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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
How I rank the Pixar movies
It’s Pixar week here in Sir Critic land, commemorating the release of their 10th film, Up, this Friday. All the posts this week will be Pixar themed, and will include my Q&A with Up’s director and producer, Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera (uncut and commercial free), and of course, my review of the new film.
I’ll start today with that ever-popular comment generator, a list. I’m going to rank Pixar’s 10 movies. Granted, all their movies have been great to one degree or another. Yes, even Cars. But I love some more than I love others, and this list will reflect that.
The top three, especially are in flux, but here’s how I’d rank them today, at any rate.
1) Toy Story 2 - I’ve never quite bought the line that Godfather Part II is better than the original, or that The Empire Strikes Back is better than Star Wars. But there is absolutely no question in my mind that this Toy Story tops the original. The “When She Loved Me” scene always makes me cry, no matter how many times I see it.
2) WALL-E: It’s partly its mastery of pantomime comedy. It’s partly the amazing camerawork reminiscent of a dusty sci-fi movie from the 70s. But it’s mostly the fact that WALL-E reminds me of me: the lonely romantic.
3) Up: Yup, it’s that great. More later.
4) The Incredibles: The best superhero movie, animated or otherwise, except for MAYBE The Dark Knight. Don’t waste your comment arguing with me. You won’t convince me.
5) Monsters Inc.: I was never too afraid of the monster under my bed, but the premise of this movie is absolutely ingenious. And I MUST go on the Monsters Inc. roller-coaster based on the elevator room scene that will be built someday.
6) Ratatouille: Only Pixar could take an idea like a rat that wants to be a great French chef and make it work brilliantly. I would also point out that even though he’s the villain, the ciritc gets the best speech in the film.
7) Toy Story: Still tremendous fun. Even though the animation is obviously a bit primitive by today’s standards, the movie still feels fresh.
8) Finding Nemo - A lot of people would rate this as their favorite - it was the most financially successful. I adore it, but not as much as everyone else does, maybe because I don’t have kids yet. But I will say this is Pixar’s loveliest film visually.
9) a bug’s life: I don’t revisit this one that much, but whenever I do, I always have a great time with it, particularly the scenes with the “attack bird.”
10) Cars: It’s the only Pixar film so far not to make my 10 best list. It’s the only one I feel has unnecessary padding. And yet those who say this is a “bad” movie are choking on exhaust fumes. Making Larry the Cable Guy funny and lovable was a minor miracle.
Your ranking?
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