tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post8388445104062749450..comments2023-11-27T00:05:29.054-05:00Comments on Medfly Quarantine: The House that Pixar BuiltRyan Kellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-50695760025444764162009-08-24T14:19:11.262-04:002009-08-24T14:19:11.262-04:00I don't know about that Ryan. I found it easy ...I don't know about that Ryan. I found it easy to sympathize with the film's protagonist. Yes the early montage of his long and happy life with Ellie was heartbreaking (and it affected me on a level that I don't think any other animated movie has) but the film does not take any of that away when it transitions from sadness to laughter. I found it to be the film's message that we find the ability to move on with our lives despite how upset we may feel. I also felt that the jokes were funny because even if they were clearly aimed at children or adults it was still easy to fall under their charm because the characters (at least I think) were so lovable. <br /><br />The boy scout was in many ways annoying but also charming and funny because we know that we have encountered kids like these throughtout different points in our lives. <br /><br />The film did head into formulaic paths when it came closer to reaching its conclusion and the third act is definitely its weakest. But, nonetheless, the film was entertaining and I found myself caring for the characters deeply. Even for the talking-robot dog (who was funny) and the tall bird. <br /><br />I think you looked at some things in the wrong way. Wall-E, for example, portrayed human beings in a negative way but it had much reason to do so. It was a warning and thoughtful observation on technology improvements and our consumerist culture. That was the thing about Wall-E that despite not being among the best Pixar films made it special, because it really had something to say. Neither Wall-E or Up were as great as Finding Nemo or the brilliant Ratatouille but they are good films that deserve recognition.Eric R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-41096624526725764572009-06-25T12:48:54.923-04:002009-06-25T12:48:54.923-04:00I'm curious where you'll stand--- will you...I'm curious where you'll stand--- will you be like Rick, who thiks I'm right on the money? Will you side with Bill, who thinks I'm completely off my rocker? (which is absolute nonsense--- I was never <i>on</i> my rocker to begin with. If I ever write a book, it will echo Pauline Kael's book "I Lost it at the Movies", except mine will be called "I Lost it Long Before I Ever Set Foot in a Movie Theater". That has a nice ring to it). Or will you be like Adam, who all but agrees?<br /><br />Time, as they say, will tell. I'm just happy you stopped into visit me, Pat.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-60814206875114570822009-06-23T23:51:16.795-04:002009-06-23T23:51:16.795-04:00Ryan -
I'm skimming this review for now, but ...Ryan -<br /><br />I'm skimming this review for now, but planning to finally see "Up" sometime this week. I'll definitely be back to read your review in detail after I've seen it myself.Patricia Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15394997608325540950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-36744096006808225322009-06-23T12:16:17.229-04:002009-06-23T12:16:17.229-04:00This is different from the way you normally feel a...This is different from the way you normally feel about me... how?<br /><br />I'd rather be wrong than dishonest!<br /><br />And, for what it's worth, I'd say <i>Up</i> is the first of their movies I flat out did not like. Even if I do have major psychotic issues with <i>Wall-E</i>. I'm not crazy about the rat movie, either, but I like what Brad Bird does with animation.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-89719282224407942472009-06-19T16:53:32.192-04:002009-06-19T16:53:32.192-04:00I know I'm getting off-topic, but Peckinpah wa...I know I'm getting off-topic, but Peckinpah wasn't actually a mysoginist. "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" took a role that could have been thankless (a hooker) and instead built on it: Stella Stevens herself has even commented on why she thought it was a strong role for her. Some people believe "Straw Dogs" is mysoginistic (and indeed, some of the females in the movie really are dumb), but Peckinpah wrote that the film was really all about women's suffering and why it is a serious problem. I agree.<br /><br />I'd say Peckinpah and De Palma are on par together in the way they portray females. And Peckinpah is most definately like Verhoeven in that he's critical of testosterone; as Norman Jewison has commented on "The Wild Bunch", it is an anti-violent film.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-31741917854912211772009-06-19T15:17:39.169-04:002009-06-19T15:17:39.169-04:00Rick, I do kind of agree that Toy Story 2 was the ...Rick, I do kind of agree that <i>Toy Story 2</i> was the definite point where they started to sink, though I'll admit I do like the second <i>Toy Story</i>. In terms of Disney sequels, it's probably the best there was or will be (not saying much).<br /><br />I'm not sour on them so much as frustrated. They have the talent. They have the resources. They choose to squander it on Disney's bankrupt movie making formulas. To paraphrase Zappa, they're only in it for the money.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-51477210481196169752009-06-19T15:15:34.271-04:002009-06-19T15:15:34.271-04:00Adam, you are terribly naive. =P
Anyway, I know D...Adam, you are terribly naive. =P<br /><br />Anyway, I know De Palma was categorized as misogynist, but two of his films this decade pretty much refute that. One of the most important things about <i>Mission to Mars</i> is the way it treats men and women as equal. <i>Femme Fatale</i> is a very deep rumination on the image of women in art, from the Madonna to Barbara Stanwyck in <i>Double Indemnity</i>.<br /><br />As for your list, Peckinpah is definitely misogynist (a big part of why I'm not huge on his movies), and Verhoeven I think is extremely facetious about it. He's just glibly and gleefully pandering to American audiences expectations of sex and violence. He's very critical of testosterone.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-18557227963360281382009-06-19T14:54:00.240-04:002009-06-19T14:54:00.240-04:00Pixar has whored itself out to sugar daddy Disney ...<i>Pixar has whored itself out to sugar daddy Disney and Up is the bastard child of clashing sensibilities.</i> ...<br /><br />Go get 'em, Ryan. But I've been sour on Pixar from, oh, about "Toy Story II"Rick Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04846018585978997261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-6704761163472100892009-06-18T15:31:43.916-04:002009-06-18T15:31:43.916-04:00Yikes. I must have thought that she felt, you know...Yikes. I must have thought that she felt, you know... TURNED ON by feeling invisible, lol. How naive of me.<br /><br />Don't worry. They just hate us because we worship De Palma, who, as they say, is the ultimate mysogynist. I'm probably more guilty than you are, of course, since I am also a Peckinpah/Milius/Verhoeven/Cameron mysgonynist...Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-42175695974300407862009-06-18T10:01:31.731-04:002009-06-18T10:01:31.731-04:00I don't know if they're taking a liking, A...I don't know if they're taking a liking, Adam. A blogger by the name of MaryAnn Johanson said I made her feel "invisible and dismissed" for a sarcastic remark I made about "girls blogging, too" in my piece entitled "Notes on the Blogaissance". Now, I thought it was quite obvious that was a joke, but Ms. Johanson decided to be reactionary and just lump me in with other, legitimately mysogynist statements. Which is down-right offensive and wrong.<br /><br />Not to mention, the piece (where she is calling out male-bloggers for sexism begins with the sentence "Men, bless their blindered little hearts, really, really don’t get it". I mean, I don't know if the irony was intentional, but there you have it.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-70489980132308904212009-06-17T22:33:37.460-04:002009-06-17T22:33:37.460-04:00All good points you have summed up. I'll get b...All good points you have summed up. I'll get back to them in a jiffy when I have time.<br /><br />Did you notice that feminist bloggers are taking a liking to your blog? Haha. Some 40-year old woman realized that she was among those who likes "Mission to Mars" and has been ridiculed for it!Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-1528733787859914932009-06-17T20:09:52.829-04:002009-06-17T20:09:52.829-04:00No need for apologies, Adam. You've stated you...No need for apologies, Adam. You've stated your position politely and eloquently and that's never anything to be sorry for.<br /><br />Belive me, I wish I could get behind Pixar. To me, <i>Toy Story</i> is a movie that is full of promise. And there have certainly been moments of greatness in their features (and as I said in the piece I absolutely adore their shorts, to me they get better and better). <br /><br />Bird is definitely the best thing the studio has going for them right now, I think. I really do like <i>The Incredibles</i>, but you can't deny that there is something elitist and somewhat snarky about that movie's world-view. I really didn't enjoy <i>Ratatouille</i> when I saw it in the theater, but it's also one that I've been inclined to revisit since I first watched it. So that says something right there.<br /><br />I'm not sure about the Spielberg thing, my friend. Look at the rich, multi-faceted portrayal of childhood in <i>E.T, Empire of the Sun</i> and <i>A.I.</i>. Compare this to the portrait of children in <i>Up</i>: as overweight, ignorant, and lazy. I didn't get any insights into Russell (I had to go to IMDb to look up the character's name, so much of the film has so much faded from my memory), he was just a tacked on side-kick there to make what were, to me, unfunny jokes. He was a mechanical device because the movie couldn't be specifically old man-centric. Again, Disney/Pixar has demographics to keep in mind.<br /><br />I tried to be fair and talk about the movie's good qualities, too. There is no doubt it has its moments. But, like <i>Wall-E</i>, it shifts gears abruptly and becomes formulaic. I just didn't see much invention here, I'm sorry to say.<br /><br />As for the Lampwick thing that makes perfect sense in the moral context of <i>Pinocchio</i>, a blatant Biblical allegory. <i>Pinocchio</i>, to me, has a moral center, while <i>Up</i> does not. <br /><br />If you could criticize the portrayal of human's in Disney's pictures, it's that they tend to lack personality because he makes them almost God-like. He overdid the eminence in some of his movies. In other words, the reverse of Pixar.<br /><br />I doubt that they're the 'masters' of modern animation very much. In fact, this is part of my problem with Pixar: general audiences pretty much don't accept anything but Pixar style films as animation, in the same way that Walt Disney monopolized animation when he first started. Unlike Pixar, though, Disney's first ten years are defined by non-stop aesthetic and formal invention. <br /><br />And I have a fondness for many of the films after Disney's death, but you can't deny on the whole they're kind of predictable and stale, especially in comparison with the older stuff. And yes, <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> is among the studio's best easily.Ryan Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18054550377681273142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-69942564573170394962009-06-17T16:40:27.051-04:002009-06-17T16:40:27.051-04:00One thing I will agree with you on: the 3-D fot th...One thing I will agree with you on: the 3-D fot the film was bad. I should have listened to Ebert's advice and gone to see the original film instead.<br /><br />Now, onto your main criticisms of Pixar.<br /><br />As I posted on your Facebook profile, Pixar's portrayal of children and adults is not unlike that of the original films in the 1940's. Remember Lampwick in "Pinocchio"? An annoying kid who smokes cigars, laughs at crickets and calls himself a "jackass". That sounds pretty crude for an animated kid in 1941, don't you think? But then Lampwick is punished for his sins by transforming into a hideous donkey, resulting in perhaps the most terrifying sequence ever captured in an animated film. THIS is why Disney has had a history of demonizing its children characters; so that it can be a lesson for all juvenile audiences not to follow their same fate. This is assuming that other kids have seen what I've seen, and it certainly made an impression on me. (that's a paraphrased movie quote, by the way!).<br /><br />Disney's villains, especially the adults, are always these snarky, long-nosed shadowy creatures like the one Christopher Plummer plays in "Up". Captain Hook, Stromboli, the Queen of Hearts, Cruella de Vil and the hag in "Snow White" are all these threatening, German-influenced monstrosities... in their own way, they're also likable as well! <br /><br />I was disappointd to hear you say that Disney has been burned out since the 60's. Though it is true that they have rarely shined bright in recent years, I'm surprised that you didn't mention at least one great film: "Beauty and the Beast". What a wonderful flick. The music, the voiceovers and the adaptation of the original story all resulted in this milestone. On the side, Disney also had a few small gems (like "The Brave Little Toaster" and "The Great Mouse Detective") although it is true that, by the late-90's, they began getting less artistic and more commercial.<br /><br />I'm not ashamed to confess my love for Pixar. They are the masters of modern animation. There's a reason why they keep winning the Oscar every year (or every other year): they release only one film a year that is perfected and carefully planned, unlike DreamWorks and Disney, which both prefer to release at least two or three of their stuff every year with no other ambitions other than to ensure that their audiences have something to do on a rainy day.<br /><br />You're right, Pixar isn't what it was back in 1995... because it has evolved into something more sophisticated!Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7569705696893575981.post-34231672685197350592009-06-17T16:40:08.805-04:002009-06-17T16:40:08.805-04:00I'm sorry Ryan but, as you might have predicte...I'm sorry Ryan but, as you might have predicted, I can't follow you on this one.<br /><br />Your growing distaste with Pixar over the years seems to have stemmed from a fundamental misreading of their work. Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter are all artists with unique visions not just in the animation world, but filmmaking in particular: Bird is brains, Stanton is wonder, Docter is heart.<br /><br />Bird's films evoke the pessimism of the French New Wave. They have social commentaries worthy of Godard and Truffaut. His camera shots are often lifted from B-Movies (he once said that a deleted scene in "Ratatouille" was inspired by the opening of "Touch of Evil") and, when it comes to humans on film, he definately takes the most interest. His portrayals of people are not always pretty, but I see nothing too offensive in his work. <br /><br />Stanton is more like a descendant of Kubrick and Spielberg. He's looking for that rare experience that is only witnessed once a dozen years. With "Finding Nemo", he pushed the graphic envelope (resulting in my favorite of Pixar's films) and with "WALL-E", he temporarily introduced silent cinema into modern animation.<br /><br />Docter has yet to make a masterpiece and has not quite reached the heights of Brad or Stanton (or Lasseter), but he's making progress. With "Monsters Inc." and "Up", he's definately the sentimentalist at Pixar, but the lack of cynicism in the projects he chooses is refreshing. It's good to have somebody daring to be Capra-esque in these tough economic times. <br /><br />When I saw "Up", I didn't see the "infantile" film that you did. I saw a film about an elderly man who was relentless in sticking to his goal, even though, deep down, it wasn't much of a goal at all. Then, when he realizes that what he needs more is compansionship, he shifts gears. I don't recall any "bodily fluids" jokes in the film; if there were, however, they were definately sporadic. The film is, yeah, pretty conventional, and I thought the ending was a bit anti-climatic (and the talking dogs didn't add much, either), but set all of that aside and what you have left is good stuff. "Up" is essentially a very pleasurable film about enjoying life after middle age, and I'm thankful that we aren't left with a feeling that Karl is going to be kicking the bucket anytime soon. He's got a good future ahead of him.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.com