels as Legolas, he also voiced C3PO in Star Wars. (Most other ones would have minor TV and movie roles compared to these.)

More on the animation- the design is a combination of hand drawn (in the style of Bakshi's films like Fritz The Cat) and rotoscope, combining live action motion capture and animation. Such styles resulted in many visual astonishments- some already mentioned, like the characters, but also background designs and costumes and such.

The movie even opens with the story of the One Ring's creation in a silhouette form that I played twice, I was in such awe of it. This was my favorite part of the movie, and I found it to be the best designed aspect aside from the characters.

I do have some nit-picky quibbles, like the unwrapped ending, some slight slow pacing (at 2 hours and 13 minutes, it's pretty long for an animated film), and mild comparisons to the live action films. Also, Saruman is sometimes called Aruman for some reason. Such nit-picks ARE mostly a result of the aforementioned comparison to the Peter Jackson films. When judging this on its own, a single film that predates the iconic trilogy by about 23 years, these flaws go away.

I'd also like to mention very quickly that the PG rating is based on the MPAA's system in 1978, about 6 years before the PG-13 rating was invented. This is largely due to some minor shots of bloodshed that shouldn't traumatize young viewers too much.

Although the film may be too dark (and not to mention too long at 2 hours and 13 minutes) for some kids who watch PG movies today like Frozen or Moana, I wouldn't outright discourage children from seeing it, but please note that this might not be for all young kids, and "parental guidance" may actually require high suggestions here.

While comparisons to the Peter Jackson films are kind of unavoidable here, those who can set them aside (or have never seen them), and those who can accept that The Return of the King is not adapted in this movie are in for a visual and thematic storytelling treat. I found myself enthralled in it when not nit-picking it, and when the film was over, I grew to appreciate it more and see the movie for what it was.

With its grand animation, storytelling, and all the craftsmanship in-between, The Lord of the Rings is a wonderful adaptation of Tolkien's story, regardless of it being incomplete. When it was all over, I knew that I had seen something very special as a final project. It is one of the best animated movies I have ever seen.

Despicable Me came out 15 years ago, when I was 12. I saw it a few times in a couple years, the last time being in math class in 7th grade on a free day. Today I saw it for the first time in about 13 years, and I still really enjoy it. In fact, I would call it one of my favorite animated movies.

Despicable Me is about Gru, voiced by Steve Carell doing a European-type accent. He's a villain who wants to be known as the greatest villain of all time. In competition with the son of an evil banker, he plans to steal the moon. In order to get what he needs, he adopts 3 orphan girls- Margo, Edith, and Agnes and uses them for his plan, while in turn actually caring for his adoptive daughters.

One thing that really stands out in this animated movie is the cast. Steve Carell does well with family friendly comedies, something he proved 3 years before this with Evan Almighty. There is other great talent here- such as Miranda Cosgrove (aka ICarly) as Margo. Kristen Wiig voices Miss Hattie, the cruel orphanage manager. Jason Segel voices Vector, Gru's revival, with Will Arnett voicing his Dad. Russell Brand voices Dr. Nefario, the assistant of Gru.

Finally, and kind of surprisingly, Julie Andrews voices Gru's Mom, who pretty much exists in the story to put down Gru. (In one scene, she shows the girls a picture of Gru in a dress. Margo reacts with: "He looks like a girl." Gru's Mom giggles and says: "Yes- an ugly girl.") Julie Andrews even once said that she agreed to voice her because she was the most awful person that she could possibly play. She is right, and is a delight in the role.

The animation isn't much to write home about, but it looks nice and in some cases it kind of glows- for instance, I liked the texture and color of a toy unicorn at an amusement park. This was made from Illumination, the company that went on to make movies like The Secret Life of Pets and The Grinch. If you've seen either of those, this has the same kind of look.

Despicable Me is also quite funny, and after getting older, I still managed to laugh a few times. In one moment, Vector fools around with a shrink ray and shrinks a toilet. He then coos at it: "Oh, look at the teeny tiny little toilet..." the toliet then breaks and the water shoots in his face, to which he gripes: "Curse you, tiny toilet!" That cracked me up- this is a rare time where I will compliment toilet humor!

There's another moment where Gru gripes about a children's book about kittens, and later he claims that it "accidentally" set it on fire. Moments like this still brought out laughter to this man in his 20s.

Despite being an animated kids movie with humor, it manages to have a heart too, and I must admit that I was close to tears near the end. Gru learns to love the girls, and ultimately embracing that he has a family is actually pretty touching.

I felt kind of silly rating this a 10, but I can't really think of a reason not to. It's still quite entertaining, it's funny and made me smile. This movie isn't despicable, it's wonderful.

Much has been said about Anora, the most recent movie to win Best Picture. Some think that it's incredible, others think that it was overrated. Having just seen it on the Criterion DVD, I am very much in the former category. I was invested the entire time, and it's one of the finest movies made in our current era. It even currently sits in my Top 20 favorite movies.

Anora is our title character, played by Mikey Madison. She's a tough, foul mouthed stripper and hooker who becomes enamoured with Vanya, a rich customer. But she doesn't love him for his money, she finds happiness and fulfillment with him and they agree to get married so he doesn't have to go back to Russia and join the family business.

Vanya's parents hear of the marriage, and force him to come home to annul it. Anora tries to change their mind, but they refuse to listen, and Vanya is too childish to stand up to his parents.

Watching the movie, it occurred to me how much the meaning of "Best Picture winner" has changed over time. Most winners are epics (Gone With The Wind, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia), musicals (My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Oliver), or movies with top notch sophistication and quality (Casablanca, The Godfather, Oppenheimer.)

I mention this, because Anora is a very different movie than these- it's set in the modern day, it's profane and sexualized, and the main character is in sex work. Does that mean Anora is not Oscar worthy? Not at all. In fact, it deserves to be in the 3rd category. It's just interesting to consider how times have changed.

While all the actors do well in their parts, Mikey Madison is certainly the star here, and I'd like to focus on her for this review. Mikey is 7 months younger than I am, and she is incredible for an actress her age.

Despite Anora's career choice and acid fire tongue, she is still a human being looking for love and affection, and is hurt when she doesn't get it from her new family.

In one scene that exemplifies this, Vanya's mother insults Anora by saying: "You're a disgusting hooker." She claps back by saying: "Your son hates you so much that he married one to tick you off."

The movie is written and directed by Sean Baker (he also cast and edited it), and he does these jobs well- his script has lots of character building dialouge and makes every scene interesting. Much of the middle of the movie is just people looking for a missing character, and it's still riveting.

While I am not going to talk about all of the performances, I will say that Baker's script does make us feel for all the characters involved- whether it's sympathy for Anora, or hatred for Vanya's mother.

There are also many comedic lines- which are so funny and perfectly timed that at one point in the middle, I had to pause the movie to recover from choking on my laughter. At one point, Anora screams so much that she is gagged with a scarf. Later, she complains of being cold, and is offered the same scarf for warmth. She says: "You've got to be kidding me." This is what required my break.

What Anora does best is that it humanizes the title character, and it's a fascinating character study. Many of us hear the word "hooker" and cringe that someone would go so low as to make a living by having sex with random strangers. Anora isn't a perfect girl- she does sleep around, she swears, and her temper is easily set off. But that's what makes her human. She still desires love and acceptance, and is hurt when she is rejected for her flaws.

Anora won't be for everybody- those offended by nudity (most of which is in the first half) and incessant swearing will not like it. But Anora is a powerful movie with great filmmaking, characters and acting to match them, and it plunges you into the world of someone who society frowns upon. I loved Anora so much, I could have started it over right away- and that's a sign of a great movie.