At the cinema: Inside Out
There isn’t a film studio in existence with a quality control as stringent as Pixar’s. Of the 14 feature films to date, more than half – including the whole Toy Story trilogy, WALL-E, Up and The Incredibles – are peerless classics, and only a couple (both Cars movies) qualify as anything less than excellent. Having said that, there’s been a slight creative wobble in recent years, with an unhealthy focus on sequels (the last was Monsters University) at the expense of creative originality. And the last original film, Brave, wasn’t our favourite. With 15th feature Inside Out, Pixar is back on top: an inventive, clever, witty and emotionally satisfying film, largely set inside the head of an 11-year-old girl, Riley. As everyone probably knows by now, the main characters are Riley’s five emotions – Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust Fear – who try to steer her through the challenges of life. The landscape inside our brain has been very ingeniously conceived by the Pixar team, and Inside Out rewards viewers of all ages – if a tad complicated to follow for very young children. Minions, earlier this summer from rival studio Universal Illumination, was a lot of fun. But this is better.
On DVD: The Voices
Ryan Reynolds is currently in cinemas in a film called Self/Less. Chances are, it’s losing screen space and showtimes at your local multiplex, because audiences didn’t exactly flock during the first week of release. Never mind, Ryan’s last movie The Voices very recently transferred to DVD. And despite likewise not locating a big audience at the cinema, it’s a lot of fun – in a sick, twisted, serial-killer kinda way. Ryan plays a bipolar bathtub factory worker who goes off his meds, and starts hearing contradictory advice from his dog Bosco and cat Mr Whiskers. Unluckily for him, and especially his female co-workers, he heeds the evil pet rather than the benign one. We see the world through the eyes of mentally unbalanced Jerry, and it’s a candy-coloured delight. The Voices certainly won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s another weird gem on Ryan’s quirk-peppered CV.
On TV: Pitch Perfect (Saturday, Channel 4, 9pm)
Who knew that this film about a female college a cappella group would turn out to be the sleeper hit of the season (it came out here late 2012), sending Anna Kendrick’s 77-seconds-long Cups up the itunes chart and spawning 2015’s mega-grossing sequel? It was also the film that set Rebel Wilson, at the time known for her brief role in Bridesmaids, on the road to being a major comedy star, thanks to her hilarious turn as Fat Amy. Bonus treats: the sweetly adorable Sylar Astin as Anna’s love interest, and the very funny Adam DeVine as the obnoxious Bumper, from the Barden Bellas’ male rivals the Treblemakers. If you somehow missed Pitch Perfect, here’s your chance to rectify that omission.