Favorite Movies of the Decade #30-16

the list #100-76, #75-51, #50-31, #30-16 and #15-1.

Awards for 2009 begin tomorrow or thereabouts.

For this next group installment of the countdown we start in beautiful France and have a lot of trouble leaving it! It even pulls us back in the end.

30 Beau Travail dir. Claire Denis (1999, released in 2000)
It's okay that I haven't seen it in so long that it feels like a dream now. It always did. And that "Rhythm of the Night" ending. My oh my oh my. Denis has cast her unique spell many times since, but never quite like this.

29 Caché (Hidden) dir Michael Haneke (2005)
A boon to patient moviegoers... and a bane. But who tortures audiences with as much control, mystery and depth of meaning? It's easy to make an audience jump with loud jarring sound cues and shock cuts. But I've never seen anyone make an audience leap and gasp as loudly, like one collective frightened hive, without the aid of music or editing. Haneke is a master.

28 Marie Antoinette dir. Sofia Coppola (2006)
My most controversial "favorite" all decade long. So many people were outright angered by Sofia Coppola's third dream of a movie. Imagine making a historical epic about a frivolous young woman from her point of view. And without the violence! "How DARE she!?! Only men (of any age and temperament) deserve historical epics from their own points of view!" [/sarcasm] Coppola is three for three now, making her one of the most important cinematic voices of our time. Picture number four is on its way. Can't wait.

27 Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) & Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Some people think Tarantino's most purely cinematic double (DP Robert Richardson sure is gifted behind a camera, isn't he?) is disposable entertainment, all style no substance. But it might well be my favorite from his filmography, give or take Pulp Fiction. And though I found/find Vol. 2 a more traditionally talky Tarantino effort and therefore a slight letdown after the surprisingly visceral visual punch of Vol. 1... there's no beating its amazon vs. amazon showdown in a crowded trailer. "Bitch, you don't have a future."


26 Dogville dir. Lars von Trier (2003, released in 2004)
Lars von Trier's audacious parable was 178 gripping minutes of cinema... despite and also because it takes place on a bare stage. One of the most violent pictures I've ever seen. And there's not a drop of blood.

25 Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring dir. Kim Ki Duk (2003, released in 2004)
Simplicity and wonder... a peaceful profound tonic dropped in an ocean of violent pictures.

24 I ♥ Huckabees dir. David O. Russell (2004)
My favorite existential comedy of the decade. Unless you count Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. So... yes, maybe the rebirth of the musical isn't the story of the movie decade but the creation of the existential comedy? Or has that been around since The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Or am I stretching the definition? 'The interconnection thing is definitely for real!'

23 The Wrestler dir. Darren Aronofsky (2008)
He made three pictures this decade and they're all on the list. Does that make him my favorite? It puts him up there at any rate. Even when people think he's down for the count (The Fountain) he gets back up for more. Rather like "Randy the Ram" albeit without the pathos. Aronofsky is only 40 years old. Many filmmakers start strong and fade. I hope he's just warming up.

22 Lost in Translation dir. Sofia Coppola (2003)
There is so much inside the movie worth loving: the pink panties, the karaoke, the rare star chemistry, the Cameron Diaz mimicry, the soulful ennui... but what I remember most vividly six years later, on that first encounter, was the afterglow. It was a cool evening and we'd missed the rain. Walking away from the theater, the streets were wet and reflective and I just kept looking around, absorbing the shimmering color and the skyscrapers. It wasn't Tokyo obviously but it felt rather like seeing New York again for the first time, like the movie had recharged my senses: Lance Acord was walking beside me as personal DP, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray were whispering something profound in my ears.

21 No Country For Old Men dir. Coen Bros (2007)
The Coen Bros inexorable death march was thrillingly rendered and beautifully acted with Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin all at the peak of their powers. Bonus points for that audience confounding but pitch perfect black out ending. You really can't stop what's coming.



20 Volver dir. Pedro Almodóvar (2006)
I once started counting the kisses in this underappreciated wonder because I loved the loud smacking so much. I abandoned the kiss count after 15 minutes and 47 smooches but no matter. For no amount of P.D.A. can properly show my love for Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her loud sister and their ghostly mother. I could kiss them thousands of times and you still wouldn't know how dear they are to me.

19 Before Sunset dir. Richard Linklater (2004)
"Baby, you're gonna miss that plane"

18 WALL•E dir. Andrew Stanton (2008)
Calling it the best animated film of the decade is a compliment of high order. There were abundant cartoon treasures all throughout the Aughts... including many that didn't make this list. Maybe that's the cinema story of the decade? I keep looking for one but there are hundreds of stories. I'll take them all. I don't understand people who always want their movies prepackaged in one or two genres. Give me ALL KINDS.


17 Y Tu Mamá También dir. Alfonso Cuarón (2001, released in 2002)
One of the greatest road trip movies. One of the greatest romantic triangles. One of the greatest sex comedies. One of the greatest coming of age dramas. One of the greatest. It's as magical as Boca del Cielo "Heaven's Mouth".

16 Entre Les Murs (The Class) dir. Laurent Cantet (2008)
The closest we come to a documentary on the list (I didn't include them for purity reasons -- all of these being regular feature films) since this film, reenacted/transferred/adapted (however you want to describe it) by many of its subjects from a book of the same name, feels so damn authentic. Hollywood loves to make films about teachers fighting to reach their students. I've never seen one this good before. It earns its hard won light by allowing for the shadows.

the finale: #15-01

#100-76 and #75-51 and
#50-31 Fav Films of the Aughts
50 best male perfs | 50 best female perfs
back to full blog

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Directors of the Decade: Andrew Stanton

Robert here, still going through the directors who shaped the past decade.  I admit I wondered if it was too much dedicate multiple spots on this list to the Pixar guys.  But more than any other films this decade, the Pixar ones managed to find the perfect combination of art and entertainment, of sincerity and profit.  Oh others have come close (The Lord of the Rings and some of the comic book films) but nothing like Pixar.  A big ago we discussed the intricacies of Brad Bird (Mr. Complexity).  Today we’ll talk about the other Pixar guy on my list, birthday boy Andrew Stanton

Number of Films: Two.
Modern Masterpieces: Two.  Yes both.
Total Disasters: Not possible
Better than you remember: If you think either of these could be better, you should probably just stop reading now..
Awards: Best Animated film Oscar for Finding Nemo and WALL-E.  As many Best Picture nominations as Brad Bird.
Box Office: Finding Nemo takes in over 330 mil, WALL-E gets over 220 mil.
Critical Consensus: Raved and raved.
Favorite Actor: Jon Ratzenberger as expected.

Let’s talk about:
Simplicity.  But please don’t take that to be a pejorative term.  Just as Bird’s films are essentially complex, Stanton’s films are the perfect possible versions of their simple selves.  Finding Nemo, his first film of the decade, I've always seen as something akin to The Bicycle Thief with fish.  Even if it's not an exact twin of the DeSica film in form, there's a lot in common in spirit.  Both films are simple quests and both explore the unbreakable father/son bond even as the son comes to learn that his father can't protect him in all situations (though in Finding Nemo the quest is for the son, not with the son).  Finding Nemo marks a small turning point for Pixar.  Before this the studio was responsible for the dependably good Toy Story films, the somewhat minor A Bugs Life and the high-concept but decidedly kiddy Monsters Inc.  Finding Nemo was really their first fully realized film.  I recall my film professor at the time touting it as the best film of the year and finding it strange that he'd give that distinction to an animated film (I hadn't seen it yet).  So there's no great complexity to Finding Nemo, but there is a severe emotional pull perhaps made more devastating thanks to the film's simplicity.  There is little question in any of these films of a happy ending, but Finding Nemo and WALL-E come closest to inflicting us (or at least this writer) with the anxiety felt by the characters that there may not be.

Stanton, happy and talented

Speaking of WALL-E, Stanton's second film of the decade is quite simply the best Pixar has offered.  WALL-E is a fantastic character and Stanton's ability to make him lovable while combating the restraints of his silence and his being a robot (robot = cold, shouldn't it?) is as good an argument for his ability to garner an emotional reaction through the strategic use of simplicity as any for his talent for the understated.  As the film moves from earth to space, the narrative gets more madcap.  But don't confuse this for complexity.  It's still a very simple quest film where characters don't need inner conflict or to question their motives.

Two other things that set Stanton apart from other Pixar directors.  He is most likely to infuse his films with direct cinematic references.  Yes I know the Pixar films are always cross-referencing each other and other films.  But Stanton's stand out, whether it's the "mine" seagulls designed as an homage to Aardman Studios, the name of Bruce the Shark, an homage to Monty Python, the HAL-infused villian of WALL-E or the Chaplin heavy mannerisms of the title robot in that same movie, there are direct, design-influenced references that signify Stanton as a student and lover of great cinema aesthetic.  Stanton's second unique quality is how he can manipulate his films' action to incorporate fantastic sequences that would otherwise be seen as distractions or diversions.  I'm thinking here of the space dancing in WALL-E or the sea turtle ride from Finding Nemo.  Sequences that could easily stall the plot and come across as unneccesary become essential and again exemplify Stanton's wonderful aesthetics

Andrew Stanton, Mr. Simplicity.  Second from Left.

There is another reason to highlight Bird and Stanton as great directors of this decade, particularly of animated film.  Both are branching out into the world of live-action, and may not return to animation for quite some time.  Stanton's next project is John Carter of Mars and (like Bird's) isn't slated for release for several years.   Pixar will undoubtedly prevail and Stanton and Bird's upcoming films should be on the radar of any serious film fan.  And, of course, the two men continue to have a home at Pixar and will most likely return.  Still they combined this decade to make an upstart, promising studio into the strongest force for consistent quality in moviedom today.

Shocking Oscar News: And Then There Were Ten

In one of the strangest developments in decades of Oscar watching, AMPAS has suddenly decided to change the number of Best Picture nominees back to 10, stating

After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

Ganis assumes that all ten nominees will be great. What an optimist, he is!


We haven't seen 10 Best Pictures nominess since 1943 (Casablanca won... definitely one of Oscar's smartest moments). They settled on the traditional five for the 1944 film year and it's stayed that way ever since.

This could mean that anything remotely "baity" will get nominated each year. We're in for whole lineups consisting of the Frost/Nixons, Seabiscuits, and Finding Neverlands of the world, whole lineups populated with Doubts: films that inexplicably win favor over superior films or films which aren't really good enough to be in the running but all the prestige elements are in place.

I can only assume the recent snubs for critically beloved and audience supported films like WALL•E and The Dark Knight have finally started embarrassing the Academy. But widening the field doesn't necessarily mean that the quality or box office tallies rise with it. What a pessimist I am.

Last year for example, who knows what it would have looked like. It seems like these eight would have made it...


We don't know for sure. The anti-genre voters are still anti-genre (i.e. they can't take animation, comedy, superheros, horror and sci-fi seriously, always equating "message" and traditional drama with quality) no matter how wide the ballot gets.

But perhaps this does mean that less traditional genre leaning films that got some awards traction like Dancer in the Dark (better than any nominated film in 2000), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (better than any nominated film in 2004), A History of Violence (better than most of the nominated films of 2005) or WALL•E (better than any nominated film in 2008) have a better shot at the big honor? Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. We'll see.

It sure makes predicting things this year suddenly more challenging. We've never seen the outcome of the shotgun approach to Best Picture nominating in our lifetimes. Will this change last longer than their sudden new category for "original comedy score" -- one of their more bizarre decisions -- which lasted from 1995 through 1998?
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Tuesday Top Ten: Robots in Disguise

Tuesday Top Ten Returns

My friend txt critic sent me this note yesterday:

Any interest in coming with me to tues midnight Transformers 2 on IMAX? Only drawbacks:

1. It's $20
2. We'd have to get there early
3. It's Transformers 2

After I recovered from the LOL'ing following #3, I said no. No way am I giving $20 to Michael Bay. I assume Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will beat Up to steal that #2 box office hit of the year position and I weep for the (safely assumed) qualitative drop in that switcheroo. I don't understand the Transformers phenom. A lot of movies are good at blowing shit up and some of them actually have narrative and visual coherency to go with the pretty fireballs and lovely dust clouds. Why not line up for those? And as I bitched when the first Transformers picture rolled around, the only reason I ever enjoyed the robots in disguise was watching them transform out of their disguises. If I want liquid metal, I'm totally just watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day. When anything can become anything with high speed morphing, the joy is lost. There's no reveal to stun you with the hot joy of brilliantly designed internal architecture... "That came from that. OHMYGOD it did!"

Plus, apart from Megan Fox, I can't tell the robots apart.

10 Favorite Movie Robots
(not always in disguise)

I went with mostly the android'ish since I like people better than things. Strangely, I couldn't think of any cool animal robots from the movie (apart from the reliably creepy mechnical spider device that filmmakers from Michael Crichton to Steven Spielberg are fond of) but I'm sure they exist. The only ones that came to mind were incredibly stupid... like that mechanical owl in Clash of the Titans (1981). I only pray that the remake is sensible enough to ditch the owls. At least any owls that require batteries.

Honorable Mention: The Buffy Bot
I always want to include Buffy the Vampire Slayer in every list. But it's a tv show damnit. Buffy always confuses me because it's better than much cinema. The Buffy Bot was another reminder, as if we needed one, that Sarah Michelle Gellar was shamefully robbed of Emmy nominations for 7 (give or take) years. My god, she could barely get arrested at the Globes. Only one nomination there? and that was right at the start.

10 Herbie the Love Bug
That's a robot, right? Artificial intelligence, moving parts, etcetera. Or is he magical like Frosty the Snowman? Either way he survived Monte Carlo, a failed spinoff tv series, continual underestimation of his gifts, injuries, numerous drivers and Lindsay Lohan. Plus, he's totally cute and wins extra points for nostalgia since they (literally) don't make them like they used to. Volkswagen Beetle RIP (1938-2003)

09 R2-D2
If you had asked me as a kid "what is your favorite sound?" I probably would have started beeping like R2-D2 but after the childhood apocalypse that was Star Wars: Episode I, all things Star Wars have since been downgraded. Hence, #09.

08 HAL 9000 & Gertie
HAL (voiced by Douglas Rain) is of course super smooth and insinuatingly creepy but I wanted to include Gertie (voiced by Kevin Spacey) for memorably riffing on the collective memory of HAL in the new movie Moon, reviewed here in case you have finally had the chance to see it.

07 Gigolo Joe & Pris
Mmmm, pleasure models. It helps that one of them looks like Jude Law and the other has the endless legs and Amazonian kink of primo Daryl Hannah. I still think there's a classic sci-fi film waiting to be made that's ABOUT a pleasure model rather than expecting them to vivify the sidelines like they do in A.I. Artifial Intelligence and Blade Runner. But who would finance erotic sci-fi these days? Eroticism is a no no. Think of all the trouble Robert Rodriguez had trying to remake Barbarella.

Ian Holm, Lance Henriksen and Winona Ryder in the long dead Alien franchise

06 Ash & Bishop
Because they elevate Alien and Aliens... not that either film particularly needs the elevation being spectacular in dozens of other ways as well. Please note that I didn't include "Call" from Alien Ressurection as I still have no idea how that fell so flat. I mean other than that the role was played by Noni in that phase of her career when she suddenly seemed entirely lost. That said, Alien 4 gets a bad rap but it's hard to argue with Sigourney Weaver's slightly twisted star turn as "Ripley 8". Even after four films she never once phoned it in.

05 The Iron Giant
I really need to watch this animated gem again. I've seen it but once and every time I have thought about since (many many times) I whisper "Superman" in my brain and, voila, instant lump in throat.

04 T-1000
I think I gave him short shift in my Judgment Day retrospective. I love everything about him from his mean, lean and naked entrance to Robert Patrick's otoplasty-free ears to the way he chases the heroes with cheetah speed (yikes) to the way that the only barely expressed "emotions" are negative ones: annoyance, dishonesty, condescencion, anger.

03 Roy Batty
If only some new sci-fi picture would ever be as good as Blade Runner. I guess that only happens once every quarter century or so. Hey, it's been 27 years! Hurry up cinema. [More on Batty]

02 WALL•E & EVE
I know I'm supposed to be moving on to Up... but really. How will Pixar ever top WALL•E ? Too much loveliness, creativity, control and exquisite characterizations for one animated film. Plus, EVE rocks.

01 False Maria
I'm giving Brigitte Helms immortal rendition of The Maschinenmensch the top spot not just because I've seen Metropolis more than any other silent film (it's not my all time favorite silent: get in line behind The Passion of Joan of Arc and Pandora's Box, Fritz) but because you can still feel Maria reverberating in pop culture. Or at least I can. But maybe that's because I ♥ Madonna too much? Plus Maria's dance sequence is all kinds of "!!!" including the most gloriously overstated reaction shots of lust the cinema ever came up with: lip licking, eyebrow acrobatics, arm grabbing... it's all win.





Which robot things excite you or are you strictly flesh and blood oriented?
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Oscar Updates: Actress, Picture, Screenplays

I don't want to be a Negative Nancy but I already worry for the collective mental health of Pixar lovers everywhere. Seems people are already talking like Up might be the one to finally nab Pixar a Best Picture nomination, not just an Animated Feature statue. Even celebrities are talking it up. Iron Man director Jon Favreau tweeted about it saying

Just saw Up. It might be time for a Pixar movie to win Best Picture.

Oh, people, people, people. Come back down to earth. Oscar is soooo gonna pop that balloon!

Don't get your hopes up that high! Its success makes it a good bet for the usual animated categories: screenplay, sound, score animated feature but Best Picture? If WALL•E couldn't do the trick...

Updated Predictions:
PICTURE / DIRECTOR / ACTRESS / SCREENPLAYS / Index of Predictions
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UP Vodcast Review

We're back with round two. This time Katey and I are discussing Pixar's latest Up.



Would love to hear your thoughts on Pixar's latest film and protagonist Carl Fredrickson (we didn't get into this in the video but isn't it strange that Pixar films never have female leads?). I take it many of you already took that balloon ride.

related post: Pixar Top Ten

Top Ten: PIXAR

tuesday thursday top ten: for the listmaker in me and the listlover in you

What follows is a reworking of a post originally published in 2007. It's two years later and you know what that means: Pixar has given us two more classics. UP brings their feature film count to ten. You know what Ten means: Top Ten Time!

Pixar by Preference

Cars (John Lasseter, 2006) 117 min.
Pixar's only dud. Chief among its problems: the anthropomorphics were forced. Let me get this straight: Cars as bugs on windshields of cars as cars who act like humans and they even sleep in hotels for cars -- What? What? It's not quite Shark Tale in the realm of painful "they're just like us!" pandering but it's not 'good' either. I would give it a second chance except it's also Pixar's longest feature... too long by about 23 minutes. Thankfully, they seem to have reversed their bloated running time trending. It peaked here and began coming back down to 90 minute levels.
Best character: n/a
Oscar noms: 2 (Original Song and Animated Feature)

Good Movies

09 A Bug's Life (Lasseter & Andrew Stanton, 1998) 96 min.
Not as memorable as the other films but a solid entertainment.
Best character: Heimlich "finally, I'm a beautiful butterfly!"
Oscar noms: 1 (Score, Musical or Comedy)



08 Finding Nemo (Stanton & Lee Unkrich, 2003) 100 min.
Pixar's biggest hit and the appeal is obvious. It's consistently funny and it looks like a million billion bucks. And I'm not just talking about the color palette (fish were such a brilliant subject for an animated film) but the intermittently serene bliss of the uncluttered frame. Animated films tend to overstuff and err on the side of visual and narrative chaos, desperate that the littlest eyes in the audience might wander. Pixar is more confident than that (though I could've done without some of Nemo's lamer gags like "surfer" turtles. 'Whoa')
Best character: Dory, possibly the best celebrity voice casting ever for a toon. In non-Pixar efforts the casting is usually only about the marquee value of the name. Pixar almost always does right by casting. It's character first. Ellen DeGeneres's whole comic persona serves the fish and not the other way around.
Oscar noms: 4 (Animated Feature*, Score, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay)

Toy Story 2 (Lasseter, Unkrich and Ash Brannon, 1999) 92 min.
The last time I made a Pixar list I asked if it was as great as some claim? But unfortunately I didn't seek an answer for myself. I loved its basic story concept but I don't remember it well.
Best character: They're mostly holdovers but I do remember that that Barbie sequence was bananas.
Oscar Noms: 1 (Score). 1999 was the year that prompted the Academy to create an animated feature category, which became an official category in 2001. The collective critical response to Toy Story 2, The Iron Giant and Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke which were all released stateside in 1999 was basically along the lines of 'these animated movies are as good as any live action movie'. AMPAS decision seemed like a good move at the time, but now the category has become a ghetto preventing films as rich and lauded as WALL•E from landing in the Best Picture category where they belong.

Very Good. Sometimes Great.

06 Up (Pete Docter & Bob Peterson) 96 min.
This ranking might be too high or too low. But the film is brand spanking new. I'll need time to settle with it... float back down to earth. I always feel high in the sky after a Pixar... even the ones that don't include helium balloons. Our Vodcast Review
Best character: Carl Fredricksen. I love how square his face is, how it ages and how expressive it remains throughout the film, despite being as boxed up as his life in his old house.
Oscar noms: We'll know in January 2010. I'm going to guess three (Score, Animated and one Sound categories)

Monsters, Inc. (Docter, Unkrich and Lee Silverman, 01) 92 min.
One of the most underrated films of 2001, arguably the best cinematic year of the decade. How can this be underrated when it made hundreds of millions and people generally like it, you ask? Because they should love it. It's got all the Pixar strengths in abundance: inventive screenplay, memorable characters, complicated gags, glorious production design. Those people (including Academy voters) who thought Shrek was better? They're monsters! My screams when it lost the Oscar could power Monstropolis for a year.
Best character: Boo
Oscar noms: (Original Song*, Animated Feature, Score, Sound Editing)

04 Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 07) 111 min.
Left the movie theater with a huge smile on my face... interrupted only by an occassional shudder from the heebie-jeebies. You know, hundreds of rats... in a kitchen... touching food! Pixar is totally gourmet. You always feel that the films are crafted with great skill and love. They make a mint but it's plain as day that's not their soul purpose. It's not an assembly line. One hopes this anti fast-food approach eventually rubs off on the increasingly soulless direct to DVD Disney.
Best character: Gusteau
Oscar noms: 5 (Animated Feature*, Score, Sound, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay)

For the All Time Lists

03 Toy Story (Lasseter, 95) 81 min.
I'm not sure if it's the 99th best film of all time as the AFI claims but I'm glad animation is represented on that list. We were both excited to see it as we were ahead of the populace on the Pixar curve. I don't remember how I obtained it but I had a bootleg VHS tape of all of the Pixar shorts that had been made before they risked going into features. I had already converted my whole family to the cult of Pixar and even considered buying stock in the company went it first went up for sale even though I was a poor college student (Oh, to have done so). As long as I live I will never forget the first time I saw the film. I went with my brother. The moment that lifted it into a complete comedic classic was 'The Claw' My brother and I literally hurt from laughing. That's a good kind of pain.
Best character: Buzz Lightyear
Oscar noms: 3 (Score, Original Song, Screenplay... and a special Oscar for John Lasseter for making it all happen)

02 The Incredibles (Bird, 2004) 115 min.
From my top ten of 2004 review: "I saw The Incredibles three times within the month of its opening. And every time something else opened the following month that only looked sort of appealing I thought to myself. "Self, you can always go and see The Incredibles again"
... Gah. Pixar is so awesome. Group hug!


Best character: Elastigirl. She keeps this family together... and not just with those rubbery arms that can literally do so.
Oscar noms: 4 (Sound Editing* Animated Feature*, Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay)

01 WALL•E (Stanton, 08) 98 minutes
One of the best pictures in recent years from any medium or genre. Since it's still fresh in mind I'm guessing we've discussed it enough for awhile. I was wild for it as you know. See my annual awards for further proof.
Best character: Read my ode to EVE here if you missed it.
Oscar noms: 6 (Animated Feature*, Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay)

Next up for Pixar? I hope they don't spoil their status as "most consistent studio on the planet" but they're moving into two pictures a year now, instead of one. When Disney sped up in the mid 90s, things started going downhill.


2010: Toy Story 3 which will be directed by Lee Unkrich, who is finally getting his own movie after co-directing three of their giant hits.
2011: Newt about the last remaining male and female blue footed newts... who hate each other and Pixar's first fairy tale (moving into Disney's realm, eh?) The Bear and the Bow
2012: Brings a weird double feature: the one I'm least excited about, Cars 2, and the one I'm most excited about John Carter of Mars. The latter will be a real departure for the studio, a sci-fi adventure / adaptation that's not specifically aimed at children. UPDATE: Apparently Andrew Stanton is being essentially "loaned out" for this one and it won't be a proper Pixar film after all. Live action. Barsoomia is tracking the project closely.

Pixar shorts top ten, a bonus list. Here's my top ten.

1. For the Birds (Ralph Eggleston, 2000) 3 min. Oscar winner
   
2. Knick Knack (Lasseter, 1989) 4 min.
   
3. Boundin' (Bud Lucky and Roger Gould, 2003) 5 min. Oscar nominee
   
4. Tin Toy (Lasseter, 1988) 5 min. Oscar winner
   
5. Geri's Game (Jan Pinkava, 1997) 4 min. Oscar winner
   
6. Luxo Jr (Lasseter, 1986) 2 min. Oscar nominee
   
7. Lifted (Gary Rydstrom, 2006) 5 min. Oscar nominee
   
8. Presto (Doug Sweetland, 2008) 5 min. Oscar nominee
   
9. Red's Dream (Lasseter, 1987) 4 min.
   
10. One Man Band (Mark Andrews and Andrew Jimenez, 2005) 4 min. Oscar nominee
    

Your Pixar Experience

Which was your first in theaters? Which film has shifted the most in your opinions about it over the years? How would you rate them on a scale of dud to all timers? Or are you, like Armond White, tired of hearing about their awesomeness? If so, how soon do you think a backlash will happen?

related post: UP Vodcast
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Rosengje @ ShoWest

Rosengje, a regular commenter here @ the Film Experience, sent me some thoughts from ShoWest, the motion picture industry convention which ends today, to share with y'all. I'm all about sharing. I haven't been to Vegas in years -- never really enjoyed it -- but I admit jealousy since so many blogposts and tweets were flying at me directly from Sin City.

Here's Rosengje....

The primary topic of conversation at ShoWest has been the digital and 3D revolution. Jeffrey Katzenberg's commitment to converting as many theaters as possible to 3D prior to the release of Monsters vs. Aliens was highlighted in Jim Gianopulos's opening remarks. (Incidentally, can anyone think of Gianopulos without reminiscing about Mickey Rourke's ill-fated attempt to thank the Fox honcho during the Spirit Awards?) The K in Dreamworks SKG made a special appearance and participated in a panel on "How to Stay Ahead of the Curve as the Industry Confronts the Future."

There was a lot of self-congratulating: the success of Monsters vs. Aliens and the industry's proven strength despite the recession were both highlighted. The tone quickly shifted during the panel, as Katzenberg was increasingly pitted against the exhibitors. The undeniable rock star of the event was Cinemark's Lee Roy Mitchell. Mitchell was interrupted three times for applause, primarily over encouraging distributors to help bear the cost of the digital conversion. Mitchell emphasized the importance of giving breaks to small towns in order to encourage digital appreciation in under-served markets.

Most relevant to the Oscar race was the discussion over the importance of programming a 52-week year. As any good Oscar watcher knows, studios relentlessly push their product to late fall. Not only does this limit audience investment in the outcome of the myriad awards bodies, but it leaves cinephiles with limited reasons to frequent the theater during off-peak months. This topic was broached, but with a mainstream focus. Almost all of the exhibitors protested the summer blockbuster glut. Perhaps the success of Monsters last weekend can help shift this paradigm.

Tuesday morning featured a presentation from Alan Horn on Warner Brothers' summer schedule. McG made an appearance to introduce a 5-minute preview of Terminator: Salvation. An extended trailer for upcoming comedy The Hangover surprisingly got huge laughs. Alas, those presentations paled in comparison to a surprise appearance by Robert Downey, Jr. to introduce the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes. The footage looked slightly campier than anticipated, but RDJ and Jude Law had a clearly defined camaraderie and Rachel McAdams provided a great spark.

I can never decided whether to be enthused about this film or not. Any suspicions out there? Seems like a wildcard equation what with Guy Ritchie behind the camera x totally brilliant cast ÷ dusty franchise character = ??? What exactly?

The most exciting development on Tuesday was the Disney Digital 3D Presentation. The audience was treated to previews of Disney's 3D projects through 2011. This included early artwork for Alice in Wonderland, in which Anne Hathaway looks divine, Tron 2 and G-Force. Disney made a number of exciting announcements. Alongside the release of Cars 2, Pixar will provide "Cars Toons." Cars is my least favorite offering in their oeuvre, but "Tokyo Mater" was endearing. The same model they'll be using for the 3D rereleases of the Toy Story movies will be applied to a 3D release of Beauty and the Beast in February 2010. This is the decision I found most problematic. We were treated to Beauty's opening song in 3D and while it is a novel experience, it seemed redundant.

Er... I'm trying to imagine this with more shadows or something.

The real, treat, however, was ushered in by the arrival of Up director Pete Doctor (Monsters Inc). Pete introduced 47 (!) minutes of footage from the film. The movie looks to continue Pixar's unbeatable cinematic magic streak. The movie played slightly less cerebral and more mainstream than WALL-E, but still featured heavy elements like the death of the main character's wife early on in the proceedings. Pixar's approach to 3D varies quite a bit from the other products that have been previewed thus far. Instead of seeking "wow" moments, the technique is deployed to heighten the spectator's emotional connection to the screen. This includes strategic flattening of images or expansion to grant a scene a more dynamic quality. We were also shown an action sequence at the end of the film that was just as thrilling as those featured in Paramount's G.I. Joe trailer.

A little more a little bit later from Rosengje. I wish I could've taken in the Vegas sun (so gray here) with Rosengje and me pal Katey among other film folks... but I'll get a little film-related travelling of my own this month. I'm jurying the Nashville Film Festival in a couple of weeks and will report about that right here. Nicole Kidman has been known to show up at screenings there so wish me luck at spotting the goddess or any star wattage equivalent... not that there's a Kidman equivalent. There's only one!
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Hugo Sampling

Though you wouldn't know it from my Knowing and Watchmen reviews (I meant them to be funnier but they're closer to grouchy), recently I've been newly devoted to genre material. Sci-fi and fantasy please. It started with a mad spree of fantasy paperbacks last year (including The Curse of Chalion discussed here) and television's sci-fi block on Friday really ramped it up with that Terminator / Dollhouse / Battlestar cluster-frak. So let's discuss a few nominees for the latest HUGO Awards which were announced yesterday.

Yes Virginia, people are still giving out awards for 2008.

Before we get to the movies here are the Best Novel competitors which one might add to one's kindle, library request or shopping list if one knows how to read.

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
  
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman the awesome.
  
• Little Brother (download free) by Cory Doctorow. It's post-terrorist attack speculative sci-fi about a 17 year old in San Francisco, now a police state.
  
• Saturn's Children by Charles Stross is about a 23rd century femmebot. With no humans left to service (we've been wiped out!) she agrees to a job transporting a mysterious package. I included the cover left because it made me chuckle but also because I have a question for you. The cinema has a long love affair with prostitutes but have you ever noticed that when genre stories approach the world's oldest profession (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Blade Runner, Firefly) it's always sort of backgrounded and sexless? Why is that? Here's a review from i09 that makes this sound like a strong satirical sci-fi read. I think I shall try it out. Who's with me?
  
• Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi.
  

Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form
The Dark Knight, which one assumes will win, is up against the year's other critical and populist triumphs: Iron Man and Wall•E. The "one of these things is not like the others" nominee is an audio story collection called METAtropolis which you can download/experience here (Flash required). Galactica groupies should note that two of its men, "Saul" and "Gaeta", are among the voices therein. Finally there's Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. I never know quite what to make of Del Toro as a filmmaker. He definitely has visual prowess and a "voice" but his storytelling skills can be suspect. So I worry about The Hobbit (2012?) because Peter Jackson wipes the floor with him in terms of "story". Anyway, Hellboy II is a marked improvement over the first. It retains the fun and the color but it's way more coherent.

Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form
I tend to think that the Hugos (and any other awards that split categories this way) have their awards reversed. It's television, not film, that's the "long form" drama. Barring classic old school sitcoms, all of the best television has understood the cumulative potency of slowly unfolding narratives and complex and ever-complicating character arcs. Hollywood has this reversed, too. They really ought to be gravitating towards short stories and novellas for their transfers. Short stories are ideal for cinematic transfers (think Away From Her and Brokeback Mountain) allowing for both fidelity to the source material and the imagination of the new interpreter since they're expected to flesh them out. Hefty novels and comic books really are more suited for serialized television though that's not the way the film and television industries tend to see them. Their eyes can only focus on the green.

So since Battlestar Galactica -- which you can't miss any 45 minutes of lest you be hopelessly confused -- is in "short form" its mid-season finale "Revelations", a total stunner, is a nominee. It's up against two episodes of Doctor Who ("Turn Left" and "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead"), one chapter of Lost named "Constant" (I don't watch Lost but a good 50% of my friends are obsessed with it so maybe I've missed out), and Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

I'm rooting for Battlestar as I tend to but my favorite episode in Season Four might just be "Six of One" rather than "Revelations". But that's like asking if I'd like a cash prize of 10 million dollars or a cash prize of 10,225,000 euros. It's all good. It's all gold.

The full list of Hugo Nominations

PLEASE NOTE: Some of us will not see the Battlestar series finale when it airs tonight so please no spoilers in the comments.
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2008 FB AWARDS Completed

Whew. So that took even longer than usual. Which is saying a lot. I've been giving out some kind of virtual awards for my favorite movies since I was a wee kid... only they weren't public back when I was only seeing 12-15 movies a year and I thought Karate Kid and Splash ruled! I like to think of my own nominations and medals not so much as a publicity circus / popularity contest like the Oscars but more like a scrapbook of a moviegoing year. [editors note: Pssst. When December 2009 rolls around I plan to have a book of some sort ready for purchase celebrating 10 years of these awards. I hope you'll buy it to support the site.]

Nominations and medals in all 41 categories are up since, well, time is up!

FiLM BiTCH Awards 2008
traditional
Page 1: Picture, Director and Screenplays
Page 2: Traditional Acting Categories
Page 3: Visual Technical Categories
Page 4: Aural Technical Categories (and nom' tallies)
extras
Page 5: Extra Acting Categories
Page 6: Heroes, Villains, Divas, more...
Page 7: Best Individual Scenes
Page 8: Even More Scenes (and nom' tallies)

The last categories I added were Action Sequence and Best Individual Scenes in case you missed that as I did it on the sly in the wee hours last night. Rachel Getting Married led the pack with 16 nominations but WALL•E took home the most medals of various colors, 11. Milk and The Wrestler did well for themselves. The Class (France) and Reprise (Norway), my two favorite foreign films of '08 also scored gold. The Dark Knight and Australia were the most honored films that I didn't wholly take to but they sure had great moments.

Nathaniel is a francophile. French films hogged 17 noms / 7 medals

I hope you enjoy the awards and above all I hope you take this in the spirit it was intended. A nomination is a win after all. I enjoy nominating things more than picking wins which always feels so exclusive and which I always wish I could change days later (like the 5th spot in any category after nominations, actually). I always hope the awards inspire amusement, discussion starters and especially rental fodder. These 41 categories of things, people, elements, scenes, stars are what made it all worthwhile for me in 2008. I love the cinema. We fight sometimes but we always kiss and make up in the end.

up next: Indie Spirits live blogging today @ 4:30 PM. Oscar coverage and review over the next few days. Then on to 2009. Wheeeee
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