Pixar and Dreamworks films discussions

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

Monster's Inc - A funny flick, sure but why only human screams and laughter? Monsters laugh and scream, soundwaves are soundwaves. Why the myth of humans being monsters to the monsters? It doesn't make them more effective at scaring them. How did the monsters get to the technological level or being able to create the doors without having humans to generate the power? Where does an monster in Nepal get lemons for lemonade? It was urine, I'm telling you. Worlds collide part 2, humans/monsters.

I think you're going out on a limb complaining that Monsters Inc--a movie that is basically about a blue chewbacca and an eyeball with legs--is not realistic enough.

A better way to describe Cars would be to call it what it is; Doc Hollywood with cars instead of Michael J Fox and that hot chick.

ubrakto wrote:
Thin_J wrote:
Eezy_Bordone wrote:

Wall-E - Haven't seen it, think it's funny people ban the flick because it makes fun of fat people. Psst, we're Americans and thus generally fat.

It doesn't make fun of fat people, at least not that I saw.

It makes fun of a society that promotes complete laziness.

This hits one of the areas where I think the film undeservedly gets a bad wrap from a handful of critics that somehow are missing the point. I mean like the movie or hate the movie, that's entirely subjective, but it simply doesn't make fun of fat people. I mean yeah, there's the bone loss thing, but really the humans in that movie are heroes. They're the generation that had the courage to cast aside the only life they've known, the only life humanity has known for generations, and return to a still decimated Earth and do the work to restore it. It's a pro-humanity movie even if it relies on robot protagonists to show the way. /soapbox.

I definitely agree, if anything the humans are too heroic. It takes only the slightest outside influence to turn them into chubby clones of Aragorn.

But I really think that people read too deeply into the messages of Pixar's movies. While they do have messages they are like the moral of a cartoon like Bravestarr, shallow and there to justify the action, not the driving force of the narrative.

AnimeJ wrote:

A better way to describe Cars would be to call it what it is; Doc Hollywood with cars instead of Michael J Fox and that hot chick.

I hadn't thought of it that way before. Awesome.

BadKen wrote:

I think you're going out on a limb complaining that Monsters Inc--a movie that is basically about a blue chewbacca and an eyeball with legs--is not realistic enough.

I'm not saying realistic, I don't expect it to be realistic but it's not true to its own universe. The only reason for the monsters to think humans are the monsters is for laughs. If you were working somewhere wouldn't you want to know the REAL things that could kill you vs the ones that wouldn't?

As for the Wall-E fat people thing, again I haven't seen it, I just think its funny that people will start protests over their perceived slights. It's like the guy in Seattle who called the snow plows not using salt "Katrina-like in its irresponsibility". Last time I checked no one died last week because their roads didn't get plowed.

Also Pixar loves the word Butte.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:
AnimeJ wrote:

A better way to describe Cars would be to call it what it is; Doc Hollywood with cars instead of Michael J Fox and that hot chick.

I hadn't thought of it that way before. Awesome.

Crazy. Doc Hollywood was the first thing that sprang to mind when I saw the trailers.

My son is four and still Cars is his favorite movie. We were happy when they announced that Cars 2 will be in the theaters in 2011 and not 2012. I also hear that Toy Story 3 will be spectacular, inside source.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

I definitely agree, if anything the humans are too heroic. It takes only the slightest outside influence to turn them into chubby clones of Aragorn. ;)

I took that as a message of hope, urging me not to count drive-thru suburbanites as entirely lost.

EyeDoc wrote:

My son is four and still Cars is his favorite movie. We were happy when they announced that Cars 2 will be in the theaters in 2011 and not 2012. I also hear that Toy Story 3 will be spectacular, inside source.

Expect to see WAY more CarsToons in the near future. (For those not aware, they are the short 3-4 minute cartoons currently featuring "Mater's Tall Tales") Also, inside sources agree that Toy Story 3 is looking VERY good. Inside sources also tell that Toy Story 1&2 are having trouble being converted to the new 3d projection technology because the new technology doesn't mix that well with old assets. Furthermore, inside sources told a funny story about Cars: When Lasseter took a vacation, the other directors took out the "love story" angle which made the movie a little more "zippy". When he returned, he put it all back in.

My son likes Cars quite a bit. Kung Fu Panda is quickly catching up with that, though.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

The only reason for the monsters to think humans are the monsters is for laughs. If you were working somewhere wouldn't you want to know the REAL things that could kill you vs the ones that wouldn't?

Don't they think humans are monsters because that's a lie propagated by the power company to instill fear so it can maintain a monopoly?

EyeDoc wrote:

I also hear that Toy Story 3 will be spectacular, inside source.

Sephirotic wrote:

Also, inside sources agree that Toy Story 3 is looking VERY good. Inside sources also tell that Toy Story 1&2 are having trouble being converted to the new 3d projection technology because the new technology doesn't mix that well with old assets.

Who are these inside sources exactly, and can I get their emails?

LiquidMantis wrote:
Eezy_Bordone wrote:

The only reason for the monsters to think humans are the monsters is for laughs. If you were working somewhere wouldn't you want to know the REAL things that could kill you vs the ones that wouldn't?

Don't they think humans are monsters because that's a lie propagated by the power company to instill fear so it can maintain a monopoly?

I don't think they think they're monsters, per se, but they think they're contaminated with some sort of weapons-grade cooties. It's a very kid thing.

Arise thread!

Is it just me, or did anyone else think, when seeing desolate landscapes, trigger-happy robots, cockroaches, and hearing Louis Armstrong, of Fallout?

Hahahhaha. I hadn't thought of Fallout but now that you mention it....

So who's excited to see up? I know it hasn't recieved many promos, but it probably will in the month or so.

What about Monsters vs. Aliens? I know that's not a Pixar film, but I'll alter the thread title so we can just talk about all CGI films.... Anyway... It looks like it's going to be funny.

Rat Boy wrote:

Arise thread!

Is it just me, or did anyone else think, when seeing desolate landscapes, trigger-happy robots, cockroaches, and hearing Louis Armstrong, of Fallout?

Oh yes. I was hoping WALL-E would scrounge me up some extra stimpacks!

Actually, I think Wall-E is a cannibal.

Eezy_Bordone wrote:

Actually, I think Wall-E is a cannibal.

Well, he does wear the body parts of his fallen brothers. It is kind of weird.

Rat Boy wrote:

Arise thread!

Is it just me, or did anyone else think, when seeing desolate landscapes, trigger-happy robots, cockroaches, and hearing Louis Armstrong, of Fallout?

Yes. I wondered if it was an intentional homage, and was supposed to give the scene a slightly sinister edge -- but then I remembered not everyone is as dorkalicious as me.

KaterinLHC wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Arise thread!

Is it just me, or did anyone else think, when seeing desolate landscapes, trigger-happy robots, cockroaches, and hearing Louis Armstrong, of Fallout?

Yes. I wondered if it was an intentional homage, and was supposed to give the scene a slightly sinister edge -- but then I remembered not everyone is as dorkalicious as me. :)

Authorial intent be damned. I call allusion!

Who saw Monsters vs Aliens? What'd you think of it?

MvA was pretty good. Lots of good jokes ("Axel F" FTW), Colbert had some funny lines, as did Paul Rudd as the fiance. BOB and the Missing Link didn't really gel for me as characters. The arc of Susan was well handled though, and Kiefer Sutherland was great. Overall, I didn't find it as strong as Kung Fu Panda (which I rate equivalent with the best that Pixar have produced), but my son and I liked it

Kung-Fu Panda was definitely the best that Dreamworks has ever done. I liked MvA, but not as much as Panda.

Dominic Knight wrote:

Who saw Monsters vs Aliens? What'd you think of it?

I want to, but have no desire to see it in 3D and there hasn't been a single regular showing of the movie in local theaters except on saturday afternoons, when I'm at work. I've checked theater listings several times over the last few weeks for my days off and it's always 3D.

It's a bummer, cause I really really liked Kung Fu Panda. I guess I'll wait to rent it on Blu-Ray.

Thin_J wrote:

I want to, but have no desire to see it in 3D and there hasn't been a single regular showing of the movie in local theaters except on saturday afternoons, when I'm at work. I've checked theater listings several times over the last few weeks for my days off and it's always 3D.

It's a bummer, cause I really really liked Kung Fu Panda. I guess I'll wait to rent it on Blu-Ray.

That's definitely not fair. I know at the theatre around here, they have seperate theatres for the 3D and regular.

Do you get sick seeing it in 3D? I know I do, but somehow managed to make it through this movie in 3D.

I saw MvA in 3D Imax.

It was a perfectly acceptable, but utterly mediocre kids film.

However, what made it ifinitely more enjoyable was my wife was sqealing and jumping out of her seat every time there was a 'flying-out-into-your-face' 3D bit. See, she has a monocoluar vision condition, so the only time she ever sees in 3D is during films that use the polarised-lens 3D (the red and blue glasses don't work for her).

The only Pixar films I've seen are Cars (with my nephew about 50 times) and Ratatouille on a plane.

Cars isn't bad, but I genuinely enjoyed Ratatouille, and I thought it was really well made/written.

Lard wrote:

The only Pixar films I've seen are Cars (with my nephew about 50 times) and Ratatouille on a plane.

Cars isn't bad, but I genuinely enjoyed Ratatouille, and I thought it was really well made/written.

The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. are must see movies.

mrwynd wrote:
Lard wrote:

The only Pixar films I've seen are Cars (with my nephew about 50 times) and Ratatouille on a plane.

Cars isn't bad, but I genuinely enjoyed Ratatouille, and I thought it was really well made/written.

The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. are must see movies.

And Finding Nemo. And Wall•E.

Well, pretty much anything but Cars, which I didn't much care for.

But definitely see Nemo — it's got a great script.

I would say that "A Bug's Life" is my least favorite Pixar movie. It is fine but it doesn't really stand up (for me) on repeated viewings.

lostlobster wrote:
mrwynd wrote:
Lard wrote:

The only Pixar films I've seen are Cars (with my nephew about 50 times) and Ratatouille on a plane.

Cars isn't bad, but I genuinely enjoyed Ratatouille, and I thought it was really well made/written.

The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. are must see movies.

And Finding Nemo. And Wall•E.

Well, pretty much anything but Cars, which I didn't much care for.

But definitely see Nemo — it's got a great script.

I agree. And Toy Story. You have to at least see the first one. The second one is alright.

Finding Nemo and Wall•E are definites.

Who's going to go see UP?

I can't wait for Up.