Re: What movies have you seen recently?
Inside Out
Many people are going to claim that "Pixar is back," meanwhile I will just plainly state that I don't believe Pixar actually went anywhere, and if it did it might still be on its downhill swindle. This is not a statement on Inside Out, which I thought was a fine film. More so, this is regarding the most recent influx since Toy Story 3. Monster's University didn't really have any Pixar charm until the final act, but it was a good animated movie leading up to that (tons of detail with all of the college stuff, I thought it was really fascinating). Cars 2 was just entertaining as hell, and this is coming from a guy who wouldn't mind Mater being crushed to death. However, I thought Brave was putrid garbage. Talk about a film that could have literally done anything given the themes in place, the setting, the lead character, etc. and just went the absolute wrongest route it could have gone in my opinion. I want to be labeled a Pixar fanboy as well, but I cannot back up Brave.
Within the conversation because Docter created it, I think UP is an overrated film personally, but I still really enjoy it. Inside Out is his third effort behind the directorial chair with Pixar (his first being Monsters, Inc.), and this one is full of emotion. However, how could this film not be? The actual characters themselves are emotions. We have Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear. Expect only about three of these to really even get the limelight, while two others were somewhat wasted potential. Either way, for all audiences to say Pixar is back must be thinking more about the heartstrings this film tugs at. I really don't doubt they did this well considering I was holding back tears in front of my sister every third scene or so, but that's just because I'm an emotional guy and like when films can capture elements in my life in the strangest ways.
As a movie itself, I thought the pacing was off and characters weren't always maximized with potential. This might just be me, but if there's a reason I don't end up getting this on Blu-ray, this would be it. At the same time, this would probably be the one franchise (outside of The Incredibles and Toy Story) that I would clamor a sequel for because so much else could be told, but it would have been a lot easier to make an extended cut of this actual story where other scenes played out to fix the faults I think this film had. I really think they could have stretched out the beginning and end, and the middle could have cut many minutes out of. There were redeeming qualities that only worked because the middle cut of the film and that I very much understand, but I think a re-draft would have brought this into the uppermost tiers of Pixar films for me.
Again, I did not walk away from the theater dissatisfied. I was so thankful the hands of Pixar could make me feel again... but I fully expected that from a film that, once again, literally portrays characters as emotions. I do wish I was able to get all five emotions equally and strongly though, and I really liked the outside world of Riley and her friends & family so much that they just should have had more screen time. I don't think every little element needed to be shown with what the emotions do, and sometimes parts of the film just needed to play out in the "outside" world IMO. That's just all a part of the pacing that I think a sequel could have more fun with, but part of me thinks they would stick to the same pacing formula if they made another one.
Go see it and enjoy it! If you really think about it, Inside Out might have had higher stakes than any other Pixar film that preceded it for the intimate reasons, and although I can't say that it fully delivered for the 102 minute run time, most of it was just fine. Again, people may say Pixar is back, but the production of this film began before people even saw a lick of Cars 2 or Brave. It's not like they went back and said, "Okay gang, these weren't well received... what do we do now?" I'm just hoping this company really does not go back to the likes of Brave though and puts out more films like this without needing to try. Meaning, it doesn't need to have a film about emotions to make me get emotional.
Inside Out
Many people are going to claim that "Pixar is back," meanwhile I will just plainly state that I don't believe Pixar actually went anywhere, and if it did it might still be on its downhill swindle. This is not a statement on Inside Out, which I thought was a fine film. More so, this is regarding the most recent influx since Toy Story 3. Monster's University didn't really have any Pixar charm until the final act, but it was a good animated movie leading up to that (tons of detail with all of the college stuff, I thought it was really fascinating). Cars 2 was just entertaining as hell, and this is coming from a guy who wouldn't mind Mater being crushed to death. However, I thought Brave was putrid garbage. Talk about a film that could have literally done anything given the themes in place, the setting, the lead character, etc. and just went the absolute wrongest route it could have gone in my opinion. I want to be labeled a Pixar fanboy as well, but I cannot back up Brave.
Within the conversation because Docter created it, I think UP is an overrated film personally, but I still really enjoy it. Inside Out is his third effort behind the directorial chair with Pixar (his first being Monsters, Inc.), and this one is full of emotion. However, how could this film not be? The actual characters themselves are emotions. We have Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear. Expect only about three of these to really even get the limelight, while two others were somewhat wasted potential. Either way, for all audiences to say Pixar is back must be thinking more about the heartstrings this film tugs at. I really don't doubt they did this well considering I was holding back tears in front of my sister every third scene or so, but that's just because I'm an emotional guy and like when films can capture elements in my life in the strangest ways.
As a movie itself, I thought the pacing was off and characters weren't always maximized with potential. This might just be me, but if there's a reason I don't end up getting this on Blu-ray, this would be it. At the same time, this would probably be the one franchise (outside of The Incredibles and Toy Story) that I would clamor a sequel for because so much else could be told, but it would have been a lot easier to make an extended cut of this actual story where other scenes played out to fix the faults I think this film had. I really think they could have stretched out the beginning and end, and the middle could have cut many minutes out of. There were redeeming qualities that only worked because the middle cut of the film and that I very much understand, but I think a re-draft would have brought this into the uppermost tiers of Pixar films for me.
Again, I did not walk away from the theater dissatisfied. I was so thankful the hands of Pixar could make me feel again... but I fully expected that from a film that, once again, literally portrays characters as emotions. I do wish I was able to get all five emotions equally and strongly though, and I really liked the outside world of Riley and her friends & family so much that they just should have had more screen time. I don't think every little element needed to be shown with what the emotions do, and sometimes parts of the film just needed to play out in the "outside" world IMO. That's just all a part of the pacing that I think a sequel could have more fun with, but part of me thinks they would stick to the same pacing formula if they made another one.
Go see it and enjoy it! If you really think about it, Inside Out might have had higher stakes than any other Pixar film that preceded it for the intimate reasons, and although I can't say that it fully delivered for the 102 minute run time, most of it was just fine. Again, people may say Pixar is back, but the production of this film began before people even saw a lick of Cars 2 or Brave. It's not like they went back and said, "Okay gang, these weren't well received... what do we do now?" I'm just hoping this company really does not go back to the likes of Brave though and puts out more films like this without needing to try. Meaning, it doesn't need to have a film about emotions to make me get emotional.
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