Inspired by @sophster
[Cars 2 and Monsters University]
I didn’t see these so I can’t comment.
Cars
I liked this movie but it just wasn’t super memorable. The protagonist was kind of a tool. The southwest landscape was very very beautiful though.
A Bug’s Life
Good but not great. Haven’t watched it in years and only ever rewatched it because I had small children and we had it on DVD.
The Incredibles
I wanted to love this because Brad Bird’s Iron Giant is one of the best animated films on earth but I found it noisy and brash and lacking in heart. Not bad, just not moving in any way.
Up
This was a beautiful movie but I didn’t love it the way the critics did. I thought it was a little uneven. But still the first of the “only Pixar makes animated movies like this” collection. Full of heart.
Finding Nemo
This is an empathically stressful movie. Poor five year old @imc was destroyed by the death of the mom and babies and that was in the first ten minutes. We had to recuperate in the theater lobby for a few minutes. But that’s not a fair critique. It is a great movie although I think the ending is too drawn out taking away from the payoff. The whole fish in the net scene is completely unnecessary.
The Good Dinosaur
Focused on a younger audience so it lacked the complexity I love in Pixar but still very beautiful and very touching.
Toy Story 2
To say this is the least good Toy Story is hardly faint praise. A worthy addition to the best animated trilogy ever.
Monster’s, Inc.
I loved the sweetness of this movie and @imc was just the right age so I remember seeing it in the theater very fondly.
Toy Story
This is both a wonderful movie and a piece of film history.
Ratatouille
This movie moves up in my ranking both because it is a beautiful unapologetic work of love and also for the perfect “review” that ends the movie. “Only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” 💯
Brave
Moving, beautiful, genre busting, and important. @sophster said it well in her list. A princess fairy tale with no love interest that dares to say mother/daughter relationships are fragile powerful important things. Perfect.
Toy Story 3
The closest I’ve ever come to crying in a movie. Brilliant from beginning to end and overwhelmingly moving. Which is saying something when you’re being asked to identify with a cowboy doll. Impeccable.
WALL-E
This movie quietly, meticulously celebrates companionship and what it means to truly be human. It is a brave concept, a brave implementation, and so so beautiful.
Inside Out
I went into this movie expecting to be impressed and I was not at all disappointed. It is so smart, so subtle, so willing to stake everything on something so small and fragile and so deeply important. And it’s “message” is unique and critical. Only Pixar.