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edarsenal's Avatar
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-25-17
Incredibles is easily in the Top #5 for me, if not #3 if I sat down and sorted it out.
This is one that really was for the adults that got dragged to it by their kids.
Being stuck in a lifeless job and those little aggravations of normal life, never mind the great way they showed family life. And yes, the villain being a former/embittered fanboy was some great writing. And that they HAD a fanboy voicing him was perfect.
"IncrediBOY!"
"I'm not affiliated with you!"



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-25-17
went back and read the Toy Stories and Bug's Life.
Been AGES since seeing the Toy Stories and really enjoyed them and I do agree, it ain't easy to do a follow up to a great movie but they were able to with Toy Story 2
Bug's Life is another favorite and I think, besides the humor and the great voice actors in this (Leary as a Ladybug?!? Frickin BRILLIANT) was that it didn't necessarily yank at the emotional strings as would become a staple for Pixar movies. It was just fun and funny and I love it for it.
Oh, and now that I have an idea of your age, MM, I gotta say, always thought you were older. And I say that as a compliment. Of course, I may start calling you "Junior" with a Sean Connery accent from when he was in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. LOL



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Friendo.
09-26-17
Thanks for all the comments, ed!!! I can't thank you enough!

Originally Posted by edarsenal
Oh, and now that I have an idea of your age, MM, I gotta say, always thought you were older. And I say that as a compliment. Of course, I may start calling you "Junior" with a Sean Connery accent from when he was in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. LOL
Hehe yeah, a lot of people say that. and I love to hear it!

But seriously though, that's why my profile doesn't state my age. I like that people just talk to me and get to know me and my taste and knowledge through the way I write and act around here and my reviews too of course... I don't hide who I am though and a lot of people here know my age, but I just do it because I don't think age matters and this forum and other forums prove it.

I was talking to dadgumblah about this and how forums are so great because we are all just avatars and usernames... only our writing is truly us. So that's how we connect, through words and love for the same things in this case movies.

So yeah, I like that we are all just at the same level and I'm not judged for my age. I know most will say "but we don't" yet I'm sure most still act slightly differently when it comes to the age or gender of the person they talk to, especially in real life. So not putting that on display helps the conversion and equality here I think.

But indeed, as I said, I don't exactly hide it; I merely make it a thing not relevant to the discussions and interactions. If I really wanted to hide it I wouldn't talk about childhood favourites or favourite movies from the year I was born and so on.


But sure, I'd love to be Harrison Ford in his golden age. And having Sean Connery as a dad isn't half bad either!



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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-26-17
excellent points and very true,especially about having WHAT we say really matter.
We all do connect at some level regarding a closeness or distance of age and/or gender; it will happen and that's a good thing.
I do know that for a number of people of here that, when I find out how young they are that adds to the appreciation and respect I already had for the knowledge and spectrum of love for movies they have and express.
And I'm gonna be happy to find fellow old farts and enjoy the shambles down incoherent memory lane.
So, it's all a win-win for me.

And yeah, having Sean Connery for a dad! How f@ckin cool THAT be!?



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Friendo.
09-26-17
i n t r o d u c i n g

r e v i e w s
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2006
Cars
"Pixar theme" #7



I recall watching this way back in the day, right about when it came out I think, and I remember mostly enjoying it. But it didn’t take more than another ride through the drive-through before I realized that this wasn’t quite like the other Pixar’s… It felt a bit dull, tedious, over-long and under-aimed compared to the other catalogue titles. Apart from the simpler humor and approach, the animation was also oddly cartoonish and the characters awfully abrupt. Looking past the often impressive animation, ‘Cars’ occasionally felt like a direct-to-cable TV-movie, made for the Disney Channel, and not a feature length theater experience extending the already impressive Pixar catalogue…

Sure, beautifully executed minimalism in animation and simplicity in story can often be a good thing, but in the case of ‘Cars’, the story structure, especially, is an engine fail, bumping away on fumes with a visually unappealing look, despite of the up-to-date animation, which does look beautiful at times. The reflection in the cars and the color rendering, for example, is quite impressive. But in terms of the minimalistic approach, ‘Cars’ isn’t laps apart from the competition, which Pixar usually was when it came to animated movies. But, say, ‘Wall-E’ for one, is a prime example of simplicity done to perfection – both in terms of the dialogue-less opening and the characters of WALL-E and especially EVE, which worked both emotionally and the way that they evolved over time.

‘Cars’ does have some decent themes and morals, but I don’t think they explored them well enough – at least not in the best way – and for marking the 20th anniversary for the studio and being the longest Pixar film to date, it really didn’t say much.
A lot of people think this film is a winner worthy of its own Piston Cup, but I used to think it pissed on us as an audience, because of how they seemed to have dumbed down themselves from the great heights of previous efforts. That said, this rewatch was a smoother ride, though still so smooth it is like a lullaby at times.

As referred to earlier, the characters are perhaps the weakest of any Pixar movie made up until then; mostly consisting of clichés, going on stereotypical for what they are supposed to represent; there is the hippie, the hillbilly, the elderly, the Italian and the Mexican, who all annoyed me or even offended me to some extent. I never ever get “offended”, per say, about a stereotypical portrayal of person because it can still be funny and especially in animation it is an easy win for some slapstick humor or something like that. But ‘Cars’ completely crashed and burned with their approach and it almost seems as if they kind of realized how bad an idea it was to make all the characters freaking automobiles – even the flies in the air! – that they had to turn to overblown stereotypes to get some (forced) variation and recognition into their film… but I wasn’t taken by it. I wasn’t just sitting there like, “Ohhh I know what they are referring to here! How funny!” It was forced, uninventive and even stupid. It felt so pathetic, especially when “topped it off” by doing bad car references. Offended might be the wrong word to use here, but I guess the word can mean many things in relation to this so I will just leave it at that.

What works in the film is the opening and the closing segments, which involves an intense and important race and introduction of our characters and who Lightening McQueen is as a person… eh, car. A selfish, big-timer, who doesn’t appreciate the help or support he gets and only wants what is best for himself – something that comes back to bite him once he gets to Radiator Springs. Some segments work here, like when he has to do and re-do the road, the race against Doc and overall everything involving Doc. But there is a lot of dead spots here and to no surprise Mater voiced by Larry the Cable Guy is tiring and annoying. One of the worst comic relief characters ever created by Disney/Pixar. Then the film was saved once again by a conclusion of McQueen’s story arc and some closure to the town, as well as another intense race that changes McQueen for the better. Also, if anything, the beautifully rendered animation and another killer audio track makes this a passable experience…

+
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Women will be your undoing, Pépé
09-26-17
did not like Cars and consider it the bottom of the heap and you did a great rendition of why. Bravo.
Cars came off as an obligatory contract film and it only dulls to a rust when compared to the many gems of Pixar.



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MoFo's Resident Bitch
09-26-17
I actually adore Cars. Despite its less than stellar reputation, it's among my favorite Pixars and favorite movies in general. It doesn't have the same depth as some of their other films (it's still miles better than Brave, though) but I still find it incredibly charming and endearing.

Glad to see that you don't hate it at least, MM.



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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
09-27-17
It took me a couple of watches to warm up to Pixar's Cars, but after 2 or 3 watches, it became one of my favorite Pixar movies.

I think part of the problem was the voice cast. Pixar usually does a great job casting their movies, but I think they dropped the ball a bit on Cars because there were no real "standout" performances. However in fairness, I was never a fan of Larry the Cable Guy, but I liked him as Mater.
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Friendo.
09-27-17
Originally Posted by edarsenal
did not like Cars and consider it the bottom of the heap and you did a great rendition of why. Bravo.
Cars came off as an obligatory contract film and it only dulls to a rust when compared to the many gems of Pixar.
Yeah, I used to like it even less and my original review was way more harsh. This time I didn't feel as much hate towards it... I used to give it


Originally Posted by Miss Vicky
I actually adore Cars. Despite its less than stellar reputation, it's among my favorite Pixars and favorite movies in general. It doesn't have the same depth as some of their other films (it's still miles better than Brave, though) but I still find it incredibly charming and endearing.

Glad to see that you don't hate it at least, MM.
I remember liking Brave more than the masses, but let's see when I get to the rewatch...

But yeah, I enjoyed Cars more this time.

Originally Posted by gbgoodies
It took me a couple of watches to warm up to Pixar's Cars, but after 2 or 3 watches, it became one of my favorite Pixar movies.

I think part of the problem was the voice cast. Pixar usually does a great job casting their movies, but I think they dropped the ball a bit on Cars because there were no real "standout" performances. However in fairness, I was never a fan of Larry the Cable Guy, but I liked him as Mater.
I do think Larry the Cable Guy is perfect as Mater. His timing and delivery is spot on and he does perfectly... but it's the character I don't like. His jokes, his behaviour, his stupidity. But the character is played how it should be I guess.

Yeah, the only standout performance for me was Jeremy Clarkson.



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Friendo.
09-27-17
Intermission

The point of this thread was to rewrite, not repost, older reviews. And you know me, I take that very literally... So most reviews here are either brand new or almost non-comparable to its older counterpart. Here's what we got so far...


Toy Story (1995) // not rewatched for review // 90-95% new material

NEW REVIEW // OLD REVIEW


A Bug's Life (1998) // rewatched for review // 100% new review

NEW REVIEW


Toy Story 2 (1999) // not rewatched for review // 35-45% new material

NEW REVIEW // OLD REVIEW


Monsters, Inc. (2001) // rewatched for review // 100% new review

NEW REVIEW


Finding Nemo (2003) // rewatched for review // 100% new review

NEW REVIEW


The Incredibles (2004) // rewatched for review // 98% new material

NEW REVIEW // OLD WRITE-UP // ADDITIONAL


Cars (2006) // rewatched for review // 85-90% new material

NEW REVIEW // OLD REVIEW


Next in line is Ratatouille, which will also be a 100% brand new review. But I'm not sure whether I will rewatch it for the review. I watched it earlier this year, so it's still rather fresh in mind, yet I liked it less than I used to so I might watch again to make sure.



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BANNED
09-27-17
Way behind so i'll have to read the reviews later when i have more time. Monsters Inc was my favourite Pixar until i saw Wall-E, it's still second. The Incredibles is third, although i really have to see it again. I'm not as big of a fan of Finding Nemo as everyone else, would have it 10th for Pixar but certainly not bad. Cars i'd have right after Nemo, i enjoyed it alot more than i thought i would. It's not great or anything but it's entertaining enough, my main problem is i didn't think it had to be 2 hours.



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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
09-28-17
Originally Posted by MovieMeditation
I do think Larry the Cable Guy is perfect as Mater. His timing and delivery is spot on and he does perfectly... but it's the character I don't like. His jokes, his behaviour, his stupidity. But the character is played how it should be I guess.

Yeah, the only standout performance for me was Jeremy Clarkson.

Who's Jeremy Clarkson?



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I won't dance. Don't ask me...
09-28-17
My favourite one is Monsters, Inc. probably because of polish dubbing which is great and a lot of lines are used in colloquial chats



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Friendo.
09-28-17
Originally Posted by Ms. M
My favourite one is Monsters, Inc. probably because of polish dubbing which is great and a lot of lines are used in colloquial chats
I just checked up on some video clips of the Danish voices for Monster's Inc and they are not good. Sully is completely wrong. BUT the voice for Randall?.......... Mads Mikkelsen - and it really works. He does do some "menacing Mads" but he also so some twisted Randall-ish changes in his voice and it really fits the character.

The only movie I remember to almost enjoy equally in both my own and the English language, is Toy Story. Great voice casting there on the Danish part.



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Keep your station clean - OR I WILL KILL YOU
09-28-17
As you can see from my Top 10 movies in my profile. I love Pixar films! My top 3 are Incredibles, Wall-E, and Inside Out. I'm looking forward to the rest of your reviews!



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Friendo.
09-28-17
Originally Posted by Luis
As you can see from my Top 10 movies in my profile. I love Pixar films! My top 3 are Incredibles, Wall-E, and Inside Out. I'm looking forward to the rest of your reviews!
Thank you very much, I appreciate that. Those are also indeed some of the very best Pixar films ..

Impressive too 10 too. Especially for someone 18 years old - and I mean that as a compliment. Must have been getting really into cinema quite early, eh? Love Singin in the Rain myself too.

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