My Netflix Recommendations

One of my many outlets during COVIDtine has been Netflix. And why wouldn’t it? I not only have lots of free time, I also have time to catch up on my backlog of shows. That’s what I plan to discuss, even though only one of them has been a COVIDtine project. Besides, you might actually get recommendations!

A Series of Unfortunate Events:

A few years ago I wrote a compare-contrast piece on the two adaptations of Lemony Snicket’s series. I still hold that the Netflix iteration, which finished syndication in January of 2019, is superior, and that’s largely because its length. A Series of Unfortunate Events is 13 books long, and shoving the first 3 into one movie was a bad creative decision. The show, conversely, had a greater opportunity to breathe and develop its world. But I digress.

Make no mistake: this is a silly series. Ranging from the comedic tone, to the hammy acting, to even the staging and direction, it all elevates it to whimsical nonsense. This is both good and bad. Good, as this is a depressing series about misery and schadenfreude. And bad, as the only plot beat that carries true, emotional weight is the final tragedy. I still hold by that.

If that doesn’t bother you, then you’re in for a treat. Right from the opening, which sums up each episode in a pleasant jingle, a lot of thought and care went into this series. It’s a fun 25 hours, and it never bores. There are plenty of witty bits of dialogue, interesting set-pieces and overly-verbose moments to keep you engaged. And it has Patrick Warburton as the narrator. That’s always a win.

Stranger Things:

Moving on to some darker material, Stranger Things is the 80’s homage that makes me long for the 80’s. Considering how I didn’t grow up then, and therefore have no nostalgic ties, that says a lot. It says a lot that the show can tap into the trends of the 80’s without feeling preachy or forced. That’s definitely a plus, honestly. And the show’s really well-written.

Stranger Things relies on two components to work. The first is the cast. If the show’s characters didn’t work, then the show wouldn’t work. But they also go the extra mile to espouse ideas not normally in syndicated TV to this extent. Themes like queer acceptance and fighting for the greater good are at the front and centre here, and they get fleshed out significantly as it progresses. It helps that everyone’s played by really talented actors.

The other component is horror. More specifically, the horror component’s more believable and tangible than many, bigger budget movies. It’s telling when a cheaply-made series has better scares and more convincing monsters than most Hollywood spectacles. The monsters also look really cool. Let’s hope The Duffer Brothers hit a home run again with the final season, shall we? I can’t wait!

Carmen Sandiego:

Moving back to animation, I was excited from the get-go for this, despite being based on an IP I was never big on. Carmen Sandiego, now done two seasons, is a heist caper that borrows heavily from Kim Possible and Jackie Chan Adventures: it’s about a criminal who steals from other criminals! And she’s a fighter! And she’s worldly! What’s not to love?

I know some take issue with Carmen Sandiego being an antiheroine here, but it doesn’t really bother me. Carmen Sandiego always came off as a generic antagonist in previous iterations. She was always messing with the audience for…reasons? She might’ve stolen objects for the thrill of it, but it’s never been terribly compelling. Having her steal with an objective this time around is a step up.

The show also makes the franchise’s biggest hurdle, learning about geography, into a natural and fun part of the experience. Is it formulaic to have Carmen Sandiego espouse history at the beginning of each episode? Maybe, though there are worse ways to do it. Besides, if a show can educate you without you realizing it, then that’s always a win. It also has a diverse character roster. That has to account for something, right?

Anohana:

This isn’t a Netflix exclusive in its country of origin, but it kinda is here. Anohana was recommended by a YouTuber named Geoff Thew, and it’s one I’d been skeptical of for a while. How could a show about a ghost elicit heavy emotions? And how could it do that without feeling cheap or overly-sentimental? Was it even possible? Having given it a watch…yes. Yes it can.

What makes Anohana work is that it taps into grief. The five main characters have spent years not grieving over their close friend, and it’s jaded them. By show’s end, they’ve all learned how to do so. And in the middle, they take a journey a self-discovery. It’s a tough lesson for anyone, but this show argues its necessity.

You know what helps? Its optimism about life. That’s shown through Menma’s ghost. Menma’s so blindly cheerful and optimistic that she rekindles the vulnerability her friends need to be able to mourn. It’s really simple, but quite effective. And given that I once struggled to write a piece about it for The Whitly-Verse, that speaks to how powerful it is.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power:

My most-recently watched entry, it’s also possibly the best? I still need to let it ruminate. Regardless, you should watch She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Seriously, you owe it to yourselves. And I’m not only saying that because I have an attachment to the IP. (Because I don’t.)

Where do I begin? Do I talk about its political undertones? How it deconstructs toxic parental figures? Or that it treats gay and lesbian romances as normal, instead of something to be wary of? All of the above points qualify as good starting points.

But the biggest sticking point is that it, at times, even rivals Avatar: The Last Airbender in quality. Not always, its target demographic hinders it somewhat, but enough that I could call it its gender-flipped, complimentary-opposite. (It certainly takes more risks than Avatar: The Legend of Korra!) But yeah, give it a shot. At the least, it’s a nice distraction.

That about does it for now. As for Avatar: The Last Airbender being absent? You should absolutely watch it…but it was initially syndicated on Nickelodeon. Either way, I’ll see you all next time!

The Scooby Cinematic Universe?

I had low-expectations for SCOOB!. From its trailers, it looked like a bad attempt at marrying modern sensibilities with an expanded universe. It also made Scooby-Doo too articulate, giving him clear, complete sentences instead of a partially-incoherent lisp. And while the voice talent was solid, including Frank Welker as Scooby, it didn’t feel like it’d work as a film. And now that it’s critically-panned, I was right.

However, the whole “cinematic universe” component bugs me the most. Because SCOOB! falls into the same trap that The Amazing Spider-Man films, The DCEU, The Dark Universe and Spectre did: the false start of an MCU-style franchise. And by that, I mean attempting to create an interconnected franchise without doing the legwork. They saw that The Avengers was a money-maker, realized the potential for a juggernaut of their own and jumped on it haphazardly. And all without understanding what made The Avengers work.

In order to give proper framework, I need to touch on what made The MCU tick. It all goes back to Iron Man. A surprise hit, Marvel needed it to save them from bankruptcy, the film paved the way for a multi-billion dollar franchise that, to this day, is still going strong. But what people miss is that Iron Man was self-contained. It had brief references to SHIELD and War Machine, ideas that’d be expanded upon in future movies, but it was a closed story that saved its in-universe surprise for the end-credits scene. In other words, you could watch the movie, be satisfied and not worry about another entry if you so desired.

That’s been The MCU’s secret for 12 years. Even when the franchise’s future was uncertain, it took everything one step at time. It focused on contained stories, getting the audience to care, and only then having crossovers. It didn’t always pan out, Iron Man 2 was a giant mess, but for the most part it did. And by the time The Avengers debuted in 2012, the investment was there. You cared because you’d had time to.

I’m not sure why this is so hard for other franchises. Crossovers aren’t new. Comics have done them for decades. The DC animated shows in the 90’s and 2000’s were a class example of them too. Even The CW’s shows managed to pull this off in their annual crossover events. Making a shared universe work isn’t impossible. So why are so many franchises getting it wrong?

I think part of the answer is “greed”. (Or maybe it’s most of the answer.) Studio execs look at what The MCU did, make a shared universe, and jump on it without doing any work. It’s the same end-result: an introductory movie sets up everything awkwardly halfway through, leaves no room for a story to be told and fails. The studio execs see that, and instead of fixing it, they abandon the idea altogether. It’s not like The Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn’t guilty of this too, hence it struggling, but that was already many films in. It had a whole franchise to fall back on, hence it being more forgivable.

Which is more than I can say for other shared universes. As any good architect knows, if the foundations aren’t there, the top is irrelevant. It can look as pretty or expensive as possible, but if nothing’s supporting it, then it’s an ornament without purpose. It might as well be window dressing. When will these franchises understand that? Who knows?

A shared universe idea isn’t inherently bad. The DCEU recently learned to do it by keeping the franchise building in the background and focusing on the stories in foreground. Additionally, the recent LEGO movies, most of them, have succeeded by making crossovers where every character serves the story. It’s not impossible.

“Okay,” you ask, “but what Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse?” To which I answer, “Well, what about it?” Keep in mind that the movie not only acknowledges pre-existing Spider-Man knowledge, but also makes sure that its crossovers still serve the grander narrative. It’s still a movie about legacies and expectations. It’s a movie first, essentially. Everything else is extra.

Which me leads back to SCOOB!. It wants to mark the beginning of The Hanna-Barbera Universe, otherwise it wouldn’t contain The Falcon Fury and Dick Dastardly. It’s not even like this couldn’t work, like Wacky Races did. But at this rate, it doesn’t seem like it really had a shot. Plus, it messes with Scooby-Doo in the process. Considering how easy it is to do Scooby-Doo as a concept, that’s embarrassing.

You know what could’ve worked? Going the route of the Scooby-Doo crossover comic. You know, the one where every iteration of Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma collaborated on a case? That not only had great jokes, but it was a clever way to execute the shared universe idea. It’s not like film, particularly animation, hasn’t made this work before…

I’m annoyed and disappointed because I expected more from SCOOB!. I actually expected relatively little, but I was still disappointed. It makes me sad when a Scooby-Doo concept falls this flat, and I thought we were done with the “second-rate shared universe” idea after the 5th failure. And while I’m sure there are smarter people at Warner Bros. than me, it doesn’t make me less sad. It actually makes me more sad, honestly.

So yes, that’s all I have to say here. Wake me up when a good Scooby-Doo movie comes to the big-screen, will you?

Fant4schtick

5 Summers ago, Josh Trank, fresh off of the success of Chronicle, gave us Fant4stic. A gritty origin story that centred around Marvel’s Fantastic Four IP, the film was a critical and financial bomb. To-date, it’s one of the poorest-received superhero movies ever, forcing the IP onto the backburner until Disney purchased 20th Century Fox. It also put Trank in “director’s jail” for a while, and it’s a sore-spot for comic book fans.

I mention this for two reasons: firstly, Trank has recently graced us with another movie based on the last years of Al Capone. And secondly, an interview with Trank on Polygon surfaced a while back. That second point is particularly relevant, as it brings up details about Trank’s directing of Fant4stic that re-contextualize how I viewed him for the longest time. Because, let’s face it, I didn’t think too highly, a fact not helped by his bad behaviour on Twitter.

Let me explain:

What was publicly circulated about Trank regarding Fant4stic was all negative. While nothing’s confirmed, there were rumours about his temper, his treatment of Kata Mara and the reckless behaviour of his dogs. In particular, his dogs were said to have eaten and destroyed valuable assets. Ignoring how Fox had messed with Trank’s vision, which is a sore spot on its own, Trank’s behaviour was inexcusable. There’s a certain canner that’s expected of someone on a project like this, and Trank didn’t follow it.

Of course, this interview doesn’t hesitate to bring this up. But it also uses this knowledge to re-contextualize Trank. It’s an interview that gives his side of the story. And while it doesn’t “excuse” his behaviour, it does humanize him. It sheds light on him directing one of Hollywood’s biggest flops in recent memory.

I won’t spoil the article, which you can find here. It’s a great piece of journalism, and its insight into Hollywood’s film culture is really eye-opening. Before I read it, I knew filmmaking was cut-throat, but never this cut-throat. I knew that people’s careers could be made or broken based on how they played the game, but this piece upped the stakes. It showed Hollywood’s nasty side, and I’m grateful that I don’t plan to direct anything for them. But it also made me feel bad for Josh Trank and his mistreatment.

I think Trank got the raw end of the deal. I think he was abused and lost his voice on a movie he wasn’t suited for. I also think that while he might’ve been unprofessional himself, and we’ll never know for sure, at the same time he was dealt some terrible cards. It’s as if Fox saw Chronicle’s success, realized he was easy to exploit and exploited him. And that’s disgusting.

It’s especially revealing for two reasons. The first is that Trank’s reputation’s been forever soured by Fant4stic. Many directors have overcome their flops before, big or small, but none have hurt like this one did for Trank. No one thinks of Francis Lawrence and points to Constantine, even though it was his first movie, but somehow Trank and Fant4stic are forever intertwined. Like a bad dream, the two have become inseparable.

The second issue, and one that doesn’t help, is that Trank’s recent venture was also panned. Granted, Capone’s no Fant4stic. But its failure, and the fact that this makes two flops back-to-back, doesn’t regain the confidence people might’ve had for Trank. It’s as if his creative juices stopped flowing after his debut, something the interview couldn’t have predicted because of when it was written. It saddens me as well, as I don’t like seeing movies “suck”.

So what’s next for Trank? It’s hard to say. As much as his trajectory might fit the Icarus story-a promising visionary letting his youth and arrogance get the best of him-I still think he has another good movie in him. I’ve seen has-beens make their comebacks before, and it’s not like Trank was “dead on arrival” creatively. Because Chronicle was one of 2012’s biggest surprises, and I mean that positively.

Then again, maybe its success wasn’t entirely because of Trank? The film was co-written by Max Landis, and sometimes an extra set of eyes is necessary. It provides oversight, which is helpful. So to go it solo, especially when your previous venture was a colossal disappointment? I’m not sure that’s doing Josh Trank any favours. But I digress.

Maybe I’m overthinking this. Film is hard for everyone. So much has to go right on every level, and many films don’t have that luxury. I’ve also seen big-name directors with lots of clout strike out big after years of successes, as well as lesser-directors make it big after years of doubt. Filmmaking’s that unpredictable, something this interview has shown.

Still, I’m not sure Trank’s guiltless. For all the crap he’s been dealt, taking to Twitter to blast his bosses wasn’t the right move. I also don’t appreciate using The Irishman to reignite the “Marvel movies aren’t cinema” debate. Trank’s behaviour can’t be “waved away”. It’s important to keep that in mind.

But I understand him more now, and how working on Fant4stic zapped him of his enthusiasm. If that’s possible, then maybe the world can one day forgive him for Fantastic Four? Time will tell.

Ranking Pixar: 7-1

(Editor’s note: Save for some slight editing, rephrasing and spelling/grammar, the following conversation remains largely unedited. It also contains spoilers, and-for the sake of length-has been chopped up into 3 parts.)

(Part 1 is here.)

(Part 2 is here.)

#7 time!

Moving on, my #7 pick is, reluctantly, Finding Nemo. 

Putting this movie at number seven is kind of gutting to me, I consider this to be some of Pixar’s best, but, as has been established, the second half of this list is some truly stiff competition. Finding Nemo is an incredible achievement in animation and storytelling, taking us on a Dante’s Inferno style journey across the ocean. This movie gives its characters and themes lots of room to breathe and the whole vibe just really, really works for me. The pacing is phenomenal too, it does a great job juggling its A and B plots, really selling us on Marlin and Nemo’s relationship despite barely showing them together on screen.

My #s 7-5 are all almost a dead tie.

I see. I actually find it interesting how in a sea of Pixar's greats, #7 for your list would take place in a literal body of water.

Yuk-yuk-yuk!

I even remember seeing a news clip on TV showing how Pixar did all their water effects. They used an empty fish tank and kept dropping other stuff in it. Considering how water is hard to animate, that's impressive.

For a movie made in 2003 to compete with movies made 17 years later in water effects is truly astounding.

Indeed. But that's why Pixar's the best at what they do.

Indeed!

My #7 spot is reserved for Toy Story 4, aka the movie no one asked for, yet surprised everyone anyway.

It's weird how people didn't think it'd work. Andy's arc may have ended in Toy Story 3, but Woody's hadn't. So not only does this movie bring back Bo Peep in an expanded role, it also manages to give Woody that closure post-Andy. And it does so with a finale that actually got me to cry for the first time in a Toy Story movie, which, by the way, wasn't even the first time the movie got me to cry as is.

I was honestly not looking forward to this movie, like, at all. I thought that Toy Story 3 ended the saga on a high note and provided closure for everyone who had grown up with the first three films. Turning Woody into an empty nester was something I don’t think many people considered, but I’m glad we saw it!

Indeed.

Can we just focus on Bo Peep for a minute? Not only is she now the best part of a Toy Story movie, even if it took over 2 decades to make that happen, but her sheep actually have names now: Billy, Goat and Gruff. It also helps that she has believable motivations for why she'd become the way she is, having been pawned off from owner to owner in the 9 years since the opening scene (speaking of, what a way to open!) She also has her own ragtag group of friends, including the always amazing Duke Caboom (who steals every scene he's in and is easily Keanu Reeves's best role ever.)

Oh, and having Key and Peele in this was also a delight.

Yeah, this movie had a delightful cast of characters. I put off watching it for a long time because I thought it would be sadder. Quite the contrary, this movie is the funniest Toy Story has ever been.

It's still pretty sad, though. I think Gabby Gabby in particular made me cry with her resolution. And Kudos to Pixar for actually going all-in with her as well.

Yeah, this movie has some pretty hard hitting consequences and a lot of...disturbing imagery, actually. Like, man, those dummies are mesmerizing to watch, but also completely haunting.

I know people are critical of Bonnie for neglecting Woody like that, but what'd we honestly expect? She's a little kid, and she's not Andy, so it makes sense that she'd turn to other toys instead. Even if they're made of craft material and a discarded spork. (Seriously, Forky brings up so many questions that I don't think the writers were prepared for.)

My only critique of this movie, which holds it down ever so slightly, is actually twofold: one, most of the side-characters from the previous film get little to do. And two, there are way too many contrivances surrounding Bo Peep's sudden reappearance and the RV managing to stay in one location for most of the film.

I think the writers are wholly aware of the implications of Forky, and they do an excellent job of playing them for laughs. The scenario, barring the craft-toy being suicidal, seemed very relatable. I agree the road trip aspect was the weakest part of the movie, though. But I’ll have more to say on this in a bit.

Fair enough.

Next?

My #6 pick is Coco, aka that movie where Disney tried to trademark a Mexican holiday.

The 2010's were rough for Pixar creatively, but Coco was a breath of fresh air in 2017. It also centres around something near and dear to my heart: passion in artistry. Miguel is a struggling musician stuck with a family who hates music, and he has to contend with that in both the living and dead worlds. He's really the backbone that makes this movie work, and he even manages to heal both sides of his family by being himself. Also, that end song? I've dealt with dementia patients before as a volunteer in a geriatric hospital, and I can confirm that music brings them back to life in ways that medicine can't.

What puts this higher than Toy Story 4 is that all the side-characters get something to do. What stops it from getting higher is how predictable a lot of its plot beats are. It's like Pixar had a brilliant idea and a brilliant world, yet forgot to actually make the foundation more interesting. The biggest casualty of this is the villain. Ignoring how Coco came out right around the time that John Lasseter was revealed to be a creep, making this movie feel slightly awkward, Ernesto de la Cruz is such an obvious twist-villain that I called it even before Miguel met him.

Still, I have to hand it to Pixar for making their first official-unofficial musical.

My #6 pick is actually Coco as well, for largely the same reasons. 

Disney trying to trademark the holiday, stealing the likeness of a real person, and John Lasseter departing make this movie a bit uncomfortable for me. In spite of all the production scandal, this film brought a lot of positive attention to a culture that’s been increasingly stigmatized in the country that made the film. I love everything about the movie’s aesthetic, Miguel and his family, and, of course, the film’s portrayal of death.

I agree that I would have liked to see more of this world we were introduced to because it feels like there’s more to see. It all seems so rich and vibrant and expansive.

Honestly, I was unaware of the stealing of likeness, though given the lawsuit with Cicely Daniher over Onward's van design, I'm not surprised.

Yeah, exactly the same deal. I have mixed feelings about Onward for that reason as well. But Onward didn’t have the benefit of “Poco Loco” being such a bop.

I much preferred "La Llorona", even though that's a real piece of Latin music. It's also interesting how "Remember Me" is a character on its own, being a song that evolves to fit the mood.

Yeah, the way Miguel’s relationship to music changes as he works through his feelings is incredibly done.

And yeah, enough praise can't be said for that tearjerker at the end.

I guess you can move on with your #5 pick.

Alright! For my #5 pick: Toy Story 3. 

Toy Story 3 is to Toy Story 2 as Toy Story 2 was to Toy Story. Everything Toy Story 2 left implied, its sequel expanded upon and explored. Woody’s accepted the fact that Andy will move on someday? Cool. Time for Andy to actually move on. See how well you cope now, tough guy. A toy with no child is just trash? Let’s have them almost be incinerated, holding hands as they accept that their lives are coming to an end! You know, for kids!

Oh God, that incinerator scene. I still get nightmares about that sometimes...

I didn’t see what was so scary about it until I got a bit older and realized the implications. The scary part wasn’t that they almost died, as a kid I thought “they’ll be fine,” and I was right. The scary part is that they accepted their inevitable demise.

I remember Cineplex did a 100 years of film tribute a while back, and one of the actors they got for their montage was a 7 year-old boy talking about that scene. But yeah, that's a dark, DARK movie. I'm amazed that it wasn't rated PG, as I don't think it was appropriate for anyone under the age of 10.

I have not watched it in...God, I don’t even know how long. I have to be prepared to view it. It was so hard to experience, like I said, it made me hold off on seeing Toy Story 4. 2019 was way too rough a year for me to experience that again.

I remember watching it with my Bubbie on my mom's side, and she whispered to me on several occasions, "This is too scary for children."

Especially kids who grew up with the other two films and love those characters.

Yep!

The real question is, where does Kingdom Hearts III fit in the Toy Story timeline? We know it’s before Toy Story 3, but after Toy Story 2. And it’s canon.

My #5 pick goes to Finding Nemo.

It was tough trying to put this over my #4 spot, but it lost in the end. I was 13 when this movie came out, and it still scared the shit out of me at parts. But that just made it cooler in my eyes! It's basically an odyssey predicated around losing a child, something made worse by Marlin's backstory in the opening scene. You don't get more hardcore than that.

But it's not all bitter, though. This is, without a doubt, one of Pixar's funniest films, made better by it not being entirely predicated on slapstick humour. Plus, Dory's one of the funniest creations put to film, made better by Ellen DeGeneres selling the hell out of her, and she was so good that she actually made me excited for Finding Dory. She also bounces perfectly off of Marlin.

By the way, when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do?

Sigh Keep swimming.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Like I said, I was gutted to have Finding Nemo so low on my list. Consider my previous 3 entries a near tie.

Did I mention that the movie's insanely quotable?

I used to have to watch the barracuda scene through my fingers when I was little.

I'd call you a novice, but Bruce's relapse was also pretty disturbing. I've been there, it ain't pretty!

You have a fish blood problem?

Um...yeah, let's use that to describe it. (Addiction isn't fun, people.)

Right, uh...fish are friends! Not food! So on and so forth.

My #4 pick is one you covered before, but it's The Incredibles.

This barely won out over Finding Nemo, people. BARELY.

That said, this is easily my favourite Brad Bird film, and arguably my second-favourite superhero movie after The Dark Knight. So much about this movie is amazing: the action scenes are to the point, yet fun to watch. I actually struggle with which one I like more: the one with the jet, or Dash's run across Nomanisan Island. The characters are also uniquely powered to their roles, and the running commentary on superheroes is so relevant now that it's actually scary. And the music is some of Michael Giacchino's best work, which is interesting considering this was his first film score.

By the way, track down the short "Jack-Jack Attack" if you can. It's just as great a short film as The Incredibles is a movie.

Ah man, “Jack-Jack Attack!” There’s something from my childhood. Yeah, like I said, this movie has gotten more relevant over time. This movie, since you’ve been mentioning it for others, is insanely quotable. It has some very sharply written dialogue.

"BEHOLD, THE UNDERMINER! I AM BENEATH YOU, BUT NOTHING IS BENEATH ME!" I love The Underminer so damn much!

“WHERE IS MY SUPER SUIT?”

"PUT A FIELD AROUND US NOW!" I can do this forever, but...

I actually wish I'd seen this in theatres, since I get the feeling that the audience would've clapped at the end. But we were in the process of moving at the time, so...

Yeah, I’d definitely trade seeing Incredibles 2 in theaters for the first one.

I will die on my hill and proclaim that both are good movies, but whatever. What's your #4?

My #4 is Up. 

This movie has one of the best openings in any movie ever. Period. Beyond the first 20 minutes, Up is a great adventure movie about an old man learning to overcome grief through connecting with youth. It’s whimsical, well directed, well animated, phenomenally acted, funny, and seeing Mr. Fredricksen find his zest for life again is nothing short of triumphant. He is a phenomenally realized protagonist, and I thought the way he learned to let go of his pain is an incredibly poignant story and a very important life lesson.

Up is a really sad movie, isn't it? But I actually thought the scrapbook scene in the third-act was more heartbreaking than the opening (the opening is still a killer, though. Especially since I still have two living grandparents on my mom's side.) I also like how the movie indicates the passage of time. Check out Carl's facial hair, man!

I also like how they visually indicate his change of heart through him shedding his stuffy brown suit as the film progresses.

And his posture improves! So many great minutiae that take multiple viewings to appreciate.

And of course, who could forget Dug?

Definitely! Best boy ever!

And now we get to the top 3. I'm sure everyone's excited. I know I am!

As am I! My #3 pick goes to: Toy Story 4. 

I haven’t had enough time with this movie to decide if it’s as great as its predecessors on its own merits, but I’m putting it here because I think it represents what makes all of the Toy Story movies so great. I’m feeling like a broken record, but it takes small ideas from older movies and breathes life into them in a way that feels like a natural progression of the series’ themes. We’ve asked before if a toy without a child is any better than trash, so why don’t we make a movie where a child makes a toy out of trash? We’ve established that Woody doesn’t understand how a toy could live without a child, so let’s make a movie where his understanding of that relationship is pushed to his limit?

It is incredibly rare for a series of four films to have such narrative cohesion, and Toy Story 4 really does feel like the perfect, bittersweet ending to this wonderful animated saga, so it gets my number three spot.

It’s also gut-bustingly funny. By far the funniest Toy Story movie in my opinion, actually. Bo Peep is delightful, Combat Carl from the shorts gets a cameo, Duke Caboom is full of great one liners, hell, even the Bensons turn out to be misunderstood sweethearts. That is to say nothing of Key and Peele’s contributions, and of course, the heart and soul of this movie, Forky.

This movie has heart. Unlike Toy Story 3, it manages to stay warm and cozy while it explores its themes. It’s soft...I guess you could call it, my trash!

I remember once seeing a video on YouTube that mentioned that Woody's entire arc in these movies could be summed up in a single speech in the first movie. It makes a lot of sense that, after everything that Woody's gone through in the previous movies, the natural progression is him learning to move on from having an owner. The ending becomes that much more bittersweet because of it.

Also, did you pick up on the motifs from the franchise being played together in the closing scene? Because I did, and it was a kick to the heart.

Oh God, that closing scene.

If there was ever a Pixar moment on-par with the ending to Grave of the Fireflies in sheer, raw emotion, that was it. I also like how the antagonist is a misunderstood and neglected doll who finally gets her overdue love at the end. That was a nice subversion of Pixar's biggest shortcoming: the twist-villain.

Yeah, I was really happy to have an actual antagonist. I miss good movie villains, man. I really appreciated how Gabby Gabby and the dummies were designed to be unnerving at the beginning, but easily transitioned to cute once you got to know them. Speaking of unnerving things that get progressively cuter, there were oodles of cameos from some of Pixar’s oldest shorts.

Yes, like Tinny.

Tinny!

It was nice to see him again in beautiful, photorealistic 4K.

He’s aged magnificently. I wonder what his secret is…

The last thing I feel I have to talk about in depth here would be Ducky and Bunny. I thought they were going to be a lot less funny than they were, despite being an avid fan of Key and Peele. I didn’t expect the writing to utilize their comedic timing so well. The scene that really won me over was the key sequence. They just play so well off of Buzz, who was also great in this movie.

Let's not forget The Plush Rush montage. Easily an example of dark comedy.

The comedy in this film relied a lot on subversion of expectation, and it’s a testament to the film makers that the montage kept me guessing.

Yeah! The final bit in that montage had me rolling. I’m also a sucker for drawn out gags, so...

The end credits got my entire theatre in an uproar of laughter. Especially with Keanu Reeves's best "whoah" in his entire career.

He really Canada...

My #3 goes to Up, a movie I actually appreciate more with each subsequent viewing.

It says a lot when a movie this unbelievably silly gets me to cry three times: twice in the "Married Life" montage, and once when Carl rummages through Ellie's old scrapbook. But while "grumpy old man ties balloons to his house and floats to South America" is a ludicrous premise for a film, and the movie's definitely ludicrous, Up's actually a very sad movie when you stop and think on it. Not that you think about that often, since this movie makes an alpha dog's voice sound like a chipmunk.

Also, I kinda like how the film's villain is a crusty old man consumed by desire. Ignoring how he's a perfect foil to Carl, Charles Muntz's advanced age also subverts the notion that old people are harmless. He also plays off well against Carl with all the geriatric jokes in the climactic battle. He and Ernesto de la Cruz are classic examples of "never meet your heroes".

In life, or in death, apparently. Up is definitely a movie about the subtle things. The plot is incredibly thin, but the character writing and animation are phenomenal. I don’t actually have all that much to say about this movie, because I don’t actually think there’s all that much to say. All the little things we’ve talked about are just really, really good. The whole film is just good.

I think what holds this one down a bit is how silly it is. I'm not normally a big fan of MacGuffin chase movies, I find them bizarre and silly as hell, but somehow the charm of this one surpasses that. Still, a lot of the plot points definitely feel a little weird and contrived (an alpha bird AND a talking dog?)

Yeah, not to mention Charles Muntz being alive to begin with. For as much depth as there is to some of the film’s elements, there are others you can’t think very hard about without them falling apart.

Still, I love Carl and Russell's relationship. That's cute. (Speaking of, is Pixar psychic to have predicted Disney's eventual buy-out of Lucasfilm in 2009? There's an overt Star Wars reference in the credits.)

Yeah, I really liked Russell as well. He’s a great foil to Carl and really helps give this movie some of its great, wholesome energy. I don’t actually think this movie is all that sad. I think it’s real. I have a much easier time watching this movie for fun than say the second or third Toy Storys. Carl’s feeling listless is kind of endemic to the human experience. Seeing him work through it is very relatable.

I guess.

My #2 is one you put much lower, but it's actually grown on me with each subsequent viewing.

Inside Out is the kind of movie I wish existed when I was younger. It not only tackles emotions in an easy-to-understand way, which is hard to do, but it also tackles the relationship we have with sadness as a concept. Joy's a lot like Woody, in that she's nasty, but not for malicious reasons. She thinks Sadness genuinely harms Riley, so she gaslights her whenever she thinks Sadness is out of line. This also forces Sadness to feel useless, and I'd even argue that it's Joy's fault that everything goes wrong in the movie. She's the one who learns the lesson here.

Outside of that, I love this world. Everything from abstract thoughts being a furnace, to discarded memories being thrown in a literal dump, it all meshes excellently. This was the film that instantly excited me when it was announced in the early-2010's, and I'm happy we got it.

Also, Bing Bong's death is one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes ever. I've had imaginary friends growing up, and him fading away routinely makes me cry.

I don’t know, man. Inside Out was a movie I really enjoyed in my first viewing, and liked progressively less over time. There are a lot of fun visual gags about the world, like, for example, the furnace, but for whatever reason this movie doesn’t really click with me. Maybe it’s because of some of my personal experiences with manipulation that I find what Joy does to be pretty gross and not really forgivable by the end of the film. All the emotions in everyone’s heads are actually really mean. It also reinforces some pretty lame gender stereotypes and relies a lot on leveraging Riley’s stature as a child for emotional weight.

The dialogue between Riley and her parents is about half and half for me. Some of it’s really wonderful and real, and half feels less like how a family would interact and more how adults making a movie think a family would interact. It’s frustrating because I know the folks at Pixar can and have done better.

I find that people are often split on this one, with some loving it and others thinking it manipulative. I know, for a fact, that two reviewers on YouTube were absolutely savage when they reviewed it, even though I don't like either of their reviewing styles. But speaking as someone with Autism who moved when he was 14, I found a lot of this to be quite relatable. I really like Riley as a character, too.

At the very least, the idea alone is interesting. You have to acknowledge that, right?

I mean, definitely, but that doesn’t necessarily affect any of my criticisms.

I suppose. Especially since I'll probably be critical of your next two picks as well.

It’s funny, for a movie about emotions I really feel, grossly indifferent towards this film.

Oh, you’re not going to agree with me at all. There are only two films I haven’t mentioned and you put them much, much lower.

Speaking of...my #2 pick: WALL-E. The first movie to give me genuine anxiety about climate change! 

WALL-E is great. The animation was cutting edge in its day and it still holds up on a technical level as well as an artistic one. This movie can out during a devastating global recession and a heated (if misguided) debate about whether climate change was even real and delivered scathing criticisms of the controlling nature of capitalist society, its disregard for the environment, and the importance of human connection; all while balancing its B and C plots with an adorable robot love story told almost entirely without words for more than half the movie. Films like these from major studios beholden to investors are incredibly rare and really give you a sense of creative passion.

It also strikes a great balance between realism and the surreal, which was no small-feat in and of itself. And then, on top of all that, this movie inadvertently encouraged civil disobedience in the name of environmental action, which was a very spicy take at the time. This movie is leagues beyond its contemporaries (cough, Avatar) in pretty much every way and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Geez, what is it with people dunking on Avatar? It's been 11 years almost, and the movie wasn't even that bad.

I guess I also wouldn't be so hard on WALL-E if the individual story threads weaved together better. That, and Princess Mononoke is the better environmental story on film. But that's for another time...

Oh, I’ll dunk on Avatar like I’m playing NBA Jam. Never liked that one.

#NotAnOriginalSentiment

#NotAnIncorrectSentiment

ANYWAY, WALL-E is also a pretty damn funny movie. For as much as you’ve harped on slapstick, it really, really works here.

I should clarify that I do still like the movie, I just think it's not as great as everyone's said.

Which is fair. I just happen to love this movie.

Now here’s one I knew we’d disagree on from the moment you dropped me a line. My favorite Pixar movie and #1 pick is: Ratatouille.

My morbid curiosity has kicked in.

“My curiosity has kicked in,” fixed that for you, and good!

I have never not loved Ratatouille, it’s very difficult to put my finger on, but ever since I saw it in theaters I’ve thought “wow, that movie was really fun.” It’s also probably my favorite Brad Bird movie. This film is absolutely not as complex or as poignant as other Pixar offerings, but it definitely has its moments. (The trap store scene comes to mind.) This movie is a movie that lives and dies by its characters, it’s wonderful, wonderful characters. Linguini is great, Colette is great, Remy is great, his colony, also great, the entire kitchen staff? Also great; and then we have the man, the myth, the legend: Skinner.

Skinner is, as we’ve established, a rarity as one of Pixar’s only non-twist antagonists. He’s hostile from the get go, and every time he’s on screen he shows his penchant for chewing scenery like it’s some of the deliciously animated food. Skinner grounds the absurd premise of the film by being driven mad by how unbelievable him telling the truth sounds. This is a movie with, not a car chase, not a motorcycle chase, but a moped/bike chase after a rat who’s carrying the legal documents to a disgraced French restaurant. I hadn’t seen anything like this film before I saw it and haven’t since. The animation and art is also glorious and this film never fails to make me hungry. This is all, of course, before we even get to discussing Ego, who is an absolutely horrifying force of nature for our scrappy protagonists to overcome.

Is this movie perfect? Absolutely not. You’re right about the kiss scene, it does have some icky implications, Gusteau’s death is poorly justified, and French culture has surprisingly little to do with the film set in France, but I think all of that is overshadowed by this film’s larger message.

This movie is a movie that uses the food industry to dismantle the art establishment. The saying “anyone can cook,” as well as Ego’s arc later in the movie, absolutely demolish the classist distinction of what is and is not “high art” based upon how something was made or where it came from, which is something you don’t ever really see coming from mainstream media, like ever.

I know a few people who don't like Ratatouille who've admitted to me that Ego's speech is its saving grace. That's powerful.

It really is, simply, my favorite Pixar film. As this movie fights to establish, objectivity doesn’t really exist in art and emotionally important experiences can come from anywhere, and this one is a source of mine. And as such, it gets my number one spot.

I guess I'd also be more-partial to the film if Linguini weren't such a "seen it before" character. But I guess the focus is more on Remy, who doesn't even have a French accent.

Yes, but Remy is a literal rat. He is also Patton Oswalt. Do you not like Patton Oswalt?

He had to grow on me, honestly. I didn't like him for the longest time, back when I was a conservative. But I still think that everyone in that movie should've been consistent and had a French accent.

I also remember hearing that Ratatouille had a last-minute director change because it wasn't going well. It's the only one that still works, but smells of rewrites.

But then we wouldn’t have Lou Romano’s dorky performance as Linguini or Peter O’Toole’s dulcet baritones.

If Ian Holm can pull off a French accent, then the late-Peter O'Toole could've as well. Especially since British people are better at that than we are.

Anyway, we've drawn this out long enough. Time to take it home with my #1 pick.

Take it away.

Certainly.

My #1 pick comes from a far-off land, one where the caravans roam and-I'm kidding, it's Toy Story 3.

I had an inkling.

I was skeptical of this movie in the years leading up to its release. I knew it'd happen eventually, but would it be good? So many trilogies live or die by their final entries, so I was legitimately afraid that this'd fall flat. I guess its multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, were proof enough that my doubts were misplaced.

What a ride this is! Right from its fake-out opening, which could've been a movie on its own, there's a non-stop assault on my emotions here. The garbage fake-out in the first-act alone almost made my heart stop, and it only gets more intense. Screw a Pixar movie, this is a prison break-out movie, and the iconography is present everywhere. Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough, there was also that furnace scene. My God, that furnace scene! 10 years later, I still get chills when I see it!

And then there's that controversial passing of the torch moment with Andy Davis and Bonnie. I know some fans have been turned off by how Andy feels like an old man here, but I think semantics like that miss the point: Andy's not only given a full character-arc here, but he's the sentimental type. And even as someone who was in university at the time, the "leaving the home" aspect really got to me (speaking of which, the moment where Andy's mom looks at his empty room and breaks down has been noted to make parents cry.) So I don't think that scene is cheap and forced at all.

If I have one complaint, it's Lotso. He's a good villain, complete with a compellingly tragic backstory, but his comeuppance feels cheap. It's like the writers just gave up when they decided to have him be strapped to a garbage truck. Seriously, you couldn't have been more creative?!

Whatever, it's a great movie. Easily my favourite of the franchise, and of Pixar's resume.

I could definitely see a case being made for Toy Story 3 being better than Toy Story 4, even for it being Pixar’s best movie. I guess you could compare my feelings for putting Toy Story 4 so high on my list to the reasoning behind giving Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Best Picture. It has less to do with that specific film, and more for the outstanding achievement in serialized storytelling.

We spoke at length about Toy Story 3 earlier, so I’m not sure I have much more to add I haven’t already said.

I know it's not fair to pick on a dead man here, but I'm still bitter over Roger Ebert's 3-star review of this movie. Not because he's "wrong", but because I think that he misread the movie because he never had children himself.

Roger Ebert misread a lot of things, but I won’t open up that can of worms here.

To be fair, he's never written a review I can't at least understand.

Anyway, thanks to JHawk99 once more for sticking it out over this massive collaboration piece. And thanks to all of you for sticking by and reading it. Any last words before we go?

Yeah! Follow me on twitter @g1_JHawk99 for art, poetry, and my insufferable personality. Wear a mask, wash your hands, and don’t be a selfish prick. Stay home!

Wait, you write poetry?

I do! I’m a spoken word poet. I’m currently working on my writing socials, more information to come on my Twitter. I was actually working on writing an album before COVID separated me from my producer and stalled my progress.

To be fair, that virus has caused a lot of people misery...

Yes. Please, dear viewers, see the above statement. Assuming you’re in The U.S., like me, our country is botching its response. We are not ready to reopen. If you have the option to stay home, check out some of the 22 movies we talked about instead of going out! I thank you on behalf of your communities in advance.

Apologies, and thanks to my gracious host, Whitly. I’ll put my soapbox away now.

It's okay, I don't think many people would dispute that.

Anyway, you all know where to find me. Hopefully this won't take too long to edit, even if it was fun. But until then, stay safe, and I'll see you next time!

See you in another four years!

Hopefully sooner!

(Fin.)

Ranking Pixar: 15-8

(Editor’s note: Save for some slight editing, rephrasing and spelling/grammar, the following conversation remains largely unedited. It also contains spoilers, and-for the sake of length-has been chopped up into 3 parts.)

(Part 1 can be found here.)

Onto #15!

Indeed. My pick for #15 is: A Bug’s Life!

I actually really like this one, but I have no earthly clue how to feel about it post #MeToo. Taken on its own merits, it's a light, fun retelling of Seven Samurai that I think takes full advantage of its setting to deliver some inventive imagery. It also managed to make grasshoppers terrifying, and I respect any movie that can do that.

Dot is easily my favourite character in the entire movie, just FYI. I'll also give the movie's sense of urgency, but I just think Pixar's made better since.

This movie is full of great characters. I've seen a lot of Seven Samurai retellings and the circus bugs have more personality than many of their contemporaries. Also, it has a character named P.T. Flea and I just think that's great.

Next to The Underminer, I think that's my favourite Ratzenberger role.

Gonna have to tell me more about The Underminer later. So, what's this mysterious #15 pick of yours? I'm dying to know.

Simple: it's Onward.

Remember how I mentioned my dad's heart attack? Well, I also lost both of my grandparents on his side at a young age. My Zaidy in particular died in a car accident before my second birthday, so I never really got to know him outside of one, really faint memory. This movie felt extremely personal for that reason.

It's not quite top-tier Pixar, but Dan Scanlon really cared about this one. The D&D stuff also hit home since my last job was at a D&D-themed pub, and I loved its semi-predictable resolution. That was kinda bold considering that Ian had never met his dad, and him letting Barley say goodbye one last time made me cry again. (I'm a softie, I'm sorry.) This is the kinda movie that, like Dreamworks's Abominable, is much better than its formulaic concept should allow it to be. And it'd be nothing short of a masterpiece had it not been for Pixar's incredibly high-standards.

Oh wow, I am genuinely surprised by how low Onward is on your list.

That should tell you something right there, shouldn't it? Keep in mind that that we're now in "good" territory, too.

Yes, we've almost run out of mediocre Pixar movies...almost, but not quite.

I think Onward's proof that Scanlon's got a great movie in him, but needs a better script.

I'm very torn on this one, so I'll get into it shortly.

Fair enough.

#14 is Incredibles 2, which has dropped a bit since I first saw it.

I still really love this movie, but ignoring the strobing (which was also an issue in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), it feels like a lower-stakes sequel to a masterpiece. I also think that while it builds on its world quite nicely, and that the twist villain makes more sense than people care to admit, it retreads quite a bit.

Still, that light rail chase is amazing. And I love everything involving Jack-Jack in this movie. I also really like The Underminer, even if he gets away, and the movie's closing shot is a great rhyme with that of the first one.

I don't know, man. Brad Bird has always been phenomenal at action set-pieces, even in stuff like Tomorrowland, but when the novelty's worn off and you know all the twists, Incredibles 2 just feels kind of...boring. That said, The Crusher has the best line in the movie.

I guess I just was happy to see more of the family dynamic this time around. But yeah, it's not as fresh on re-watch.

Speaking of things that aren't as fresh on re-watch, my #14 pick: Inside Out. 

This movie's biggest issue, was, for me, its leading duo. The setting is very inventive, there's a lot of fantastic visual comedy, some genuinely emotional (pun intended) beats, and a poignant message...

But good Lord, I never knew happiness could be so mean. I think the idea of Joy being selfish was actually an intentional commentary on our desire to always be happy, but it was frustrating to see the conflict be driven almost entirely by her entitlement to control Riley's life.

Believe it or not, the original draft made Joy a lot nastier.

I mean, given Woody's track record, I absolutely believe it. Sadness, for her part, was incredibly frustrating to watch as well. Which works thematically, but doesn't make for a very pleasant viewing experience.

I think it is very important to qualify that we are in "good" territory.

Yeah. I'm that weirdo that loves Inside Out, but I'll save why for when I discuss it.

Looking forward to it.

My #13 pick is: Finding Dory. 

It was kind of a tossup between this one and Inside Out, this one would have placed lower if Hank wasn't such an achievement in character design. It tread a lot of the same ground as Finding Nemo and it felt like it had a lot less heart than its predecessor.

I also don't really understand why there was a demand for this movie. Finding Nemo ended on a very conclusive note, and I don't feel like Finding Dory really benefitted from the context of, or in turn benefitted, the legacy of the original.

I disagree for one, very major reason, but you'll understand soon enough what it is. But yeah, Hank the septopus was easily the best-animated character in the film. I have to wonder how much time went into making him alone.

Every sequence with him was an absolute joy, and I have a real thing for cephalopods too.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pixar studied tarantulas for him, to be honest. They're good at cross-researching.

My #13 is a controversial one, but I can't help it: I think Toy Story hasn't aged all that well.

It's still a good story, but aside from the wonky animation, the character models also creep me out now and the film is way too short and rushed.

I remember really loving this one as a kid, and I still enjoy it a lot now. Its scary moments are still effective, albeit more Sam Raimi scary than actually scary, and the lesson that Woody learns is nice and effective, but considering that, like I said, the film feels too short and rushed, it can't quite level up to what it used to be. Also, Bo Peep is barely even a character in this one.

I still respect the fact that it changed the landscape of animation overnight, but yeah...

Heresy.

Also, fun fact: Joss Whedon penned this movie. It was taking forever and going nowhere before he contributed to it.

Anyway, you may now pelt me with stones.

I've given a lot of consideration to where Toy Story goes on my list, and I think that regardless of its aged animation, the script and direction very much hold up today. It may be a relic in some ways, but we wouldn't still talk about it if it wasn't timeless.

Scud doesn't freak you out now?

Oh, Scud freaked me out as a kid! But that never detracted from the movie's charm.

I was talking about his design aging poorly. Also, Sid's one menacing asshole!

#12 goes to Finding Dory.

I know you think it didn't need to be made, but I think it justifies its existence retroactively with that throwaway line about Dory's parents in the first movie.

Whenever people claim that every non-Toy Story sequel sucks, I feel like Violet whipping her super-suit at the wall in Incredibles 2 and storming to her room. What are y'all talking about? Finding Dory's great! It's funny, occasionally tear-inducing and even touches on adversity through disability. I already touched on this a few years ago, but as someone with an LD profile myself, Dory's struggles have always spoken to me. And this movie builds on that by having Marlin, the only non-disabled character, actually feeling out of place this time. Fancy that, huh?

I guess it's just nice to have a family film treat disabilities with respect and sincerity for a change, so I guess that's why it stands out so much in my mind. And yes, telling the story from Dory's perspective this time actually helps to subvert the "out-of-order narrative" trope that so many pretentious movies get wrong.

I actually really appreciated the disability-sensitive narrative as well. It was handled with a lot of care, and I appreciated that Marlin's arc was coming to terms with how insensitive he'd been. Other than that, the movie didn't click with me.

I guess it's very much the right mindset mentality. I might be biased because of my LD profile, but I've always been weirded out by the unrelenting hate this movie receives. Still, fair enough!

Also, "Unforgettable" is a fittingly-on-the-nose song to include at the end.

Yeah, I don’t think the unrelenting hate is necessary. I personally just don’t particularly care for it.

Moving on to my #12 pick: Onward. 

I knew this movie was going to be exactly in the middle of my list as I watched it. It’s perfectly middle of the pack Pixar. I didn’t particularly love it, but it was very competently made and I didn’t really dislike it either. It’s a very slick story. Everything mentioned in the script gets used at some point or another, and the ending was very sweet. As somebody who lost their grandfather right before Christmas, this movie would have destroyed me if I saw it in theaters at the time. But I don’t necessarily credit the movie with that.

I'm sorry to hear that. I know a lot of people who were moved by Onward because they lost relatives. But I guess that was kinda the point.

Yeah, I had the benefit of a little space to see that, emotionally, that’s all Onward really has going for it. I was pretty ambivalent on the D&D stuff, it seemed like how somebody who doesn’t play D&D thinks people who play it act. Very outdated stereotype. This movie also doesn’t do a very good job of raising its stakes or creating tension. For a film about racing to spend time with a lost loved one, it has very little sense of urgency.

But, as I said, it was technically very well made.

I found that that part of the movie was more of a catalyst for Ian and Barley's splintered relationship. Especially in the final moments, where Ian sacrifices his chance to see his dad so that Barley can say goodbye properly. It reminded me of when my grandmother was on her deathbed.

Yeah, I thought that was a really neat and nuanced take on this kind of story.

I'm glad we're in agreement over that. Anyway, time for your #11 pick.

Yes, my #11 pick! This is where things start to get really difficult. My #11 pick is: Toy Story. 

It definitely says something that the next eleven films on my list are all complete knock-out hits. I still adore Toy Story, I think it’s aged remarkably well, all things considered. (Watch Pixar’s first shorts if you want to see truly horrifying, outdated animation.) Toy Story owes a lot of its enduring appeal to its original premise and its cast of well-rounded characters. This story may not be entirely timeless, but it’s pretty darn close, and I don’t see this one falling out of my good graces any time soon.

However, the next ten films following Toy Story all have the benefit of newer technology and more experience from Pixar’s staff. I can’t really justify putting this one above some of the films which would succeed it.

I find that Toy Story fans generally tend to fall into two camps: people who consider it to be Pixar's best movie, or people who consider its sequel to be Pixar's best movie. I'm neither camp, but I still appreciate the impact this film made on my 5 year-old mind.

...Depends on which sequel.

Generally speaking, people consider its immediate sequel to be the best.

I decline to comment at this moment in time.

I'll take that as you hiding something, but okay!

You know me, ever deceitful.

I sure do! My #11 goes to Ratatouille.

I know this one is a fan-favourite of foodies, but speaking as one myself, I find parts of it to be a little off-putting. I mean, a rat cooking? And controlling a schlub by his hair? They do a decent enough job selling you on that, but it's kinda gross. And let's not forget that not every character in the movie has a French accent, or that really uncomfortable kissing scene that borders on rape by today's standards...

The speech that Ego gives at the end, though? Chef's kiss. I mean that both pun intended and not intended, too.

Okay, look. The rat washes his hands, so it’s okay.

Maybe, but The Hantavirus is still a thing that exists...

I actually wrote a whole piece on that speech, though. As an artist myself, that's quite the humbling dissertation by the late-Peter O'Toole.

...I think this a good time for you to move on to your next pick.

Fair enough.

#10 is gonna make some people really angry, even though I've said why in a previous blog: WALL-E.

To be fair, it looks and sounds beautiful. And it's quite clever. My issue is that WALL-E's three movies in one: a love story, a dystopian sci-fi movie, and an ecological message movie. I don't mind all of those on their own, I loved Avatar, but together they clash constantly. It's like Andrew Stanton couldn't decide which story to focus on, so he meshed all of them and we got a confused movie as a result.

To its credit, the characters, particularly the robots, are all great. I especially like how WALL-E and EVE subvert traditional gender roles, yet still end up not totally bucking them at the end of the day. I actually wrote about that very thing for a university course in 2011.

Wow, you’re right. That did make me angry!

I'm sorry, but you placing Inside Out as low as you did made me angry. So I guess we're even?

Suppose so. I personally really like WALL-E. It feels very experimental, and we haven’t seen that from Pixar...pretty much since WALL-E, despite the film’s massive success. It’s a triumph of silent story telling for most of the film, the robots are adorable and it’s a scathing (if heavy handed) criticism of capitalism. What’s not to love?

I guess my frustration stems from, like I said, its tone. It's weird to have two robots dancing in space, only to then have AUTO turn on The Captain a short while later. Like I said, it feels like three movies vying for attention.

Fair enough, but I think the dystopian/environmental subplot went pretty well with WALL-E’s job being, you know, stacking ridiculous amounts of garbage.

I guess so. Anyway, your #10 pick?

Ah, alright, I’m taking the plunge. #10: Monsters, Inc. 

What a screwball movie. The setting is incredibly original, the art style keeps its animation from going out of date, it has Billy Crystal in it, and it very elegantly handles themes of prejudice. This movie is phenomenal. And it is my number ten pick. God help me.

"Put that thing right back where it came from, or so help me..."

“OR SO HELP ME!”

Also, don't feel bad about ranking it so low. Pixar's made many great movies over the years.

Does that mean I’m off the hook for the next nine movies because there are no wrong answers?

I guess so.

Good, we’ll see how long that lasts.

By the way, fun fact: the scene where Sully thinks Boo's being impounded? Taken straight from a Warner Bros. cartoon.

You mean when she was being “cubed?”

Yeah.

Oh yeah, I think I know the cartoon. Works just as well here as it did there!

I also remember the scene traumatizing me as an 11 year-old.

Oh, when I was a little, little kid Randall terrified me.

Right next to Sully's scream. Speaking of which, how come this movie got a lame prequel instead of a sequel? The world opens itself up to one quite nicely, especially with that closing shot.

I could not tell you, but I’m a real sucker for open endings.

This next one’s gonna rattle some cages. Coming in at #9: Toy Story 2. 

Toy Story 2, in my opinion, is where Pixar found their voice as the studio that makes really sad movies. It did what all good sequels do, taking the implied themes of parenthood and mortality inherent to the premise of the first film and exploring them in excruciating detail. What is a toy without their child? What happens to toys that get broken? Is it even worth belonging to a child if they won’t be around forever? These questions are incredibly resonant and human. I commend Toy Story 2 for essentially asking “is life worth living?”

But it also had the beginnings of some of Pixar’s worst habits. I’m not a fan of Stinky Pete as a twist-villain, there’s some major tonal whiplash, and lots of references that were, even at the time, pretty dated.

Come now, that Star Wars reference was hysterical!

Look, I love me a good Star Wars reference, but I could never really get behind the Zurg sequence.

I do love the opening though. I can’t explain why, but a lot of the textures and particle effects in this movie are just...satisfying.

Indeed. For those who don't know, Toy Story 2 was rushed and laden with production issues, hence why the opening still has some traces of the original opening for the movie. Between fighting to not make this a direct-to-video sequel, the 9 months of reworking and almost permanently deleting the file on Pixar's mainframe computer, it's amazing that they were able to pull this off.

And to pull it off so well.

Indeed.

Speaking of, my #9 entry is also Toy Story 2.

It seemed like this shouldn't have worked, but it did. Between Woody's existential crisis, Jesse's tragic backstory, and the ethical dilemma it raises about self-worth, it seems like Pixar was truly on the road to greatness with this one. I also, unlike you, love the references to Jurassic Park and Star Wars, to name a few.

This movie also happens to have the company's best end-credit bloopers, as well as one of the best closing jokes. I think my only issues are that the animation is still a bit dated and that Woody shifts gears in his character arc way too quickly. Then again, the movie's only about 90-something minutes long, so...

Yeah, its short runtime definitely necessitates its breakneck pace.

Yeah, that can sometimes be a problem for Pixar movies.

Though Toy Story 2 succeeds in spite of that.

Indeed it does. I'm still surprised you weren't a fan of the Star Wars parody.

What can I say? I guess Chicken Little put me off Darth Vader jokes.

Chicken Little? You actually watched that?

Yes. Yes I did. NEXT!

You poor soul...

I SAID NEXT.

Anyway, #8 is Monsters, Inc.

I'll admit that this is my least-favourite of Pete Docter's Pixar offerings so far, but I still really enjoy it. It's not only one of Pixar's most-quotable movies, it's also one of their funniest. It's true that a lot of its humour is cheap slapstick, which is my least-favourite kind of humour, but it's really well-placed slapstick at that. I also like that Mike and Sully have to get over their fear of children, which is funny on its own, through Boo, who's unbelievably cute.

I do think that some of the over-reliance on slapstick has worn it out over time, and it lacks a truly sad moment as an adult, but I'll be damned if I don't still love it. To quote a family friend, "It's a classic!"

I don’t think a movie necessarily has to have a “truly sad moment” to be great. Monsters, Inc. knew exactly what it was meant to do, and it did it very well.

Considering it sets itself up for one, I beg to differ. I don't recall actually crying when Mike and Sully said goodbye to Boo, and I cry very easily.

Hmmm, I see your point. I think it’s because it lacks finality. They rebuild Boo’s door at the end, they can always go visit.

I think it's more like how it wasn't given enough time to really marinate as a moment. In a weird way, that's aged the worst of the entire movie.

What's your #8?

My #8 is: The Incredibles. 

Holy hell, do I love Brad Bird’s first contribution to the Pixar canon. This movie, unlike its successor, has a phenomenal sense of scale and adventure. It really throws you into its world. It also has some very, very heady subtext, like violent crime and infidelity that went right over my head as a kid. It was also very, very far ahead of its time with Syndrome, who is, essentially, just an entitled, toxic-ly masculine fanboy who turns his hatred for the person who rejected him back on society. This film has only gotten more relevant and I love it.

2004, the year that gave us Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles. Aka, two of the best superhero movies ever made.

Pizza Time intensifies.

You just reminded me: The Parrs have never done a Pizza Hut commercial.

I actually very distinctly remember desperately wanting to see this movie, but not being allowed to go with my brother and his friends to a late showing. I was right to be mad.

Also, what?

Never mind. And don't worry, I didn't see the movie in theatres either because it was an awkward time in my life. I actually had to wait until my brothers rented it on DVD the following Winter.

I'll save my full thoughts for later, but this is a brilliant movie regardless of how you look at it. I even know non-superhero fans who love it.

It’s funny how The Incredibles has never really been considered a superhero movie in the sense we know it today. I think it falls much more firmly into the mystery genre, what with all the thrilling twists and clues.

Brad Bird was a fan of James Bond and Mission: Impossible as a kid, so that doesn't surprise me.

“KRONOS.”

I up the ante with Mirage.

Touché!

Also, fun fact: Nomanisan Island is really an anagram for "no man is an island".

This movie just keeps on giving.

Indeed.

(To be continued in Part 3...)