Unpop Culture

On the surface, there’s no discernible relationship between Pixar Animation Studios and Christopher Nolan. After all, the former produces exclusively animated fare, whereas the latter produces dark and gritty live-action films. And while Pixar movies often tug at the heartstrings, Nolan’s films often act as cinematic brainteasers. Upon further reflection, however, there are more similarities between Pixar and Christopher Nolan than one might expect. Consider film critic Scott Renshaw’s somewhat humorous summation of Pixar’s output : As wonderfully crafted and emotionally affecting as those films have been, they all seemed to start from a very similar place: What if toys had feelings? What if insects had feelings? What if monsters had feelings? What if cars had feelings? What if  feelings  had feelings? Similarly, Christopher Nolan’s intricately crafted and cerebrally affecting films tend to start from a similar place : How does memory loss affect perception of reality? ...

For those lamenting Pixar’s artistic decline, take heart: there is reason to celebrate. I’m even prepared to say Inside Out is Pixar’s best film yet. Granted, that’s just my opinion—but it’s true. I’m thrilled about the movie’s opening weekend gross of $91 million—the best opening, actually, for an original story in cinema history, beating out James Cameron’s Avatar . To quote  Entertainment Weekly , “Even though Inside Out ended the weekend in second place [behind Jurassic World ], it’s the biggest No. 2 debut of all time, demolishing the $68.7 million record previously held by The Day After Tomorrow .” Yes, this movie is receiving the financial and critical accolades it so rightly deserves. Oh, Pixar, how do I love thee? Let me recount the ways. As a reminder, I rate movies based on three criteria: potentially objectionable content (C), artistic merit (A), and my personal opinions (P). (CAP. Get it?) CONTENT (C): 10 out of 10 A typical Pixar film avo...

“ Every year, thousands of children swarm Hollywood in search of fame, but what they often find under the surface is a deep and disturbing underbelly of manipulation and abuse.” So reads part of the description of An Open Secret , a new documentary set to premiere at DOC NY this year. The film is helmed by Amy Berg, the Oscar-nominated director of another documentary that deals with the theme of sexual abuse. An Open Secret is “a sobering look at the lives of children who were exploited and assaulted by some of Hollywood’s most powerful players.” The film’s title suggests that these secret crimes weren’t so much secret as they were ignored or glossed over. If the content of the movie is true, it’s a scathing indictment of the culture in which much of moviemaking takes place. It reminds me of my blog post Hollywood’s Secret Rape Culture , in which I talk about the many ways actors—especially women—are abused and mistreated in the process of filming scenes that require nu...

In the kingdom of Arendelle, sisters Anna and Elsa grow up separated by a tragic case of magic. Elsa’s ability to turn her surroundings into ice—a power made more dangerous by its connection to her emotional state—makes her a constant threat to her sister, and to the future of their kingdom. For years, Elsa’s powers are kept secret, even from Anna. The secret makes an unwelcome public appearance when Anna finally confronts Elsa over her lifetime of ostracism. Soon, the entire land is covered in ice. Elsa runs away, and it’s up to Anna to bring her back and rescue Arendelle from a perpetual state of “always winter, never Christmas” (to steal a quote from another fantasy story). CONTENT (C): 8 out of 10 The film has a few mild innuendos—two visual and one verbal. All or most of these pass by without notice. (Until I double-checked the content, I had forgotten about one instance and had missed another one entirely.) There are a couple offhand references to bodily functions, bu...

I almost gagged while watching Monsters University —not from laughing, but from horror. While finishing my sour Skittles, I inadvertently poured the powder at the bottom of the bag into my mouth. It briefly made me feel like life wasn’t worth living. The movie watching experience was much better. On the one hand, it’s hard to compare the Monsters movies. They are related in that they exist in the same universe and revolve around the same characters. They are also unrelated in that they tell two dramatically different stories. Is one better than the other? I am tempted to say yes. But we’ll get to that a little later. Plenty of people have bemoaned Pixar’s decline from greatness—something that has been a concern for me as well. Cars 2 and Brave have given us reason to fear. Additionally, the current emphasis on sequels is worrisome—a potential sign that the studio is drifting away from the originality that brought us the likes of Wall-E and Up . In my opinion, though, this p...