The 10 Best Pixars - Coinciding with 'Finding Dory' Hitting $1 Billion at the Box Office


"Finding Dory" hit the billion dollar mark last week, a considerable achievement considering it was released in a summer of disappointments at the box-office. This is Pixar's second billion dollar release, the other being "Toy Story 3." It is also the highest-grossing domestic release of 2016 with $485 million in box-office receipts. If you're looking for a review of the film I shared my thoughts HERE, calling it "modest, minor Pixar."

Pixar hasn’t just reinvented animation for the 21st century, they’ve expanded it forward to a space and time where the adult/child line is blurred and the creativity on display is astonishingly rendered. You forget you’re watching a film primarily aimed for kids. You feel like a child again, full of innocence, full of joy, discovering a new world that previously seemed so out of reach. Over the past 20 years, Pixar has given us so much more than 15 timeless movies; they’ve brought us the ability to succumb to a universe full of magic and stories that hit the truest notes possible. It’s hard to imagine a cinematic landscape without Pixar, and the significance they represent cannot be underestimated. Their effect on regular, live-action movies is self-evident. They’ve pushed boundaries and forced other filmmakers to think beyond the box. Here’s to another 20 great years.

1) WALL-E (2008)
Any Pixar list must begin and end with this masterpiece. The first half hour of WALL-E has scarcely any dialogue and plays like a silent Chaplin movie -– that is if he had ever decided to make a post-apocalyptic movie about a lonely garbage-chewing bot who falls in love with an A.I. named Eve. The second half is more conventional but nevertheless visionary. The future that director Andrew Stanton concocts is that of a torn up world, ravaged by an environmental crisis, where the planet’s citizens have been evacuated to live aboard a space cruiser, with only one last possible chance to rebuild.

2) Up (2009)
I don’t know many people who can come out of this film’s first 10 minutes with a dry eye. In 10 hopelessly romantic and surreal minutes, Pixar gave us the quintessential anatomy of life, love, and death in a simple but heartbreaking montage that might just be the crowning achievement of the studio.  Although the rest of the film can’t reach the peak of that montage (and really, which can?), the rest of the film is incredibly great and visually vivid, bursting out with colors. It’s an allegorical film about aging without regret but with dignity.


3) Toy Story 3 (2010)
What more can be said about “Toy Story 3″? It was supposed to be the last hurrah. A sequel was just announced recently, but it will be very hard to top this achievement.  Tackling adult themes, the movie was the darkest, most vicious of the series, with a villain who could scare you more than any live-action baddie. The stakes were dead real, tackling the loss of innocence and the promotion – or is that a demotion? – to adulthood. Near the end of the movie’s wrenching climax, as our heroes are about to get cooked alive in an oven, you can’t help but think the inevitable could actually happen. Never have I feared for the lives of animated characters more than in this movie.

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4) Ratatouille (2007)
A Parisian rat named Remy just wants to become a chef. This could have gone wrong on so many levels, but it didn’t.  “Ratatouille” is highly enjoyable, recounting some of the Disney gems from the golden age of animation. When Remy starts cooking up a storm in the Parisian kitchen he has crashed, the moves are like ballet, effortlessly propelling his miniature body all around the kitchen and unequivocally expressing his unadorned passion for cooking.  This again shows just how influenced by Chaplin the great animators at Pixar really are.

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5) Inside Out (2015)
“Inside Out” is the brainiest, most trippy movie Pixar has made so far. Coming out of the theater, a buddy of mine, who is coincidentally a psychologist, told me the movie should be mandatory viewing for all psych students. How does Pixar come up with such ambitiously ingenious ideas? I’m guessing this is the movie most have not yet seen from my list, so I won’t say much, but just let your brain have a little workout with this golden nugget of a movie.

6) The Incredibles (2004)
While we get relentlessly pummeled by countless superhero movies every single year, it is a breath of fresh air to see the genre work so triumphantly well. Brad Bird has proven his worth in the past, most notably with the criminally underrated animated movie “The Iron Giant”. Bird gives us another visual treat by tackling the superhero genre and coming out with a classic that can stand alongside “The Dark Knight” and “Spider-Man 2″. The action scenes are breathtakingly staged, with Bird’s incredible eye for detail and pacing coming in handy. Unlike many superhero movies, this is one of the rare cases where a sequel would be welcome and well-deserved.

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7) Finding Nemo (2003)
I can think of three times in cinematic history where an actor or actress deserved to get nominated for a voice performance: Robin Williams as the Genie in “Aladdin”, Jeremy Irons as Scar in “The Lion King”, and of course Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”. The work DeGeneres does here is nothing short of brilliant.  She uses a playful innocence to counterbalance Albert Brooks’ sombre, more serious tone as Nemo’s father.  The lighter optimism of Dory shines through and perfectly complements the astonishing visuals of the coral reef in all its glory.
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8) Toy Story 2 (1999)
9) Toy Story (1995)
It all started here. The first time I saw “Toy Story” I could scarcely imagine how groundbreaking and important it would become for animation. This movie literally changed the game and practically got rid of all hand drawn animation in Hollywood, which of course is a real shame, because hand drawn is still one of the most beautiful and creative ways to make a movie – just look at any Hayao Miyazaki movie if you don’t believe me. Now almost every single animated movie is CGI and we’ve relied so heavily on it because of how monstrous a success Pixar had with “Toy Story”. The facial expressions, the movements, and the effortless flow that carry characters about was unprecedented. It was goodbye to the classical and welcome to the new age.
We had no right to expect a sequel that would be better than the original, but that’s exactly what “Toy Story 2″ accomplished. This time around we had a better story, improved animation, and an exhilarating sense of adventure. If the original was riding high off of its landmark CGI, this sequel was trying to perfect the glitches that held the story back a little the first time around. With Indiana Jones styled action, “Toy Story 2″ proved there was still room to expand in the Pixar canon, and that these guys were dead serious about blowing us away.

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10) Monsters Inc. (2000)
There hasn’t been a cuter, more adorable Pixar creation than Boo. The little girl who called Sully “Kitty” just about made the movie for me. The attention to detail given to Boo was simply amazing, encompassing the smallest, most precious details a baby girl can have.  Every time she spoke you couldn’t help but just want to hug the screen. Kudos must be given to directors Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich and David Silverman who let this kid run loose and cause chaos at Monsters Inc. Billy Crystal and John Goodman’s voice work and chemistry here is tremendous.

Best Movies of 2008

I might have called it the worst year in movie history or claimed the Oscars should get cancelled. Of course they didn't. And I -with hard work- found ten movies that tried to break the rules and that didn't suck. It was harder than you think. Never in my 10 years of reviewing movies on a weekly basis have I had a harder time to find diamonds in the ruff.



(1) The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)

Director Aronofsky's pitch perfect masterpiece is about the limits an artist can push himself in order to achieve his artistic goal. A breathtakingly intense drama that features Mickey Rourke's best performance in years -or of his career?- and another great turn by Marissa Tomei (looking good naked as usual). Rourke's wrestler is a man that has hit he lowest of lows in life, a man that has shunned off family for drugs and a sickening work habit in the ring. We feel for him and wish him the best comeback possible, even though in the back of our heads we know there's no chance. One of the great endings of the last 10 years in cinema.



(2) WALL-E (Andrew Stanton)

It isn't far off to call Andrew Stanton's WALL-E -along with Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away- the best animated movie of the past 10 years. This rule breaking cinematic dreamscape starts off with its first half hour without dialogue, evoking a mix of prime Chaplin and hell, even Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey. It's the riskiest thing I've seen animation do since probably Fantasia's trippiness close to 60 years ago. Which isn't to say the other hour of the film isn't as good, it's actually quite spectacular and moving in its portrayal of a harmless robot that is earth's only chance at survival. A masterpiece.



3) Hunger (Steve Mcqueen)

Now this is one of hell of a feature directing debut and rightfully won the New York Film Critics Best First Film award in 2009. Recounting the events that led to IRA prisoners going on a Hunger Strike during the 70' and 80's- it is an immensely powerful experience of the limits one can do to its body just to prove a point or political purpose. Watch out for Mcqueen's next movie, especially if it's half as good as this one. Reviewed right here & featured in a double review with -of all films- Antichrist.



(4) The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)

If you haven't heard of Christopher Nolan's superhero classic then you don't live in this planet. Nolan along with an A list cast headed by Christian Bale as Batman and the late Heath Ledger as a Joker to haunt your dreams triumph in this blockbuster. Many have evoked the film as a post 9/11 depiction of a world going to hell, they might not be far off as a caped crusader does bad in order for good to triumph. Ledger's joker is so real and so intense but it's Nolan's eye for detail that puts this film over the mountain. This is his dark, twisted take on a misunderstood superhero.



(5) Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood)

As conventional as Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino might be, it evokes classic shades of a cinematic genre long gone dead in the woods. Here Eastwood is the racist neighbour next door who can't help but assist a Vietnamese kid in his neighbourhood who has problems with local gangs. It's a sentimental film but one with such big heart and flair that it had me at hello from it's very first frame. It's sense of humor is also dead on and a sort of relief to the dark corners Eastwood has built her. You think you know where Gran Torino is going but you really don't and it's with this unpredictability that Eastwood triumphs with his sleeper hit.



(6) Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)

Like almost every Danny Boyle movie, a mess .. but one that is so damn entertaining and visually appealing. Slumdog Mllionaire is the epitome of a crowd pleaser and the pure and exhilarating nature of cinema. Its haters refuse to admit to its entertainment value and instead keep focusing on the film's plot holes and flaws. Easy to do guys but try to look closer and let yourself be transported into a rural India full of darkness but shot with real light and colors and maybe just maybe you will understand the true value of this movie. It is no Best Picture deserving film but what it is instead might knock you for a loop.



(7) Changeling (Clint Eastwood)

Clint Eastwood keeps churning out one great movie after another that people keep shunning off some of the smaller, more intimate fare he seems to be an expert at delivering. Gran Torino was one, Changeling is the other. One was male driven, this one is female driven as Angelina Jolie plays a woman unfairly institutionalized after her son disappears by a corrupt LAPD in the 1930's. Intense doesn't even begin to describe what Eastwood has in store for us in this picture. Jolie, looking ever so frightful behind the beauty, gives the kind of performance that is so good it doesn't even get nominated for an Oscar.



(8) Funny Games (Michael Haneke)

I was such a big fan of Michael Haneke's last movie -Cache/Hidden- that I was somewhat disappointed he decided that his followup would be a remake of his own 1998 film ! No worries, Funny Games is as resonant and provocative as ever. If the first film revealed gruesome, almost unwatchable violence this one is no exception as a family gets taken hostage in their own home by masochistic, young, preppy murderers. It's not an easy ride to take but if taken results in one of the most memorable experiences of 2008. Not to be missed and highly underrated. Michael Pitt scares as one of the psychopaths.



(9) Christmas Tale (Arnaud Deplechin)

Family dysfunction done the French way. Arnaud Deplechin's sprawling family dramedy is a focused effort that has so many characters and so many storylines in its hands that it threatens to derail. It doesn't. Instead what we get is a memorable family sketch that makes us think about our own life and sets the pace for a long but highly entertaining gem which features quite possibly the best cast of the entire year. Did I already mention it's French?




(10) 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu)

Excellent, engrossing movie. Shot, as far as I could tell, with one skillfully deployed camera, every composition had to have that camera perfectly placed. It's no mean achievement to have risen to this challenge so well. There's one scene in particular, set at a birthday dinner, which is breathtakingly well done with the camera static and the actors brilliantly positioned around it managing in spite of this limitation to not only give all the necessary information, but also to do so with the maximum emotional intensity.

11) Doubt, John Patrick Shanley

12) Tell No One, Guillaume Canet

13) JCVD, Mabrouk El Mechri

14) Iron Man, Jon Favreau

15) Ip Man, Wilson Yip

16) Wendy And Lucy, Kelly Reichardt

17) The Flight Of The Red Balloon, Hsiao-Hsien Hou

18) Lakeview Terrace, Neil Labute