In Contention

Tag: Monsters Inc.

  • 6/19 Web Round-up

    Larry David in Whatever Works• What is “entertainment news?” [CNN]

    • The top 10 Woody Allen proxies, in honor of Larry David’s performance in “Whatever Works.” [Spout Blog]

    • Hollywood sets its sights on “happening” Washington, D.C. [USA Today]

    • A few days after we discussed the exciting social networking cinephile destination The Auteurs, Andrew O’Hehir writes at considerable length about the influx of Video On Demand websites. [Beyond the Multiplex]

    • Stage productions, coming to a theater near you? [Wall Street Journal]

    • The seven most contrived rom-com scenarios. [Cinematical]

    • Peter Sciretta calls DreamWorks out “Boo U.,” which seems awfully similar to Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” [/Film]

    • Spotlighting a dozen of EW’s Movie Must list. [Entertainment Weekly]

    • Peter Bart joins Michael Fleming on a new industry blog at variety. [BF Deal Memo]

  • INTERVIEW: 20 questions with ‘Up’ director Pete Docter

    Pete DocterPete Docter’s filmmaking career is as tethered to the history of Pixar as it gets.  After all, he was the third animator hired by John Lasseter back in 1990, when the company was a fledgling computer-animation house making it’s name in short films and commercials.  Nineteen years (and 10 features) later, the studio has more than made its mark on the industry, and Docter has just finished helming his second feature film, “Up,” which opens nationwide today.

    Docter’s initial crack at a project this size was 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.,” the first Pixar film to be nominated for the animated feature film Oscar.  Eight years later, the pressure is certainly on, especially in the wake of the studio’s most critically acclaimed film to date (2008’s “WALL-E”).  But if early reviews are any indication, Pixar — and Docter — not only have another success on their hands, but one that could potentially eclipse the impact last year’s lovable robot had on the critical community.

    I recently spoke with Docter about, among other things, taking the reins on his second feature, what impact 3D technology will have on the medium, the decision to write an Asian-American character into the film and just why the heck no one has cast Delroy Lindo in an animated film until now.  And yes, I asked about that little conversation we’ve been having about the final shot of “Monsters, Inc.”  Keep reading to find out what he had to say.

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  • One against ‘Up’

    UpNo surprise that the first unmitigated critical slam for “Up” should come from the reliably cranky Armond White, who has made his disdain for Pixar’s output clear on a number of previous occasions. His review goes on to lay out his wider problem with “Pixarism” (good word, that), namely that the films are just too cute:

    Pixar’s price sticker includes enough saccharine emotion to distract some viewers from being more demanding; they don’t mind the blatant narrative manipulation of a sad old man and lonely little boy. They buy animation to extend their childhood like men who buy cars for phallic symbols.

    Pixarism defines the backward taste for animation. Refuting Chuck Jones’ insistence that he didn’t create his great Warner Bros. cartoon for children, Pixarism domesticates and homogenizes animation—as if to preserve family values. The only exceptions have been Brad Bird’s Pixar movies The Incredibles and Ratatouille—both sumptuously executed in Bird’s belief that animation should show “how things feel rather than are. Indulging in the human aspect of being alive.” Yet their conceptual weak point was cuteness—same as Up’s glossing over Carl’s “public menace” court conviction and that inconsistently imagined dog pack.

    As someone who finds Pixar more of a hit-and-miss outfit than is generally perceived — and bearing in mind that I haven’t yet seen “Up” — I still don’t think that’s an entirely fair argument. (I do, however, agree that Bird is their most sophisticated storyteller.)

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  • Never occurred to me

    Our own John Foote made an interesting point in our Pixar list from yesterday.  Concerning the final shot of “Monsters, Inc.” (which brings your humble teddy bear servant to a near tear every time), Foote writes that it is a “lovely Chaplin homage…when the big monster (Sully) opens the door to Boo’s room and smiles — reminds me of Chaplin in ‘City Lights.’”

    “City Lights” is one of my all time favorite films, so I’m shocked I never made this connection before.  I went searching to see if anything has ever been written about it, but beyond the two shots popping up on numerous “greatest final shots” lists, I can’t seem to dig anything up.  Maybe there’s no connection to be made and it’s purely a coincidental thing, but I don’t know.  I like the idea of something this subtle showing up in a Pixar film.

    Here are both shots, side-by-side and in the context of the final scenes.  The “Monsters, Inc.” clip is a bit long but it’s the best one I could find:

  • THE LISTS: Ranking 14 years of Pixar

    UpThis weekend, Pixar Animation Studios will be releasing its 10th feature film, “Up.”  For many, with the film having successfully opened this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, the occasion has marked another milestone in the studio’s continued maturation.

    In my recent review of the film, I wrote, “Watching Pixar Animation grow and develop as a studio has become almost more fascinating than experiencing one of the company’s many creative films unfold on screen. Beginning with an industry leap in 1995’s ‘Toy Story’ and eventually moving into its daring own with 2008’s ‘WALL-E,’ the studio has, at the very least, shown a desire for creative progression.”

    So it seemed as good a time as any to look back on the last 14 years of Pixar product and dedicate an installment of The Lists to the studio’s esteemed portfolio.  Of course, unlike other editions of this feature, there are only 10 entries to fill the collective.  But the order will be different for everyone.

    “WALL-E,” for example, was a major high point for many last year.  Not as much for me.  “Monsters, Inc.,” on the other hand, isn’t considered top tier Pixar to some, but as you’ll note below, I beg to differ.

    In addition to the features, I thought it might be fun to rattle off a ranked list of the 16 shorts the studio has produced, going all the way back to 1984’s “The Adventures of Andre and Wally B.”  Some of them appeared in theaters alongside feature films, others might have popped up on home video as bonus features.  You can see nearly all of them on the recently released “Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1” on DVD and Blu-ray.  The most recent addition to this collective is “Partly Cloudy,” which plays along with “Up” in theaters.

    On to the list.  Be sure to give us yours in the comments section below.

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  • Pixar on Blu-ray…whither ‘Nemo?’

    Probably the most beautiful films to watch on high definition are animated films, and at the very top of that tier, Pixar’s lot looks astounding.  I own each of the available titles (yes, even “WALL-E,” much to the shock of those who still think I hated the film).  But so far it’s just “Cars,” “Ratatouille” and the Pixar shorts collection joining last year’s lovable robot in the Blu-ray bin.

    The studio recently announced the May releases of “A Bug’s Life” and “Monsters, Inc.,” but where the heck is Pixar’s crowning jewel so far: “Finding Nemo?”  Ditto “The Incredibles,” which is still, mind you, the only animated feature film to win more than one Oscar outside the formerly easy-to-score music categories.  I popped “Nemo” in the ole’ PS3 the day I got the machine and even on regular DVD, those blues and greens of the ocean environment look amazing.  But I’m ready for the real HD deal, dang it!

  • Counting down the best of Pixar

    In honor of today’s release of Walt Disney/Pixar’s “WALL-E” (it seems we’re sticking with the hyphen), the gang at New York Magazine’s Vulture blog have offered up a countdown of the best films in Pixar’s consistently impressive portfolio.

    I have to say, I share their opinion that “The Incredibles” simply…isn’t all that.  I was on the bandwagon for “The Polar Express” back in 2004, but comparisons aside, the film never hooked me the way it did the rest of the film-going community.  And that says a lot, given my comic geek roots.  It’s a nice film, but a little flat.

    Their pick for the studio’s greatest work is a slightly unconventional choice: “Monsters, Inc.”  I confess I actually haven’t given it a second look since 2001 (what became the year of “Shrek”), but I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy for a number of years now.

    My choice is far and away “Finding Nemo,” the only animated film ever to land in my top five for a given year (#3 in 2003).  But I do love the “Toy Story” films.

    Here’s their list:

    1. “Monsters, Inc.”
    2. “Finding Nemo”
    3. “Toy Story 2”
    4. “Ratatouille”
    5. “Toy Story”
    6. “A Bug’s Life”
    7. “The Incredibles”
    8. “Cars”

    I obviously haven’t seen it yet, but it’s looking more and more like “WALL-E” will top everyone’s list in due time.

    Speaking of “WALL-E,” Sasha Stone at Awards Daily has put up her first State of the Race column this week, focusing on the film, its awards potential and the political message supposedly within.  Take a look:

    Wall-E begins its run at midnight.  Some peripheral chatter is focused on it being not kiddie fare or it being a target for conservatives for having a “message.”  If the message ends up being that we as a culture have a disease of consumerism and that it will end us in pathetic ruin, that is not a great leap in logic.  Look around.

    But if the conservatives do start whining about it that only means its Oscar chances shoot through the roof, as if they haven’t already.  We have here a “too big to ignore” film, a Schindler’s List of the animated feature category and if anything is to take it down it’s only going to be a shocker at the box office, an extremely unlikely scenario.

    Read the rest here.