ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

Recommended Posts

I think the idea is that they stopped operating and crumbled because all of the core memories that fed those islands ended up getting sucked out of headquarters along with Joy and Sadness. Then, when they eventually made it back and plugged her core memories back in, the same islands re-erected but were now fed from the newly modified "complex emotion" core memories. Had Joy and Sadness not made it back with those core memories, those islands would have been gone forever.

 

I think it worked okay as a metaphor because it reflected someone experiencing a "traumatic" moment and just completely shutting down emotionally and losing all interest in just about everything they care about. I know I've certainly been through periods of my life where I've experienced similar emotional shutdowns. But then in the movie Riley came around when she realized what path she was headed down and finally just allowed herself to feel sad about everything that had happened, accept it, and process it rather than trying to just forget it all and distance herself from everything and everyone she loved.

 

I've actually watched this movie a good number of times now since we got it for the kids so I'm tempted to go on a crazy deep dive about every little aspect but nah.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This all just reinforces my belief that the the central metaphors of this film are belabored and clunky as hell.

 

EDIT: But that isn't even my main problem with the film, so I get it that other people have really embraced this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with both of the above posters. I think Zeus is right with the analysis but I think that ultimately they didn't quite get the right balance with abstracting psychological processes. They leaned too hard on classic story principles and ended up reframing psychological ideas to fit the planned narrative, rather than the other way around.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with both of the above posters. I think Zeus is right with the analysis but I think that ultimately they didn't quite get the right balance with abstracting psychological processes. They leaned too hard on classic story principles and ended up reframing psychological ideas to fit the planned narrative, rather than the other way around.

 

I have definitely started to notice some of the flaws more with repeat viewings so I can see some of what you guys are saying but overall I still really like this one and think it is one of Pixar's best. As a movie made for and targeted to kids and as a parent with two kids myself, this one resonated very strongly with me in a lot of ways and I find it much easier to forgive the missteps here than in my most hated Pixar movie, Ratatouille (this movie got under my skin so badly).

 

I do kind of wonder what it would be like if Pixar actually made some movies targeted at adults. I can't help but feel that movies targeted at children generally have some bullshit fun stuff for the kids that lessens the experience for the adults (for example, the ridiculous scene at the end of Inside Out with all the imaginary boyfriends and the trampoline; that kind of stuff is just dumb gimmicky kid stuff that apparently has to be in every children's movie ever).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't mind whimsy so much (still think Up is one of the greatest movies of this century) I just hate corny humor. Which is an incredibly subjective distinction, I know. 

 

Actually my main problem with Inside Out is that Riley's story is so incredibly minor and dull. I basically think the movie would be a hundred times more interesting if it opened with them installing the puberty button. But that's just one of a thousand more interesting possibilities. Imagine a movie with this structure examining a child developing a mental disorder like depression or OCD. Imagine if it was about their parents getting divorced. Imagine if it was about a traumatic physical accident. Imagine if it was as simple as Riley just liking the same boy as her friend.

 

But I doubt any of this would appeal much to children. And while I initially assumed that this metacognative examination of emotional maturity wouldn't appeal to kids in the first place but I've heard a lot of stories about kids really loving this, and helping them process their emotional lives. If that's widespread then God bless Pixar for making this, even if I wasn't into it.

 

EDIT: Also I think Ratatouille is one of the three Pixar movies that are actually as good as people seem to think they all are.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, Up and Ratatouille are way near the bottom for me. I guess I should get around to seeing Inside Out then :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oooo, the Gnomist is finally available for full viewing online!  This is a short film I saw at a film festival over the summer, and was one of my favorite things I saw.  This was shot in Overland Park (suburb of Kansas City) and is just fantastic.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Also I think Ratatouille is one of the three Pixar movies that are actually as good as people seem to think they all are.

 

Wow, Up and Ratatouille are way near the bottom for me. I guess I should get around to seeing Inside Out then :D

Now I kind of want people to start listing all their Pixar bests and worsts, to see if the lists really are inverts of each other. I liked Inside Out, disliked Up and Ratatouille. Patrick, osmosisch, how do you feel about The Incredibles? I loved it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You should definitely see Inside Out because it's damn near universally beloved.

 

My ranking is:

1. Up

2. Ratatouille

3. Toy Story 2

 

Honorable Mention

The rest of them

 

Dishonorable Mention

The Cars ones

 

I haven't seen the Incredibles since my first viewing on DVD maybe ten years ago. I remember thinking the action scenes were surprisingly good. The Ayn Randian aspect of it (and most of Brad Bird's work) has been brought to my attention since and I don't know how cool I'd be with all that.

 

I should say that I generally cannot abide American animated films. "Children's film" often just feels like a euphemism for "bad sappy comedy that is animated", and that includes a lot of movies people seem to love like How to Train Your Dragon and the Kung-Fu Pandas. But of the Pixar films I've seen (I've avoided all Cars & Planes movies, as well as the Monster's Inc. sequel) there aren't any I've actively disliked. But I just think they are kinda good. It's only compared to the thirty truly dogshit animated films that come out every year that they seem at all remarkable.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A Bug's Life is the best Pixar film.

So much better than Antz!

Also it's opposite day.

 

I liked how 'low-stakes' and mundane the obstacles were in Inside Out, I think there is admirable restraint in showing that trauma can be caused by something as 'minor' as moving house.

 

On the other hand, one day i'd really like mass-market 'kid's films' to acknowledge how fucked up the life of an 11-year-old (or younger) can be, instead of reverting to generic themes about school and toys or whatever. Up came very close to doing that (with an old man character though), but I don't expect Pixar or anyone else to sacrifice mass appeal for more diverse representation any time soon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh man Patrick, we are like polar opposites on this stuff. Are you sure you aren't secretly my coworker that I argue about Pixar movies with on a daily basis?

My top picks are probably Inside Out, Wall-E, and Toy Story 3. My bottom picks are Ratatouille, Up, and at the way way bottom is Cars.

Which reminds me, I need to see that latest dinosaur one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe. Does he bring up how Toy Story 2 was already about accepting mortality, making the entirety of Toy Story 3 not just redundant but a betrayal when they have that fun little "Yay, they actually will live forever!" ending?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe. Does he bring up how Toy Story 2 was already about accepting mortality, making the entirety of Toy Story 3 not just redundant but a betrayal when they have that fun little "Yay, they actually will live forever!" ending?

We usually spend all of our Pixar debates focused exclusively on how terrible/great Ratatouille is. It's become a years long running joke at this point. I'll make sure we debate Toy Story tomorrow and get back to you.

I agree that Toy Story 3 is a retread of 2, I just think it does what 2 did a bit better with the toys having to actually deal with Andy being fully grown up. Those toys should have died in that fucking trash furnace though. Had that happened it might have made number one on the list for me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

UP, Ratatouille and The Incredibles are my top 3. I presume everyone's bottom 3 is the Cars trilogy so need to go into that.

 

I've always held Incredibles in high regard for how it functions as a family drama and a super hero movie. There are so many great scenes in that movie combining both. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Maybe if I get some free time next year I'll watch through them all again and start a big Pixar debate thread.

 

And Ratatouille is so gorgeous. A great middle finger to the Disney sequel machine that's made tragic in retrospect because Pixar eventually got sucked inside it. The only thing I don't like about it is that the Gustav monologue at the end is bullshit. Critics in every medium have shaped them in countless important ways, and bad reviews are only fun to write if you are an asshole who doesn't care about people.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And Ratatouille is so gorgeous. A great middle finger to the Disney sequel machine that's made tragic in retrospect because Pixar eventually got sucked inside it. The only thing I don't like about it is that the Gustav monologue at the end is bullshit. Critics in every medium have shaped them in countless important ways, and bad reviews are only fun to write if you are an asshole who doesn't care about people.

 

So. Hard. Not. To. Argue...

 

I disagree. I think Ratatouille went way too overboard with the dumb goofy shit that plagues almost every other kids movie. Granny blowing her house apart with a shotgun to get a single measly rat? Check. A dude that can have all of his extremities controlled perfectly by a rat pulling on different parts of his hair? Check. A cringeworthy romance? Check. It was just too all over the place with that kind of stuff for me.

 

Copy and paste these same complaints to Up. I really wished they didn't manufacture that dumb conflict with the talking dogs and the crazed old dude. If the whole movie would have been just him flying around in his house seeing beautiful sights and bonding with that kid in some low key way, it would have been perfect. But I guess you can't have a story if you don't have some conflict to drive it along.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yo I love cartoons and goofy shit so y'all be clownin', as far as I'm concerned.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I like the concept of "A dude that can have all of his extremities controlled perfectly by a rat pulling on different parts of his hair" being "dumb goofy shit that plagues almost every other kids movie". Like, a world where THAT is a cliche, where every Madagascar and Ice Age movie has scenes of rats controlling men via follicles...that's a world I'd like to live in. That's a world worth being proud of.

 

Again, I acknowledge the line between "whimsical" and "corny" is a subjective one. But personally I think both Up and Ratatouille land way way way on the side of whimsical.

 

Meanwhile in Monster's Inc. INSTEAD OF A WALK AND DON'T WALK SIGN IT SAYS STALK AND DON'T STALK DO YOU GET IT, POO-POO PLATTER DO YOU GET IT.

ODORANT. ODORANT.

 

WHAT FUN.
 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

worst Pixar film is that one about the singing islands

 

best Pixar film is the one about the birds on the telegraph wire

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Presto is still my favorite short but on the other hand, "lava" sounds a lot like "love" with the right accent, so good on Pixar for recognizing that and then only doing that for an entire short.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My two favourites are Toy Story and The Incredibles, with Wall-E and Inside Out as runners up. I'm not a big fan of any of the others, though they're mostly fine. I was actively pissed off at Toy Story 3 (and to a lesser extent 2), though - I don't want to watch those characters accept their impending death or listen to a soppy ballad about getting abandoned by their owner. If Pixar want to make adult dramas they shouldn't crowbar them into sequels to a light, fun movie.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My rankings would be something like

1) Incredibles

--- some space ---

2) Finding Nemo

3) Monsters Inc

 

The Incredibles is the only Pixar I completely enjoyed so far. Ratatouille is ridiculous and creepy (yes rat, please make me kiss the girl, I mean what), Toy Story was so boring I never bothered to see 2.

 

I was moderately positive on Wall-E until the credits film of everyone just planting over the ruined earth pissed me off, like that could ever work. But I guess they painted themselves into that corner.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was moderately positive on Wall-E until the credits film of everyone just planting over the ruined earth pissed me off, like that could ever work. But I guess they painted themselves into that corner.

 

It was disappointing that the ending couldn't just be "It's better to try a desperate, maybe hopeless attempt than give up", instead it had to be that as soon as they put in effort the whole world was reborn.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now