Haven't seen yet:
- Monsters Inc.
- Toy Story 2
10. Cars
The story in Cars really isn't too stong, the characters, while a worthy effort, aren't very memorable, and just the very concept of a universe of cars talking doesn't lend itself very well as a consistent idea in believability, no matter how much suspension is put into one's belief.
However, the visuals on this thing are
insane.
After watching Cars, it truly boggles the mind of where computer graphics will be in twenty, or even in just ten years from now.
9. Brave
One of the best looking as far the detail & realism of the graphics, especially in keeping with being their latest release,
however,
the story, whilst solid-enough to keep the kiddies entertained & maybe even kill a couple of hours for an adult viewer,
overall it doesn't stand up to level of the many of Pixar's previous efforts.
Good flick, but not at all a classic (IMO, at least).
8. A Bug's Life
A good use of the physical disctintions of the insect world to create the individual personalities of the main characters.
As with Cars, this was a movie that was beginning to show the extent of what computer graphics could to the visual dimensions of the genre.
7. Finding Nemo
As good as the story was in this Finding Nem (and a it was a story I did like) the world of the undersea looked just so beautiful, that it felt like this movie's story could've used more of an extra punch, just to meet the same high level of quality in the graphics.
6. Toy Story
The first computer movie that showed how sophisticated graphics can be intergrated into a really top quality & solid story.
One whose visuals matched it's plot in emphasizing the warmth & color that was starting to become more & more "faded" in the tired 2-D animated family films that movie producers had seemed to be tiredly cranking out at the time.
5. Ratatouille
The idea of combining the points of views of both rodent & restauranteer made this a great vehicle for using sharper & more creative angles in the storytelling that could only come closer to perfection through the use of this medium. For my money, it's where the heart & beauty of this film is.
4. Up
A cranky old man & an annoying little kid team up with a talking dog & a flightless giant mother bird named "Kevin", to embark on an semi-Indiana Jones type of adventure.
Colorful, but not overwhelming (like Cars or Speed Racer),
touching, but not over-sentimental,
exciting, but not at the cost of the story.
Another score for the people over at Pixar.
3. Toy Story 3
At the time of this writing,
I haven't had time to come up with a description of why I like this move.
For now though, I'll just gotta confess that I'm riding the train of popular opinion that TS3 is one of the better movies of 2010 so far.
Will update this entry soon.
2. Wall-E
While not so surprising in that I (we?) expected the details in the graphics of this film to be as detailed & realistic as they were, for me, it's still quite stunning to behold.
WALL-E is a futuristic story that involves themes of loneliness, environmentalism, technological over-dependence & the effects of idleness on the soul of humanity when it is stripped away from the natural strife of life.
And even though these are all themes that are ones we've seen many times before, it's still quite surprising how often & consistantly filmmakers are able to intergrate the amazing graphics into the quality of the storytelling in a manner that seems fresh & keeps the messages from feeling too cliche. At the rate that these types of highly sophisticated computer animated flicks are being released, it's remarkble that the ratio has been so much more good than bad.
1. The Incredibles
One of the best voice castings for the lead roles I've seen (or is it heard?) & it has a great story, full of charm, wit & family chemistry. I always thought that Hollywood never seem to be able to put out 100% in any feature dealing with superheroes, but they really did with this one. The effects are incredibly cool, the over-all visuals are stunning & the characters are all drawn with an equally high level of quality & dynamicism (.... is that really a word?). Added with the "Jack Jack Attack" story on the DVD, & I know that it will probably be a long time before the family "I's" get dethroned from #1 on my list.
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