The sheer brilliance of “Toy Story 3” and the way its ending seemed to resonate so perfectly, so deeply, made it, by all senses of the term, a perfect trilogy capper.
I’m still frustrated by Pixar’s decision to release 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” which injured the integrity of its predecessor. There was no sense of relevance, just very familiar theatrics. It was purely a case of commerce over art.
Quentin Tarantino was the latest guest on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, and the first part of the interview has been posted online. At some point in the conversation, Tarantino and Maher discuss “The Godfather” films and how there aren’t many great trilogies in cinema. Tarantino believes that there are only two perfect trilogies: Sergio Leone’s ‘Man With No Name’ films and ‘Toy Story’:
I am a big fan of the ‘Toy Story’ trilogy. The third one is is just magnificent, and it's one of the best movies I've ever seen and, if you've seen the other two, then it's just devastating. The thing is, three years later, or something like that, they did a fourth one and I have no desire to see it. You literally ended the story as perfect as you could, so no I I don't care if it's good I'm done.
So, Tarantino is refusing to watch “Toy Story 4” because he knows that it would completely ruin the perfection of the first three instalments. I get that.
The narrative of “Toy Story 4” rang hollow at almost every turn — each ‘Toy Story’ movie built up on the momentum of the previous instalment, but this was the first time in the franchise’s 24-year history where irrelevance had very much entered into the equation.
It’s also not that puzzling to see Pixar/Disney milking this franchise for whatever it’s worth. A fifth movie is soon to be released, and this one is coming off the recent disappointment of “Lightyear,” a prequel to “Toy Story”
With that said, is Tarantino correct? Are Leone and Pixar the only folks who have managed to master the art of the trilogy? I would add Kieslowski’s “Three Colors,” Linklater’s ‘Before’ films,” the ‘Bourne’ trilogy and ‘Lord of the Rings’.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.