The Academy have revealed the finalist list for Oscar's Best Animated Short category. Depending on how voting goes we'll see anywhere from three to five nominees. But the lucky names will be drawn from this entertaining list.
The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger (Bill Plympton Studio)
Coyote Falls (Warner Bros)
Day & Night (Pixar)
The Gruffalo (Magic Light Pictures)
Let's Pollute (Geefwee Boedoe)
The Lost Thing (Passion Pictures Australia)
Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Sacrebleu Productions)
Sensology (GAGNE International LLC)
The Silence Beneath the Bark (Lardux Films)
Urs (Filmakademie Baeden Wuerttemberg)
6 excerpts/ trailers and 4 full length finalists after the jump... See them for yourselves. Which will you root for? [Thanks to Movielicious for rounding these shorts up.]
JA from MNPP here. While Nat's been away there's been a sad dearth of Oscar news reported on here at TFE and so when I saw this news earlier today I knew it might be a nice enough sized scrap to toss down until he's back and such things can be discussed proper-like. The Academy announced the fifteen candidates that are eligible for the Animated Feature prize this morning, and they are as follows:
You can check out Nat's prediction page for the category right here. But isn't it funny how the alphabet saved the inevitable winner for last? Trying to trick us all like that.
Seriously though, is anybody going to beat Toy Story 3? Should anybody beat Toy Story 3? I liked not loved it personally - although those final 20 minutes are killer to be sure. I'd love to see The Illusionist (as I'm sure most of us would) but it's not out here til Christmas. .
My beloved bloglines -- where I subscribe to hundreds of blogs and websites in case something interesting pops up -- goes the way of the dodo tomorrow. This is the final link roundup as you've come to know (and love / be indifferent to). I'm taking this opportunity to rethink my web reading and start from scratch in terms of what I "follow" since I spend too much time surfing, skimming, reading, wandering. Not that I won't keep sharing things that amuse me. Question: Would you like the Film Experience to have more frequent tiny-ass posts to cover a broad range of news and topics or do you enjoy the major compilations where everything gets smooshed together like so?
The Film Pie has an interesting "inside movie journalism" story about being the 'first' review posted on Rotten Tomatoes (re: Paranormal Activity 2). Pink is the New Blog Jude Law on Sesame Street. Awwww. I don't get enough Jude Law these days. Or felt puppets. Both at once? Yes, please. Low Resolution Halloween words of wisdom from Beetlejuice. Speaking of... The Exploding Kinetoscope has some birthday wishes for Winona Ryder. Could her career be back on the upswing? popbytes 'Hottie with a Rubik's Cube'. How 80s and now simultaneously. Everything I Know... is not among the fans of Julianne Moore's Off Broadway musical Freckleface Strawberry. Blog Stage considers the changes made for Rabbit Hole as it shifts from stage to screen. Dear Old Hollywood For California readers: The Arclight is hosting a Steve McQueen tribute event on November 11th.
A Toy Story Moment
I thought this was cute. It's a moment of closure for director Lee Unkrich who has been working on the Toy Story franchise forever. If you've ever said goodbye to a long term project that you actually completed, you'll understand.
But this moment would be way cooler if we knew that there'd be no more Toy Story movies after Toy Story 3 which really did close the franchise beautifully. Sadly, Pixar, which once was THE studio for originality, is rapidly becoming like all the other studios when it comes to sequels and franchises and they're going to be beating all their horses way past the time that they're dead (to mangle a metaphor).
Finally, over at Pussy Goes Grrr Andreas made me lol with his love for Cat People. Have you ever seen that movie? There's almost nothing in the world I love more than clever people obsessing over movies. To this day I lol (literally) every time I think of the time Nick, hearing I had just watched Nashville, said "I want to rub that movie all over me." LOL. See, I did it again? It's too bad blogs don't have sound so you could hear. I speak the truth.
What follows is a strange amalgam of old and new links. It's a frankenstein roundup, stitched together over the past four days from aborted link posts that were accidentally unposted... until now. "IT'S ALIVE!"
/FilmJon Hamm as Superman? Movie|Line's failed/jokey photoshop attempt at the same thing utterly delights me (pictured left) I Just Want to Be PerfectBlack Swan website devoted to Nina's (Natalie Portman) psyche. Cinema Blend a look at the newly announced cast of The Hobbit. With pics. Why do I feel that this movie is going to be such a disaster when I love the LotR trilogy? I guess I've lost faith in Peter Jackson given that the beauty of King Kong was smothered by a lack of self-editing and then we got the disastrous The Lovely Bones.
ONTD Rachel McAdams and Michael Sheen. I must have slept through this pairing. This is news to me. Cinematical Pixar gives its first female director the book (Brenda Chapman was to helm The Brave previously due out in 2012...but you know, I assume this could delay the movie). Boo. Montages (in Norwegian) a look at what's coming up very soon in Norwegian film. The writer is most excited for The King of Bastøy starring Stellan Skarsgard, Kristoffer Joner and Benjamin Helstad. The film takes place in 1915 and is based on a true story about a youth prison. Hmmm. Could it be next year's Oscar submission? It's never too early to start thinking about that given that the Oscar eligibility calendar is already in the 2011 film year now when it comes to Best Foreign Language Film.
(Partially) Off Cinema Tiger Beatdown "No One is Ever On Your Side" excellent, excellent article on Mad Men's Betty Draper Francis. A must read for fans of the show in case you missed it. Benefit of the Doubt on Metroid, feminism and the Aliens franchise (if you're curious as to why that's suddenly in the air again, it's due to the box set's release Alien Anthology.) Moby Lives on literature's problems in reflecting our internet ruled new world: timeliness or timelessness? The Faster Times a list of all the new shows coming to Broadway in the spring. The Oatmeal How to Pet a Cat. Hee
Something That's Really Bothering Me
Did you read the NY Times piece about the shortage of memorable lines in the movies these days? I suppose it's only helping them that everyone has been talking about the piece and linking to it (like me) for a couple of days but I do not understand the response. I've only read a couple of "in response" articles but they seemed to join in the lament. The article cites 90s films like Terminator 2, Forrest Gump and Jerry Maguire as among the last mammoth 'quotables.' Some response articles are saying things like "yeah, it's sad that movies aren't literate anymore..." I'm sorry but Forrest F'in Gump and Jerry Maguire are not literate movies. They just had fun simple catchphrases. Why are people equating catchphrase-making with great screenwriting and extrapolating that into a lament for the state of modern cinema? Does that mean that Arnold Schwarzenegger movies deserved Best Screenplay Oscars? A lack of catchphrases does not a poor screenplay make. The article makes a vague statement indicating that these things can take time, citing "Plastics" from The Graduate as a line that percolated before boiling. But then it blames The Social Network for not having a great lines (um, excuse me? It has hundreds of great lines... it'll just take awhile for a few of them to rise to the top) Meanwhile The Big Lebowski is praised for "The Dude abides." Listen. The Coen Bros write great dialogue. But I was around in 1998 when The Big Lebowski premiered. It was received with pockets of enthusiasm (as their pictures usually are) but mostly a shrug, and some considered it a small setback after Fargo (which had been nearly as popular as Raising Arizona, their first mainstream breakthrough. Lebowski wasn't.) It was only years later after obsessive fandom had successfully added several fresh coats of "classic" paint on Lebowski that people were incessantly quoting its dialogue and acting like it was this huge hit and of the best films of the 90s.
The article does suddenly remember that "I drink your milkshake" (There Will Be Blood) permeated pop culture but completely forgets about "I wish I knew how to quit you" (Brokeback Mountain) which was quoted just about as often as movie lines ever get quoted. And then there are any number of lines from Mean Girls (Best Shot subject this week!) as reader Dom pointed out a few days ago. You or someone you know quotes that movie every day. I know, right.
I guarantee you that "milkshake" and "quit you"will never disappear. And that 5 years from now, some line from The Social Network will still be in the public vernacular. One day people might not even remember where they first heard the line they end up using from The Social Network it may dig so deep down into the bone marrow of everyday conversation. You think everyone who has ever said "fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night" was thinking of All About Eve (or had even seen All About Eve) when they first said it?
Hi everybody. Michael C from Serious Film back again with another unsung contribution to cinematic brilliance. This week it's an achievement I'm sure most of you will recognize -- just don't read it on an empty stomach.
I have always been a little taken aback by the depth of Brad Bird and Jim Capobianco's screenplay for Ratatouille. I mean, here is a big-budget family film starring a talking rat and it is about nothing less than what it means to be an artist. I was reading W. Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence, the story of a man who drops out of society in order to follow his passion to paint, and I couldn't help but think, "This reminds me of Remy." It should come as no surprise that the filmmakers behind such an ambitious project went the extra mile and sought out the help of real master chefs in order to do their material justice.
Organic objects are traditionally the hardest to render in computer animation (It's no accident Pixar's first film was a love letter to the textures of plastic) so a major challenge for Ratatouille was food that not only looked delicious but was also convincing gourmet cooking. Luckily, they had Michael Warch, who in addition to being set and layout manager for the film was also a Sous Chef who could prepare dishes on command for the designers to study. Adapting and expanding the sub-surface lighting technique developed for better skin tones in The Incredibles, they were so successful with the food design that Ratatouille is often mentioned with Big Night and Eat Drink Man Woman as one of the most appetizing food movies ever made.
And this being a Pixar film, they didn't stop there. Not content for Remy to merely be a credible cook they endeavored to show him as a great artist. The production turned for advice to Thomas Keller, one of America's great chefs. Keller opened up his restaurant to the Pixar artists so that they could get a feel for the energy of a professional kitchen. The backstage knowledge shows. Gusteau's is more than a stock movie restaurant with waiters jostling each other out of the way. It has a dynamic that has been thought through down to the smallest details, from the constant movement of the chefs, to the shorthand communication, to the way they hold the utensils.
Perhaps Keller's greatest contribution to the movie is his creation of the title dish served to the critic at the film's climax. The thinly sliced version of ratatouille is a Keller specialty, and when he learned of the context in which it was to be used he improvised that graceful little mound of food in the center of the plate, an artistic flourish reproduced faithfully in the film. Keller's dramatic instincts were correct. The dish is as memorable to look at as it is supposed to be to taste.
It is notoriously difficult to portray an artist at work cinematically. In the case of Ratatouille, the final product is so entertaining that is easy to miss the fact that they conquered the dilemma. Besides being named among the great food movies Ratatouille could also be listed beside films like Amadeus and Scorsese's Life Lessons as a great depiction of an artist.
Final Girl an exorcism movie flowchart. Hilarious even if you're not a horror fan. Journalistic Skepticism I love this. "25 Most Optimum Film Residences". I think I'm going to go with the Pink Palace Apartments (as long as it comes with the cat), Howards End or Erica's Beach House from Something's Gotta Give (Nancy Meyers movies are real estate porn.)
Hollywood Reporter Actress Cammie Conlon (famously known as "Bonnie Blue Butler" in Gone With the Wind) has died. RIP Greenbriar Picture Show "Fairy Dust Blown Off..." on the appeal and arguable repeal of Audrey Hepburn. Just Jared Karl June on the set of the new Hugh Jackman picture Real Steel. I didn't know they were filming in Detroit. This means that right now as I type this, Hugh is wandering around my home state! MNPP Another convert to Animal Kingdom. Let's hope the Aussie flick keeps building. I Need My Fix Lindsay Lohan goes to the movies. Like this blog, I think this is a step in the right direction. But I still have a concern: which movie? Cuz, that's an important thing to know.
And over at Serious Film a question: "How about a little fire, scarecrow?" Have you ever noticed this bit in The Wizard of Oz? On a related side note I would like to note that Michael who runs Serious Film will be joining the Film Experience team this week with a new weekly column I think you'll enjoy. Welcome, Michael!
One more to go...
Disney Pixar has released several production images from the abandoned Pixar film Newt (2011). They look beautiful, no surprise. I realize that everyone thinks Pixar is infallible but something tells me it's downhill from Toy Story 3. The recent abandoning of original projects like this coupled with a new focus on sequels no one needs (Cars, Monsters Inc and the inevitable Toy Story 4) suggests to me... well, it isn't good omens. It just feels reminiscent of how every other studio behaves. And no other studio is as consistently grand as Pixar ... so why should Pixar start emulating the others?
I have failed to mention that Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are now married. You've probably heard this by now. But since the Film Experience loves both of them muchly, and has since 2006 and 2000 respectively, we throw virtual rice in their general direction (Spain is east, right?). To make things even more special we like to remember that Cruz made her first movie (Jamon Jamon) with Javier Bardem way back in 1992. They've known each other forever. They also both have acting Oscars which is quite rare in movie couples. Newman and Woodward did it but Newman has left this mortal coil. Even the Bening-Beattys won't be able to say they do when Annette wins since Beatty won his for directing.
Movie|Line I knew Pixar would eventually have to come down to earth. Seems they're joining the franchise and Direct to DVD markets with abandon. Sigh. The only studio that still prized total originality is giving up. I knew that Cars would be the chink in their armor. Ugh, that movie. It torments me still. Oscar TrackerMachine Gun Preacher pairs Gerard Butler with Marc Forster for a crazily eventful sounding biopic. Oscarable? I Need My Fix has photos from the set. The Big Picture more on the David O' Russell saga involving the unreleased Jake Gyllenhaal/Jessica Biel picture Nailed. Killer last line in this article. The Exploding Kinetoscope I marvel at this review of The Last Airbender. I love.
Movie|Line so we're talking about a Janis Joplin biopic again? That happens once every three years or so. This time it's Amy Adams but Movie|Line looks at the long history of casting rumors. P.S. If Amy Adams plays this won't she win the Oscar in a slam dunk (against type, singing, biopic, mimicry, deglam, addictions. It's got EVERYTHING) A Socialite's Life I kind of love that I can never keep track of Jude Law & Sienna Miller's love life. They're together again? I've lost track of this roughly 62 times in my lifetime. I want a bunch of filmmakers to get together and make an omnibus film about this relationship. An experimental biopic with Jude & Sienna playing themselves. Movie Marketing Madness on the challenges of marketing Inception. /Film to play a live action Tink. Disney is marketing the hell out of this character which makes me sad because each time they use her, I love her less. Hopefully Elizabeth Banks can rescue this. MNPP obsesses over Thomas Kretschmann again. We understand. Where's he been hiding? Hollyscoop Lindsay Lohan back to rehab. Reading the quotes on this makes me ever more worried for her. Not only does she need to get rid of these people from her life, she needs to get rid of the other people who think she needs to get rid of those people. Complicated! Clean house, including your mooch parents! P.S. I realize this is mere conjecture and we can't know what the Lohan family is really like but methinks Lindsay herself would be better off starting fresh, period. She's the one with the talent after all. If she finds sobriety, she'll find everything else she needs (including the lost talent) afterwards.
Finally...
Reuters is reporting a huge box office weekend for Inception (my review). I swear to god box office reports are getting earlier and earlier. The movie doesn't even open till midnight tonight! Soon they will just have box office reports beamed directly from psychic hotlines.
links Word Smoker I love this piece on Tangled and its evocations of "tentacle porn". Some Came Running a piece on Cyrus which is quite a funny if inconsequential movie. Glenn Kenny is so fun to read. Movie|Line Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising) on Wonder Woman and what he'd do with her in a movie. This is a pretty intriguing interview. I would love them to give this project to someone who has an idea, you know. Not just another generic superhero movie. The Awl proclaims Toy Story 3 "totally bonkers" and the best movie of the year. Good piece The Wrap I didn't know this: Influential guilds are rallying to have IMDb lose those birthdates, claiming it leads to ageism in a youth-obsessed business. /Film A Toy Story short coming next year? Oh Christ Almighty. What happened to going out with a bang?
Psycho is 50 I really meant to commemorate it myself but until I do... WSJ great piece on Psycho (1960) and the Bernard Hermann score Sunset Gun "50 Years and a Remake Later". I love discovering that cinephiles I respect are also fond of the Gus Van Sant recreation. Throw your stones elsewhere I'm not the least bit embarrassed about it. I like cinematic experimentation.
and here's a YouTube video on shower scene parodies/homages/ripoffs (hat tip to JA)
off-cinema Sociological Images fun art project visualizing "masculine" images through "feminine" processes. We need more of this since Toy Story 3, though often brilliant, continues Pixar's little boys rule / girlie things not as cool messaging. Us Magazine Ryan Kwanten is writing a sex guide book. Anyone who has ever watched his sex scenes on True Blood will surely buy it. Best Seller! Boy Culture Is Queen Latifah softening her stance about coming out?
finally, Rob Will Review top ten Glee performances season 1. But I really must take exception with Kurts coopting of "Rose's Turn" not being on the list. That's just crazy talk.
p.s. I find it very annoying --and I wonder if any of you have noticed -- that blogger no longer has accurate comment counts. It's very annoying because I read every comment and if it's lying to me about when you're commenting, I might miss some. grrrr.
He was a panda bear. In a fit of childhood creativity I named him "Panda". Though he was neither particularly big, as many coveted stuffed animals are, nor particularly soft like those extra huggable toys, he was mine and much loved. I cried every time I lost him and took him everywhere including, I admit, to college.
I share this to illustrate the universal appeal and manipulative genius of the Toy Story concept. Who didn't have a favorite inanimate companion in childhood? Who doesn't think back to their favorite toy -- be it stuffed animal, plastic monster, or doll -- when watching Toy Story?
After two joyful funny movies with Andy and toys one could argue that it's time to move on. To its credit TOY STORY 3 deftly harnesses that argument for its very plot...
This weekend when you see Toy Story 3 --it's safe to assume you'll be there? -- you'll first see a new Pixar short called Day & Night (2010). Don't be surprised if it wins an Oscar on February 27th, 2011. I don't want to spoil one second of the short because it's so inventive, fun and technically /conceptually strong. It's often all of those things simultaneously. You're in for a treat.
Despite Pixar's reputation as an Oscar hog, they're more Streep than Hepburn; They're nominated frequently but they win less than people have imagined.
Unless you're talking about animated features in which case, yes, yes, they win that a lot. They've won it 5 out of its 9 years. But they also lose ridiculous contests like Monsters, Inc vs. Shrek... despite the math being Monsters, Inc > Shrek by 1000 to 1. Argh. That one will haunt me forever.
Pixar ShortsOscar History Winners:Tin Toy (1988), Gerri's Game (1997), For the Birds (2001). They win the animated short category but once a decade. Nominees: Luxo Jr (1986), Mike's New Car (2002, the only one of their shorts using movie characters to be nominated), Boundin' (2003), One Man Band (2005), Lifted (2006), Presto (2008) Ignored:The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. (1984), Red's Dream (1987), Knick Knack (1989, one of my personal favorites), Jack-Jack Attack (2005), Mater & The Ghostlight (2006), Your Friend the Rat (2007), Partly Cloudy (2009)
Do you prefer "Daffy" or "Donald"? I can't say I've ever been much of a fan of either of the famous Ducks (maybe Howard, briefly, in the 80s). Maybe sea fowl just aren't my thing? I was, however, totally into Chip & Dale (and chipmunks) as a child. So here's seven minutes of funny Toy Tinkers (Best Animated Short Film Nominee, 1949) starring all three to start your morning:
The Disney and Warner Bros characters used to get Oscar nominated a lot in the Animated Short category. In the past couple of decades the closest thing we have to a perennial in that category is Wallace & Gromit or Pixar as a studio, if that counts, though their characters don't repeat.
You know what I think is a crying shame as animated short films go? That Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) didn't really become a franchise. Disney made three short films with the characters after that blockbuster hit: Tummy Trouble, Rollercoaster Rabbitand Trail Mix-Up though none were nominated at the Oscars. They had the misfortune of arriving in that stretch of a dozen years or so when there were never more than 3 nominees in that category. *
Robert here with JA and Dave, discussing what's sure to be the year's most anticipated threequel.
Toy Story 3
Directed by: Lee Unkrich Starring: the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, Don Rickles, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Keaton and John Ratzenberger
Synopsis: Everyone's favorite gang of toys finds their world turned upside down when their owner, the college-bound Andy dumps them in a day care. Brought to you by: Disney/Pixar Expected release date: June 18, 2010
Robert: Immediately that trailer gets me. I think it's the Randy Newman song that transports me back to the Toy Story world without missing a beat. I find myself joining in with the chorus of "Andy's going to college!" My how time has passed, Andy's going to college already (yes, that's me getting sentimental about a tertiary character in a movie from a decade ago). Yet there are plenty of reasons to be dubious. Lee Unkrich has never been the primary director of a Pixar film before. Michael Arndt has never written a Pixar movie before. Is it me or are there surealotofnewcharacters? And part threes can often be problematic, especially when parts one and two are of such high quality. Then again, we don't anticipate the film starting with a machine gun-packing helicopter assassination attempt on Buzz Lightyear, so we might be okay.
But clearly the excitement outweighs whatever concerns we might have. So let me ask this (in addition to why is it among your most anticipated?): What are you hoping this film adds to the story of Woody, Buzz, and the gang?
JA: I was standing in the lobby of a movie theater last weekend where on one of the TVs they were playing the Toy Story 3 trailer and I realized I hadn't even seen it yet. I spend all day poring over these sorts of things, and yet here was the trailer for a movie I'm dying to see and not only had I not watched it yet, I didn't really feel any need to watch it then, nor do I feel the need to rush over and watch it now.
And yet, I really do want to see this movie something desperate. Pixar's just gained such a level of trust from me - give or take a wobbly final third of Up - that I'm essentially a zombie for them. I'll just be there opening weekend, wide-eyed with enthusiasm, happy to spend another 90 minutes with these wonderful, rich characters. Where ever they want to take me, I feel safe that it's somewhere I wanna go.
Dave: You forget, Robert, that Toy Story 2 opened with something not unlike what you just described. (Something, I must say, that has somehow never failed to take me in completely; I feel such a fool when that 'Game Over' screen pops up!)
I think the key thing for me here is how long it's been since Toy Story 2. If they'd made Toy Story 3 back in, say, 2003, it may well have been subpar because they'd really explored all aspects of the "toy experience" there were at that point... without reaching for absurdity, that is. But letting both audience and characters grow for eleven years opens up a number of new possibilities. You could argue that they already perfectly encapsulated the "child grows up and leaves toys behind" idea in that devastating, Sarah McLachlan-soundtracked four minutes about poor Jessie, but thankfully they seem to be going for a slightly different angle here. Even if Andy really caring so much about his childhood toys seems a bit unlikely; but then, don't we all still care about them all? We are Andy and we're all going to queue up to get our beloved toys back.
Pixar have actually been going slightly downhill for me lately (this is where half the readership gasps in shock and disregards every word I write from now on, isn't it?), but they've not disappointed me enough as yet to make it so that I'm not going to be sitting eagerly slap-bang in the middle of the theatre at the earliest opportunity. It should be very interesting; I know Pixar movies always have a big mixture of ages but this is probably the first time the adults in the audience will be the ones being told to stop squealing with excitement. Sorry kids, but this one's for the grown-ups.
Robert: It seems like the universal opinion is that, even if we don't love every single thing Pixar has done, they've built up so much good will, that we couldn't not eagerly anticipate every new movie. What interests me about Toy Story 3 is that there can't be a completely safe happy ending in the same vein as parts 1 and 2 (where everyone ended up back together comfortably in Andy's room). There's sort of a "you can't go home again" vibe. And that is a very grown-up concept.
JA: It did just strike me that I'm probably going to cry at this movie. I'm gonna look over and a five year old little girl is gonna be snickering at me. "Mommy, why's that old man all by himself crying at the cartoon?" Not again!
How about you readers? Are we all happy in the warm embrace of Pixar's track record? Do you agree with Dave's assessment that 11 years was in fact the right amount of time to wait for part 3?
silver screen Dear Old Hollywood revisits the locations in A Star is Born (1954). If you love movies as time capsules Mighty God King a great piece on the ironic oldness of "reboots". I wish Hollywood would read this. Cinema Blend is Pixar's The Bear and the Bow switching titles?
The Critical Condition remembers Pretty Woman for its 20th anniversary In Contention on the ubiquitous Mia Wasikowska Man About Town has a rave for the first gay feature to come from The Bahamas, Children of God
off cinema Time Out New York has casting ideas for the first major NYC revival of Angels in America i09 wonders what's happened to sci-fi series Torchwood. It has been awhile since "Children of Earth" Just Jared Rachel Weisz wins Best Actress at the Olivier Awards. That Blanche Dubois sure is a reliable awards magnet role Towleroad Cheyenne Jackson rocks the pompadour. Anyone know if he's coming back to 30Rock next season? I'm not good at keeping up on TV news
Robert here, continuing my series on important contemporary directors. Last year when this series had a different name, I featured Oscar winners Brad Bird (dubbed Mr. Complexity) and Andrew Stanton (dubbed Mr. Simplicity). Well in honor of his Oscar win this past week, we add director Pete Docter to the list. I give you: Mr. Madcap!
Maestro:Pete Docter Known For: Zany, heartfelt, and high-concept Pixar films. Influences: Bugs Bunny Masterpieces:Up Disasters: None Better than you remember: Only two films, both as good as you remember. Box Office: Up with 292 million. Favorite Actor: You guessed it, John Ratzenberger.
Thanks to the past three films, Pixar is riding an unbelievable high. With two of the three directors covered (and Oscared) we can turn our sights to Pete Docter and ask, not just what makes him a great director but what specifically makes him different from his peers Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton. While Bird employs complex direction to explore complex relationships and Stanton tells simple stories about simple crises, Pete Docter embraces inventively high-concept stories culminating in big action/adventure sequences. Take Monsters Inc. for example. It's a fun, shiny picture that quickly snares you emotionally and submits its concept so clearly and plainly you don't realize just how intricate it is. By the time the finale rolls around, featuring a warehouse of racing portal doors with heroes and villains (one of whom can turn invisible for that matter) jumping between them and through them, you've already been buying into the plot for almost ninety minutes. It took me a few viewings to realize just how impossible it would be for a viewer (let alone a child) to wrap their mind around everything had it not been presented perfectly. Equally impressive is how Up sells the viewer on things like flying houses, talking dogs, and a giant goofball bird. Sure we could dismiss these as the fantastical elements of an animated world, but Up, more than any other Pixar film, is rooted in our reality. In a way, it needs to be in order to emphasize the amazement of the adventure that follows.
Do the characters in Docter's films have complex Bird-type relationships or simple-Stanton type relationship? I'm tempted to say both, neither, and it doesn't really matter. Docter's films utilize characters who are classic comic foils, whether they're longtime friends or, let's say, somewhat less than friendly. And while the development of their relationship can be a significant part of the film, it's not quite as significant as the revelations that lead the characters to that development. More than any of this Pixar contemporaries, Pete Docter makes films about characters who live in a world that turns out to be very different than the one they see. Unlike Brad Bird's Remy and family, or Mr. and Mrs. Incredible who have to accept each other, or Stanton's Marlin and Nemo and Eve and WALL-E who have to find each other, Docter's characters have to shift their paradigms (oh the paradigms!) regarding the reality they only think they inhabit. Both Monsters Inc and Up have moments of profound revelation and subsequently lessons are learned; that laughter is greater than fear or that appreciating the present is better than living in the past. Of course, the antagonists can never accept the reality and learn these lessons.
Not my paradigms! Ahhhhhh!
This leads us to our inevitable finale. Pete Docter enjoys big action set pieces. The influence of films likeStar Warsor Raiders of the Lost Ark combined with the frantic goofiness of Looney Tunes combine to make some of the most madcap climaxes found in the Pixar canon (though dissenters often cite these as among his flaws). Up next for Docter? Probably taking some time to enjoy his Oscar. No word on whether he'll branch out into live action like the other Pixar directors, but word is he's working on the script to Monsters Inc. 2. I woudn't be surprised if he remained in animation. It's the perfect medium for the heartfelt yet zany films of Pete Docter, Mr. Madcap.
The Telegraph Tim Robey on the Berlinale fest, The Kids Are All Right and more Serious Film on the not entirely hidden politics of The Hurt Locker /Film Pixar working on a secret dinosaur related project? And the Winner Is... interviews polarizing Oscar genius Harvey Weinstein Vanity Fair overheard at Shutter Island. the stars talk Slate really amazing review of Shutter Island
Robert here. My initial thought for my series on the directors who shaped the past decade was to combine the Pixar guys into one big entry. Five minutes later I was filled with great shame. How dare I think that just because these men make animated films, they don’t deserve their own entries. It was ghettoization all over again! Sure, Pixar films all tend to have similar themes but that doesn’t mean that the great Pixar directors are interchangeable. Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at them and see what makes them the same and different. First up: Brad Bird.
Number of Films: Two. Modern Masterpieces: One. With my apologies to The Incredibles, which is an incredible film, the masterpiece isRatatouille. Total Disasters: Not even close. 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 The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Best Picture nomination for.... oh yeah, nevermind. Box Office: Both films topped 200 mil. The one without the french name topped 260 mil. Critical Consensus: Beloved and beloved. Favorite Actor:John Ratzenberger’s name will likely show up for all the Pixar guys.
Let’s talk about: Complexity. First off complex relationships. Even more specifically complex family relationships. Now we’re getting somewhere. The difference between Brad Bird films and the other Pixar guys’ films is that the families (or “families”) involved don’t just have to work together to save the day, they have to work together to save themselves. Bird’s films both feature families that are, to one extent or another, broken. So it inevitably follows that the relationships between members of these families would be a frequent topic for the director. But the broken bonds go well beyond the simple you might expect from kiddie fare (which is unfair to say since we know that great animated films aren't just for kids, but in a way it took Pixar to remind us of that this decade) . Sure we want Remy’s father to respect him as an artist, yet he makes good points via the safety of the community. Yes we can empathize with Mr. Incredible’s desire to do superhero work again, but it’s still wrong of him to betray his wife, who herself is thankfully presented as reasonable and not villainous (I’m looking at you American Beauty).
Peter O'Toole provides the voice, Brad Bird provides the perspective
But complexity isn't just limited the relationships. It's everywhere in Bird’s work. Look at his directorial style. Bird throws more camera angles, movements and tricks at his films than his compatriots, all of them purposeful and brilliantly conceived. Bird’s direction isn’t just complexity for its own sake. His camera always empathizes with his characters without drawing any undue attention to itself (Please don’t take this to mean that I consider certain more simplicity-inclined Pixar directors to be inferior. Quite the contrary, I love all of these Pixar movies and find them to be perfect versions of themselves). In fact, Bird’s films require complex direction more than others at work at Pixar Studios. Whereas other films may give us an A, B and possible C storyline, Bird’s just keep piling up the conflict layer upon layer upon layer. So we don’t just get father fish looking for son fish (A story) as son fish tries to get home (B story), we get rat yearns to cook (A) while getting displaced from family (B) while meeting human who needs job (C) and teams up with rat to cook (D) as he develops a romantic relationship with co-worker (E) and may be the rightful heir to a restaurant (F) while rat tries to reconnect with family by potentially sabotaging human (G). All the while a grumpy critic waits and waits for a life-changing dish of ratatouille. Layers. Seriously.
Brad Bird, Mr. Complexity. First on Left.
In another sign of his fascination with complexity, Bird has a greater desire to explore the artistic process within his films than the other Pixar directors. The Incredibles puts its entire story on hold several times as we visit costume-design artist extraordinaire Edna Mode who gives us the lowdown on her own genius. And Ratatouille, which is naturally filled with ruminations on the art of cooking, goes even farther, visualizing the concept of taste and combination of taste in a way that no other film has. Bird loves the mind of the artist, and it shows.
So Brad Bird is Mr. Complexity. And where did this come from? A long history in animation. For most of us Bird entered our radar just this decade with The Incredibles. For the lucky few of us, self not included, who weren’t frightened or off put by the thought of a non-Disney animated film, the introduction was by way of The Iron Giant. But even that was in 1999, just on the cusp of this modern decade. Still if you find yourself watching old episodes of The Simpsons or The Critic (I’m not the only one who still watches old episodes of The Critic am I?) You’ll see his name. He's been doing this for a while. The relentlessly talented Brad Bird finally finding a home at the ever-brilliant Pixar is in retrospect both incredibly obvious and one of the finest developments of the decade. As for the next decade, Bird is working on the live-action earthquake film 1906. due out in 2 years. It’s exciting to see Bird spread his wings and take on something new, but waiting until 2012 for it seems like a bit of cruelty worthy of Syndrome himself.
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