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Toy Story (Lasseter, 1995)
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The legend starts here, kids. Back in 1995, out of fucking nowhere, came “Toy Story” and we all collectively wet our pants. It was brilliant! Funny, didn’t contain any songs which was as groundbreaking as sitcoms without laugh tracks, and it looked amazing! So amazing that rewatching it now after almost one and half decades, it still looks amazing. Sure the humans don’t look as fantastic to the eye now, but the toys, since they ARE toys, look very real.
You probably know the story, but here it is. A young boy has lots of toys and his favorite is Woody, the cowboy toy. When Andy is not in the room, the toys come to life and Woody is sory of their leader. Andy’s birthday is a day of great anxiety for the toys because they might get replaced by a newer toy. Woody reassures them all, telling them they have no reason to panic. Except…*dum dum dum*…the new toy is Buzz Lightyear, a spaceman toy, and one that Andy seems to enjoy more than Woody.
Woody is devastated and instantly jealous of Buzz, who not only has more features as a toy, but also seems to be completely delusional, thinking of himself as THE Buzz Lightyear (hero of a cartoon franchise) rather than a toy. Rest of the story is about the conflict between the two, both getting lost in the city, Buzz’s realization that he is just a toy, and Woody being a clingy little bitch.
Pixar will go on to make lots of brilliant movies, but “Toy Story” should NOT be overlooked. Also, the little green aliens are fucking awesome.
4/5
Toy Story 2 (Lasseter, 1999)
IMDB Link
Many claim that “Toy Story 2” is better, but it is really hard to make a correct judgment call on that. I have to give some love to the first one for being new and fresh and introducing the characters to us. But on the other hand, the sequel benefits from NOT introducing the characters to us, giving us a more interesting story, and being just plain funnier.
The film really makes you feel sad for toys. I had so many toys as a kid that I loved that are now in some box somewhere. I wonder if they feel sad...
The focus is still on Woody being a clingy little bitch. Like the first one, he is worried about Andy not loving him enough. Good thing he is a toy because he would make the worst (gay) boyfriend ever. He’s always be, “Do you love me? Do you? You don’t love me, why didn’t you call, its because I’m old, right, I bet that’s why you called only 30 minutes ago instead of every 10 minutes, I hate you, no I don’t love me love me” while Buzz Lightyear would be cruising and get all the ass he needs, because he’d be all, “To Infinity and Beyond!” and wham, ass-sex.
I’d hang out with the little green aliens though. Ooooooooh.
4/5
Little Otik [Otesánek] (Svankmajer, 2000)
IMDB Link
I’m getting into Jan Svankmajer. He was responsible for making the weirdest, creepiest adaptation of “Alice in the Wonderland” simply called “Alice”. In “Little Otik”, he adapts another story. This time he chooses a Czech fairy tale about a couple that wanted a child, but were unsuccessful. One day the husband was digging stumps out of the ground and he finds one that vaguely looks like a baby. He presents it to the mother and she takes care of it. Soon the stump starts talking and asks for food. Her mother keeps feeding her but the stump wants more and more and starts eating its parents and soon the people from the village, until she is stopped by an old woman that stabs the stump baby and kills it. The fairytale seems to be cautionary tale about not asking about things that God has not given you or something.
Anyway, in Svankmajer’s version, it is very similar to that, but because of Svankmajer’s style, it is way weirder than you would expect. The tree stump baby looks more like a stump than a baby. It has slight human features. For a long time the stump is just idle and unmoving while the mother takes care of it by dressing it up and washing it. The husband tries to convince her that it is just a stump but she refuses to believe him, her desire to have a baby making her delusional. But all the love and attention somehow gives life to the stump and it starts moving and crying. Svankmajer is an animator, so the scenes with the tree stump are amazing. It should freak you out to suddenly see the stump slowly moving, imitating a baby, and having a human tongue.
The movie is a bit too long, and could have worked much better with thirty minutes shaved off. Svankmajer is a brilliant visionary, but he has trouble with pacing and structure. I had the same problem with his film, “Alice”, great to look at and look back on, but there were times that it would become a drag to watch.
3/5
Dead Man's Shoes (Meadows, 2004)
IMDB Link
"God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that. "
I give “Dead Man’s Shoes” props for being a revenge film that feels a bit different than other revenge films. It has more of a festival film feel to it.
A group of pot smokers and low life scum notice a bearded man watching them. They panic when they realize it is the soldier brother of Anthony, a teenager that used to hang around with them. They used to tease Anthony a lot because he was younger and a bit simpleminded. They would give him drugs and sometimes the teasing would get violent. The soldier brother, Richard, could not protect Anthony from being abuses because he was away in the army.
Now he is back and angry. He makes himself known, sometimes sneaks into their houses, and makes it very clear that he wants to hurt them. It goes without saying, they freak out. The movie then plays like a mixture of a revenge movie, a slasher, and a quiet film you will see in festival runs about two brothers lying in an open field talking about their childhood and then a few minutes of nothing happening.
Interesting attempt but fails mostly. The movie is still primary a revenge movie, and after that aspect has been established in the first 30 minutes, the movie does not know where to take it. The director made “This is England” two years later, another movie that I also did not enjoy. Both have similar sort of characters and tone.
2/5