Leaving the Stream: Week of December 5th, 2010

We’re losing a few genuinely good movies from Netflix this week. There’s also one that’s just so bad it has to be seen.

Monsters, Inc. (12/12)

Somehow I tricked myself into thinking that ‘Monsters, Inc.‘ would be around forever. It’s been on my queue for months now, just waiting to be watched. I guess now’s the time to do it. If you haven’t seen it, ‘Monsters, Inc.’ is an essential. It’s not the best Pixar film (that title goes to ‘The Incredibles’), but it’s far from the worst (‘Cars’). John Goodman shines, and believe it or not Billy Crystal is funny. Get to it before it’s gone. (Read Blu-ray review.)

The Fly (12/13)

Who could have guessed that a remake of a 1958 monster movie could work so well? David Cronenberg’s version of ‘The Fly‘ is a horror film to be sure, but thanks in part to Jeff Goldblum’s fantastic performance, it’s a whole lot more too. The effects may be dated, but the film itself is still strong. (Read Blu-ray review.)

Wrestlemaniac (12/15)

You may be familiar with the work of pro wrestler Rey Mysterio, Jr. This film stars his uncle, Rey Misterio, Sr. He was a top star in his day, but now he’s taking monster roles in tragically bad movies like ‘Wrestlemaniac‘. The plot: a young group of Americans try to make a porno in an abandoned Mexican ghost town, only to be attacked by the deranged El Mascarado. It’s awful in the best possible way.

19 comments

  1. What? You don’t own every Pixar movie ever released on Blu-Ray? Go get it now! Leave this SD streaming thing behind (I haven’t seen a single Disney movie stream in HD)

  2. I came to ask the same question. If you own the Bluray (with DVD combo usually) Why would you stream it?
    Also, Disney Movies Online lets me stream it free. (However I don’t know why I would pay the $5.99 they want to add other title to my online library. I have a DVD player or Bluray just about everywhere, and if I needed a portable version I would use the digital copy or make my own)

    • 🙂

      If you have the Blu-ray there’s no reason to stream, unless you’re really lazy. Sometimes I am that lazy when it comes to DVDs though. Don’t have to get up, find the DVD and then put it in :p

      • Actually, there are some things they I have on DVD that I stream, as Netflix may have it in HD, even though its not available on an HD Disc format yet.

        However, most of the Disney movies I have seen are through the Starz Play thing, which are all SD. It was a good chance to watch a few movies I might not otherwise watch, but…

        One good thing about Disney only releasing one movie every few months is that I think I now own every movie Disney and Pixar have released on Blu-Ray.

  3. I own them all except for A Bugs Life, thats on my list to get at some point, I still cant understand what all the hate is about for Cars, its my favorite Pixar movie and I’ve probably watched that thing 20 times or so, Up, Wall-E, Ratatouille, Toy Story 1-3, I’ve loved them all and I cant figure out why so many people think Cars is the worst film out of their list, for me if I HAD to choose it would be A Bugs Life, it didnt do as much for me as the others did and Monsters Inc. was a little on the slow side compared to the others, but I love Cars message the best out of any of their films, also I’m not sure why people love The Incredibles so much either, its a great time (as all their movies are) but I fail to see what makes it the “best”

    • HuskerGuy

      Agreed on the unwarrented Cars hate. It’s not my favorite, but it’s closer to the top than it is the bottom. The only Pixar movies I don’t own yet are A Bugs Life and Wall-E. I’ll own both at some point though.

    • AlexWS

      I find Cars to be an absolute joy to watch. Especially in HD it’s a blast with all the colors flying off the screen in the racing scenes. At the same time I think the story and characters in the movie are relatively flat, at least compared to other Pixar movies. Also, the movie is a pretty big rip off of Doc Hollywood, the Michael J. Fox flick, which I also really dig.

  4. Callenby

    I like Cars and a Bugs Life, but I don’t love them. I love every other Pixar film.

    Also, the special effects in The Fly haven’t dated; they are awesome to this day. Competent prosthetics easily trump CGI in any horror film.

    • Patrick A Crone

      I agree about The Fly. I can’t watch that movie without getting a little creaped out by the make-up effects. Funny enough, the arm wrestling part is the hardest part to watch.

  5. To be fair to Dick, I’m the one who added in the Cars reference during editing. He just left it saying that Monsters, Inc. wasn’t Pixar’s worst film, but didn’t give an example of anything worse. (For the record, I love Monsters, Inc.) I figured that Cars was a no-brainer pick for that distinction and plugged it in.

    Cars isn’t a terrible movie or anything. Even the “worst” Pixar is better than most other animated movies. But it’s clearly the studio’s weakest film, IMO. With its Playskool-looking characters, it’s targeted for a much younger audience of kids than most of the studio’s other movies. Most Pixar films easily appeal to viewers of just about any age, but Cars has a lot less to offer adults than the others.

    • Dick Ward
      Author

      Oh that’s funny! I had something to that effect in originally but took it out since I couldn’t decide between ‘Cars’ and the second half of Wall-E which I feel ruins an otherwise beautiful movie.

      I feel a poll coming on! :p

      • Yay! I don’t feel bad saying the second half of Wall-E is bad anymore! 🙂

        Truthfully, I agree with Josh, Pixar has never made a bad movie, however, that was not how it came across, and I was about to start a “hate mail” thing about Cars. Casting Larry The Cable Guy as Mator was genius!

    • EM

      I’ve seen every Pixar feature in theaters and have always felt I’ve received my money’s and time’s worth of entertainment. However, “Cars” was the first Pixar feature outside the “Toy Story” saga that I felt compelled to add to my video library. Obviously there is a range of reactions to it and other Pixar films. I’ve always felt that no-brainer decisions are worth all the brainpower put into them.

  6. Victor V

    I love all Pixar movies but Cars is towards the bottom of the list in terms of replay value. I cannot believe you feel The Incredibles was the best! I think it was mediocre at best…. The movie was centered on powers yet they only used them towards the end. The plot left much to be desired…..

  7. Cars has just as much adult oriented material behind it as the others do, the whole theme of the movie is geared towards adults, kids dont have to worry about working all the time and slowing down to take in life, thats what Cars is all about, enjoy your friends and enjoy your life, take some time out for yourself and for others and quit focusing on work and getting paid all the time…

    Not to mention little hints at stuff like the organic fuel 😉

    AND how can you NOT love Pitstop? PITSTOP!