Going Up? 9.4M Balloons Should Do It

Larry the Cable Guy, Owen Wilson star in Pixar film

(NEWSER) - Just because it’s Pixar doesn’t mean it’s good, as Cars 2 proves. Its worst offender: sidekick-turned-lead Mater, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy.

• “Maybe the company was tired of turning out one masterpiece after another and decided to coast for a while,” suggests AO Scott in the New York Times . The film “takes the bold, arguably generous, and ultimately calamitous step of pushing its lovable, goofy second banana to the center of the action.” Mater is the “redneck Jar-Jar Binks.”

Despite health fears after he missed 75% of meetings in 2010

(NEWSER) - Disney shareholders have re-elected Steve Jobs to the company's board of directors despite an advisory firm's concerns about his poor health. The Apple chief—who owns more than 7% of Disney stock and has been on the board since Disney acquired Pixar in 2006—missed nearly three-quarters of board meetings last year. He was also absent from yesterday's shareholder meeting, during which the other 12 board members were also re-elected, notes the Hollywood Reporter . More»

Selena Gomez stars in adaptation of Beverly Cleary classics

(NEWSER) - Ramona and Beezus plays fast and loose with its source material, the classic children's books by Beverly Cleary, but the family movie—Disney tween favorite Selena Gomez's film debut—generally has the critics on its side.

• Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer : "The overall tone of the film is sunny, with Ramona and Beezus resiliently turning life's lemons into lemonade." The flick also "boasts a daddy/daughter plotline that is very touching."

For those who grew up with cowboys and spacemen, bring a hanky

(NEWSER) - Owen Gleiberman would like to get something off his chest: He cried at Toy Story 3, and he doesn't mean a few sniffles. "I’m talking about that soppy, awkward thing where you make sounds," the Entertainment Weekly critic fesses up. He also suspects he's not alone among the movie's male fans, and he wants them all to know that "it's okay!" More»

Incredible studio turns out another incredible movie

(NEWSER) - It's only June, but Toy Story 3 already has one call for best movie of the year. In fact, Dan Kois of the Awl goes so far as to declare that “the people of Pixar are currently America's most important filmmakers.” This movie is “totally bonkers,” with loads of crazy scenes—like a mushroom cloud made out of a trillion plastic monkeys—real laughs, and truly exciting moments. And then comes the last 15 minutes, “which I spent bawling, as did every moviegoer around me.” More»