My Top Films of the Decade

I am proud to say that I've seen 13 of those movies, which is certainly more than I expected. (There are another dozen or so that have been on my list for a while; so much I've got to catch up on.) I think I've seen all the animated films you mention, which affirms how much investment I give cartoons relative to live-action.

Also quite happy to see The Muppets get a nod; love that movie. Terrific example of how to do a soft reboot, with great songs and a fresh, upbeat sense of humor. Second-best film in the series, after Great Muppet Caper.

I believe I've seen 36 of those. There are a number of others that I'd meant to see, but didn't have easy access to. Or, in the case of If Beale Street Could Talk, had on my shelf for two weeks, but never got around to (but I will watch it down the line).

Sounds like you guys have a bit of catching up to do. And don't be afraid to call out a stinker if you (mistakenly) spot one.

Okay, I've seen 19 in this round. Getting better! (There are also a few others I started watching and never finished. Someday, someday...)

You've got a solid list all around, though I do have a few quibbles. We've discussed BlacKkKlansman in the past, so I won't dwell on that, but I must say I'm quite surprised to see Monsters U get a mention (and above Inside Out, no less!). That film has some nice character designs and picks up qualitatively in its final 20 minutes, but most of it just struck me as forgettable fluff, and one of Pixar's weakest films all around.

I didn't love Wonder - the B&W scenes were much more compelling than the color ones - but I'm happy to see it mentioned. It's an above-average family film, even if it's a bit less inspired than the book it's based on.

Once again, I think I've seen every animated film you mention. I believe I've actually seen more of this decade's animated output than you have, although given the quality of some recent cartoon movies, that's probably not something to brag about.

I should qualify my above comment by saying that I've only seen the animated films whose titles I recognize. A little Googling tells me that My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
is animated, but i haven't seen it. (Which is my loss, apparently; on the list it goes.)

There's really three reasons why I took to Monsters University. The first is the pop-culture maestros' effortlessly riffing on a branch of filmmaking I have very little time for, the frat-house comedy. There's something about the versatility of media that permits pastiche on an unwelcome theme to create something that's inviting in its familiarity - Black Dynamite does the same with the mostly-crummy blaxploitation genre. I've often heard (and agreed) that Pixar's magic formula is in appealing to all ages (this isn't really evident in, say, The Good Dinosaur), and there's admirable cheek in parodying gross-out stoopid humour in a family film. In the same vein is the summer camp scare scene at the end, where I felt the team milked horror tropes (the sound of scuttling, brief shafts of light from windows and doors etc) to better effect than most actual horror directors - I genuinely think that's one of the best scenes in the studio's history, and again, they shouldn't be able to get away with it in a "kids' film".

The second factor is the believable and endearing spar-cum-rapport between Mike and Sully. When your average family picture settles for slight variations on 'plucky individuals head to the wilderness and recruit a sidekick or two before a showdown at the wizard's tower*', Pixar had enough confidence in their characters and world to reverse-engineer a buddy picture, and frankly it was a breath of fresh air.

And finally, and perhaps most crucially, the colour palette is breathtaking. Whenever I think of the film (or see posters, or clips) I'm bowled over by the wealth of gorgeous blues, greens and purples, just as I was with Avatar. Every scene is so bedecked with colour it becomes an absolute candy-box of visuals that I just can't look away. You're going to cry sacrilege here, but I contrast this with how my interest flags in Frozen because of the overuse of white - white literally comes with the territory in that film, but to me it's subtly boring and robs me of immersion in locations when the backdrops are largely the same. (Most people have issues with the indiscriminate killing in The Dirty Dozen; I don't like it because there's too much green.)


*I remember a very disparaging review of Treasure Planet that heavily criticised this kind of generic plotting, but this is hardly uncommon for Disney or most of their peers.