The Five-Movies Test or: Which Director Has Had the Best Stretch of Consecutive Feature-Length Films in English?

Steven Hyden introduced his five-albums test more than a decade ago as a third way to judge a band, short of its popularity or its critical acclaim. While this one is not meant to stand on its own—for example, he’s not sure that either Bob Dylan nor the Rolling Stones had made five great albums… Read More The Five-Movies Test or: Which Director Has Had the Best Stretch of Consecutive Feature-Length Films in English?

May 5, 2022May 6, 2022 Tim1 Comment

Disney/Pixar Rankings: 15-11

The landing page, with rationale and links to other posts in this series, can be found here. When people get worked up about Pixar not being what it used to be, here’s what they mean. The premise of Monsters, Inc. could, in the wrong hands, be absolutely opaque. Some wonderful person has the clip on YouTube which, frankly,… Read More Disney/Pixar Rankings: 15-11

June 24, 2019May 12, 2021 Tim1 Comment

Disney/Pixar Rankings: 20-16

The landing page, with rationale and links to other posts in this series, can be found here. If Alice is here for a reason, it’s sheer trippiness. Sure, it’s not Jodorowsky, but it’s pretty good for a Disney movie produced in the same year as A Place in the Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire. The film knows… Read More Disney/Pixar Rankings: 20-16

June 23, 2019May 12, 2021 Tim1 Comment

Disney/Pixar Rankings: 30-26

The landing page, with rationale and links to other posts in this series, can be found here. Like Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo is a short movie that probably would have been a little better if it’d had a little more going on. Unlike Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo has little things like “labor disputes” and “the onset of World War II” which get… Read More Disney/Pixar Rankings: 30-26

June 18, 2019May 12, 2021 Tim1 Comment

Disney/Pixar Rankings: 40-36

The landing page, with rationale and links to other posts in this series, can be found here. The first Trousdale and Wise movie to hit the list—their other efforts are The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Beauty and the Beast, so you may need to wait a sec to see them here again—is most of the way to… Read More Disney/Pixar Rankings: 40-36

June 18, 2019May 12, 2021 Tim1 Comment

Disney/Pixar Rankings: 60-56

The landing page, with rationale and links to other posts in this series, can be found here. A fear of what it means to grow old is at the heart of a number of Pixar’s better movies: Toy Story 2 stands alone on this thematic promontory, but there’s applause to be shared for movies like Up or Toy Story 3 or The Incredibles,… Read More Disney/Pixar Rankings: 60-56

June 3, 2019May 12, 2021 Tim1 Comment

Moana (2016)

Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Starring Auli’i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House. After watching Zootopia eight or nine months ago, I thought that Disney movies were starting to stick to their claim outside musicals. After watching Moana, the latest entry to the Disney canon, I’m more sure than ever that the best elements of… Read More Moana (2016)

August 6, 2017September 25, 2017 Tim1 Comment

Better than AFI’s Top 100: Un Certain Regard

(For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here. And for a way to vote on what you think the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films are, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: Un Certain Regard

June 18, 2017March 12, 2021 Tim2 Comments

Seeing Things Secondhand

Tag: John Musker