Monsters, Inc. Release Date: November 9, 2009 Own it on Blu-ray Directors: Pete Docter, David Silverman (co-director), Lee Unkrich (co-director) Writers: Pete Docter (story) & Jill Culton (story) & Jeff Pidgeon (story) & Ralph Eggleston (story) Stars: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Bob Peterson, John Ratzenberger, Frank Oz MPAA Rating: G HoboTrashcan’s Rating:

Monsters, Inc. is such a wonderful and aesthetically-pleasing film that Pixar could have simply released a bare-bones version of it on Blu-ray and it would have still been worth the asking price.

But, Pixar seems incapable of doing anything “bare-bones,” so it’s no real surprise that the Blu-ray release of the film comes in the form of a four-disc combo pack that includes all-new bonus content and both a DVD and digital version of the film.

In case you are unfamiliar with the film, Monsters, Inc. is the story of James P. “Sulley” Sullivan (John Goodman) and Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), the top scaring team at Monsters, Incorporated, the power company serving Monstropolis. The city is powered by the screams of children, so Sulley and his coworkers must sneak into kids’ rooms at night and scare them in order to keep the city running. Of course, this isn’t as easy as it sounds, since the monsters in the film are actually just as terrified of the children as the children are terrified of the monsters.

Problems arise when Sulley inadvertently lets a little girl wander into Monstropolis. He and Mike must overcome their fear of the children to get Boo (Mary Gibbs) back to her home before any of their coworkers or anyone at the CDA (Child Detection Agency) finds out she is in the city.

It’s a cute and original premise and one that works well thanks to the fantastic performances by Goodman, Crystal and Gibbs. John Goodman and Billy Crystal have a great chemistry together and they both do an excellent job bringing life to their monster characters. And Mary Gibbs, who was only two-and-a-half when she recorded her lines for the film, makes Boo one of the most adorable toddlers to ever appear on screen. It’s impossible not to love her character and feel genuinely invested in her relationship with Sulley.

The rest of the cast is as equally endearing. Steve Buscemi is perfect as Randall Boggs, Sulley’s rival at Monsters, Incorporated, and both Jennifer Tilly and James Coburn are memorable in their supporting roles. But the real star of the supporting cast is Bob Peterson, a Pixar employee who steals every scene he is in as Roz, the no-nonsense clerk.

While the voice acting and the story are both top-notched, what is most impressive about the film is the visually-stunning world the Pixar team has created. You can tell they had a lot of fun creating a monster city. Monstropolis is filled with vibrantly-colored monsters of all shapes and sizes. Sulley looks like a giant blue and purple teddy bear. Mike is a bulbous, one-eyed green monster. His girlfriend Celia is a fuchsia Cyclops with snakes for hair.

On Blu-ray, these monsters and the city itself really shine. You are really able to appreciate all of the subtle nuances of these characters and their world. You can admire each little hair on Sulley’s body or the individual flakes of snow that fall on him at the end of the film. There are also clever visual gags that you can pick up on for the first time (like the menu at Harryhausen’s). However, the scene that really makes this Blu-ray version worth the asking price (this is
why stores are set up for credit card processing) is the climactic door scene at the end of the film. Seeing it in high-definition really allows you to appreciate all of the detail that went into making that scene and watching it play out on Blu-ray is truly breathtaking.

As mentioned above, in addition to the film itself, there are a number of new bonus features created exclusively for this Blu-ray version of the film, including two new featurettes and a new mini-game.

The first featurette, “Filmmaker’s Round Table at Hidden City Café,” reunites the four main creative forces behind the film to share stories about making Monsters, Inc. It’s a fairly straightforward, 20-minute cut-and-dry featurette, but it’s worth watching if you are interested in learning more about Pixar’s filmmaking process. It was really fascinating to find out how the story developed over time and to see how it all came together. It’s also interesting to learn that because of the complexities of pulling off the Yeti sequence, at Pixar any difficult scene is now referred to as “The Yeti’s Cave.”

The second featurette is called “Monsters, Inc. Ride and Go Seek: Building Monstropolis in Japan.” As the name implies, it is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a brand-new ride at Tokyo Disneyland. The ride gives people a chance to ride through Monstropolis playing flashlight tag with the characters from the film. It’s definitely worth watching, but I must warn you – there is a good chance it will end up making you jealous that you don’t live in Tokyo.

The new mini-game included on this release, “Roz’s 100-Door Challenge,” involves answering 100 different questions as part of an application process for working at Monsters, Incorporated. It seems aimed at children, but even as an adult, I found myself bored with the process at around question number five.

In addition to the new content are all of the bonus features that appeared on the original DVD release of the film, including the two animated shorts For the Birds and Mike’s New Car. There is also an entertaining documentary offering you a tour of Pixar and a featurette showing off different character designs and artwork. (The artwork has actually been rescanned in high definition, which is a nice touch.)

My only knock on the bonus content is that it is occasionally tough to navigate. I went looking for the blooper reel that was included on the original DVD release to make sure it was included, since it isn’t actually advertised on the back of the Blu-ray. I did eventually track it down, but it was buried in a section called “Release,” under the “Human’s Only” grouping of bonus content. Considering how enjoyable the blooper reel is, and how much it was advertised when the original DVD came out, it seems odd that it would be unadvertised and buried on this new release.

Still, it’s a good sign when my biggest complaint about a film is that it is packed with so much bonus content that it’s tough to find certain features. Obviously, I am a huge fan of this film and this four-disc release lives up to the quality you’ve come to expect from Pixar. I highly recommend picking up the Blu-ray version of this film, even if you already own it on DVD.

Written by Joel Murphy. Monsters, Inc. is available tomorrow on Blu-ray.

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Courtney Enlow

Celebrities make poor decisions. Sometimes they might cheat on a spouse with a butterfaced stripper. Other times they Botox themselves into a tautened mess disaster. But more often than not, their bad choices are of the professional kind.

Everyone makes mistakes. Particularly early in an actor’s career, one must put aside the craft of acting in favor of paying the electricity bill, and sometimes Cruel Intentions 2 happens. I’m not going to blame Amy Adams for that. Each one of us would have done the same thing. However, once youth and monetary need leave the picture, there is no excuse.

I am not here to merely discuss awful movies that some stars appear in, because that’s not fair. Sometimes movies turn out terrible, but you can look at the screen and see actual effort in the layers of shit. Otherwise this article would be titled “The Black Dahlia, or how I nearly shot myself in the neck during a showing of this AIDS baby of a movie.” No, this is about the true awfulness. Lazy, cheap awfulness, with all the effort and skill of a YouTube parody shot by three twelve-year-olds, and half the result. These are lackluster, careless, entirely direct-to-video-y, and everyone involved should have known better. Be warned …

Over Her Dead Body

Paul Rudd’s lucky he’s so lovable. He starred in this wreck, but lest we forget, he also starred in arguably the worst Halloween movie, which is really saying something, and the wackness that was the Zach Braff / Jason Bateman abortion, The Ex. But despite these questionable picks, which can all be explained by the need for cash and favors for friends, we love him unconditionally, for he is The Rudd and he is magic.

That said, what the fuck was this shit? Where to even start?

A theme that will arise a few times here is this: being selective about co-stars. No one likes a snob, sure, but if I’m Paul Rudd and someone tells me I’m going to be playing second fiddle to the chick from a show that hasn’t been relevant since midway through its first season, I would say no. But Real Rudd did not say no. He said yes and we got this mess, co-starring the broad from the housewives program and the human question mark that is Lake Bell. (What is she? Why is she?)

There’s so much wrong in addition to the cast, however. There’s the fact that C-level screenwriters insist on trying to make this “losing a loved one can be HILARIOUS!” thing happen. Then there’s the fact that the film’s only moment that actually seems like something that would almost make someone laugh, like maybe if they were eight or stupid, is a really long scene involving gas. Reader challenge: tell me one actually good and funny film fart joke. Because I genuinely believe no such thing exists.

Mama’s Boy

Also on the list of things that aren’t funny: dudes living at home into their thirties. It just … isn’t. Shirtless McConaughshirtless couldn’t make it work, and neither could Jon Heder, which is why no one’s ever heard of this movie.

But my wrath is not directed at Napoleon. He hasn’t been in a good movie since his first (oh don’t start with me; pre-backlash and oversaturation, we all liked that dumbass flick) so we don’t expect great things from him or anything. I’m talking to you, co-star Diane Keaton.

A bland Confederacy of Dunces / Failure to Launch ripoff, and Diane effing Keaton thought: “This will be goodly and enjoyable for the little people”? DK, honey, I think you need to clean your tinted glasses, because they’re apparently not working for you anymore.

Oh, and one last question: on what planet is that supposed to be Anna Faris in the poster? It looks like they threw a blond wig on Dave Foley and told him “look like you hate yourself.”

Mr. Woodcock

This is one of those movies that we all heard about for a year or so before it came out. There were tons of bus stop and train posters, and the ad campaign seemed to last forever, then just stopped. Apparently when the campaign stopped, the movie came out. I recall no such release. I remember a poster at the Clark and Lincoln bus stop, but I remember no movie. Apparently, it actually was a movie, and it was released to public eyes, and then went away under the cover of night.

Seann William Scott himself could only watch fifteen minutes of this movie because he thought it was so terrible, and that dude was in Southland Tales and Dukes of Hazzard. Billy Bob Thornton got really blazed and made this movie twice without even realizing it (seriously, it’s supposed to be a different movie from School for Scoundrels, right?). Susan Sarandon has personally killed every peasant who dare mention it, so let’s move on.

My Best Friend’s Girl

Much like people who insist on appearing in movies with wholly untalented TV actresses or Jon Heder, for some reason, people keep trying to star in movies with Dane Cook, confused and bewildered when no one sees them. So for any actors reading this who are currently eyeing a role in an upcoming Danesy flick, let me warn you: Dane Cook is basically cancer. His only fans are ‘roidy fratboys and girls who make out with other girls to get the attention of the aforementioned ‘roidy fratboys. So don’t star in movies with him, because he will grab you by the ankles, strap the anchor to his foot and jump in the water, and you won’t like it one bit. If you don’t believe me, ask Steve Carrel, Juliette Binoche and the slew of other great actors for whom he ruined a pretty decent movie when they made Dan in Real Life. Kate Hudson apparently did not ask them before signing on to this. And Baldwin? What the shit? I still hadn’t forgiven him for Elizabethtown, let alone this.

Related digression: I want to take a moment to talk to Jason Biggs. Biggsy, I love you. Much like The Rudd, there is something about you that is so genial and enjoyable that I can’t seem to dislike you when you’ve earned it. But The Rudd only earned it three times. You have made a career out of earning it. Please, fire your agent, fire your manager, fire your brain that keeps reading shitty scripts and saying, “Do it, Jay Train!” Those people don’t care about you. I do. When the best movie you’ve been in for ten years has been Jersey Girl, you need a change, friend.

I could easily go on to include the Lindsay Lohan “I owe my meth dealer so much money and no one will hire me besides this movie” vehicle, Labor Pains, or Eugene Levy’s obvious horrific blackmail situation with the American Pie: Everything Including and After the Wedding One series, but I don’t want to hurt your fragile eyes, my gentle reader. You get my point, and that is why we must come together and hold our beloved stars gently, reminding them that everything will be okay. Just don’t star in dumb things, don’t read scripts on acid and don’t let Dane Cook be filmed anywhere near you. Seriously, you’ll catch douche.

Courtney Enlow is a writer living in Chicago and working as a corporate shill to pay the bills. You can contact her at courtney@hobotrashcan.com.

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Christian Bale’s brooding, growling Dark Knight set box office records last summer and Kevin Conroy’s voice work as Batman is beloved by animation fans, but last year a new man donned the cape and cowl – Diedrich Bader.

Bader, known for his work on The Drew Carey Show, Office Space and Napoleon Dynamite, voices Batman in the new Cartoon Network show, Batman: The Brave and The Bold. Based on the popular comic book series, The Brave and The Bold teams Batman up with a variety of other superheroes to battle common foes.

Last year, we talked to Bader about becoming Batman, learning from Scott Bakula and hearing fans shout “two chicks at the same time.” If you missed it then, here’s a second chance to enjoy it:
http://www.hobotrashcan.com/2008/11/14/one-on-one-with-diedrich-bader/