Ian (Flash Review)This is a touching little story mixed in among some vaguely explained Celtic mythology. While the mythology and symbolism is vague, it did let me ponder the visuals and try to figure out some things. Helped to read IMDb reviews after watching. Aside from that, the tale kicks off with a pregnant mother who suspiciously leaves her husband and child. Later, the grandmother gets involved with the family. The meat of the story is hard to explain but the child goes on an adventure trying find the whereabouts of his mother and comes across other mythical experiences along the way, one being some special sweater, shawl, coat or something. The viewer is awash in beautiful and dreamy scenery with a pleasant film score accompaniment. Some of the vagueness is tied up in the end but the vagueness weakened my emotional connection a notch. Overall, it was a fun and unique film for those looking something that won't end up on kids backpacks, pajamas and stickers.

Red-Barracuda I was already aware of the work of the director of this film, Tomm Moore, when I saw his previous animated feature film The Secret of Kells (2009). That film like this one was very distinctive in that it was based around Irish folklore. It is highly encouraging to see a nation not really associated with much cinema output like Ireland start to release their own unique animated movies. As it turned out, both of these films got additional visibility by being nominated for Oscars at the Academy Awards, so it seems like the Irish have certainly hit on something here and I hope that more such features emerge from the Emerald Isle in the future.The Song of the Sea is another animated fantasy-adventure. It focuses on a boy and his little sister, the latter of which is a Seal child, also known as a Selkie. They live in a lighthouse on a small island with their dad, their mother having died while giving birth to the daughter. Despite being almost six years old, the little girl has never uttered a single word, alienating her from her brother. But soon the mysteries of her origins begin to emerge and strange events follow.Like Moore's last film this is another that has been made using traditional animation methods, i.e. its hand drawn. This pleases me a lot as this type of animation always seems to have more soul that CGI. The whole thing is awash with great Celtic art and it really feels like every frame is constructed with consummate care. The story tells of primal things like the call of the ocean and interweaves this with imaginative fantasy creations such as an Owl Witch. Although it has to be said that I thought some of its best and most atmospheric moments were during the domestic scenes such as the parts set in Dublin. Whatever the case, the beautiful art-work creates a feeling all of its own. I have to admit to not being entirely drawn in by the characters though, with the boy Ben being somewhat irritating to be quite honest. If I had made more of a connection with the characters then I would have rated this one higher no doubt. Nevertheless, this is a lovely piece of animation which climaxed with a sequence of extraordinary beauty when the little girl sings the 'Song to the Sea'. I have to admit it put a lump in my throat and was genuinely emotional and beautiful. This ending alone is worth watching the movie for. All-in-all, this has to go down as a creative triumph.

Jackson Booth-Millard I may have seen images of this Welsh cartoon at the time of its release, I knew it was likely to be something magical, it being well rated and recognised during awards season meant I had to watch it. Basically lighthouse keeper Conor (Brendan Gleeson) lives on an island with his son Ben (David Rawle), his wife Bronach (Lisa Hannigan) and sheepdog Cú, but things change when Bronach disappears, presumably dying after childbirth, leaving behind daughter Saoirse, and a seashell horn. Six years later, Conor is a broken man, and Ben is antagonistic towards his younger sister, he blames her for their mother leaving, she has not learned to speak, and Granny (Fionnula Flanagan), the grandmother, is visiting for Saoirse's birthday. At night, Saoirse plays the seashell horn, leading her to a white sealskin coat in Conor's closet, she wears the coat and walks towards the sea, there is a group of seals, revealing she is a selkie, a mythological creature who lives as a seal. She is found swimming by Granny, she insists the children are not being cared for properly and should be taken to the city, Ben protests, but Conor reluctantly agrees, and locks the coat in a chest, throwing it into the ocean. Saoirse plays the shell horn again on Halloween night, she and Ben attempt to run home, but the fairies who were alerted want to take Saoirse with them to Tír na nÓg ("Land of the Young"), but the fairies are turned to stone when attacked by the owls of Macha (Fionnula Flanagan), the sea deity. They catch up to Cú who followed them, but Saoirse is becoming ill, she falls into a sacred well, Ben follows and meets the Great Seanachaí (the storyteller/historian) (Jon Kenny), they learns that she was kidnapped by Macha, and she is mute because she needs to coat, or she will die. Ben learns that Bronach was a selkie herself, and remorsefully watched as she returned to the sea, he is given a hair that will lead them to Macha, who claims that her son Mac Lir (Brendan Gleeson) suffered a broken heart. Ben is able to rescue Saoirse and makes Macha realise that stealing feelings does not help, she flies them back home, where Conor finds them and takes Saoirse to hospital, at the same time the grandmother is trying to find them. Ben dives into the ocean to recover the coat, with the help of seals and Conor he finds it, Saoirse is made fully healthy and sings the song of the sea, the fairies rise, and Mac Lir, his dogs and Macha emerge and they head for Tír na nÓg. Bronach appears and prepares to depart with Saoirse, but she is half-human, so she departs instead with the coat, the fairies also say a tearful farewell, Ben and his family finally return home to their island, and Granny arrives, she decides the children can stay with their father, Ben and Soairse reconcile and become friends. Also starring Lucy O'Connell as Saoirse, Pat Shortt as Lug, Colm Ó'Snodaigh as Mossy and Liam Hourican as Spud / Bus Driver. Irish stars Gleeson and Flanagan do their voicing well, the story is based on a famous folklore tale, it was a little confusing at times, but generally it is a sweet tale of a boy learning to become a better brother to his fantastical sister, the animation is beautiful and the music score is haunting, it works well both as a fun adventure and a moving, heartbreaking exploration, a worthwhile animated animated fantasy drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Good!

Cartoonreviews First off, I myself found this movie pretty boring. It's a story about a boy whose sister is a Selkie (a mythological seal person which I knew absolutely nothing about this myth going in and that hampered the movie immensely)Yes, I understand that this is an Irish movie, and I am sure that every kid in Ireland knows the mythology of Selkies, but as an American....I never learned about Selkies and this story does a TERRIBLE job explaining what they are. They tell you some facts, but leave a lot to 'you should have done your research before you started watching this'. This type of story is when a 'fish out of water' protagonist would have worked. But because everyone in the story knows what Selkies are, they don't feel the need to explain it. The main character finally gets the revelation and goes 'you're a selkie!' and i am there going 'that's fantastic.....what's a selkie?' The only reason I had any idea what was going on with the lore of this was because I watched this with my sister and she informed me the rules of Selkies that she learned from A different movie entirely. That is one of the places where the movie falls incredibly flat. You can't introduce such a foreign concept and just assumes everyone will know it because it is premiered in that country. If you wish to have a worldwide audience, you have to explain your lore thoroughly so no one gets left behind.Other than that, I really didn't care for any of the characters. The girl was quiet and annoying, the boy was uninteresting, and the mother was a terrible terrible person. I know everyone is heralding this movie as wonderful and beautiful, but I have to say that I didn't really enjoy it. I was too confused about the mythology and the characters weren't interesting enough to draw me in. The father was a jerk and the kids were boring. It wasn't a TERRIBLE movie I just....didn't care. And that's almost worse than being bad. I'm probably going to get a negative response as I didn't give this movie an amazing score, but, I can't help how I feel. I didn't enjoy it and a 5 is exactly what I feel it deserves.