Tag Archives: Toy Story 3

And the winners should be…. 2011 Oscar Predictions (Matt’s Picks)

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Best Picture

The Social Network
Black Swan
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
Winter’s Bone
The Kids Are All Right
Inception
Toy Story 3
The Fighter
True Grit

Should Win I’d be the most happy with Social Network, Black Swan, or The Kids Are All Right.  There’s no real Blind Side this year, but The King’s Speech is the least deserving… and it’s also one of the front-runners.
Will Win: The Social Network has a real shot, but so does The King’s Speech. Many have already handed it to King George, but I’m leaning toward King Zuckerberg.
Snubbed: There’s really no Blind Side this year among the nominees. However, over The King’s Speech I would’ve nominated The Ghost Writer, Enter the Void, White Material, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Splice or I Am Love.


Best Director

Tom Hooper- The King’s Speech
Darren Aronofsky- Black Swan
Joel & Ethan Coen- True Grit
David Fincher- The Social Network
David O. Russell- The Fighter

Should Win: Aronofsky.  His direction on Black Swan was the best thing about the movie, which is saying a lot.  Fincher is also great, but so many other elements of Social Network would’ve worked on their own if not as well.  You can’t really say that about Black Swan.
Will Win: Fincher.  Even if The Social Network doesn’t walk away with the night’s biggest trophy, this one is a pretty safe bet.
Snubbed: Yes, yes, Christopher Nolan deserved a nomination  for Inception here over Tom Hooper, but don’t forget Danny Boyle.  His direction on 127 Hours was impeccable and his movie was better than both Inception and The King’s Speech.   I’d also throw in Lisa Cholodenko’s low-key genius in The Kid’s Are All Right, Gasper Noe’s hallucinatory brilliance in Enter the Void, Roman Polanski’s artful storytelling in The Ghost Writer and the mesmerizing work of Claire Denis in White Material.

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BEST PICTURE NOMINEE: Toy Story 3

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Toy Story 3
Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Written by: Michael Arndt, John Lassetter, and Lee Unkrich (screenplay)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Don Rickles

You always know the latest entry from the people at Pixar is going to be a marvel.  To see how great they are, like a Hattori Hanzo sword, you compare it to every animated movie that wasn’t made by Pixar.  In that respect, the Toy Story trilogy is the greatest animated trilogy animation has ever seen, with help from the exceptionally brilliant third entry.

Adult themes are always under the beautifully varnished animated images of the best animation, and nobody does it better than Pixar.  Last year’s Up was probably enjoyed more by adults than it was by children for that very same reason.  Though this is a story about play-things, the despair over uselessness has never been done quite so well.  Though the film is hilarious, it is at times also heartbreaking.

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Quick Oscar Nomination Predictions 2011

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CyniCritics has complied its quick, yet bold list of predictions without a stutter for the 2011 Academy Award nominations which will be announced this Tuesday. It’s not our fault for playing things on the white swan side; it’s been quite a predictable season. Don’t expect a list of surprises or shockers when the nominees are revealed. Sure there will be a few slip ups and a few that incept themselves in, but with 10 slots and Pixar in the mix, this is no wild west of Oscar races. So go ahead, update your statuses, well unless you live in the Ozarks, in which case you probably shouldn’t talk about the Oscars… or have a Facebook.

Best Picture

The Social Network

The King’s Speech

Black Swan

The Kids Are All Right

Inception

The Fighter Continue reading →

The Best Movies of 2010

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Communication and identity were big themes in 2010 (and every other year), right alongside isolationism on top and kids (and their toys) growing up to mounting uncertainty.  The films, as they always do, reflect that.  The best ones had none of the problems that their characters often face, and though there are thousands of tireless idiosyncrasies among this year’s releases, it’s the bigger connections that are important, and we’ve left one out.  All of the films on this list are wonderful, if each in their own way.  So here’s a toast to the great, the weird, the insightful, the funny, and the heartbreaking, and here’s hoping Transformers 3 doesn’t prevent 2011 from being just as good if not better.

1. Black Swan- Taking lessons from classics like The Red Shoes and Repulsion and then adding in more frantic body horror, Darren Aronofsky has us follow Nina the ballerina on her nightmarish journey toward perfection in her preparation for the leads in Swan Lake. In this unlikely companion piece to 2008’s The Wrestler, we dive deeper into the depths of an athlete’s mind and body at war with itself while Nina tries to find her inner dark side to play the Black Swan.  The battle is projected onto the environment with hallucinations and onto Nina’s weary body in the form of scratches, bruises, and emerging feathers.  Aronofsky himself wages a successful battle between perfect technique and dark, brooding instinct.  He, along with a never-better Natalie Portman, creates a new masterpiece full of feverish dance sequences, controlling mothers, and fierce competition for his catalog.  Like his protagonist, he flies past the competition and lands atop the pile of 2010’s best films.  Read Full Review Continue reading →

Summer Movie Awards

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The Most Laughs: The Kids Are All Right

The Kids Are All Right is easily the funniest movie of the year. The film covers some heated topics and touchy themes through the lightest and most heart-warming approaches via careful cinema and clever story. With its incredibly humorous undertones that hide behind genius dialogue, writing and delivery, the film toys around with the most hilarious tongue and cheek. No puns intended.

Read REVIEW HERE

The Biggest Cash-In: Knight and Day

The recent queen of cash-ins Cameron Diaz has had another explosivly exploitative summer, drawing massive amounts of money from massively dull movies like Shrek Forever After and Knight and Day, which showed us the same lame for our money. Diaz doing her usual self-portrayals in crappy action movies wasn’t the only offender, Tom Cruise hoping for a career saving hit and director James Mangold have both had better days.

Read REVIEW HERE

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REVIEW: Toy Story 3

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Toy Story 3
Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Written by: Michael Arndt, John Lassetter, and Lee Unkrich (screenplay)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Don Rickles

You always know the latest entry from the people at Pixar is going to be a marvel.  To see how great they are, like a Hattori Hanzo sword, you compare it to every animated movie that wasn’t made by Pixar.  In that respect, the Toy Story trilogy is the greatest animated trilogy animation has ever seen, with help from the exceptionally brilliant third entry.

Adult themes are always under the beautifully varnished animated images of the best animation, and nobody does it better than Pixar.  Last year’s Up was probably enjoyed more by adults than it was by children for that very same reason.  Though this is a story about play-things, the despair over uselessness has never been done quite so well.  Though the film is hilarious, it is at times also heartbreaking.

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Summer Box Office Predictions

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1. Inception

Release date: July 16th

Plot summary: Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is an agent who has the technology to enter the minds of business tycoons to retrieve their strategies and sell them to the highest bidder. But the mind is no safe place for Dom and his team who find themselves in a place where things can rearrange and people can have powers outside of reality. When a heist goes wrong, one CEO seeks to steal the technology from the thieves attacking him.

Why it will rule: Just a few short summers ago, Christopher Nolan delivered audiences The Dark Knight, a domestic and overseas smash that made $1 billion worldwide and nabbed the attention of critics and mainstream audiences alike. Nolan’s talent lies in making brilliant narratives into dark, compelling films that are popularized by their own quality. Add in Leonardo DiCaprio and his latest success with Scorsese’s Shutter Island and Warner Bros. incredible marketing team for dark blockbusters, it looks to be a hit. All that and the trailer proves that this is going to be Memento mind-bending with The Dark Knight effects squad and July release.

Why it will fail: With the exception of the Batman franchise, Nolan has yet to have a real big blockbuster. Without the branding, and without knowing what it is really about, audiences might turn down this smarter box office fair for more Transformers style blow em’ up blockbusters as entertainment. Also, this movie is missing the Heath Ledger effect.

Estimated box office: $100 million OW / $410 million Domestic

2. Toy Story 3

Release date: June 18th Continue reading →

TRAILER: Toy Story 3

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Toy Story 3
Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Written by: Michael Arndt (screenplay)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, and Don Rickles

Pixar’s only franchise thus far gets a new installment this summer, and it looks to carry the tradition of animation excellence that they remain unrivaled for.  Though the Toy Story movies are by no means their best work, without their existance Pixar wouldn’t exist.  Plus, they probably need a break from lonely robots and cranky old man.  An established storyline and characters would be much easier to work with after creating their masterpieces of the last two years.

The trailer only sets up the basic plot, hopefully not giving away all of the funny moments like so many trailers are prone to do.  I have faith that what we see on the surface is really just the surface and not the whole picture.

What a surface it is, too.  They take the aging toy motif to the next level, moving Woody, Buzz and the gang to a preschool hell while their owner Andy moves on to college.  The moment when the young children enter and begin thrashing the toys around  and the aftermath where the toys recover is the high-point.  This looks to be a cartoon prison breakout movie, something Pixar will surely be able to put a creative take on.

The company has long been the only thing keeping Disney afloat in the quality department.  Sure they put out a crappy Hannah Montana cash-in every once and awhile, but the films coming out of Pixar will be examined years down the road.  Toy Story 3 looks to add to that legacy, if not raise the bar of it.

Highs: The preschoolers beseeching the playroom and tearing the toys apart and the idea of a big pink teddy bear as a villain

Lows: Why do these toys insist on returning to an owner who gives them up?

Trailer Grade: A-