TV/Movies Megathread

[Barrister]

 

[Ideologue]

Finding Nemo, Up, Tangled, and Frozen were pretty great

Much to my shame, I still haven't seen Up but it was one of the five or six I was counting, because I reckon you're right--hell, just having it described to me once made me tear up.

Finding Nemo's okay, I kind of barely remember it.  Frozen is good, but kind of marginal.

As for Yi's list, The Incredibles is one of the few great ones--though only an A, Syndrome is a bit too over-the-top and the entire bent of the story suggests a libertarian cumming all over himself while acting out a persecution fantasy.

Wall-E is, as I've said before, both 1)fascist and 2)plagiarized.  The authoritarian angle wouldn't be as bad as it is, except the captain is making an obviously terrible choice for everyone.  I'm convinced the credits sequence wasn't in the script but was added to assure people that those fat fucks didn't starve to death amidst the Cursed Earth.

Now, of course, every one of these movies is a triumph of animated technique (what I've seen of Up suggests this is the case for that too).  But that is a different kettle of fish; it's like how Only God Forgives looks (and sounds) amazing, but is still after all a rather bad movie.

If I were trying to make an exhaustive list of animated movies from the 21st century that were better than Dragon, which we've established is at a very-good-almost-great level of quality, it'd go a little something like this:

Tangled, A+ ( )
The Lego Movie, A (though I'm thinking of knocking it up... to an A+, I mean)
Toy Story 2, A (I guess, but only because I like The Lego Movie more)
Toy Story 3, A (same diff)
The Incredibles, A (see above)
The Emperor's New Groove, if a 2000 release date even counts, B+ (super-high B+)

...and, in the same vein, The Road to El Dorado, also 2000, but which I remember being just wonderful--like, better than TS 2 or 3--but it's been so long since I've seen it that I hesitate to say that for sure or even give it a grade.

So it's seven.  That said, Monsters University is pretty close to How to Train Your Dragon.  (Lilo and Stitch is not, even if it's a machine made for making you cry.)

I'll note I have avoided the Ice Ages, the Rios, and the Despicable Mes, since they look like they suck (DM 2's trailer made it appear to be aggressively unfunny garbage, in fact).  I seriously doubt they have any sort of shot at being "great," even if they might be less offensive than they appear.  I've had the same stance toward the Madagascars, but the one with the penguins that's coming out this year actually looked humorous, so I might reverse that policy.

[Ideologue]

Oh, and if we're going to pick a nearly-arbitrary set of years, 88-98 was the great flowering of animated near-classics, classics and super-classics.  Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Aladdin, TS 1, Hercules, Mulan, Antz, Anastasia, Land Before Time, Prince of Egypt... all better than Dragon.  Also there's The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, if you're into them (I'm not, especially B+B,* but most are).  I think All Dogs Go to Heaven was pretty good, but it's been a while...  That's more awesome movies than 2000-2014 seems to have produced (and I still think movies from 2000 kind of do not count for "21st century" movies) in four fewer years.

*It's arguably the most insidious, socially irresponsible movie ever made.

[Ed Anger]

Antz. You have got to be kidding me. At least you didn't mention that turd A Bug's Life.

[The Larch]

How the hell is Wall-E fascistic? 

[Eddie Teach]

The Lego Movie, A (though I'm thinking of knocking it up..

Hott?

[Ed Anger]

Batman better not bend over.

[FunkMonk]

No mention of An American Tail 

http://youtu.be/l_iRdgGZ6Xc

http://youtu.be/2bC07e7PReM

http://youtu.be/Ql1IFJwF0SQ

[frunk]

Toy Story 2 was released in 1999.

I'd add Ratatouille, Spirited Away and Triplets of Belleville for 21st Century, and Akira, and Princess Mononoke for 88-98.  Iron Giant and South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut are in the curious space in between.

I'd take off  Hercules, Mulan, Antz, Anastasia, Land Before Time, Prince of Egypt and Lion King.

[Ideologue]

Well, I was just picking a decade and couldn't just say "90s" because that would leave out Mermaid, the crown jewel of the Disney Renaissance/Disney history.

Totally assumed Toy Story 2 was post-2000.  Oops.

American Tail was '86.  Hey, I'd have loved to have included NIMH too, but that was even older.   (That said, I have not seen American Tail in at least twenty years.  I don't think I loved it, or its sequel, but do recall it being pretty good.)

Edit: Rataouille is also pretty damned good.  But I've never once seen an anime film that I really loved (however, Death Note is possibly the best thing ever made out of moving pictures).

[Ideologue]

How the hell is Wall-E fascistic? 

Maybe read the two sentences right next to where I call it fascistic.  One guy decides to radically reshape society based upon a romantic vision of an agrarian past and uses the literal machinery of the state to force them into it, without a vote, and destroying the ineffectual technocrat that tries to stop him?

How isn't Wall-E fascist?

[frunk]

Well, I was just picking a decade and couldn't just say "90s" because that would leave out Mermaid, the crown jewel of the Disney Renaissance/Disney history.

Totally assumed Toy Story 2 was post-2000.  Oops.

American Tail was '86.  Hey, I'd have loved to have included NIMH too, but that was even older.   (That said, I have not seen American Tail in at least twenty years.  I don't think I loved it, or its sequel, but do recall it being pretty good.)

If you take 86-99 and compare it to 2000-2013 that'll get you your crown jewel and be equivalent date ranges.

[Ideologue]

And The Great Mouse Detective!  Which may or may not be any good.  It's the only Clement/Musker joint that I haven't seen in recent memory.  Man, were those guys on fire between '89 and '97.  HERCULES WAS AWESOME.

Treasure Planet, er, less so.

[mongers]

'World's End' - mildly amusing. 

[Sophie Scholl]

No love for Shrek?  Seriously?  Fuck all ya'll.