incredibles 2

All Three of Pixar’s Billion-Dollar Movies Are Sequels. Now What?

Pixar

From Animation World Network:

Incredibles 2 became just the seventh animated film to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office. It is Disney’s fifth animated and 18th-ever billion-dollar release and joins Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War as Disney’s third release to reach the $1 billion milestone this year.

Egregious success for Disney in 2018 aside, Pixar is now the first animated studio to release three films with $1 billion worldwide box office. And all three of these films are sequels: Toy Story 3, Finding Dory, and now Incredibles 2. And yet people wonder why Pixar continues to make sequels in the first place. Money speaks louder than critics, I suppose.

Go on…All Three of Pixar’s Billion-Dollar Movies Are Sequels. Now What?

Cinemaholics Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

fallen kingdom

This week on Cinemaholics, I’m joined by special guest Jake Holland and my co-host Will Ashton to review Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Is the “fallen kingdom” in question the state of the Jurassic Park franchise at this point? Well, according to the box office, definitely not. We had a great conversation about the series as a whole and leading up to this new film from J.A. Bayona, and we’ve even included a brief section for spoilers (with fair warning of course).

We opened this week’s show with some Off-Topics, including a rundown of Incredibles 2 breaking all kinds of box office records, plus how Solo: A Star Wars Story‘s utter failure at the box office has reportedly led to Disney and Lucasfilm putting future standalone Star Wars movies on hold. We also get into a fascinating segment about Gotti, which includes everything from a marketing campaign targeted at film critics to some seriously shady number crunching going on at Rotten Tomatoes. You’ll have to hear this one to believe it.

Last, we get into Mini Reviews as usual, but only a few this week. I give my thoughts on Luke Cage Season 2, which just dropped on Netflix, as well as the new romantic comedy Set It Up. And Will finally saw Thoroughbreds, one of my favorites of 2018.

Question for you: Aside from the original, which is your favorite Jurassic Park movie?

Go on…Cinemaholics Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The Brad Bird Episode (Anyway, That’s All I Got)

brad bird

With the release of Incredibles 2, we decided to look back on the filmography of director Brad Bird, which proved to be fascinating, enlightening and exciting (for the most part). From The Iron Giant in 1999 all the way to Tomorrowland in 2015, we break down every Brad Bird directorial effort, and afterward we respond to some of your feedback and discuss Incredibles 2 in both a spoiler-free and spoiler-filled section. Enjoy!

Hosted by Sam Noland, Jason Read, and Anthony Battaglia!

Question For You: What is your favorite Brad Bird movie? Also, who is the best Pixar director?

Go on…The Brad Bird Episode (Anyway, That’s All I Got)

The Real Reason Why Pixar Keeps Making Sequels

sequels

I’ve commented on this topic a lot, particularly this week with the release of Incredibles 2, but Victor Luckerson seriously nails the rise of Pixar sequels with this piece on The Ringer.

How Pixar Became a Sequel Factory:

This decade has been different. Pixar’s next 10 films included six sequels or prequels, among them the newly released Incredibles 2. Its next movie is Toy Story 4, an addendum to a conclusive trilogy that no one asked for. In addition to its two sequels, there has even been a Cars spinoff, Planes, which recalls the low-budget direct-to-video sequels Disney pumped out in the ’90s.

Go on…The Real Reason Why Pixar Keeps Making Sequels

Cinemaholics Review: Incredibles 2

incredibles 2

Special guest Skyler Shuler of The DCast joins the show this week to discuss Incredibles 2, the 20th Pixar film and sequel to Brad Bird’s original 2004 animated hit, The Incredibles. Well, Brad Bird is back again, and Incredibles 2 is already breaking box office records.

We began the episode with some quick Off-Topics, including news of John Lasseter’s official departure from Pixar and Disney at the end of 2018. If you’re interested in hearing about Bao, the new short film attached to Incredibles 2, you’ll hear our thoughts on that as well. We covered too many mini reviews to list out, but the main ones are probably Tag, Cloak & Dagger, Hearts Beat Loud, and Hotel Artemis.

Question for you: Is Incredibles 2 better than the original?

Go on…Cinemaholics Review: Incredibles 2

Pixar’s New Short Film ‘Bao’ Is Weird, But Also Kind Of Essential

Bao

I recently wrote up an explainer for Bao on The Young Folks:

Bao was directed by Domee Shi, the first woman to ever direct a Pixar short…Over the course of about eight minutes, we see a dumpling become a baby boy, growing up under his mother’s love until eventually becoming too old to stay home with her. Essentially, Bao is a Chinese retelling of “The Gingerbread Man.”

I saw Incredibles 2 for the second time last night with a large audience, and I was almost more curious about how Bao would come across in front of other people. In case you haven’t seen it, Bao has a very “Pixar” plot with an absolutely shockingly weird twist that almost lampoons Pixar. It’s probably genius?

Go on…Pixar’s New Short Film ‘Bao’ Is Weird, But Also Kind Of Essential

Incredibles 2 Review: Not Every Pixar Movie Can Be Super

incredibles 2

From my official review of Incredibles 2 on The Young Folks:

These are the clearest shortcomings of Incredibles 2, as it fails to be as strong an ensemble piece as The Incredibles, where every main character (even the villain) had a defined, cohesive arc. But in virtually every other respect, Incredibles 2 is just as wonderful, gorgeous, and thrilling as the first, to the point where most super fans of the original likely won’t care about these flaws.

Overall, I liked the movie. It even exceeded some of my expectations, particularly with some of the clever writing surrounding the infant Jack Jack and how he creatively factors into the super family’s heroic antics.

Go on…Incredibles 2 Review: Not Every Pixar Movie Can Be Super