Every Best Picture Nominee of the 2010's Ranked: #40-44

Scene from The King's Speech (2010)

As 2019 reached its end, another decade of cinema had passed. It's amazing to think about how things have evolved since 2010 when the biggest controversies were about recognizing genre movies. Things look different now, especially as genre films like The Shape of Water and Parasite are winning Best Picture and the voting body looks incredibly different with each passing year. With this period in the books, it feels like a good time to celebrate their accomplishments by ranking all 88 titles nominated for Best Picture from worst to best with the goal of seeing which films are more likely to stand the test of time. Join me every Saturday and Sunday as I count them down, five at a time. It's going to be a fun summer looking back on what was, especially as we prepare for the decade ahead and an even more interesting diversity that we haven't even begun to think of.

"Toy Story 3" Remains Just as Emotional 10 Years Later

Between 2000 and 2010, Pixar had done an incredible job of defining the decade of family entertainment with an annual masterpiece. Not only were each of these films special, reflecting different ingenuity in storytelling that gave them an insurmountable presence in the culture, but they were all innovative in different ways with each being an original look into something new and exciting. In that time they did everything from exploring sea life (Finding Nemo) to superheroes (The Incredibles) to outer space (WALL-E). No place was off-limits, and the fact they were having a flawless record, racking up Oscar nominations along the way, it was easy to see Pixar as a legitimate threat. 

How did they choose to celebrate a 10-year track record that remains unmatched? By returning to the world of Toy Story with a third entry that itself was a big risk. As the first unoriginal property since, well, Toy Story 2 in 1999, it was a celebrated return that was also cautious, making many wonders what value there was to returning back to the world of sentient toys who had the power to create this emotional complexity inside us. In that respect, Toy Story 3 may have been their greatest hat trick ever: producing a sequel that not only expanded the franchise but brought with it a tale that's regarded as one of the studio's best, going into darker and more fragile places. In the process, they brought an end to an era, even if it wasn't intentional. It was a farewell of sorts to a great decade and the start of the studio's rockiest period to date. 

"Toy Story 4," "Frozen II," and the Race for the Best Animated Film Oscar

Scene from Frozen II

This morning, Disney released the trailer for their latest film Frozen II. Most audiences will know the franchise very well, in part because of the 2013 film but also because this is the third year in a row that Elsa and Anna will have appeared on the big screen. Following Olaf's Frozen Adventure in 2017 and brief cameos in Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet in 2018, it's the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing animated film in history that also spawned two Oscar wins. Considering that this trailer is likely to play in front of Toy Story 4 in 10 days, it also begins to raise another question: how is this year's Best Animated Film Oscar category shaking out? Have we seen the winner already? Considering that Frozen II AND Toy Story 4 are both sequels to previous winners, the answer may be staring us in the face. That is if the pattern continues to hold up.

Best Song: "We Belong Together" (2010)

Scene from Toy Story 3

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

Why We Need More Kid Friendly Best Picture Nominees

Scene from Pete's Dragon

With August coming to a close, the general conversation has switched over to the familiar broad topic: was this a good summer at the movies? Most people would argue that everything was disappointing, and the three weeks of Suicide Squad topping the box office remains disconcerting for some. However, August has made a strong case against this being a total waste with the presence of Pete's Dragon and last weekend's phenomenal Kubo and the Two Strings. Despite middling box office for both, they reflect that best that blockbuster entertainment can be. In a time where the Oscars want to branch out and reflect a more diverse pallet of genre fare, there is one question that could be asked: Can family cinema get nominated for Best Picture? To be totally honest, I think that we should greatly consider these two movies when it comes time to fill out those ballots. 

"Finding Dory" Breaks Animated Box Office Records on Opening Weekend

Scene from Finding Dory

When it comes to Pixar, there are few films as beloved as Finding Nemo. It isn't just one person's opinion. The film holds a 99% on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes and the film grossed nearly $900 million in 2003, making it the highest grossing animated film at its time. By the looks of this past weekend, its sequel Finding Dory may prove to be a legitimate threat to any and all records that the original achieved 13 years ago. For starters, it broke the single best opening for an animated movie ever, as well as several others. Not too bad for a fish with short term memory loss. Read on to find out more.

Trivia: How Many Oscars Has Pixar Been Nominated For?

When it comes to the Oscars, few studios have had as unanimous a reputation with them as Pixar. Where many directors and actors have been known to get countless nominations, there hasn't been a studio with a release schedule in which audiences could pretty much not only predict a nomination, but also a win (specifically in Best Animated Feature). But how well does Pixar actually do at the Oscars? Is their reputation as great as you'd think? In honor of this week's release of Inside Out, here's a by the numbers look of each film and short that the studio has released and what their actual winning track record actually is.

Ranking Pixar's Best Animated Feature Winners

Pop Quiz: How many times has Pixar won Best Animated Feature? To some, the notion is to believe that it has won every time out of the gate. However, as noted yesterday, this fact may not be entirely true. While the studio has earned an impressive 7 of the 14 wins, there's been a few that have missed the cut, including Monsters Inc. and Cars - and some didn't even get nominated at all. However, with Inside Out coming out Friday and looking to be a strong contender for an eighth victory, it feels like a good time to not necessarily rank all of Pixar's films, but only those that have won an Oscar. Who comes out on top? You'll have to read on to find out.

My Top 10 Favorite Best Animated Feature Nominees

Ratatouille

This past weekend, How to Train Your Dragon 2 opened in theaters, and I was very ecstatic about it. I still consider it to be something of a masterpiece that will hopefully find more legs as its box office history continues. With the expectations of it topping next year's Academy Awards, it got me thinking: what are my favorite Best Animated Feature nominees? In the category's brief, 13 year existence, it has celebrated the growth of a style that used to be a lot cruder. However, it has also shown the progression effectively, especially as computer technology has trumped traditional technique and has taken some films into new artistic zones.