Pixar On Top
This is the second year in a row that a Pixar animated feature has received the number one spot for best reviewed films of the year on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. This year is WALL-E with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 93 on Metacritic. Last year was Ratatouille with 96% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 96 on Metacritic.
Now, I find these sites to be trustworthy and a good indicator of critical consensus on movies. This means that, on average, critics have agreed this year and last that a Pixar movie has been the best film of the year. It would seem that now would be a better time than ever to finally let some animated films escape the restrictive Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards. It, however, doesn't appear as if this is going to happen anytime soon. WALL-E will have its win, and that'll be that.
It should be noted, though, that last year was the the first time ever that an animated feature got nominated for its screenplay with Brad Bird's Ratatouille. I could only hope that there's perhaps another first this year. Perhaps in the category of Best Director for Andrew Stanton? I think that's wishful thinking on my part.
The final question that remains is this: Where does Pixar go from here? It's next movie in the line-up is something called Up, which has yet to been unveiled too much. It's going to be a Digital 3-D feature, which suggests that maybe Pixar is taking it easier this next time out. I guess after WALL-E, the only plausible option is to take it back down a level.
Now, I find these sites to be trustworthy and a good indicator of critical consensus on movies. This means that, on average, critics have agreed this year and last that a Pixar movie has been the best film of the year. It would seem that now would be a better time than ever to finally let some animated films escape the restrictive Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards. It, however, doesn't appear as if this is going to happen anytime soon. WALL-E will have its win, and that'll be that.
It should be noted, though, that last year was the the first time ever that an animated feature got nominated for its screenplay with Brad Bird's Ratatouille. I could only hope that there's perhaps another first this year. Perhaps in the category of Best Director for Andrew Stanton? I think that's wishful thinking on my part.
The final question that remains is this: Where does Pixar go from here? It's next movie in the line-up is something called Up, which has yet to been unveiled too much. It's going to be a Digital 3-D feature, which suggests that maybe Pixar is taking it easier this next time out. I guess after WALL-E, the only plausible option is to take it back down a level.