Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden
Director: Kevin Lima
Country: USA
Genre: Family
Enchanted is targeted toward twelve-year-old girls and this guy over here.
Why does this film work? For all intents and purposes, it should be obnoxious as hell, but there’s something about its complete and utter lack of shame at being so innocent and sentimental that allow it to succeed. Amy Adams, no doubt, is the reason this film flourishes. It’s one of the best bits of casting in the entire decade, as she looks like a cartoon character and plays her naivety at a perfect volume. James Marsden provides quite a few laughs, that should be cheesy, but if you’re buying into the film by the time he arrives it’s not hard to find yourself chuckling. Enchanted straddles a line between Disney parodying itself and paying homage to the films that made it famous. If you’re open to the possibility that a family film could be entertaining, you might actually find a lot of pleasure in this film. If you’re a bitter cynic, stay away, stay far far away.
Starring: (voices) Patton Oswalt, Brian Dennehy, Janeane Garofalo
Director: Brad Bird
Country: USA
Genre: Animation
Leave it to Pixar to make French cuisine appealing to children.
Ratatouille is probably Pixar’s most adult film, both in execution and content. The film follows a rat who has an impeccable palate for culinary delicacies who befriends a bumbling chef that wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s not exactly The Brave Little Toaster. But if we’re being honest, Ratatouille wasn’t made for children so much as it was to be ‘family acceptable,’ meaning, opposite of most animated films, it’s fun for adults and kids might get something out of it too. Perhaps it’s Brad Bird’s excuse to fully explore a fascination for French dishes such as the film’s title, but that’s not to discredit Ratatouille by any means. In fact, it further demonstrate’s Pixar’s unrivaled ability to turn any subject into a successful and touching story.
Starring: (voices) George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Wes Anderson
Country: USA
Genre: Animation, Adventure
The wonderfully amazing Fantastic Mr. Fox is an awesomely brilliant dose of excitement.
2009 seems to be the year that a lot of directors are answering to their inner child as they delve into more childlike films, and thank goodness, (though let’s be honest and admit that neither this nor Where The Wild Things Are are children films.) Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animation flick is anything but conventional. It’s so inventive in fact, that I often felt awestruck watching it, in a way that I really hadn’t since I was a young’n and saw the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, (does that date me?) Anderson uses his specific theatrical directorial style to its full extent, squeezing out every minutia of humor, adventure, and even drama. I’m beginning to realize that calling a film like this “brave” for not hiding elements of real life from kids, (like cussing, pregnancy, death, and even *gasp* smoking!) is silly. It’s just common sense. Fantastic Mr. Fox is just so much fun, and fulfills that gap in adventure films that will unlock creativity in children as they plot out their own schematics in their playtime.
Starring: Albert Brooks (voice), Ellen DeGeneres (voice)
Director: Andrew Stanton
Country: USA
Genre: Animation, Family
It’s not far off from Man On Fire, minus all of that violent revenge stuff.
This isn’t the first time I’m going to gush over Pixar, and it certainly isn’t the last. They once again craft a brilliantly touching and hilarious story of overcoming the odds. If you somehow managed to miss this film because having a child around that you have to occupy by putting something in the DVD player, or if you didn’t feel compelled to be that child within the theater, do it. This tale is basically a man searching for his child, only… not men, fish. Most Pixar films have their main characters going on a quest of some sort, which is the perfect vessel for natural character development. But it’s not all about an internal struggle, because how would that be fun for the whole family? It’s exciting as heck, (particularly the Sharks Anonymous scene,) and funny enough to have children quoting it until the point of annoyance (and younger adults too… Chelsea, I’m looking at you.)
Starring:
Director: Sylvain Chomet
Country: France
Genre: Foreign, Animation
Triplets isn’t for everyone, but anyone seeking an animation that doesn’t involve talking animals or crotch shots should look this one up.
I don’t know what I was expecting going into this one, but whatever it was I didn’t get. Or maybe I got it with so much more. I’ll tell you this, I never expected to see old ladies in a chase scene with the mob. I didn’t expect to see anyone killed. The Triplets of Belleville is a bizarre and wonderful delight of adult animation. The reputation of the film’s music preceded the film for me, and for great reason. It’s some of the more innovative and eclectic tunes I’ve ever heard. This film is a perfect argument that traditional hand drawn animation can provide just as much eye candy as anything computer generated.
Starring: Jack Black (voice), Dustin Hoffman (voice)
Director: Mark Osbourne, John Stevenson
Country: USA
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Action
In recent years my affinity for family films has grown. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve finally shed the last traces of my adolescent rebellion or if the films have consistently progressed in quality. Whatever the case, each year we’ve been given more animated films that really excel beyond their realm of children’s entertainment and into the world of great cinematic storytelling. If you’re as skeptical as I was about the quality of this film, I assure you: it’s as funny as it is touching, and it’s as heartwarming as it is hilarious. It’s a new twist on an old tale, a fish out of water, an underdog over coming the odds, a rags to riches story… but it’s voiced perfectly by Jack Black and has a very well written script that at its best moments creates a sense of inspiration. Don’t think what I thought originally… that it was just Madagascar in a dojo.
Starring: The cutest robot ever.
Director: Andrew Stanton
Country: USA
Genre: Animation, Sci-Fi, Romance
I’m not even going to preface this film. I don’t like ranking films, but without a doubt, this is the best of the decade. You want a perfect animated film? Done. Here it is. You want a heart-melting romance? Perfect. Wall-E is it. Do you love science fiction? Easy. This film is the best the decade has to offer. Comedy? As good as any Chaplin film. Family friendly? Bingo. Action? It’s here. Drama? Yes. Tear-jerking moments? Many. A moral message? It’s got that too. And at no point does having all of these things interfere with one another. It’s perfectly balanced. On top of everything else, it is the ballsiest film I have ever had the pleasure to watch. Wall-E is the reason that cinema exists.
2007 Films | this guy over here March 11, 2010 | 
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