Pixar - WKTV Journal

Before the summer blockbuster took over the box office in the 1970s with the likes of JAWS and Star Wars, Christmas was the big pull for movie-goers, and in many ways it still is. Most of the big awards contenders are sometimes pushed back to take advantage of the bustle of consumer behavior accompanying the holiday season. In recent years, at least since the successful debut of Toy Story in 1995, Thanksgiving has also become a hallmark holiday to milk for movie releases, often spawning plenty of family-friendly fare for the close-knit holiday. Looking ahead, this article is to spotlight big movies being released through Christmas.

CREED (Thanksgiving)

First up this Thanksgiving is a spin-off from the ever-popular Rocky Balboa franchise, this time focusing on the son of Rocky’s ally and rival from the first four films, Apollo Creed.

The movie follows Adonis, Creed’s son, who decides to step into the ring to prove something to his family, Rocky, and maybe himself. The films is being helmed by Ryan Coogler, who previously directed star Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station, a ripped-from-the-headlines tragedy about the last day of Oscar Grant, an Oakland native who became a victim of police brutality. The film is a different direction for the franchise giving Stallone’s Balboa a supporting turn in the vein of Burgess Meredith’s Mickey.

Reviews have been favorable so far, so hopes are this underdog can be the long shot to steal the weekend from the likes of Pixar and the monstrous Frankenstein reboot.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Thanksgiving)

Information is rare on this other Pixar movie being released on Thanksgiving. All we know for sure is that it revolves around a slightly altered pre-history where a meteorite didn’t wipe out the beasts that ruled the Earth pre-humanity and the interactions between a gentle dinosaur and his feral human companion. Trailers haven’t related much of a story, only images of beauty reminiscent of AVATAR and interactions reminiscent of The Land Before Time. Comic and social media artist Patton Oswalt seemed to enjoy it! The most likely winner of the Thanksgiving weekend, overall.

Saw THE GOOD DINOSAUR last night. Superb. Yummy cinematography, gut-punch laughs & heart, plus a trippy/hilarious "drug" sequence.

— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 18, 2015

Victor Frankenstein (Thanksgiving)

This is a movie I don’t think anyone saw coming. A Frankenstein movie starring rebooted Professor X as a whimsical, rebellious Doctor Frankenstein and Harry Potter as Igor, the overwhelmed assistant. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious after seeing the trailer. Mayhaps it has a chance, gobble gobble…

Macbeth (December TBA)

Being released sometime in December, Michael Fassbender takes on the Bard in the upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare’s most notorious tragedy, The Scottish Play. -sorry, my theatrical background is keeping the superstition alive- While Shakespeare has proven to be hit or miss when it comes to film adaptation, this one has a quality actor at the front as well as a unique artistic approach to authenticity that could bring in the crowds.

Krampus (December 4th)

This will be the second horror film released this year featuring a cast of people known primarily for their comedic work: Adam Scott (Parks and Rec), David Koechner (Anchorman+2), Allison Tolman (FARGO), Toni Collette (United States of Tara)… all signed on for a film not about Santa, but the other supernatural creature associated with the Christmas season, that fewer people are aware of. That being is Krampus, a Christmas demon of sorts who does not come bearing gifts, but horror and terror. Hopefully, it’ll be in better taste than Silent Night, Deadly Night…

In the Heart of the Sea (December 11th)

Ron Howard makes movies that I enjoy watching, personally. His latest, RUSH, was an exhilarating drama about a rivalry that made me care equally for both parties. Now, he’s decided he wants to adapt the true-life tale that inspired Moby Dick, that contender for the title of The Great American Novel. And it’s got Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins). Even though it’s been pushed back multiple times this year, I really can’t wait to see what the mastermind behind A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 has in store for his audience.

Episode VII (December 18th)

Yes, yes, the movie we’ve all been waiting for is less than a month away. And it’s going to make more money than organized religion in general has seen in the last decade. Do I really need to add anything…besides the fact I already have my IMAX tickets? -sigh- I am a disgrace to objective cinema journalism.

Don’t disappoint us, Jar Jar Abrams. Some of us still remember what happened the last time you went into space…

*A brief mention regarding Sisters, the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy vehicle that’s decided to challenge The Force Awakens for a spot on December the 18th: It Doesn’t Have A Snowball’s Chance…

**A word on The Road Chip: no.

Concussion (Christmas)

Will Smith’s controversial drama putting the NFL under the radar is aiming for the Christmas crowd. I guess it’s a better spot than Thanksgiving, considering…

My dad will wanna see this. A better pick than Draft Day, I suppose.

The Hateful Eight (Christmas)

Quentin Tarantino really has a thing for releasing his glorified exploitation films at Christmas. Since Jackie Brown in 1997, he has gleefully enjoyed subverting the typical Christmas fare with his bloody, ironic takes on cinematic language, genre, and uproarious content. His second western in a row, he has promised The Hateful Eight will be “the funniest snow western ever made.” Since his crowd-pleasing movies are ridiculous in content and often hilarious as well, don’t write off the holidays as completely in the hands of Jar Jar Abrams and his space opera playset.

Point Break (Christmas)

If it were up to the author, this summary would be limited to “No Keanu? No Swayze? No thank you!” Alas…

It looks like it’ll cater to the adrenaline junkies crowd with portrayals of extreme (!) action sports like quad racing against avalanches, wingsuits flying through mountain forests, and an epic bromance between Edgar Ramirez and Luke Bracey. Yeah, I never heard of him either. Don’t expect this one to sweep the audience from their Tarantino gunplay and the continuing adventures of Han Solo and Co.

It looks like it’s going to be a very Star Wars Christmas after all.

It’s been a lacking set of years for the most lauded animation company on the planet. Since the release of Toy Story 3, Pixar has been scrambling for new and interesting ideas.

To say the absolute least, their follow-up attempts were not at all up to par for their previous critical successes; Cars 2 was a cheap excuse to sell more Cars merchandise, Brave had promise but didn’t bring anything new except removing Aladdin from the Princess Jasmine story, and Monsters University had no bite and half the cleverness of the original, instead providing a gross-out college comedy compilation, but for kids.

It didn’t help that the previous Disney release was the unrewarding sit that is Big Hero 6. Plus, the added insult that it, of all things, won Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars. At this point, we all should realize by now that the award will always go to the Disney/Pixar nominee, because popularity is what matters rather than quality of the work.

Ugh! I haven’t been looking forward to seeing Disney movies is the point I’m getting at.

Thank heavens for Inside Out, a rollicking introspective adventure that brings back memories of great Pixar classics, like The Incredibles and Finding Nemo.

What is the big deal with this movie, you may ask? For starters, it reminded me what imagination the creators at the big P have. As noted above, the previous features were not allowed to sprawl and think like early Pixar was. Monsters U was just a reminder of movies your child has no right to have seen yet, Cars 2 was an awful espionage comedy, and Brave was stuck in classic Disney princess territory.

Director Pete Docter’s brainstorm of the inner workings of an adolescent girl is the most imaginative Pixar has been since their landmark UP, making the inner workings of Riley Anderson’s mind intimidatingly massive, but simultaneously fascinating to behold.

The movie’s chief focus is the working relationship between Riley’s key five emotions: Anger, Disgust, Fear, Joy, and Sadness.

Joy is the fearlessly cheerful leader of the bunch, voiced with manic charm by Amy Poehler. Her job is to make Riley optimistic and enjoy life as it comes to her. Anger, voiced by the great curmudgeon Lewis Black, is just what it says on the label, a short-tempered container of potential fury that is too instinctive for his own good at times. Disgust (Mindy Kaling) is the cool girl archetype and Fear is a paranoid hypochondriac worrywart.

Last, but certainly not least is Sadness, played to melancholic perfection by comedienne Phyllis Smith. Sadness is the outlier of the group, seemingly never in the right place at the right time. As Riley has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco, Riley has plenty of conflicting thoughts, chief of which is Sadness.

In Sadness, Joy has found seemingly a problem, one which should be minimized by relocation from Riley’s internal headquarters. However, in trying to remove Sadness from Riley’s life, Joy and Sadness are sucked out of Headquarters and expelled into memory storage. With no other options, Joy and Sadness join up to get back to their working home before the unbalanced emotional decisions of Riley cause irreparable damage to her family’s relationship.

Not only is this movie beautifully colorful in design, but the tone is perfectly mature for what most audiences consider a children’s genre. Too many moviegoers make the awful mistake of labeling animation strictly kids stuff. Animation is not a genre, but merely a form of entertainment. If you’ve ever viewed the works of animator Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat, Wizards), you’d know exactly what I am talking about.

With this film, Pixar reminds us that it is NOT a children’s film company, but a FAMILY film company; it makes films that resonate with adults, but are easily digestible by the little ones as well, thanks to colorful, imaginative designs and cleverly-placed humor.

The best part of the film is the message, which is the most heartfelt in years from any film. The key conflict is Joy wants Riley to be happy, which she feels is best achieved by removing all opportunities for Sadness in her life, by limiting Sadness’ role in their job. However, in trying to remove a key emotion, Riley’s mind is put into turmoil.

The point of Inside Out is to let audiences know that sadness, like all other emotions, is necessary for growing up in everyone. It is a ludicrous impossibility that one will have a pristine, happy life. With an even mix of frustration, care, happiness, and tragedy comes a complete and well-versed life experience. In limiting the variety of life, one loses all sense of living to begin with.

This movie has the courage to showcase a message that it likely wouldn’t have had the chance to 10 years ago. It is a great message to both children and adults that had me tearing up inside that theater, twice. I can live with the fact that it’s a shoo-in for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, if this is the caliber of story we’re dealing with.

I only had one problem with my viewing experience: the short film LAVA. It is easily the worst Pixar short since Tin Toy. Take a trip to either the bathroom or concession stand once you see the first set of Disney/Pixar logos and you’ll be safe.

FINAL VERDICT: If you see only one movie this year, see this one. If you can see more, also make time for FURY ROAD.