For better or worse, late September this year is certainly the time for animated robot movies. Fortunately, we got the “worse” out of the way last week with “Transformers One.” Now we can sit back and enjoy the “better” with “The Wild Robot.” Many people did indeed sit back and enjoy this movie, as the theater at my screening was more crowded than usual. The added cheering and laughter made the experience all the more endearing, and it was heartwarming to think of all the families bonding over their shared love of this movie.

Lupita Nyong’o stars as Roz, a robot programmed to help with tasks on a distant space colony. Something goes wrong with the delivery, and she winds up stranded on an island on Earth. Eager to help, but unable to find any humans to give her orders, she instead looks to the local animal population. She even takes the time to learn how animals communicate, to the point where she can filter their various squeaks, squawks, and other utterances into English in real time. And that’s how this becomes a talking animal movie.

Roz is eager to help, but the animals don’t necessarily want her help. Okay, they “decidedly” don’t want her help. At first, they’re all afraid of her, given that she’s gigantic, made of metal, dangerously confused, and relatively clumsy (she moves nimbly for a robot of her size, but isn’t built for the unpredictability of nature). Then they fight against her, knocking her down and stripping her of gears and features. She’s even attacked by her closest physical match, a bear named Thorn (Mark Hamill), who knocks down a cliff, causing her to crush a bird’s nest.

Roz sees that a single egg has survived, and the lifeform inside must be protected. She saves it from getting eaten by a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) by launching the predator into a porcupine, though she instinctively helps him remove quills afterward. The egg hatches, and the gosling, named Brightbill, doesn’t see why Roz can’t be mother material. Roz is prepared to be a helper, but not a primary caregiver. In other words, she doesn’t have any programming that makes her fit to be a mother. “No one does,” says opossum Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara), who becomes her mentor.

The rest of the movie is Roz trying to raise Brightbill (Kit Connor) as best as she can, knowing that she’ll have to teach him to swim, then fly, then leave for months on migration. The other geese tease him for coming from an unnatural family, but leader Longneck (Bill Nighy) sees that he only lives to help others, just like his adoptive mother. The migration makes for an adventure unto itself, as does Roz and the rest of the forest trying to make it through an unexpectedly harsh winter. On top of all that, Roz still recognizes an obligation to try to get to the human colony, and tracking robot Vontra (Stephanie Hsu) could arrive at any time. That the last matter probably should have been saved for a sequel is my only real gripe with the movie.

“The Wild Robot” came to theaters riding the single biggest wave of critical praise I’ve seen all year. The quantity of praise is well-deserved, as I can’t imagine anybody disliking this movie, but it might make it a tad vulnerable to expectations. I consider it “among” the best movies of the year, but I was never quite ready to hand it the top spot (still “Dune: Part Two,” by the way). Still, my heart melted at several points, whether it was from cuteness (the opossum family), sadness (the straining of the Roz/Brightbill relationship), or the sheer amount of love on display. By all means take the family to see this movie, turn it into a success, and encourage Hollywood to make more movies with this much heart.

Grade: B

“The Wild Robot” is rated PG for action/peril and thematic elements. Its running time is 101 minutes.

Robert R. Garver is a graduate of the Cinema Studies program at New York University. His weekly movie reviews have been published since 2006.

What’s the 411? Mary J. Blige is bringing her For My Fans Tour to California in March.

The queen of hip-hop soul confirmed Monday that her tour would include three stops in the Golden State, including a Southern California show at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

“I am so excited to kick off this tour. I have amazing fans and am so grateful for all of the love and support they have given me throughout the years,” Blige, 53, said Monday in a statement announcing the tour dates. “This tour is for them, and I cannot wait to be able to travel to all these cities and see everyone. I am in such a place of immense gratitude and peace at this moment, so also having the chance to release my new album ‘Gratitude’ on Nov. 15 ahead of this tour is really special to me.”

The nine-time Grammy Award winner will launch the 27-city tour Jan. 30 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C., before making her way across the U.S. She will play in Inglewood on March 1, San Francisco on March 7 and Sacramento on March 8. The tour is set wrap up in Boston on April 14.

“The tour and album are a celebration of the love and gratitude that Mary has towards her life, family, friends, and her beloved fans,” concert promoter Live Nation said in a statement.

Ticket presales begin Tuesday, and general on-sale begins Friday. Citi cardholders will have access to presale tickets Wednesday through Thursday through the credit card’s Citi Entertainment program, Live Nation said.

Blige’s tour will still include R&B superstar Ne-Yo — despite some fan protests — and “Let Me Love You” hitmaker Mario. When Blige announced last week that she was going back on tour, fans took issue with the inclusion of Ne-Yo amid concerns about his personal life and called on Blige to drop him from the lineup because he’s “not a good look right now.” Others questioned why she hadn’t yet said much about the indictment of her former producer Sean “Diddy” Combs,” who helped launch her career.

The “No More Drama” and “Real Love” singer, who famously performed with hip-hop legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at the 2022 Super Bowl, last embarked on a solo tour in late 2022.

That tour, called Good Morning Gorgeous, was timed to her album of the same name, her first since she finalized her protracted divorce from record producer Kendu Isaacs. The “Mudbound” and “Power Book II: Ghost” star released “Gratitude’s” first single, “Breathing,” last month. She is next scheduled to perform Oct. 26 at the AZ Jazz Fest in Glendale, Ariz.

A few days before that show, the R&B titan will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on Oct. 19 along with Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, the Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Kool & the Gang and A Tribe Called Quest.

In an appearance on “Sherri” last week, Blige said she had so much to be thankful for.

“Look at my life right now,” she said. “I’m in a constant state of gratitude. I feel good. I have jobs and opportunities. I’m healthy. My family’s healthy. I have people around that care for me and love me and I have amazing fans. So I’m so grateful to my fans for all the years of love that they’ve given me and support.”

MOVIE REVIEW: FRANKIE FREAKO

Your enjoyment of the new horror/comedy “Frankie Freako” may be partially dependent on whether or not you have a fondness for 80s cult classics like “Ghoulies.” As it happens, I do. True, for a movie about mischievous little creatures crossing paths with unsuspecting humans, the strange but fittingly low-fi vibe at the heart of “Frankie Freako” is more akin to something like “The Garbage Pail Kids Movie” then “Gremlins” but I certainly don’t say that as a knock. On the contrary, that’s part of this movie’s bizarro charm.

“Frankie Freako” weaves its story around Conor (Conor Sweeney), a clueless workaholic  who sort of lives his mundane life by the book. He has a decent enough job, he has a drop dead gorgeous soulmate (Kristy Wordsworth), and he has everything in the world going for him except for one thing; A clue. To call this clean-cut yuppie oblivious would be quite the understatement. It’s also clear that Conor is having a bit of an existential crisis and ultimately, what he really needs is a little bit of adventure in his life alongside a good swift kick to the ass. Well, he eventually gets both of those things after calling a party hotline that leads him to a demonic little goblin called, you guessed it, Frankie Freako. After conjuring Frankie and bringing he and his trouble-making cohorts into the world of humans, all sorts of hijinks ensue. 

“Frankie Freako” was written and directed by Steven Kostanski, the wonderfully creative effects man behind “The Void” and “Psycho Goreman.” As was the case with “Psycho Goreman” in particular, there’s a kind of childlike sense of glee that Kostanski brings to this movie. It’s rambunctious, irreverent, weird, and left of center but at the same time, it’s oddly charming. Funny, too. It should also be noted that while “Frankie Freako” doesn’t look to have an official rating yet, it’s clearly more along the PG-13 rated lines of the 80s movies that inspired it.

Kostanski’s old school practical creature work is a lot of fun here and again, from a style standpoint, this movie evokes the spirit of those 80s and 90s Empire productions (think the “Ghoulies” and “Puppet Master” franchises) more than anything else. Kostanksi even goes so far as to name one of his lead characters Mr. Buechler (Adam Brooks), named after the late, great John Carl Buechler, a makeup effects man and creature creator of the 80s who would go on to direct “Troll,” “Ghoulies Go to College,” and the underappreciated “Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood” (say what you will about this divisive entry in the over bloated franchise, but it gets bonus points for bringing Kane Hodder into the fold as Jason and for delivering the ultimate “Friday” kill in the form of death-by-sleeping-bag.)

Look, “Frankie Freako” isn’t going to be a movie for the masses but if you like those aforementioned low-fi creature films of the 80s, this one is likely to bring a smile to your face. It certainly did for me. I loved the goofy humor and further still, even though Conor is kind of an insensitive, oblivious, and altogether clueless dumb-dumb for much of this movie’s runtime, I still really liked the guy.

Also, at the risk of going into spoiler territory, I really loved that Kostanski doesn’t turn Conor’s love interest Kristy (played by a very likable and easy on the eyes Kristy Wordsworth) into a shrill bitch with a hidden agenda. There’s a strange but sweet authenticity to their relationship and I really responded to that. Likewise, the bond that develops between Conor and the hell-raising goblins at the center of this movie is a heartfelt and good-natured one. Call me a freak if you want to but I had a really fun time with this film!

Shout! Studios is set to give “Frankie Freako” a limited theatrical release on October 4th. If you happen to reside in the Southern Utah area, you’ll have an opportunity to see a special screening of this wildly entertaining movie on the evening of Thursday, October 17th during the 2024 HorrorFest International Film Festival. For more details, go to fmasu.com/horrorfest.