Up (2009)

Pixar Animation Studios is a dazzling anomaly–a brilliant aberration on the drab and dour landscape of mainstream, commercial cinema.  Creatively bankrupt Hollywood has sent originality into death throes.  The auteur has given way to an army of mercenary filmmakers with little time for characterization, motivation, or plot.  But John Lasseter’s Pixar, located about 350 miles [...]

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) ★★★

If Jeffrey Katzenburg is still wondering why Pixar Animation consistently outperforms his DreamWorks Animation critically and at the box-office, “Monsters vs. Aliens,” should give him a clue. While expertly animated, and laced with positive themes of self-image and female empowerment, a lack of literary fortitude ultimately vitiates what might have marked a major evolutionary step in [...]

Coraline (2009)