Category / Pixar

by hutchwp

Film review – Soul (Pete Docter, 2020)

What is “cinema”? In 2020, the answer to this question was turned upon its head, in ways we could never have imagined.

For me, escapism is always a key part of watching a film, and one I’ve strictly tried to enforce at home as much as possible. Yes, that means that I leave my phone out of reach when I’m watching something engrossing. It’s the only way to give yourself a chance of being transported to the world the filmmakers are crafting for you. Frankly, if you look at your phone once during a film, you’ve lost already.

More than this, for a film to stick with me for a long time, I have to feel personally and profoundly moved by what I’ve seen. It doesn’t have to completely change my life, but it has to have some kind of impact.

It can be a real joyful discovery, which happened to me when I saw Ladybird (2017) as the surprise film at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival. This was an excellent film, but the impact was doubled-down by having a story that really resonating with a time of my life that can only be described as a fork in the road – leaving home for university, which for me happening in the year the film was set. Ladybird really left its mark on me, and I was moved at the time to write a very personal review of the film.

Once I was at university, I discovered two wonderful cinemas in Nottingham. Broadway Cinema and Cafebar is somewhere I still go to, almost 20 years later. How I long to get back to that place right now! I was also drawn to The Screen Room, which was across the road on Broad Street and boasted being the smallest screen in the world. It was here that I discovered a completely different side of cinema with the likes of Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) showing with very limited runs. The thing that amazed me about these films, and others I watched (usually on my own), was how unlikely it was that they were being shown on the big screen at all. The former was a bizarre tale about a socially-awkward schoolchild with a very thin storyline. The latter doesn’t have a storyline at all, instead materialising in the form of 11 short vignettes. I don’t know why I sought them out, but they opened up my mind to a world of cinema beyond the generic multiplexes and their mainstream film selections.

Being deeply moved by a film is what cinephiles are looking for. That’s why we watch 100s of films a year. Eventually we find a diamond in the rough. It may not happen very often, but that’s what makes the chase even more appealing.

As we’ve largely been forced to the small screen for the last year, I have explored almost every route to discover new cinema and ways of enjoying cinema. I have streamed films directly from distributors, funnelled money into Curzon Home Cinema and MUBI, made plentiful use of recording screenings from Film 4 and Talking Pictures TV, and continued to buy physical media long beyond my wife would have preferred.

It comes as a surprise, then, that 2020’s most profound cinematic experience was via Disney Plus, on the afternoon of the last day of the year, whilst my daughter slept. Perhaps the threat of her waking up meant we were savouring every moment of the film, but it didn’t take long before we were entirely captivated.

Warning! Spoilers are found in the following sections of this article.

Soul (2020) tells the story of Joe Gardner (Jamie Joxx), a New York middle school teacher who has followed his mother’s desire for him to have a stable income rather than pursue his dreams as a jobbing jazz pianist. One day, there is an unlikely opening in an evening performance with jazz legend Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett), which gives Joe the opportunity to finally realise his dreams. However, disaster strikes when Joe falls down a manhole and dies. He realises that he is heading slowly towards The Great Beyond. Panicking, he escapes and finds himself in The Great Before, a holding place for souls still awaiting passage to Earth, as soon as they find their spark. There he meets 22, a soul that has thus far never found her spark, despite the best, hilarious efforts of some of the greatest thinkers in the history of humanity.

What follows is a beautiful exploration of life, dreams, failures, missed opportunities and self realisation. It’s an existential triumph, and one that was perfectly timed in its release between Christmas and New Year – just when we all tend to start reflecting on our past year and what we want from the following year.

The animation is stunning. Every note of Jon Batiste’s jazz score is brought to life by what we see on screen. You can feel each press of a piano key, each blow of the saxophone. It is so good, you can almost forget to appreciate exactly how wonderful the achievement is. The high point comes in an emotional crescendo, when Joe eventually gets on stage to perform with Dorothea. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and will take anyone who has ever been to a proper New York jazz bar straight back to their seat.

To achieve something as beautiful and profound as this, and manage to get it out in a year where it’s likely most of the film staff were forced into unexpectedly isolated circumstances, is a huge achievement. For the second time this year, Disney’s timing is impeccable.

Soul is a film I am desperate to revisit, as soon as my own soul is ready.

by hutchwp

Film review – Toy Story 4 (Josh Cooley, 2019)

It’s lovely to see the gang back again. After three 5* films, this is the first one that, for me, drops the standard a little.

Woody, Buzz and Jessie have never looked so good. What a difference 24 years makes. In the opening scene there’s a rescue mission that involves Woody leaving the playroom and being exposed to rain. It is nothing short of stunning. You feel every drop off water hitting him, soaking into the materials of his clothes, bouncing off his hat and face. One can only wonder what Ralph Eggleston and John Lasseter would have made of this all those years ago.

Whilst the visuals are as close to perfection as 2019 will allow, I couldn’t help but get distracted by the voice acting. Of course, each of the actors have aged with the fans of the movies, but I could definitely hear that in their acting performances. If there’s another nine years until they decide to make a 5th installment, Tom Hanks will by then be 72 years old. I honestly just don’t want to hear Woody in his eighth decade.

The storyline lacks the oomph and coherence expected of other Pixar films. Whilst it’s somewhat predictable, it also has the feeling of a team trying to add in about 25 minutes to a film they’d crafted but realised didn’t run long enough. It just went around in circles for a little too long when the end was in sight, with an antagonist in the form of Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) that was played too softly throughout to ever leave us worried that she’d be a genuine threat.

It’s not a bad film and doesn’t ruin the series, but I think they need to draw a line under it now. It’s an addendum to the perfect ending of Toy Story 3, and it only just gets away with it.

by hutchwp

Short film review – Lou (Dave Mullins, 2017)

A sweet short film about a bully’s relationship with a lost and found box in a playground might just make your ticket to Cars 3 worth the entry fee.

Dave Mullins is a first time director but has been working with Disney since 1995 and Pixar since 2000, working in the animation department for the likes of Up, Monsters Inc., Ratatouille and Inside Out. It is clear that his attention to detail and love of a great story is at the heart of this film, which is brought to life wonderfully in a story that lasts only a few minutes.

The film opens with the lost and found box attracting the attention of the children in the playground of a school boy, encouraging them to play with the contents. However, the school bully J.J. begins teasing his class mates by taking away their toys and teasing them in the process. However, when the contents of the lost and found box come to life and start to turn the tables on him, he quickly learns a fast lesson in being nice to his peers, awakening memories he’s hidden inside himself that may be the real problem behind his poor behaviour.

It’s incredibly difficult to create something with such a large story and get the whole point across in a strictly limited timeframe, but Mullins and his team completely manage it. The short is, essentially, a silent film, but it has no difficulty in delivering a succinct but strong message.

The audience, which were mainly children, were completely captivated and gave a spontaneous round of applause at the end of the screening.

You can watch the opening 40 seconds below.

 

 

by hutchwp

Film review – Cars 3 (Brian Fee, 2017)

I always try to stay positive about a film I’ve seen. With that in mind, I can happily announce that Cars 3 is one of the top three films in the series.

The wayward plot that feels deeply familiar on many levels. It’s Rocky III on wheels, with the care and attention of The Karate Kid III. This does little to rescue a franchise that looked in danger of sinking since the poorly-regarded Cars 2.

Put simply, Cars 3 is defined by lacklustre character designs and a thinly veiled attempt to use a film as a means to sell merchandise and toys.

This time around, Lightning McQueen (the returning Owen Wilson) is struggling as an ageing racing car. An arrogant young car named Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) has shown up and is utilising modern technology to achieve better performance from his specs, forcing cars based on the older technology into retirement. McQueen refuses to retire and pushes his car too much in the final race of the season, leading to a horrific crash that takes him months to recover from. Determined not to retire, McQueen takes on additional training at a new facility sponsored by Sterling (Nathan Fillion), though he seems to want McQueen to retire and turn him into a brand rather than let him keep racing. Regardless of this, he’s given a personal trainer called Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) who he quickly strikes up a love-hate relationship with.

One of the tough sells for the film outside of North America is that McQueen is essentially a stock car racer. NASCAR is the second most popular sport on American televisions, but is largely unpopular in Europe and the UK. Indeed, the sport is ridiculed by many who see it as vastly inferior and less exciting than the likes of Formula One and MotoGP. Perhaps as a British film fan I am spoiled when I see stock car racing – maybe the subtleties of the skill involved are lost on me. But converting that into an exhilarating plot point in a film is an unenviable task and something I don’t think is achieved in Cars 3.

cars3screen.jpg

For all the disappointment associated with the story, the visuals are nothing short of stunning. There have been huge advancements in animation in the eleven years since the original’s release. The benefits are felt with the backdrops, which feel somehow much more life-like than it’s predecessors. Even the character design, which is hampered by the restrictive nature of bringing cars to life, feels more advanced; a clear sign they’ve learned from two predecessors.

At its heart, this film eventually ends up being a buddy movie. Whilst it takes a while to get there, it’s an important move to bring the film closer to the original movie. I didn’t like either of the first two instalments, but Cars 3 stands alongside the original as being more in line with the Pixar ethos. It is, as the investors would say, “on brand”. So, whilst the first-time director Brian Fee has taken no risks here and the outcome is something that probably won’t overly please anyone, but nor will it offend anyone.

A safe bet that will maintain the franchise and opens the door for further sequels. Bland, forgettable, but pleasant enough to keep its target audience happy.

Though I do think Cars 2 is a better film.