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Post by icon on Jun 17, 2015 22:59:52 GMT -5
Had the chance to see an early screening of this yesterday, and I wanted to write down my thoughts. I was initially skeptical of the premise, and I'd seen a lot of other folks who weren't entirely certain about the hype, but I came out liking it more than I thought I would. Definitely very Pixar -- a decent balance of funny bits and sweet bits, with a good dose of emotional pull to bring it all together. The writing was a bit heavy-handed at times, but it wasn't anything like you wouldn't expect from a typical Disney/Pixar film. There were a lot of one-off jokes and visual puns, which I enjoyed, but there were some times when it felt like they just got in the way of the actual plot-advancement. I hope you're a fan of running gags and callbacks From a visual/technical point of view, it was very flashy -- I was sitting pretty close to the screen so I got a pretty good view of the effects. The landscaping/set design was a lot of spectacle, which sounds like a fancy way of saying that they were showing off (which was, admittedly, sometimes the case -- but it wasn't enough to break my immersion). Some of the sequences lent themselves really well to the artistic style--there were a couple of instances when you could tell that the animators were really having fun (no spoilers, but you'll know them when you see them). If you're a fan of technical aspects, take a moment now and then to pull yourself out of the story to admire the the finer detail work (the particle effects on the Emotions deserve specific mention). Might go see it again to examine it from more of a storytelling/narrative perspective (and to go find all the other Pixar shoutouts), but overall, I thought it was a good film.
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Post by Lizzie on Jun 21, 2015 22:15:02 GMT -5
i saw this on the 19th (opening day) and it was amazing. i was sitting... the farthest row of the lower seats, and i was in the middle (i saw it with all my friends). i got to see the 2d one, not 3d, since my friend cant watch 3d movies because they give her massive headaches. but i would totally watch it in 3d, i want to watch this movie again. it was super super cute... i cried a lot when bing bong was forgotten. rip i swear every single person i was with cried then. that and when riley was crying with her parents. there were a few jokes that made me roll my eyes iinstead of laugh, but i laughed a lot during it because it was super funny. 9.5/10 would watch again <3
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Post by Komori on Jun 25, 2015 20:10:09 GMT -5
This is probably one of my absolute favorite Pixar movies ever, and definitely one of their best. I wasn't impressed by the trailers, but the 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (now I think it's 98%, but it was 100% for more than 150 critics first) had me super curious. Totally surprised by how excellent it was. Laughed a LOT, cried some, and will totally watch it in theaters a second time.
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Post by Thorn on Jun 28, 2015 18:30:13 GMT -5
Hmmmm...maybe I should take my siblings to this, after all. I've been wanting to be the Cool Big Sister and take them to a movie for years, but they're getting older and soon they'll be Too Cool for that, so carpe diem and whatnot! Especially if the film is really as good as you guys say...
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Post by Komori on Jun 28, 2015 23:56:13 GMT -5
Totally watched it a second time and it was just as good as the first time. X3 (And even when I knew they were coming, the poignant moments still totally worked and got to me.)
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Post by Yoyti on Jun 29, 2015 8:04:39 GMT -5
Totally watched it a second time and it was just as good as the first time. X3 (And even when I knew they were coming, the poignant moments still totally worked and got to me.) Here's one thing I think is really well-written about this movie: It keeps the audience just one step ahead of the characters. You don't want the audience totally in the dark until the relevant information is officially revealed, lest they get confused and overwhelmed. But, of course, you also don't want the audience clued in on everything in advance, or they get bored. Inside Out maintained a terrific balance of anticipation and surprise, and that's what gives a well-written thriller rewatch value. By keeping you one step ahead of the characters, you're reminded of what you know happens next, and since you were already one step ahead of the characters the first time through, the surprise value isn't lessened. The other main thing I think is really good about Inside Out is how well the characters all play off of each other. The one character moment I had trouble with was: When Sadness breaks down and tries to run and hide toward the end. It seems a little out of character for Sadness, and it lasts all of two minutes. And the rain cloud isn't anything we've ever seen before. It seems like something just added so that Joy would have a way of diverting her to the spot she needed. It would have worked equally well, I think, if Sadness were just moping around giving her protestations, and Joy proceeded either to drag her around despite her protests, or, for added comic value, toss her into Bing Bong's bag. This was after Joy realized Sadness' importance, so having her close to the core memories wouldn't be a bother anymore, and, of course, scripty plot reasons would have the core memories unaffected until they got back to headquarters anyway. Inside Out did succeed in making me cry. A lot. More than any other Pixar film, in fact. Although, oddly enough, I did not cry at Bing Bong's being forgotten, which seems like a deliberately in-there-to-make-you-cry moment. Something I wasn't too clear on was why Bing Bong was running around at the beginning stealing memories and generally acting shady. I would have guessed that he was trying to Riley's collect memories of himself and get them to a recall tube, but his collecting memories was never addressed again. And something I would have liked to see more of was the idea lightbulbs. Would it have been to much to explore what those are a little earlier in the film? Obviously with a less drastic idea. Maybe that's how Joy could have spurred the pizza, though. With an idea bulb instead of a memory, and that establishes much earlier what those are and what they do. I can't speak to the animation. I'm not an animation guy. Nothing stuck out at me as particularly good or bad. But as far as visuals go, I did like how the characters were kind of fuzzy. As a moviegoer, I thought that the air distorting above Anger before he goes into flames was a nice touch. As a migraine sufferer, not so much. Why does Joy have blue hair and a green dress? Is she Marge Simpson? After The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Up, Michael Giacchino's score failed to impress me. I mean, I guess it's hard to follow up on when he's already written the scores to The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Up. Inside Out's score somehow felt a lot more... generic. The music served its purpose well enough in the movie, though, so I can't really complain. It's just that The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Up all had such great scores by Michael Giacchino that I was really looking forward to this one. I'm not sure how I feel about the Lava short essentially being one really bad pun... But it looked pretty, and it's nice to see Pixar doing more underwater animation. Get more use out of the innovations they had to make to do Finding Nemo. I guess they're getting the relevant software in check for Finding Dory? I wouldn't declare this Pixar's absolute best, but I definitely think it's up there with Wall-E and Up. It deals with a difficult subject matter, and does it in a brilliant way. Pixar has a great track record with making brilliant films out of terrible-sounding premises. Up and Ratatouille being two prime examples ("man flies his house with a bunch of balloons to fulfill his dead wife's dream" and "rat who wants to cook controls human via hair" respectively), and now Inside Out joins them. Definitely worth seeing.
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Post by Komori on Jun 29, 2015 12:18:54 GMT -5
The one character moment I had trouble with was: When Sadness breaks down and tries to run and hide toward the end. It seems a little out of character for Sadness, and it lasts all of two minutes. And the rain cloud isn't anything we've ever seen before. It seems like something just added so that Joy would have a way of diverting her to the spot she needed. It would have worked equally well, I think, if Sadness were just moping around giving her protestations, and Joy proceeded either to drag her around despite her protests, or, for added comic value, toss her into Bing Bong's bag. This was after Joy realized Sadness' importance, so having her close to the core memories wouldn't be a bother anymore, and, of course, scripty plot reasons would have the core memories unaffected until they got back to headquarters anyway. Well, they DID need to get back up to HQ, and that whole boyfriend-trampoline thing wouldn't have worked if Sadness was in that bag. XD But the cloud IS something you see before, because it's from that cloud city in Imaginationland. Joy even takes a chunk out of the building and lies on top of it for a while to show that they could be ridden on.
I got the feeling he was just gathering up the memories he'd had with Riley so he could watch them. Probably could've used a shot or two to explain that while Joy was recalling all the memories of Bing Bong.
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Post by Yoyti on Jun 29, 2015 17:04:11 GMT -5
The one character moment I had trouble with was: When Sadness breaks down and tries to run and hide toward the end. It seems a little out of character for Sadness, and it lasts all of two minutes. And the rain cloud isn't anything we've ever seen before. It seems like something just added so that Joy would have a way of diverting her to the spot she needed. It would have worked equally well, I think, if Sadness were just moping around giving her protestations, and Joy proceeded either to drag her around despite her protests, or, for added comic value, toss her into Bing Bong's bag. This was after Joy realized Sadness' importance, so having her close to the core memories wouldn't be a bother anymore, and, of course, scripty plot reasons would have the core memories unaffected until they got back to headquarters anyway. Well, they DID need to get back up to HQ, and that whole boyfriend-trampoline thing wouldn't have worked if Sadness was in that bag. XD But the cloud IS something you see before, because it's from that cloud city in Imaginationland. Joy even takes a chunk out of the building and lies on top of it for a while to show that they could be ridden on.
I got the feeling he was just gathering up the memories he'd had with Riley so he could watch them. Probably could've used a shot or two to explain that while Joy was recalling all the memories of Bing Bong.
For point one: the boyfriend plan was so ridiculous in the first place that I don't think it's too far a stretch to say that it would have worked with Sadness in the bag. Even so, Joy could take Sadness out of the bag to get all the boyfriends in, just sticking Sadness in temporarily to get from location to location. Or Joy could just drag Sadness across the floor as per her first mode of transportation. My issue was more with Sadness suddenly freaking out and actively running away. It seemed out of character.
For point two, that makes sense.
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Post by Twillie on Jul 9, 2015 22:43:33 GMT -5
Like everyone else, I really enjoyed this movie, which is rather refreshing after seeing how little faith I had in it before its release. I actually think this is the most solid feature Pixar has put out in recent years, as it has true, poignant moments and an overall charm that comes from the creative and abstract world they create inside Riley's mind.
I can't say this is one of my favorite Pixar films, though, as the setup sort of puts me off. This is completely based on personal preferences, and I honestly cannot explain it. It's just, something about childhood makes me... uncomfortable. Especially in the first scene, though it wasn't bad (and thank goodness it wasn't too indulgent), when Riley is just born, it wasn't so much sweet to me, but rather "This is too intimate a moment and I don't know these people, make it stop." I dunno, I tried telling my friends about this feeling after the movie, but they didn't understand me, and I don't think I do either. Just... childhood, gah. That didn't distract from the movie, though, because as I said, it is very charming. The film doesn't go overboard in sappiness, which can be tempting with this setup; it's very smart in its execution.
Bing Bong was my favorite, especially during the pit scene. I'll be honest, though-- I didn't cry, nor at any other point in the movie. It may have something to do with my reading the plot before entering the theater, but... X) I'm not much of a crier anyway, but that scene still had my full attention throughout its entire duration. As everything broke down, believing the emotions of the characters came so easily, and the bittersweet touch at the end just left an extra sting. Best scene in my opinion.
The characters at first I thought were going to be extremely gimmicky (Joy is hyperactive, Disgust rolls her eyes, Fear panics, Sadness cries, etc.), but they turned out much more likable than that. Though I'm sure some would still say they have gimmicks, at least there's personality to go with them. Especially Fear's trying-to-act-the-straight-man schtick gives something beyond the "typical coward" route. Actually, him and Disgust I think are my favorite emotions for whatever reason XD It was strange, though, how much slapstick they gave Fear. I'm not saying it's the wrong route to go in terms of comedy, but by the end of the film, that's all he went through; he gets beat up in comical ways, and it happens to no one else. It just struck me as odd.
Great film, though; I'd recommend it to almost anyone.
That short film before the movie, though, Lava, has been getting a lot of negative reception from internet blogs. Like, really negative, since they're saying things like it's the "worst thing from Pixar". Ever. I... didn't think it was that bad? It's not groundbreaking or anything, and yeah the song has a pun, but... It's just two volcanoes that love each other. Nothing to really get passionate about. I dunno, are there any opinions on here about it?
(One person even called it "offensive" XD)
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Post by Thorn on Jul 9, 2015 22:57:45 GMT -5
Argh I'm excited! Going with my family to see it this weekend. =D Lava sounds like something I would like, based on Twillie's short description, so I'm interested to see what I actually think of it since it is apparently bad? Also which emotions I'll like best n stuff like that. Looking forward to that too.
(is the cute li'l blue one on the poster Sadness? I like her already! And Anger or whatever looking like some kind of businessman on fire amuses me...on a different poster, that last bit is). (the only thing which still bothers me, since I read about it months ago, is the whole "doe-eyed button-nosed round-faced" female Disney character thing. Which I cannot unsee everywhere now that it has been pointed out. Nonetheless, I am very much looking forward to seeing this film!).
EDIT: Ah I've seen the trailer before! Totally forgot though. It looks like so much awesome.
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Post by Twillie on Jul 9, 2015 23:02:52 GMT -5
Thorn The blue one is indeed Sadness :3 With the Disney character design, do you mean with the emotions, or with the humans? The emotions already have exaggerated details, so it sort of gets a pass there, and the humans at least aren't as bad as Frozen. There are aesthetic moments in the movie you'll enjoy, though, as they break away from the Disney/Pixar look
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Post by Thorn on Jul 9, 2015 23:12:08 GMT -5
TwillieI meant the emotions, but I see it in the humans too. xD I watched Frozen before I read people talking about the "look", haha. Somehow, I missed it. I'd have to watch it again to see how bad it is. *is not overly observant* The trailer with Joy and Sadness having adventures makes me so happy! Imagination Land woo! Yeah, I'm sure I will enjoy it. And hey, it's a family film filled with bright colours. I'll love it nonetheless. =P
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Post by Yoyti on Jul 11, 2015 18:15:35 GMT -5
That short film before the movie, though, Lava, has been getting a lot of negative reception from internet blogs. Like, really negative, since they're saying things like it's the "worst thing from Pixar". Ever. I... didn't think it was that bad? It's not groundbreaking or anything, and yeah the song has a pun, but... It's just two volcanoes that love each other. Nothing to really get passionate about. I dunno, are there any opinions on here about it? (One person even called it "offensive" XD) I was a little off-put by the fact that it's essentially one really bad pun, but for the most part, I just thought it was meh. Nothing special. It looked pretty. I've never taken the shorts too seriously. They serve the purpose of an overture. Get people into the Pixar mood before the movie proper. I think it's worth noting, though, that Pixar's last three shorts ( Day And Night, La Luna and The Blue Umbrella) have all been moderately serious pieces with no dialogue (excepting the radio broadcast in Day And Night), so that may have set the bar by which people judged Lava. So, bland? Yes. Bad? Not really. Offensive? I have no idea why someone would think that.
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Inside Out
Jul 11, 2015 18:46:03 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Twillie on Jul 11, 2015 18:46:03 GMT -5
That short film before the movie, though, Lava, has been getting a lot of negative reception from internet blogs. Like, really negative, since they're saying things like it's the "worst thing from Pixar". Ever. I... didn't think it was that bad? It's not groundbreaking or anything, and yeah the song has a pun, but... It's just two volcanoes that love each other. Nothing to really get passionate about. I dunno, are there any opinions on here about it? (One person even called it "offensive" XD) I was a little off-put by the fact that it's essentially one really bad pun, but for the most part, I just thought it was meh. Nothing special. It looked pretty. I've never taken the shorts too seriously. They serve the purpose of an overture. Get people into the Pixar mood before the movie proper. I think it's worth noting, though, that Pixar's last three shorts ( Day And Night, La Luna and The Blue Umbrella) have all been moderately serious pieces with no dialogue (excepting the radio broadcast in Day And Night), so that may have set the bar by which people judged Lava. So, bland? Yes. Bad? Not really. Offensive? I have no idea why someone would think that. I haven't seen any of those shorts before, so my perception probably would be much different from theirs. And that makes sense, it's probably a matter of comparing and previous standards. The passionate responses I'd guess are products of trying to sound interesting for your blog's sake or feeding off of other people's feelings on social media.
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Post by Thorn on Jul 11, 2015 23:06:11 GMT -5
(I actually found Lava cute enough). The film itself was great! I cried. In front of the kids I went with. When Joy was reviewing Riley's memories, when Riley was on the bus, when Riley and her parents reconciled at the end... Self respect, I have none. It was also really funny and cute. Which I like in films. I can't choose my favourite emotion, probably Disgust or Sadness. Fear was neat too! That Brazilian pilot guy showing up everywhere was about my favourite thing ever, oh dear lord. The Perfect Boyfriend guy amused me too. And a Rainbow Unicorn wheeee! <3
Dream Productions in general was great. I particularly liked Fear's commentary on the whole thing, haha. The Actual Target Audience I went with enjoyed it as well. They're not raving about it, quite probably because they're back playing on their tablets already. But they certainly enjoyed it. =)
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