I don't see anything wrong with children as heroes, I don't think that bothers me too much. I guess it's more a matter of how the child's perspective is conveyed. In that regard I still don't find Miyazaki as cloying as one might fear. There's just something kind of correct or righteous about it that doesn't leave me wondering about life like the greatest movies do. It's more a sense of awe at how amazing his animation is.

My own favorite of Pixar's movies–and one that falls within the decade–remains Monsters, Inc., which is a film of such lunatic invention that it's almost a surprise when it provides the emotional gut-punch at the end, when Sully opens the door and we hear Boo's voice go “Kitty!” The last time I watched it, it had me bawling.

I won't gainsay WALL-E or Up, though, which in their degrees are as creative and as beautiful. I think the weightless pas de deux between WALL-E and EVE might be the most beautiful thing I've seen in a film all decade, while “the montage” in Up packs the most emotional wallop (in retrospect, this reminds me a bit of the first panther-stalking scene in Val Lewton's The Leopard Man, which so blows away the audience that the rest of the movie can't possibly hope to live up to it).

I remain unconverted by Miyazaki. I'm not entirely sure what it is that keeps me at arms length, but there's…something. I feel about the same as you regarding Spirited Away, and I'll extend that to Princess Mononoke, too. I liked Howl's Moving Castle more than either, but not enough that I need to revisit it (my partner, on the other hand, has been lobbying to add it to our mutual collection, so I'll relent eventually). Thinking about this as I write, I think it might be Miyazaki's emphasis on children as heroes that bothers me. I think there's an infantilism involved that bothers me. I think it's significant that my favorite of his movies is Porco Rosso, in which this element is diminished. Up avoids this very pointedly, don't you think?

As far as Hollywood classicism goes, I'm partial to Kevin Costner's Open Range, which unfortunately looks a LOT worse on a television than it did on a big screen.

Right on with the quick adjustment problem in Wall-E. When I mentioned this to a Wall-E lover they faulted me for not staying for the crawl ups where that was all explained! Any movie that has to finish explaining a weakly developed key theme in their story by resorting to hyroglyphics during the end credits makes it highly suspect in my book . RQD

I will have to see UP again to make a final determination, but I'm pretty convinced it's a beautiful film. As far as that photo goes, are you sure he wasn't simply reminded of them rather than seeing them for the first time?

Once the beautiful montage and clever newsreel opening of Up was over, I felt like I was witnessing the emperor in his new clothes. The premise was wonderful, the execution of the story, the quick change in the hero's arc of self-knowledge (brought about the really sappy discovery of photographs he had never seen — who the hell took those pictures by the way??? Does it matter? uh — yes. If your character's whole character development is going to pivot on the device), etc. etc. Did it's playing at Cannes color critic's opinion of this movie or what?

Both of your picks started strong but don't hold a candle to (in my order of preference) Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Spirited Away.
–RQD

These parts aren't exactly bad, but they left me wishing I could just rewind and watch those amazing first acts again.

Ratatouille is my favorite Pixar, for the record.