pippin06
Posts 578
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6/18/2006 1:05 AM
posted awhile ago
CARS - THOUGHTS UPON VIEWING (NO SPOILERS)/PIXAR DOES IT AGAIN
I saw Cars tonight, a week late, but whatever. First, I should mention that I'm a Pixar geek. I love each and every Pixar movie. I love all of the little gimmicks and things that are trademarks to the franchise: the shorts that come before each movie, the logo, the voice talents, the imaginary worlds, the state of the art CGI animation, and the credit gags.
Still, I was less excited for Cars than, say, Finding Nemo or The Incredibles just because it was a movie all about, well, cars. I'm not a car fan, in general. Cars are necessary to drive, but I was leery of watching a movie about cars with personalities. I imagined a wide variety of puns were in my future and wasn't sure this film was going to live up to its predecessors.
I'm an avid reader of movie reviews. I like to get a wide spectrum of opinions from different types of viewers before I make a decision about seeing movies, except movies I really want to see. I read the review from the New York Times for Cars, which basically called this an emotionless dud. Have I mentioned that the Times reviewers are pretentious and snobby? Rarely do I agree with them, but yet masochistically, I always have to read the review to see if it will pass their muster.
This is one of those times I starkly disagree with the Times. Like every other Pixar movie, Cars was heartwarming and funny. Also, like every other Pixar movie, it was a surprisingly complex and textured little film that carried several themes and subtexts, which little kids will lose after distraction by the schticky characters, but which adults will find charming and important. Yes, so, cars are the main characters and live in a world of gassy puns. This movie, though, provided cheeky satire about NASCAR and car racing (and car racing fans); social commentary about American society's obsession with cars; tongue-in-cheek observations about relationships between the sexes (there is a funny take on the "men can't ask for directions" phenomenon); and a message about the consequences/byproducts of progress and about not losing sight of our local and national/historical treasures. It didn't make me laugh as much as Finding Nemo and is a bit formulaic, since the main character, race car Lightning McQueen, has to come to some self-realizations in the end like Woody/Buzz, Flik, Sully, Marlin, or Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible, but an emotionless dud it was not. I loved the film, and I think it's another triumph for Pixar.
Plus, the short that regularly accompanies the feature films was hysterical as always, and the credit gags were laugh-out-loud funny! I highly recommend this movie.
Anyone else want to comment?
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pippin06
Posts 578
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6/19/2006 12:08 AM
posted awhile ago
Re: CARS - THOUGHTS UPON VIEWING (NO SPOILERS)/PIXAR DOES IT AGAIN
Hey, I'm not a NASCAR fan either and avoid the fans whenever possible, but that's why the satire works so well; it's extremely funny because there are tongue in cheek things happening that appeal to those who hate racing too. Also, my take on the "grab at commercial and mainstream success" is that Pixar is ultimately a capitalist venture and is now fully enmeshed with Disney rather than merely distributed and/or sponsored by. And Disney, you know, is trying to take over the world (it's a battle between Disney, Microsoft, Starbucks, and Walmart). Still, I would encourage you to put faith in the studio and in the franchise. This isn't my favorite of the bunch (I still say that's Finding Nemo), but I don't think you should discount a movie on the basis of cross marketing... give it a chance. The credit gags alone are worth it.
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