Monsters University

Monsters Club Ltd.

Grade: B +

Director: Dan Scanlon

Starring the voices of: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren and Steve Buscemi

MPAA Rating: G

Running Time: 1 hr. 50 min.

There’s an urge to lump Monsters University, Pixar Animation’s first prequel, in with the studio’s last stab at a sequel. But whereas Cars 2 was a lackluster, uncreative money grab, Monsters University is, well, a money grab. But it also exhumes the studio’s signature wit and charm, mothballed since 2010’s Toy Story 3.

Speaking of which, Monsters University fits purposely into the timeline of Pixar’s maturing target audience that began with youngsters who discovered the hidden world of their playthings in 1995 with Toy Story. They’re also the teenagers who, 15 years later, left behind those old childhood playthings en route to college in Toy Story 3.

Three years later, that college life is the setting for Monsters University, a prequel to 2001’s Monsters, Inc., where kids saw an imaginary world behind the bedtime fears. Billy Crystal and John Goodman reprise their roles as the younger incarnations of Mike Wazowski  and James “Sulley” Sullivan, respectively. The uni-eyed Mike enrolls in the titular college hoping to major in scaring and eventually land a job at Monsters, Inc., “the big leagues.” Sulley, on the other hand, is a lunkheaded child of privilege who gets by on his family name and one go-to fright face. The hard-charging but scareless Mike resents the lazy Sulley, while Sulley dislikes know-it-all Mike.

Mishaps eventually thrust the two together as members of Oozma Kappa fraternity (“We’re OK!”), a melange of misfits who are distinct underdogs in the annual Scare Games. Both the games and scaring program are overseen by strict Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren), a Hogwarts-esque headmistress who holds the keys to Mike and Sulley’s futures at MU.

The plot is as old as Revenge of the Nerds and as recent as The House Bunny and Pitch Perfect. But in the hands of Pixar, director Dan Scanlon and a terrific cast led by Crystal and Goodman (both with voices born for animation), the threadbare story reaches humorous and enjoyable heights. The film doesn’t approach the level of Pixar’s elite entries—the Toy Story series, The Incredibles, Up, WALL-E, Ratatouille, and even Finding Nemo. But it exudes a sure-handed, polished professionalism that is both entertaining for kids and reassuring for adults. The film also reclaims some of the luster Pixar lost in the wake of Cars 2 and even the ambitious but uneven Brave. Still, the fact that Monsters University is the best animated film this year reveals more about the state of animated filmmaking than the merits of the movie.

Best and Worst Films of 2010

I never wanted to become that film critic. At the outset of this surprisingly laborious labor of love eight years ago, I reveled in the growth of my cinematic sensibilities, theretofore weaned on the comfort food of Spielberg and Star Wars. Masters like Godard and Fellini were joined by aspirants like Ang Lee and Mike Leigh, Alfonso Cuarón and Quentin Tarantino. The era of Francis Ford Coppola was transitioning into the age of Sofia Coppola.

In recent years, however, the well-chronicled cramming of Oscar hopefuls into the wintery heart of movie awards season has sprouted a new, insidious offshoot. Not only are movie studios chasing the calendar, but now filmmakers are chasing the critics.

The superfluity of theater screenings and DVD screeners I enjoyed the past two months was filled with yak-fests covering every stratum of personal and domestic tumult – failed marriages, coping with the death of a child, growing old, etc. Great movies have been made about these important subjects, and these films were no less earnest or well-made. But, there is a saturation point for dramatized despair, especially when it starts to feel like systemic pandering.

The films that affected me the most in 2010 were not the morose melodramas or standard-issue staples – heck, I got more enjoyment from watching Salt than The Fighter. The recurring theme in movies that mattered this year was the confluence of tradition and modernism, in its broadest sense. Whether it is an archetypal biopic situated against the backdrop of the new medium of social networking, a classic Western in which a teenage girl drives the narrative and bloodlust, or a story about defining the nuclear family in a time of same-sex parents and sperm donors, the films that moved us most were the films about moving on.

Best Film of 2010

The Social Network – It’s suddenly become passé to heap hosannas on this film about the origins of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, its tempestuous, brilliant creator. Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin crafted a smart, seriocomic story about the blending of genius and ambition, together with a snapshot of the youthful, technological exuberance that largely defined the aughts.

2. Black Swan – Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake becomes the springboard for a modern-day exploration of duality, femininity, and the price artists pay in pursuit of creative perfection. Natalie Portman deserves an Oscar, and director Darren Aronofsky further solidifies his place among today’s filmmaking elite.

3. True Grit – Joel and Ethan Coen craft an oxymoronic update of the John Wayne classic: a traditional Western set during the twilight of the Old West and centered around revenge exacted by a 14-year-old. With Roger Deakins’ sumptuous cinematography as a backdrop and award-worthy performance from Jeff Bridges and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, the Coen Bros. provide one of their most entertaining and accessible offerings.

4. 127 Hours – The harrowing, heroic saga of real-life mountain climber and thrill-seeker Aron Ralston (James Franco, Oscar-worthy) gives director Danny Boyle another opportunity to chronicle the perseverance of the human spirit. Ralston may lose his arm, but he gains a newfound appreciation for life and respect for the balance of nature.

5. The King’s Speech – Before King George VI of England could lead, he had to learn to speak. Such is the predicament facing not only Prince Albert (Colin Firth), but all social and political leaders since the dawn of the communication age. Firth is extraordinary, conveying inner emotions in spite of having to replicate his character’s chronic stuttering condition. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter give solid supporting turns, and director Tom Hooper notches another triumph in his up-and-coming career.

6. Winter’s Bone – The indie surprise of the year, this plaintive parable about a once-bucolic Ozark village ravaged by an underworld of meth labs and the drug economy. As in True Grit, a teenage girl drives the storyline: here, she must navigate treacherous terrain to track down her fugitive father and save the family home. Expressive performances from Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes highlight writer-director Debra Granik’s haunting film.

7. The Ghost Writer – Released last February and seemingly forgotten by December, Roman Polanski’s latest – this is his first thriller since 1988’s Frantic – marks a return to his taut, neo-noir roots. Of course, there are the proverbial allusions to Polanski’s perceived persecution, along with clever use of the controversies surrounding the Iraq War. But, it’s the atmospherics that carry the day here: if this was directed by anyone else, the label “Hitchcockian” would be breathlessly bandied about.

8. The Kids Are All Right – The teenage kids of same-sex parents (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) decide to locate their biological, sperm donor father (Mark Ruffalo). The disruption and challenges that follow could easily apply to any family, non-traditional or not. Such is the brilliance of the script by Stuart Blumberg and director Lisa Cholodenko, aided by one of the best ensemble cast performances of the year.

9. Toy Story 3 – This tertiary return of Pixar’s beloved playthings fits nicely into the studio’s blueprint of growing with its original core audience. Witty, workmanlike fun is the order of the day until the final five minutes, which packs an emotional punch about both treasuring and letting go of the past.

10. I’m Still Here – Yes, the film itself is choppy and schlocky,

But, no meta-project this year, or maybe ever, so starkly or cleverly shows the trappings of stardom and the malleable line separating fiction from reality in our multimedia age. Joaquin Phoenix deserves serious awards consideration for not only fearlessly deconstructing his public persona but also the months spent he spent exposing our voracious, unforgiving attitude towards those we call celebrities.

Worst Film of 2010

For Colored Girls – It’s bad enough that director Tyler Perry’s aim of grappling with the everyday travails of African-American women is undercut by a hyper-reality in which every man is a philanderer, rapist, murderer, pedophile, and/or HIV-positive closeted homosexual. The rest of this woefu

l adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s 1975 play is two hours of non-stop bloviating that fluctuates between rudderless and overblown. The acting doesn’t help, including some truly embarrassing turns from Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, and every emasculated male performer.

The worst of the rest – The Back-Up Plan; Dinner for Schmucks; Easy A; Eat Pray Love; Grown Ups; The Last Airbender; The Last Song; You Again; The Wolfman; When in Rome; You Again

Toy Story 3

They want a 4th film now? Get my agent on the phone!

Grade: A –

Director: Lee Unkrich

Starring the voices of: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, and Timothy Dalton

MPAA Rating: G

Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

After years of producing films of evolving maturity and sophistication, it is legitimate to consider whether Pixar and its parent Disney– not immune to the sagging economy – are milking its first and most lucrative cash cow for an easy money grab by unveiling Toy Story 3 15 years after the original entry and 11 years after its sequel.

Notwithstanding the studios’ motives, this tertiary return of Pixar’s beloved playthings fits firmly into the studio’s blueprint of growing with its original core audience. Andy (voiced by John Morris in all three films, to my point) is now 17-years-old and leaving for college, and Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of the playroom worry they’ll be consigned to the attic or, worse still, the trash heap – the soldiers are the first to parachute away: “When the trash bags come out, we army guys are the first to go.”

Fearing the unknown but still yearning relevance, the gang escapes to an alluring daycare with a sinister underbelly. They are greeted by a virtual island of misfit toys, run by Lots-o’-Huggin’ (Ned Beatty), a huggable pink bear with a genteel Southern façade that masks a despotic plantation owner’s cruelty. Backed by Lotso’s hench-dolls – the spookiest baby this side of Chucky and a metrosexual Ken (Michael Keaton, having a blast) – our newcomers are banished to the Caterpillar Room, a hellhole director Lee Unkrich depicts with the frenzied madness of an early Sam Raimi horror flick or the riot scene in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

From there, Toy Story 3 becomes, of all things, a taut prison-break flick, with Lotso playing the part of the warden from Cool Hand Luke. He brainwashes Buzz by flipping the Demo switch beneath his battery cover, which leaves it to Woody to help his mates escape using some Mission: Impossible style strategizing.

The visuals (3-D version not necessary) are still gorgeous but now hued with a comforting retro quality. And, the series’ trademark humor is as snappy as ever, although the obvious, uneasy chuckles at the expense of Ken’s foppishness and Buzz’s amorous Spanish language mode are the sort of things Shrek sequels do – “Like your as-cot,” Barbie coos to Ken.

But, only Pixar could craft a charming fable about facing one’s mortality, including a relatively macabre turn that sees our plastic protagonists linking hands in quiet acceptance of a seemingly inevitable fiery demise. While trying to find his way back to Andy, Woody is innocently nabbed by a toddler named Bonnie, whose bedroom is filled with a troupe of stuffed animals led by a British hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), who treats every imaginary tea party or outer space adventure like a West End production. As Woody joins in their playtime, a look of sheer, long-lost ecstasy creeps across his face, overjoyed to be working again…needed again…wanted again. The scene speaks to the plight of the jobless in our current economic climate. More broadly, however, it illustrates the universal urge to find happiness and meaning in our existence.

The script by Little Miss Sunshine scribe Michael Arndt always couches these thematic complexities in terms of workmanlike fun until the poignant final five minutes, which packs an emotional punch rivaled only by Up’s opening act montage. Oozing with bittersweetness, the denouement’s lesson about both treasuring and letting go of the past elegantly concludes this seminal trilogy. Behind your smile will be a lump in your throat, as Toy Story 3 just might send you rummaging through the bygone boxes in your attic.

Neil Morris