Toy Story 3

The hottest streak in Hollywood continues, as Pixar Animation Studios presents its 11th feature film, reassuring any naysayers with a patented blend of original storytelling, wit, and heart. It's fitting that their eleventh home run is a conclusion to the story that started it all. In 1995, they premiered the original Toy Story, the first entirely computer generated animated feature, and ushered in an era; an entirely new possibility to telling stories. Over the last fifteen years, the advancement of technology is utterly amazing, but it's Pixar's ability to remain truthful and honest in its storytelling that keeps it all fresh and the bounty all the more glourious. It's hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since we first met dutiful honest cowboy Woody, daring space ranger Buzz Lightyear and the gang. I was a mere 11-year-old movie nerd in training, and since then the Toy Story films have in a way grown up with me. Toy Story 2 upped the ante slightly and remains a touchstone in the right way to develop a franchise-- the conclusion here in 2010 is a fitting and poignant end of a delightful series of films.

The nostalgic factor works in interesting ways, and the keen storytellers at Pixar realize this, and never make it feel mushy or manipulative. Many of said that Toy Story 3 has the ability to make grown men and women cry uncontrollably. I admit fully and honestly, it's true-- throughout much of the film (particularly the touching beginning and positively wrenching finale), I lost it. Tears come flowing down in ways that in my 25-year-old brain thought unthinkable. But the beautiful aspect of it is that they're all earned. Part of it is the human experience of growing up with a beloved film series, for sure, but also the honest realization, that Pixar nails, is the process of growing up is never easy to anyone, even the toys that belong to young Andy, now heading off the college, who just want to played with-- that's what they're for, that's their livelihood.

Of course walking into this theater, I had high expectations-- after 11 successes (well, ten-- Cars was a slight misfire), there's always a panic of meeting too much of good thing, and from all the good Pixar has shown, the pessimist in me feels the other shoe will drop some day. It wasn't this time. Aside from being a heavy emotional experience (honestly anyone who's ever loved the other two films, or had an attachment to anything ever will probably lose it, as I did), it's also a great adventure story, just as the last two were. As Andy is packing up for college, there's a widespread panic in the toy community-- what will become of his old friend, now mostly discarded to the chest (an amusing bit with Andy's cellphone starts the realization that this isn't the same little boy anymore)-- will anyone make the journey with him, sent to the attic, donated, or worse off, thrown away?

A calamatious set of circumstances sends the toys off the Sunnyside Day Care, which looks slightly like an old-folks home crossed with an insane asylum. There the gang meets a whole new set of discarded, forgotten toys. These include Lotso, a big purple teddy bear (voiced by Ned Beatty, a Southern charmer whose not who he seems), Ken (voiced with absolute vapid perfection by Michael Keaton), and hordes of others presenting Sunnyside as the perfect place to bask in the golden years. Off course that not at all what it becomes. The middle section of the story is played as parody of The Great Escape but the adventure never feels throwaway for a second, largely because it's cast of characters are already deeply rooted aspects of not only are individual childhoods, but also a part of the spectular filmic universe that Pixar has surrounded them with. There's geniune pathos in this escape-- I dare not to write out of hand, but parts of Toy Story 3 almost feel like Shakespearean tragedy.

The voicework, always a refreshing aspect of a Pixar movie for they always seem to cast approiapately not always with movie stars, remains as endearing as ever-- Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Beatty, Keaton, Don Rickles, and the rest (close observers will notice that Barbie is voiced by Jodi Benson, or Ariel from The Little Mermaid.) I take that back about movie stars-- the Toy Story franchise is the one that uses the most, but point is valid. Larger credit must go to director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, and Pixar neophyte) for keeping the balance between action and tenderness completely complementary without one ever over-doing the other. Watching the joyous third part here makes the Shrek series even more embarrassing, especially considering they gave up on the story after the first one, and kept the self-references become the movie, something Pixar has largely avoided, making them feel all the more timeless (there's a cute song cue when Ken and Barbie meet to the tune of "Dream Weaver," but that's the only pop culture in-joke in the entire film.

Watching Toy Story 3, makes me all the all the reflective about not the films that I've loved for a decade and a half, but also of my childhood toys. In an odd way I feel like a neglectful, unimaginative sociopath for the simple fact that I don't know where any of them are anymore. So the negative side Pixar's genius, is that I've cried my heart out, and now am thrusted with a guilt complex....thanks a lot. A

Summer 2010 Progress Report

So the summer movie season is about one month in, still three weeks before the official calendar change, and it's been a largely ho-hum affair. Hollywood, as usual, has produced slickly over-priced, under-nourished franchise continuations and franchise hopefuls, and yet no one seems to be caring. No box office records have been smashed (or eviscerated, as hoped), no critical smashes, no films that seem anywhere close to entering the pop-culture lexicon. Perhaps, in a P-A (post-Avatar) filmmaking world, the doldrums must come. Much has been discussed of the last month and the disappointments (even though calling Iron Man 2 a disappointment when it's earned $290 million domestically because it didn't break any records seems ridiculous and an example of the wrong-headedness of the movie industry) that have ensued.

Iron Man 2, a well meaning if directionless and cowardly sequel, fared better than anything, and was followed by Robin Hood, which with Ridley Scott at the helm and a berth as the opening film at Cannes this year is still struggling to make it's way to $100 million, besieged with a plethora of middling reviews. It's unfortunate that a film barely making $100 million is a sign of failure-- perhaps if more control over whatever was going on in Scott's brain at the time were better maintained, the feature would have been viewed as a success. But thanks to a nice returns from a forminable overseas box office, Robin Hood will survive, and possibly go another round in the not too distant future-- the world wins.

Following Robin Hood, with it's desperate need for a sequel, was a sequel nobody asked for in Shrek Forever After, this time in magically 3-D. While the film has made money, despite it being the poorest attended Shrek in it's quadilogy, it hasn't exactly broadened the wonders of 3-D, or deepened the legacy of the Shrek franchise. And as a supporter of film preservation, I implore the end of unecessary sequels, really just to maintain the success (or lack of) of the original film. Which brings us to Sex & the City 2, the critical punching bag of the season, which like the rest is struggling to earn enough dough to defeat cultural embarrassment. Whether the reviews are fairly judged or not is perhaps not the case here, but again speaking from a preservationist perspective are the Sex films helping or hurting the legacy of the lauded and, in many ways, groundbreaking television show. Then again, perhaps the film would feels less like a dud if it didn't cost $100 million to make (just a theory-- perhaps the gals should have stayed in Manhattan, instead of traversing off to Abu Dahbi.) The second mishap of the unfortunate Memorial Day weekend was Prince of Persia, showing off Jake Gyllenhaal's abs to massive effect-- again the overseas box office is booming for this, but is anybody really interested in a second helping?

And so I'm, in a rare move, rather proud of the indifference shown on this years product by the American people. The populist do, and should have the power to say what they\we are and are not interested in, and the American movie industry should listen. And if we need a season without a box office record to make that point, then so be it.

However, even in times of distress, I see a beacon (perhaps a few) of hope in a few of the offerings coming out this summer. Here's the top ten films I'm most looking forward too this summer:

10. I Am Love- I posted the preview for this sumptious looking Italian film earlier starring Tilda Swinton. I know next to nothing about it, and I kind of want to keep it that way until I see it. It generated mixed reviews at this years Sundance Film Festival, but the I've always been fascinated by love-it\hate-it type movies, and this appears to be one of them. Opens limitedly on June 18th.

9. Dinner for Schmucks- I wasn't overly impressed with the trailor for this, but it's kind of slim pickings this summer, and in truth, I suppose I'd rather waste two hours of time with the likes of Steve Carell and Paul Rudd then the other jokesters coming out this summer. Then again the trailer for The 40-Year-Old Virgin didn't exactly impress me either initially. Opens July 23rd.

8. Joan Rivers: Piece of Work- This critically acclaimed and Sundance Film Festival winner for Documentary editing examines the body of work of Ms. Rivers as she approaches her 75th birthday. I've always been ticked by Rivers and this one looks like it could be a raw and perceptive look at her career, self parody and all, plus it might actually be funny. Open limitedly June 11th.

7. Winter's Bone- A grim feature from Debra Granik (Down to the Bone) which won the Grand Jury Prize at this years Sundance Film Featival, and follows a young girl (Jennifer Lawrence) trying to find her father and rebuild her family in the Ozarks. The film has gotten some of the best reviews so far this year, and while the feature looks relentlessly bleak, I'm intrigued by the Ozarks angle, simply because I've never seen a film set there before, plus advance word is Lawrence is terrific. Opens limitedly June 11th

6. Cyrus- Another hit from Sundance this year, but this one seems far more commercial than Joan Rivers: Piece of Work and Winter's Bone. It's a comedy from the Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair) starring John C. Rielly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and Jonah Hill, centering around a romance developing for Rielly and Tomei, with Hill as her son mucking up matters. I'm hoping a mature, yet warped look at romance. Plus I'm digging Fox Searchlight's promotion for this already. Opens June 18th.

5. The Adjustment Bureau- This one's a conspiracy theory take on a Philip K. Dick short story starring Matt Damon as an aspiring senator and Emily Blunt as a ballerina. Dick stories come hot and cold in Hollywood (Blade Runner is the best by a far margin), but Damon is a pro at this point at this and Blunt, as least from the trailer appears to be right there with him. I'm hopeful about this one, so let's hope like the Bourne films it manages to please the cineasts and popcorn fans at once. Opens September 17th.



4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World- Perhaps this one is a bit too high since it seems that it can go anyway at this point, but Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz) is freaking brilliant, and I'm largely impressed with the young, hip cast assembled here. Sure I'll bet everyone's a bit tired of Michael Cera playing Michael Cera, but it seems like such a Michael Cera role, who else would it be? Plus Jason Schwartzman, Keiran Culkin and Anna Kendrick. Even if it sucks, I'm totally there. Opens August 13th.

3. Toy Story 3- The only sequel on this list, and for good reason-- Pixar wouldn't just make this if there wasn't a reason too. The unparallelled focus on story and how spectacle can enhance a story (such as 3-D) is but one of the reasons Pixar is in the loftiest of situations-- they've proven all of wrong so many times now with they're innovative and inventiveness, that I succumb to them every time they choose to wave something new in my face. Open June 18th.

2. The Kids Are All Right- The buzz about the lesbian mothers and sperm donar dad comedy is so deafening at this point, I just want to see this bloody thing so badly. Not just because it stars three of favorite actors currently working in cinema-- Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Not just because it's written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, a skilled filmmaker and observant writer (High Art.) Not just because of it's rave reviews from Sundance and Berlin film festivals. Nor because the trailer looks like it strikes the right balance between fun and heartfelt. It's because I'm clamoring and begging for a quality film to come my way, and I don't want to wait until July 9th.

1. Inception- Yep, I'm eagerly awaiting Christopher Nolan's return to the cinema moreso than the dozen of so promising films from film festivals, so there you go-- I'm not quite the cinematic snob you might figure me out to be. I'm digging just about everything so far on this film, but I worry as well. I worry that the overwhelming buzz surrounding Inception will swell to a degree of indifference either on my part or the part of the populist. But if it's as good as I feel it could be than everyone wins, right? Opens July 14th.