Next batch of Pixar films after the Monsters Inc. prequel

Damn, if it was a little boy we could call it HERMAN RISING.

are they still doing a day of the dead movie now that Book of Life got a jump on them?

huh.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/inside-0/review/796483

Barely gave that a skim, because I want to be surprised, but weird that they let that review out so early. Or not, given that Pixar has been so shaky lately.

I don't think I have time for this tbh. Really hope they manage to pull the dinosaur movie back together.

― how's life, Thursday, October 2, 2014 2:19 PM (8 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Eating my words. This was great. Cried a bunch, and I was not alone in that. Loads of laughs too. Very engaging; the first movie that my youngest kid has sat through without a bathroom break.

I still agree with myself that the idea looks dumb. My family had to pretty much drag me in there. The opening short "Lava" was stultifying.

The preview just looks SO bad and explicitly sexist. Can you convince me a little?

The preview bit with the mother and father (that also really turned me off) is not indicative of 95% of the film. I really liked it. Though I wouldn't put it up there with their absolute best material, I still cried like a goddamn baby at a certain point, so I have to say it's very good.

I went back and re-watched all of the trailers right now and they still don't make it look like something I'd want to go see, even though I've seen it and loved it. The movie has a pretty complicated world and the trailers spend more time trying to explain and make sense of it than making it look appealing.

this is going to be our first cinema trip since having the baby

There are no bears in San Francisco.

NYTimes stinger:

“Inside Out” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Young children may be mildly alarmed in places, especially at the sight of their parents weeping through the last 20 minutes.

doyy

there's no ilx presence at all for big hero 6, how odd

I thought it was pretty underwhelming, though it looked great.

The short film before the main feature was treacle worthy of enhanced interrogation technique; it looked great though. As for IO, it was rare for a movie -- any movie -- to suggest that happiness and sadness are essential components for a full life.

Man, some friends on Facebook yesterday were saying Lava was alright, but then others shared opinions more in line with this thread. It was then that I realized the people who liked it were those with kids who have to watch Dora the Explorer every day.

It's the sub-Stephen Merritt ukelele strummer that wrecks the thing. Like I said, conceptually and visually it's a coup.

NYTimes stinger: _“Inside Out” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Young children may be mildly alarmed in places, especially at the sight of their parents weeping through the last 20 minutes._

--Josh in Chicago

Completely accurate.

Only redeeming quality for me was that the islands were ostensibly Hawaiians and were portrayed by Hawaiian voice actors. I'd bet that Kuana Torres Kahele did his own strumming, sub-Stephen Merritt or no.

Interesting that Disney's used Hawaii as a setting before and is apparently doing Hawaii again in the very near future.

LOVED this

Movie was great (my son I think liked it a touch less than his parent's did).

LAVA song totally infectious schmaltz.

So excited to see this with my girls when the older one comes back from camp.

Get ready for the tears

there's no ilx presence at all for big hero 6, how odd

big hero 6 was okay, just a bit over calculated

AiSF otm about the lava song

BIG HERO 6 was a big hit with my kid and while it's imminently watchable for adults, I do agree that it's extremely lightweight. Pixar is so far ahead of what anyone else is doing (while okay except for the Fantastic Mr Fox) it's almost unfair to compare.

i will likely now see this movie due solely to this thread so score one for you
preview is just so so bad

there's no ilx presence at all for big hero 6, how odd

― ♛ LIL UNIT ♛ (thomp), Sunday, 21 June 2015 13:50 (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I thought it was pretty underwhelming, though it looked great.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 21 June 2015 14:10 (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah. also didn't follow through on any of the flagged endings afaicr

Lava short reminded me of a Pixar parody concept a friend had -- its exact inverse -- about a lonely man living in his Igloo, until one day he chips enough ice away to see that there's a more competent girl in an Igloo next door. And he wants to join their Igloos.

this was so good

Amazing movie. Pop Culture Happy Hour folks pointed out that it's a movie with no villain, which is unique, especially for a movie for kids. I cried through much of it - probably the most draining movie I've ever seen (but i only recently became a total softie).

OTOH, Lava was lame. Usually they showcase some new animation trick with their shorts, but I didn't see anything like that. And the song and "story" were completely flimsy.

And the kids loved it too! I think the name/marketing campaign really blew it for this movie.

yeah the marketing on this has been terrible but imo it's the strongest complete Pixar offering since ratatouille. The gender stereotype stuff falls with a wet splat and there's some meandering in the second act but tremendous performances and the emotional beats are all direct hits. Not a dry eye in the house by the end and it's well earned.

Pop Culture Happy Hour folks pointed out that it's a movie with no villain, which is unique, especially for a movie for kids.

Totoro

Kiki's Delivery Service too - even Ghibli films with an antagonist don't tend to have a villain.

Yeah, I'm really glad that Inside Out had no villain, since it's something you don't usually see in a lot of childrens films. Alot of Pixar movies tend to do the thing where a character befriends the leads, and then turns out to have sinister motives and betray them, and I respect Pixar for not returning to that well.

i saw lava last year and yeah, way insipid. nothing wrong with kt kahele (tho "ukulele sucks because indie rock" is one of my favorite ilm looks) but i never wanna see another love-powered resurrection. it's like being dramatically punkd.

maria and cyrus went to inside out the other night and i totally didn't go because of the trailer! bad trailer! oh well. i could still go i guess. rufus hasn't seen it...

you would get a kick out of it i think, scott, it's super satisfying as just a really long, funny index of thought patterns

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of-the-pixar-universe

god, brody is insufferable

old school trolling

In lieu of the mysteries and wonders of life, instead of big dreams and big fears, in place of the cosmic sense of childhood infinity that Terrence Malick thrillingly got at in “The Tree of Life” (the best movie about a child’s inner life that I’ve ever seen),

I had no idea TTOL was a Pixar cartoon!

Brody is good sometimes, but this is definitely example of one of his worst tendencies: walking in with rigid, somewhat bizarre pre-conceived notions (in this case about the emotional lives of children) and then tearing a movie to pieces because it offers a different perspective.

I kind of would love to see him direct a response film based on the ideas in his column

seeing this tomorrow. one person I know said it was the only pixar movie in years he didn't cry at; seems completely at odds with what everyone else's experience has been. but he is kind of a drunk and young.

I don't cry at movies, still liked it.

I liked it ok, "didja have to tell kids their imaginary friends will die someday?" is pretty mild as far as my kid movie grumbles go. I'm not sure kids enjoy whimsical self-analysis and metaphors about the need to accept pain as much adults do - already heard about a three year old who thinks the movie is about a robot "because she had people in her brain!" But I was entertained.

Hated lava, though - what an expensive video for such a shitty song

I didn't understand the world of Cars at all. Is this supposed to be a world where humans don't exist, and automobiles exist in their place? Why are the horseflies little trucks? Pixar is typically very good at presenting a thought-out logic to the relationships between objects (toys) or just non-humans (rats) and human world, but Cars didn't have any of that. Also, the plot was basically Doc Hollywood. I don't remember why I watched Cars 2, but it seemed to just double down on the Larry the Cable Guy character's bumbling idiocy, which I didn't find charming the first time around. Also, one of the worst end-credits songs in cinematic history.

I liked the antique-store setting of Toy Story 4 and I thought the film displayed more visual inventiveness than I would have expected from the series at this point. I totally get why people might think this series has run its course, though.

The rules of the afterlife in Soul were far too complicated--a peeve of mine likely acquired from having watched a lot of similarly convoluted afterlife-fantasies like Made in Heaven,Chances Are, and Heart and Souls when I was younger. It looked and sounded great, though; I appreciated that it took some visual inspiration (at least) from A Matter of Life and Death.

Read upthread for all of the stuff that pissed me off about Soul

I think saying boy bands weren’t cool anymore and about to split up may be missing the point of what a 13 year old girl likes or cares about in this fictional band who haven’t yet split to get sexy with the neptunes. Not everything has to be more music historian nerds. Same goes with the idea that a kid may play with a toy beyond its initial year of being massive.

Turning Red was great. It was hilarious and it’s really refreshing to see a take on becoming a teenager where the character stayed true to her spirit. Not the best Pixar movie but still has so much to enjoy.

I've only just seen Onwards. My 8yo was loving it but clearly felt the end was frustrating (a while afterwards I found him crying and he said it was a stupid film that they never should've made). Would be interested in other kids' reactions... I enjoyed it more than I expected, but can see how the "promise" dangled throughout the whole movie being whipped away might be clever but didn't really land with my kid.

(Plus I feel slight >:( that Ian realised he had someone for all that stuff all along... and the mother gets zero credit for bringing up two kids solo while grieving but it looks like I'm the only person who thinks that's worth mentioning....)

ONWARD, not Onwards!

Pixar should focus on making actual good movies for the children instead of focusing on proselytism

stop posting

look i know we’re all transfixed by barbenheimermania but not nearly enough people are talking about the fact that elemental features two shots showcasing unambiguous visual references to goatse

that's because you're the only person who saw Elemental

and now i can’t unsee it

I hadn't even heard of the latest, which apparently flopped harder than any other Pixar film. $21 million?

Maybe more than that by now, but not much more. Anyway, never so much as seen a one sheet for it, let alone a trailer. No wonder it flopped.

idk i saw quite a few tv ads and youtube ads for it
it just didnt look very good

It did not review very well fwiw

And I saw a trailer, with the lead line of "Best Pixar original since Coco" which really doesn't advertise a great track record lol

It’s odd when one of these mega movies comes out and *crickets*

The family and I went to the movies a while back and saw that Disney movie Strange World. It was good! None of us had heard about it beforehand, we just wanted to watch a cartoon. Heard nothing about it afterwards except it was a bomb.

I

Strange World deserved better, it was fun

People seem to say about a lot of these under-performers. Strange World, Elemental, Luca ...

I think this one actually got generally good reviews, so it sounds like a failure of marketing as much as anything else (supposedly the various teasers and trailers have had significantly different tones). Or maybe it's just that everyone knows that every Disney movie will quickly make its way to Disney+.

Got an A on CinemaScore and A+ from kids so may have the legs to pick up in time.

feels like the days of massive pixar blockbusters is over, to me. I know there were issues making this one; director stepped down or was fired and was replaced with like, three directors. Even in the bay area billboards for this one were scant.

Didn't Inside Out 2 make a bazillion dollars just last year?

It did! But, you know, franchise, already established, etc.

Whereas before it could be 'the latest Pixar film' and it would likely be immediately huge. The franchise issue was long ago established but whether it's the pandemic or things not clicking or whatever, we're in a different spot here.

That's a difference for sure. But of course "Lightyear" flopped, and that was a franchise film. And of course we've talked about Disney proper vs Pixar, or if it really matters. Like, "Strange World" above, that was original and Disney proper: flop. "Wish" was original and Disney proper: flop. But "Encanto" was just a few years ago, and it was original and huge. Then "Moana 2," sequel and huge. Maybe like MCU they just need to start spreading them out more a bit? Maybe they need to lure back Lin-Manuel from his other duties and distractions? "Toy Story 5" will likely be huge, "Zootopia 2" likewise, they should put some wind back in the sails/sales.

Saw Elio yesterday, it was good! In parts it approached great!

Sort of what I suspected. A lot of these movies aren't flopping because they're bad, they're flopping because the studio is incompetent, or at least hampered by incoherent marketing strategies

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/elio-pixar-america-ferrera-director-queer-2-1236301860/

The url led me to believe that America Ferrara was in a movie called “Queer 2”

Saw a preview of HOPPERS yesterday. It's been advertised as a Zootopia-adjacent funny animal comedy, and that's certainly why my six-year-old has been begging to see it for weeks, but... get this, it's actually a pretty dark fantasy about death and loss -- AND WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED??? I dunno - maybe ME, based on how that sums up EVERY SINGLE PIXAR MOVIE EVER, but hey ho.

Anyway, it's very good, we managed to time my kid's toilet breaks at the most traumatic bits, but GOOD LORD there's a sequence during the climax that probably rivals the end of Superman III for WHY IS THIS IN A KIDS FILM-level uncanny horror.

On the Pixar scale, I liked it better than SOUL (which was very good) but it's no COCO. It has one character that might be my favourite Pixar character ever. The central dilemma - can everybody get along, or are some people just inherently bad? - seems, er, resonant. But it rather rushes to get through the setup, and then rushes to get to the plotty climax, and forgets to spend enough time just hanging and doing nothing in the middle, so we can get to know the characters.

Still - it's one of the good ones.