The 40th Best Movies

Pre-1973 

The Neoclassic Disney: Sleeping Beauty (1959) Lady and the Trump (1955) Cinderella (1950) Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) 
1950’s Disney is what I call their “Neoclassical” period. After the war and post-war years when they put out a series of compilations of shorts, they returned to feature-length stories. These movies are all fine-art quality works—visually speaking. The stories are pretty great too, but you couldn’t find any more impressive artwork anywhere. This is where Disney set the standard for cinematic animation going forward for all companies.



1973-1998 

Toy Story (1995) John Lasseter 
Pixar’s first effort is a technical achievement, but the artwork isn’t quite there yet. Story-wise, however, they hit the ground running. This is where we see Pixar start a decade-long run of perfect story-telling. And, they also begin another rare achievement: a trilogy where each entry is better than the last.



Post-1998 

What We Do in the Shadows (2015) Taika Waititi 
The mockumentary is a mixed bag, with more lows than highs. This later entry in the genre is a comic and satiric gem, but with a mixed message.

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