With this weekend’s re-release of Beauty and the Beast, Disney is starting to sell their next 3-D post-conversion and it’s Finding Nemo, which is coming September 14.  Disney seems to have a game plan with their reissues: Convert to 3-D, release in the off season, and then profit (no underpants needed). Perhaps parents will grow wary of this game plan, but we’ll know more for sure after this weekend. Until then, here’s a tease for the reissue of Nemo.

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As we inch closer to Thanksgiving, we realize it’s time to partake in a dreaded holiday tradition—spending time with our relatives. Part of that grave duty means (in addition to drunk uncles, mumbling grandparents, and annoying aunts) spending time with whatever small children populate your extended family. And everyone knows, it’s the children who typically control the TV at holiday parties and get-togethers. With that in mind, we’ve cobbled together a list of the top five children’s films that adults love. So, the next time you’re forced to share the boob tube with a mewling group of kids over a long weekend, you can have a few options beyond those crappy Transformers.

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Though Pixar has been making a number of sequels lately (and plan to make more), their next big film is an original adventure that goes full Disney by having a princess as its lead. Brave stars Kelly MacDonald as Princess Merida, a strong Scottish woman who is about to suffer an arranged marriage, but wants adventure for herself. Check out the trailer…

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The world has experienced a great loss with today’s announcement of Steve Jobs passing. The former CEO of Apple, his role in revolutionizing the world is the sort of thing that will now pass quickly into legend. How we use our computers, and how we use our phones have all felt his touch. It’s also important to note how he changed the film business.

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For D23, there were a number of film presentations, but the highlight was much of the Pixar material. On top of the two newly announced titles, their slate through summer of 2014 was discussed, from the upcoming Brave through to those two announced untitled projects. John Lasseter was the tour guide through the animated material, but here’s a round up of the Pixar presentation.

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D23 had some high and low points in terms of its film presentations, but one of the clear winners in terms of fan support and interest was the Pixar presentation – which ended with each audience audience being given a cupcake. Two new projects were announced: director Bob Petersen and producer John Walker are working on “The Untitled Pixar film about Dinosaurs,” and director Pete Docter was producer Jonas Rivera are working on “The Untitled Pixar Movie that Takes You Inside the Mind.”

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Studios can promise you the end of a franchise, but when a a film makes more than $1.6 billion, they’re going to rethink it. Tom Hanks, the voice of the Toy Story‘s beloved Woody, just told the BBC that Toy Story 4 is happening. During the premiere of his newest movie Larry Crowne, Hanks also told “Showbiz Tonight” that he believes another Woody and Buzz Lightyear movie is underway (via The Marquee Blog).

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Cars 2 may be Pixar’s first critical failure, but after a huge opening weekend, the sequel proved to be another financial success for the beloved studio. Five years ago, Cars ranked No. 1 with $60.1 million. This weekend, Cars 2 surpassed its predecessor with $68 million. A film that took us by surprise was the new Cameron Diaz‘s comedy Bad Teacher, which made a hefty debut of $31 million. Sadly, the huge superhero/comic movie Green Lantern dropped to No. 3 with a weak weekend gross of $18.3 million. Check out the numbers.

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I’m often inclined to give family movies a pass (as evidenced by my favorable review of Mr. Popper’s Penguins), if only because sometimes you’ve got to drag the family to a movie theater just to get them all to shut up for 2 hours.  Don’t worry, I sympathize here for you.  If you needed this critic’s permission to pack up the family and go to the multiplex, here it is:  Cars 2 is the ticket to buy this weekend.  It’s a big, colorful, noisy spectacle that will please broad audiences looking for a good time, especially small children.

But this is a Pixar film!  They’ve made some of the most emotionally resonant films of the last decade!  It’s impossible not to compare Cars 2 to the rest of their catalogue, and as soon as you begin to, it breaks down.  Read the rest of the review (and more car puns!), after the jump…

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