Finally my thoughts on Pixar's latest. It's one hell of an imaginative romp and touching as hell. There's a montage scene near the beginning that's as good as any montage scene I've ever seen the last decade. It's become quite redundant to say that -yes !- pixar has created yet another terrific film, so much so that you wish they would just cough up a bad one. Glenn Kenny said it best in his review a few weeks ago-
"I'm almost reminded—and this is gonna sound weird, but bear with me—of a certain period in the career of the reliably dyspeptic post-punk band The Fall, whose run of albums from the early '80s to 1990 was so staggering that by, say, 1985's This Nation's Saving Grace, one ceased to be quite so staggered."
It's a perfect description of what's happening with Pixar this decade. If movies are on a total downfall, the animation these wizards are creating is at an all time high -yes, even better than Disney in the 40's and 50's. With Up they've managed to have an 80 year old geriatric as a hero and a 10 year old boyscout as his accomplice. They've managed to sneak in hilarious talking- collared dogs, a weird lookin' colorful bird, a helium flown balloon house and one mesmerizing action sequence after another. My praise cannot be high enough and although there's that customary happy ending that you expect, that also feels right.
"I'm almost reminded—and this is gonna sound weird, but bear with me—of a certain period in the career of the reliably dyspeptic post-punk band The Fall, whose run of albums from the early '80s to 1990 was so staggering that by, say, 1985's This Nation's Saving Grace, one ceased to be quite so staggered."
It's a perfect description of what's happening with Pixar this decade. If movies are on a total downfall, the animation these wizards are creating is at an all time high -yes, even better than Disney in the 40's and 50's. With Up they've managed to have an 80 year old geriatric as a hero and a 10 year old boyscout as his accomplice. They've managed to sneak in hilarious talking- collared dogs, a weird lookin' colorful bird, a helium flown balloon house and one mesmerizing action sequence after another. My praise cannot be high enough and although there's that customary happy ending that you expect, that also feels right.
So what's the best Pixar movie this decade? I personally cannot choose. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, WALL-E, Cars and Ratatouille have all become classics and exhort a powerful hold on me. The weakest one -Monsters Inc.- is still an indelibly made romp. Up next is Toy Story 3 and I highly doubt that one will be a failure. The last 10 years of film have been dominated by pixar animation, the next decade looks to be the same.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.