5. WALL*E (Andrew Stanton, dir.)



Pixar has been on such a roll of late that if they were a single director, they’d be getting mention in the same breath as the golden age greats.  But they’re not; they’re an aggregate of many clever, talented folks who make computer-generated cartoons that are at least partly intended for children.  I’m not going to argue that this isn’t sometimes a weakness; in WALL*E, the environmental message only seems fitting and appropriate because I happen to agree with it, and the crypto-Objectivism in The Incredibles only bothered me because I don’t.  But regardless of the heavy-handedness of the moral, it can’t be denied that WALL*E is flat out the most wonderful film of the year, hopeful and funny and romantic and bittersweet all at the same time, and wrapped up in a package so beautiful to look at you wonder why anyone ever questions the potential of CGI.   And if this astounding motion picture spawned an obnoxious marketing empire, one can only shake one’s head and say “Damn kids don’t know how good they’ve got it.”

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I can see where some might consider The Iron Giant too sad or too scary for little kids.  But my little kids have taken to it.  After all, it does feature a boy's relationship with a giant robot from outer space, which a story that kids really want to hear.  I find it inexpressibly tragic, but my kids do not, and I'm happy about that.

So, The Iron Giant was Brad Bird's first film, a few years before The Incredibles and Ratatouille.  It's based on The Iron Man, a story that Ted Hughes wrote for his kids to comfort them after their mother's suicide.  Their mother was, incidentally, Sylvia Plath, who was never too good at math, according to noted scholar Peter Laughner, who knew a thing or two about premature death.  The Iron Man is different in some important ways from The Iron Giant.  For instance, the titular metal character fights a space-dragon instead of vintage Cold War fear. 

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MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (2001)



This unusual Japanese film is arguably the most original and affecting movie yet from the Japanese director Satoshi Kon, whose other credits include Tokyo Godfathers and the wigged-out TV series Paranoia Agent. The title character here is Chiyoko Fujiwara, an ancient and reclusive film actress who consents to a rare filmed interview with her biggest fan, Genya Tachibana, a documentarian who once saved her life on a film set when he was a boy. As the actress, guided by the heavy-set, worshipful Tachibana, goes over the events of her life and career, they become inextricably mixed with scenes from her films and with Tachibana's own memories. (He sees himself as her devoted protector.) The film has some similarities to Kon's first feature, Perfect Blue, but without the murder-thriller plotting, and the violence and sexual nastiness that have stuck Kon with a reputation as Mister Kink. What's left is a dream about the movies and how they shape the memories and lives of those who make them, and those who watch them.

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PERSEPOLIS (2007)



In the same way graphic novels like Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis have expanded the thematic possibilities of pen and ink comics beyond run-of-the-mill superhero adventures and the romantic entanglements of the gang at Riverdale High, so too does this pristine cinematic adaptation demonstrate the ability of animation to lend a necessary artistic distance to depictions of events that would simply be too grim or painful to watch otherwise.  Satrapi’s autobiographical tale (which she co-scripted and co-directed with her graphic novel collaborator Vincent Paronnaud) tackles big subjects like the Iranian Revolution, Islamic fundamentalism and the agony of adolescence with visual flair and heartfelt humanity, while the voice performances (by an effervescent Danielle Darrieux, Catherine Deneuve and her daughter, Chiara Mastroianni (as Satrapi) are far more three-dimensional than many of 2007’s live action female roles.

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