Something that no one seems to be mentioning in regards to the shower of love Wall-E has received, which in many ways was warranted and in many other ways seems slightly overblown, is that the Pixar short that played in front of the animated classic was also top notch. Presto was also the best short film that Pixar has produced.
There is no debating this.
The short’s obvious comparison point is the wacky Looney Tunes of yesteryear, where the clever animal manages to upstage the vial human after much back and forth. In Presto we have an elegant magician and his wascally wabbit attempting to outbid one another. The rabbit wants a carrot because he is hungry and the magician justs wants to finish his performance in one piece.
That’s it. That’s the entire premise and it works because the story telling has a clearly defined protagonist, antagonist and dramatic heave that drives the entire plot, with each act to secure the carrot upping the ante. A finger stuck in a mouse trap, an egg splattered face, then an electrocution, and finally a dangerous high wire showdown. There are other bits in between.
Suffice it to say, I enjoyed Presto a lot more than I did Wall-E, simply because this is one of the better screwball comedy bits that has come down the pipe in quite sometime. Pixar has truly outdone themselves on both accounts, just another example of them raising the bar and then clearing it with ease.
At some point they have to crash back to reality, right? Would you want to be the director or animator who delivers the turd? Talk about pressure.
In that spirit, Vulture ranked the best Pixar movies and they are just plain wrong. It’s not an easy thing to do, since every Pixar movie is considered an animated classic and wins the Oscar for Animated Feature, etc.
Finding Nemo is without a doubt #1 in any discussion followed incredibly close by The Incredibles and Ratatouille. That’s the top tier, including, perhaps, Toy Story 2. The second tier includes Monsters, Inc., Toy Story and A Bug’s Life.
Unfortunately, Cars will always bring up the rear in any discussion ranking Pixar’s film catalogue. This also doesn’t take into account their short film work, just feature lengths. And if the reviews for Wall-E are any indication we might have to overhaul this list after the weekend.
I don’t know what it is about Pixar’s upcoming Wall-E, but he’s such an endearing robot and the movie isn’t even out yet. I think people respond to him in a way that they haven’t responded to an animated character before. It’s like there is this strange connection for the little guy. We’ll see if that carries over when the movie comes out.
Disney and Pixar have created a live action Wall-E and the little guy is just as cute.
By James Furbush | February 13th, 2008 | 5:24 am PST
Interesting bit over at Peter Gabriel’s website. He’s posted a new video to his sight where he talks about working with the upcoming Pixar movie Wall-E. When the international trailer debuted last week, showing us just a bit more about the film, well it sent us even further to gagaville over the movie.
This however, makes us even more excited. If you can believe that. In all the trailers all we really get to hear is the whimsy of the 1939 song “Brazil.” You have to suffer through Peter talking about car batteries, his broken leg, Stumbleupon and some other things before getting to the good stuff.
“We’re working on a song for a new Pixar film. Andrew Stanton asked us to write one. It’s about a robot left to clean up all the garbage on Earth after the humans have left,” he says. “Lot of cool ideas and some of it is a response to Kubrick’s 2001, which made a huge impression on me when I was 17. I’ve written some new bits, but also trying some glue on some stuff already written.”
He goes on to say that film people are frequently coming to his studio. Gabriel has had experience in the past scoring the movies Birdy and Last Temptation of Christ, both excellent scores in their own right. Here’s hoping he can work some magic for Pixar.
Pixar is the gold standard for Hollywood studios. There we said it. Each and every time they turn out some unexpected nugget of joy. You know the real true sign of an artistic gale force wind? When you watch a movie or listen to an album and your first thought is: how the hell are they gonna top that? It’s a little bit of awe mixed with a little bit of trepidation sprinkled with a few bits of admiration.
Pixar is like this, so is Radiohead. And yet, both continue to top themselves everytime out.
There’s a new clip for the 2008 release from Pixar, Wall-E over at a French video service. And to be honest, it’s not much different from the You Tubage you’ll find after the jump. But to be fair, the redone Pixar intro with the titular character is pretty sweat and if the classic track “Brazil” doesn’t make you excited and happy and feel like a five year old on Pop Rocks, then you have no heart my friend, no heart indeed. No need to speak French so just sit back and get giddy. MORE »
We love the art of the movie one-sheet. There is almost nothing better (with the exception of maybe a well done concert poster) in terms of pop art. When you see one, it evokes a certain emotional feeling for a movie, or entices you to dig just a bit deeper for more information about a flick.
Recently, the Cloverfield one sheets have been fantastic - the picture of the headless Statue of Liberty looking onto a smoke filled Manhattan evokes a horrible doomsday event.
Thanks to Joblo, we’ve got two more for you. One is for the upcoming Hellboy sequel and the other is for Pixar’s 2008 release Wall-E. Both are representing, but we like the Pixar one-sheet just a tad more.
Lots of trailers have surfaced recently for a bunch of must-see flicks. Rather than do an individual post for each one, since there are a few, we’ll lump them into one gigantic super-deluxe packaging post. Afterall, it’s the first awesome day in Boston, weather wise, so not that we want to stay in doors.
We’ve got I’m From Barcelona’sLet Me Introduce My Friends, blasting out the speakers and you can imagine the mood around here is sky high. The 29-member Swedish twee pop band is like instant Kool-Aid, perhaps the Purplesaurus Rex variety. Instant seratonin once it hits your eardrums. But we’re not here for music. We’re here for trailers.
First up is James Mangold’s 3:10 To Yuma. Yes, it is a remake. But this one stars Russell Crowe as the baddest outlaw around. He’s so bad that once captured no one wants to transport him to the train station. One very good man does, portrayed by Oyster favorite Christian Bale. Of course, Crowe’s gang doesn’t want him to go to jail so they make an attempt to intercept the caravan. Riveting stuff. The trailer is perfect in that it makes you wish the movie was coming out next week, but doesn’t give much away as well.
Next, is the latest Coen Brothers flick No Country For Old Men. Paramount Vantage is releasing the movie, which generated a ton of buzz from Cannes this year. Of course, it’s the Coen Bros. and even their missteps are worth noting. And this one is based on the acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. The story is about an illegal drug deal gone awry at the Mexican-US border. Love that the Coen’s are going back to the feel of Blood Simple.
Audiences get an early sneak peak at Pixar’s Wall E. It’s a nice trailer, in that, by taking a look back at all the old Pixar films they tie in the excitement to the new movie based on the nostalgia for those first few Pixar films. It’s brilliantly done in that respect.
And finally, the reclusive writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, who hasn’t been heard of since 1999’s Magnolia has a new film in the works. It’s called There Will Be Blood. It stars Daniel Day Lewis and focusses on the early American oil tycoons. The trailer comes courtesy of Cigarettes and Red Vines - a P.T. Anderson resource. Anything with Daniel Day Lewis is a-okay in these parts.
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