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Monsters, Inc.

© James C. Hess

For reasons unknown and best left unknown, this space, of late, has been attracting more and more attention. I would dare to suggest the reason for this owes much to the writing talent of your humble scribe but, well, gosh, that would be just egotistical. So instead I will simply note same and leave it at that, as prelude for something else:

Because of the attention this space attracts the amount of mail I receive in response to my modest efforts has mounted, with one bit of mail catching my attention.

Now I won't say the name of the person who sent the following along. Instead, let me share their note and my response:

'The life of the critic, the life of the reviewer is a truly horrible one. Tell people want they want to hear and they will hate you in the end for not telling the truth. Tell people the truth and they will hate you for being honest.'

My response: Yep. Ain't that right.

Now at the same time there is an interesting side effect to such an existence: If I go to a given film or movie and find I hate it I am obligated to say as much. For this you will no doubt hate me. If I go to a given film or movie and find I like it very much I have to tell you so. For this odds are good I might just make a friend. So, here's to friendship:

Wonderful.

If anyone from the Hollywood machine is looking for a quote for promotional purposes here it is, simple and clean, pure and straight-forward:

Wonderful.

That is the only way, honestly, to describe the latest from Pixar, previously known for "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", and "A Bug's Life": "Monsters, Inc."

Wonderful.

Absolutely, unconditionally, wonderful.

There are many reasons for why "Monsters, Inc." is wonderful. Perhaps too many to list. And why should I? Such a list is, at best, superficial.

"Monsters, Inc." is the sort of movie that is a sure-fire hit. Everyone can see it. Everyone can enjoy it. And everyone can relate to it: We have all been children at some time (some still are, at heart), and we all have been faced with the predictament of being a child: Stepping in something at the wrong time; speaking at the wrong moment, acting and being awkward. Doing things that we shouldn't.

Of course, all of this causes blame. And who gets blamed more than kids?