"Up" Soars Over the Summer Movie Line-Up

This morning I read the Rotten Tomatoes breakdown of this summer's movie line-up and found Up at the coveted "number one" spot on the Top Ten list for the summer, beating out other acclaimed films such as Star Trek or District 9. Though I know that Pixar creates excellent films, I was nevertheless surprised to see their newest title surpass other top movies for the summer that might be a more sophisticated. Could this be because Pixar created a family film, appropriate for all ages? Perhaps, but we were introduced to other family films as well, such as Ice Age 3 and G-Force that didn't even make the list. Besides, when it comes to judging the fine craft of filmmaking, "acceptable for young children" isn't usually high on the list of qualifications.

No, there must be something else in Pixar's Up that excels all the sex and violence commonly found in modern movies. Pixar has disregarded all these sensual components designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator and engaged in superior storytelling. They've created characters that are not only charming, but also incredibly deep. They've used their talents in animation to create magnificent worlds for these characters and stories to inhabit. Most of all, they've blended all of these together in such a way that make you cry in the first four minutes of the film. In other words, their talents only continue to uncover something more powerful (and, as Rotten Tomatoes has shown, more marketable) than the sex and violence permeating Hollywood today. I don't know how they do it, but they've done it so well that their work has not only found a competent place in the filmmaking industry today but has even soared on a regular basis, sometimes all the way to the top.

Well done, Pixar! We'll see you at the Academy Awards!
T.H. Excellence

"Up" Trailer

Hey all! Pixar just released the trailer for their upcoming film "Up". Check it out here!



So whaddya think? I'm looking forward to this adventure!
T.H. Excellence

Film Fest Friday - Geri's Games

Today's edition of Film Fest Friday is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. As I was searching for a short film to present to you, I was reminded of "Geri's Game", a short film by Pixar that we all remember from A Bug's Life. As I searched YouTube for the short, I discovered not only the short itself, but also various spinoffs done by amateur filmmakers. And so I present to you the original Pixar short "Geri's Game" followed by a home movie spin-off "Don's Game".



And now for something a little different...



Isn't that interesting? "Don's Game" is really just one of many spin-offs of "Geri's Game". I never realized that Pixar's wonderful little short film had inspired so many people to recreate their own production of that classic film.

Now for something completely different. I recently discovered this TV ad for the new "What Will You Celebrate?" campaign at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. What's so special about it? Well, I'll share that after you watch it.



Did you see that part at the end where the boy is celebrating his birthday with the pirates? That was being filmed on one of the nights I was doing guest control for Fantasmic. I knew the shoot was for a Disneyland ad (and I guessed it was for the "Celebrations" promotion), so it's nice to see what the idea was behind what was being shot. It's also quite amazing the amount of time and effort that went into that. The set utilized quite a bit of equipment, and the crew was working all night while I was there (probably even after I left). All that for a bit in a commercial that barely lasts ten seconds.

Okay, I'm outta here.
'Bye everyone!
T.H. Excellence

WALL-E Theatrical Trailer

Guess what, folks? Pixar just released a new trailer for their upcoming feature WALL-E. Check it out!



I must say I'm really looking forward to this one. Pixar is is a master of its craft. Who else could make a little robot so endearing?

Until next time
T.H. Excellence

Film Fest Friday - Red's Dream

Today's feature was first released just over twenty years ago. Red's Dream was one of Pixar's very first short films and was created to allow the company to develop new techniques of computer animating in a pioneering age that would lead to their future success with Disney.



I hope you enjoyed that look into Pixar's past. It's amazing how far they've come since then, but what I consider to be even more amazing is their uncanny ability to bring character and life into practically anything, even an old, unwanted unicycle.

Until later
T.H. Excellence

Ratatouille ~ A Fine Show of Excellnce

Remy: "What is that?"

Emile: "I don't really know."

Remy: "You don't know... and you're eating it?"

Emile: "You know, once you muscle your way past the gag reflex, all kinds of possibilities open up."

Remy. "This is what I'm talking about..."


Earlier this morning I opened up the newspaper and examined the Oscar nominees for the year. To my surprise and great delight, Pixar's most recent release Ratatouille was nominated for five (yes, FIVE!) Oscars, including "Best Animated Feature Film of the Year". I love Ratatouille, just as I love all of Pixar's films, and I must say that seeing this happen is quite a thrill, and definite proof of the superiority of Pixar's films to other films in the computer animation genre. The only other similar film to be nominated for an Oscar was Sony Picture's Surf's Up, and that motion picture was only nominated for one award: "Best Animated Feature". Quite frankly, I'm not even sure how it could possibly beat out Ratatouille. Maybe the Academy wouldn't allow the latter to be a shoe-in and needed another animated film to give it a little competition.

At any rate, all this award excitement has made me think about Pixar's work as I often have in the past. Out of all the motion picture companies that produce computer-animated films, Pixar is the only one that consistently releases films that are high quality and put an emphasis on story. Every other film attempts to get by on some combination of crude humor, overly quirky characters, or superstar voice talent. Apparently the team behind these films think that those things are the only film elements that will catch the movie-goer's eye. They seem to be afraid to put any sort of heart or quality theme into their work. Yet every single one of these films fail to thoroughly please, and at best only come across as "decent".

Not only does Pixar soar in the astounding quality of their films, but they also have yet to present anything less than a major hit.

Okay, so maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just biased because I really like Pixar. So recently I did a little research, just for personal gratification. I looked up all of Pixar's films on Yahoo's movie site as well as rottentomatoes.com and noted the critics' average ratings for each one. With the exception of Cars (for some reason) each film ranked in the "A" range on Yahoo and the "90-100%" range on Rotten Tomatoes. Afterwards, I carried out the same procedure for other popular CG films, such as Shrek and Ice Age. None could compare, remaining in the "B" and "80-90%" ranges at the highest. Even Shrek, one of the most popular and successful animated films of recent history, could only garner an 89% from Rotten Tomatoes. Pixar and their storytelling are objectively superior. Facts don't lie.

Mind you, though, I only compared the ratings of critics, a fairly limited field, and failed to note the ratings of the general public. Even so, the critics are usually the most sensitive (and, in my opinion, overly so) to the quality of films these days, likely because their occupation demands that they view so many. They often label motion pictures of all kinds as "average" or "poor", and occasionally "decent". It is a rare event in deed in which the critics unanimously declare "Excellent!" as they have so often done with each and every one of Pixar's feature films.

And when the critics do pronounce a film as "Excellent!" the opinion of the general public usually does not depart too far from it...

Good luck, Pixar! Ratatouille is a most excellent film, and I sincerely hope and believe it will win all five of its nominated Oscars.

Au revoir
T.H. Excellence

WALL-E Trailer

Late last night I was surfing the web and happened across, well, this. Yes, folks, it's the brand spankin' new WALL-E trailer for all you Pixar junkies (like myself).



Okay, so it's more like an update on the original trailer, but there's still some new footage in there and a clever take on Pixar's traditional opening. That actually leads me to this thought. Disney, a long-time, well-grounded film institution has gone through about three or four different opening titles in the last decade, whereas Pixar, a relatively newer group subject to all kinds of change, has retained the same title sequence for it's entire film career. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love Pixar's hopping lamp and hope it doesn't disappear. Still, it does make me wonder...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the trailer. Be sure to drop a comment by - I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on this movie.

Tra la la
T.H. Excellence