Marshall and the Movies

Hollywood got some of its big guns out in May, and much of it was just noise.  “Iron Man 2” didn’t meet lofty expectations, “Robin Hood” will barely (if at all) cross the $100 million mark, “Shrek Forever After” is just now picking up steam after a low opening, and the future doesn’t look so rosy for either “Sex and the City 2” or “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”

But June looks to change things.  It boasts only two big sequels and three major studio tentpoles.  This is the make or break month for the summer: if things don’t turn around in June, writers will be throwing phrases like “financial disaster in Hollywood” or “the death of movie theater” around.

Thankfully, we have good movies coming out in June!  There’s plenty to offer both the mainstream and the art house crowd.  The wider range of interests was shown in the poll results.  One person voted for Sundance hit “Winter’s Bone” while another voted for the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz vehicle “Knight and Day.”

But with three votes, the resounding (and hardly surprising) winner and the most anticipated movie of June is…

“Toy Story 3.”  Don’t act so surprised.

It only got this ink in my June preview post:

“Toy Story 3.”  No words necessary.  SO excited.

But I also featured the movie in an Oscar Moment where I discussed its potential in the Best Picture race.  Here’s an excerpt from that:

But ultimately, it comes down to the movie, as it always does.  And “Toy Story 3″ as expectations almost as unreal as flying a house with balloons.  Both of the original “Toy Story” movies have a perfect 100 score on Rotten Tomatoes, but in the eleven years since, Pixar has continued its unprecedented run with only one movie with below a 95.  ”Cars” scored a 75% largely because the plot was stale in comparison to the other gems (in fact, it was the only Pixar movie since 2003 not to score a Best Original Screenplay nomination).

That proves a perfect segue into what must be the key element of “Toy Story 3″: the story.  People have incredibly fond memories of the first two installments, and in order to hit big with audiences, it has to strike the perfect chord of staying true to its roots but offering a new and exciting experience.  I’m a little tentative about all the new characters that Pixar is introducing in the movie.  They all need to serve a purpose to the plot and be used tastefully, otherwise they are just noisy lawn ornaments.

But honestly, this is Pixar we are talking about.  Time spent trying to find flaws in their work is time squandered.

Happy moviegoing – to infinity … and BEYOND!