Pixar's Soul

[Fierce Poodle]

My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough jazz. Other than that, magnificent.

[pledge]

Was pleasantly surprised that the soundtrack was by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Graham Norton did a good job, and didn't just sound too much like himself but you recognise him. Not sure if was just my speakers, but he sounded like he'd recorded it at home for Covid reasons much more than anyone else.

[NecroMorrius]

This was good, but I enjoyed the stuff on earth more than the stuff in the metaphysical realm. I’m ready for Pixar to drop the slightly too complex framing devices and simply tell a human story - I find the complications are starting to get in the way a little. 
 

This was clearly Pixar operating in a post-Spiderverse landscape in a number of ways. It’s good to see them take inspiration from elsewhere (not always easy when you’re on top of the pile!) But at the same time you can feel Pixar’s limitations, their slightly more conservative and safe stance. Spiderverse felt like it pushed and broke every boundary it could, whereas this felt like another decent Pixar film riffing on similar visual motifs and design to Ratatouille, Inside Out, Toy Story 4 etc.

 

In a lot of ways it feels like the film they’ve been trying to make for a while - Part UP (which I love, but it’s a 15 minute short with another hour attached) and part Inside Out (which I found a bit needlessly contrived). I loved the message of Soul but the tender humanistic heart of the tale felt at odds with and undermined by the otherworldly parts.

[Festoon]

7 hours ago, Moz said:

This was good, but I enjoyed the stuff on earth more than the stuff in the metaphysical realm. I’m ready for Pixar to drop the slightly too complex framing devices and simply tell a human story - I find the complications are starting to get in the way a little. 
 

This was clearly Pixar operating in a post-Spiderverse landscape in a number of ways. It’s good to see them take inspiration from elsewhere (not always easy when you’re on top of the pile!) But at the same time you can feel Pixar’s limitations, their slightly more conservative and safe stance. Spiderverse felt like it pushed and broke every boundary it could, whereas this felt like another decent Pixar film riffing on similar visual motifs and design to Ratatouille, Inside Out, Toy Story 4 etc.

 

In a lot of ways it feels like the film they’ve been trying to make for a while - Part UP (which I love, but it’s a 15 minute short with another hour attached) and part Inside Out (which I found a bit needlessly contrived). I loved the message of Soul but the tender humanistic heart of the tale felt at odds with and undermined by the otherworldly parts.

 

I thought it was a good film but Pixared up to fuck, as you say, their inherent conservatism is very obviously blunting their films.

[englishbob]

Great film for Boxing Day - the build up and subsequent [spoiler] MEH! bit [/spoiler] had me laughing out loud.

 

 

13 hours ago, Moz said:

In a lot of ways it feels like the film they’ve been trying to make for a while - Part UP (which I love, but it’s a 15 minute short with another hour attached) and part Inside Out (which I found a bit needlessly contrived). I loved the message of Soul but the tender humanistic heart of the tale felt at odds with and undermined by the otherworldly parts.

 

5 hours ago, Festoon said:

 

I thought it was a good film but Pixared up to fuck, as you say, their inherent conservatism is very obviously blunting their films.

 

Its time to stop watching Pixar films

[Festoon]

2 hours ago, englishbob said:

Great film for Boxing Day - the build up and subsequent [spoiler] MEH! bit [/spoiler] had me laughing out loud.

 

 

 

 

Its time to stop watching Pixar films

 

Nah, they're excellent, but, just, the ol' 'committee of director brains' just smoothens out everything in their films to too high a degree. To the individual film's detriment, in my opinion. It lends them a sameyness that make me forget them relatively quickly. I'm not sure Ghibli, who Pixar clearly revere, would allow the whole company to interfere with a Miyazaki or Takahata film to the same extent.

 

Compare it to, say, Wolfwalkers - a similarily excellent film that just feels like it has more personal flavour from the directors and writer that just gives it an edge that a Pixar film, despite the astonishing talent involved, rarely seems to achieve. 

 

All imo, of course.

[NecroMorrius]

I’m ready to watch a simple film about the human condition without the need for an elaborate metaphorical framing device getting in the way. They’re edging towards it too slowly for my liking. But yeah, every Pixar film is hailed as a return to form and then promptly forgotten, because they’re always a mixed bag of similar motifs. We’re at the Skyward Sword stage and I’m waiting for Pixar’s Breath of the wild!

[DukeOfEarlsfield]

2 hours ago, Festoon said:

Compare it to, say, Wolfwalkers - a similarily excellent film that just feels like it has more personal flavour from the directors and writer that just gives it an edge that a Pixar film, despite the astonishing talent involved, rarely seems to achieve. 

I really don’t agree with this. This is clearly a Pete Docter film, his fingerprints are all over it. It has similar themes as his other films and yet each one has developed those themes further as his storytelling has evolved in complexity and ambition.

 

Soul is definitely a Pixar film but it’s unquestionably a Pete Docter Pixar film.

[Captain Kelsten]

I didn’t enjoy it. Thought it was slow, meandering and unfulfilling. 

[bradigor]

Really found this to be bang average and not worth all the praise.

 

Not a bad film, but not a classic either. 

 

I like Tina Fey, but felt she was mas-cast on this and didn't care about 22 at all. Which pulled me out of the central concept of the film 

[Festoon]

1 hour ago, DukeOfEarlsfield said:

I really don’t agree with this. This is clearly a Pete Docter film, his fingerprints are all over it. It has similar themes as his other films and yet each one has developed those themes further as his storytelling has evolved in complexity and ambition.

 

Soul is definitely a Pixar film but it’s unquestionably a Pete Docter Pixar film.

 

I think he's treading repeated ground that he covered better in Up, which he covered in his student film too. I sorta wish we could see a Docter film that wasn't Pixar, to be honest. But he's brain trust there now.

[sir stiff_one]

It’s a Pixar film for adults. I loved it, kids said it was fine.

[Alask]

I watched this yesterday and already I'd struggle to think of any standout scenes. There's never any real highs, nothing is really funny or really poignant or feels like a moment of real peril. The standout is 

Spoiler

Terry being a ninja

And that's a 2 minute gag.

 

Feels like someone took one of those, "Live, Laugh, Love" signs people like to stick in their living rooms and thought that was enough to sustain a film.

 

It's nice enough, but it's pretty forgettable.

[Isaac]

19 minutes ago, Alask said:

I watched this yesterday and already I'd struggle to think of any standout scenes. There's never any real highs, nothing is really funny or really poignant or feels like a moment of real peril. The standout is 

  Reveal hidden contents

Terry being a ninja

And that's a 2 minute gag.

 

Feels like someone took one of those, "Live, Laugh, Love" signs people like to stick in their living rooms and thought that was enough to sustain a film.

 

It's nice enough, but it's pretty forgettable.

 

I think that this is probably one of the most joyless takes I've read on the forum.

[schmojo]

The hivemind's at work again - I agree with plenty of what's said here.

 

It was touching and had emotional weight, but also feels like Pixar has become a cage stifling artistic freedom. They tried a couple of stylistic shifts, and I'd like to see them attempt something further in those directions. They had plenty of scenes where only the characters weren't photorealistic, and I wondered what the point was.

 

It was a very sweet story though, and I liked both sides of it. Even if, as people have said, Pixar's framing devices and setups are becoming a bit unwieldy. 

[Fuddle]

Nice enough I guess.

not enough to make me cry... which I feel is a bit of a failure for Pixar

[Loik V credern]

I watched Bruce Almighty the other day for the first time and it has the same message really - appreciate what you have.

 

Pixar ploughing ground trod by Jim Carrey and the writer of Ace Ventura A Nature Calls 17 years ago. 

 

sorry I'm trying to outdo Alask's take for apparent joylessness..

 

and A Nature Calls is actually great. 

 

I think people thought of Pixar differently through the 00s - not as animators but all round universal classic storytellers whose films were loved by all generations, like The Simpsons. Which is still true. But there was a sense they could branch out, first with the silent comedy of Wall E moving away from the smiley upbeat extrovert characters that talk too much but perhaps stuff not strictly having to appeal to kids at all times. People will think; but Disney bought them, and Ghibli hasn't moved on from making films primarily for children.

 

I don't really look forward to their future films because I know exactly what I'm going to get. The cg animation films I've enjoyed most during Pixar's relative decline haven't necessarily been far better, but felt somewhat fresh purely because they came from a different studio. Even if they're as formulaic and familiar in many ways. 

 

I think like Nintendo their quality is seen in their well honed methods so it's often hard to get excited. 

 

I'd like a straight up r rated action thriller from them. I think they could outdo Oldboy and Kill Bill. At this point if you saw that trailer wouldn't that make you sit up the most. 

[DukeOfEarlsfield]

12 minutes ago, Loik V credern said:

 

I watched Bruce Almighty the other day for the first time and it has the same message really - appreciate what you have.

 

Is this a joke post?

 

12 minutes ago, Loik V credern said:

I'd like a straight up r rated action thriller from them. I think they could outdo Oldboy and Kill Bill. At this point if you saw that trailer wouldn't that make you sit up the most. 

Apparently, yes.

[Quest]

That last comment reminds me of when kids used to send in drawings to games mags, but they were getting to the age when they thought Mario was for kids so they'd draw him wielding a chainsaw or something.

[Loik V credern]

[Fierce Poodle]

A “darker, more mature” Pixar film, if you will.

[tenrou]

I had a look at this thread a few days ago and saw a lot of praise and after watching it I was questioning if it was just me that didn't really like it.  Interesting that the more recent responses are not quite as positive.  I liked the first half but it felt it petered out really quickly.  The cat bit in particular was drawn out and lacked punch at the end.  Not their best in my opinion.

[Fierce Poodle]

Bear in mind though that the people who didn’t like it are by and large joyless freaks.

[Capwn]

The bits with the 2D character in the 'real' world were amazing, only a matter of time now until someone attempts to do a Who Framed Roger Rabbit type film but with the 'real' world being full CG. 

[Stig]

18 hours ago, sir stiff_one said:

It’s a Pixar film for adults. I loved it, kids said it was fine.

 

I really enjoyed it, my eldest (7) loved it. Sure, I had to explain some of the stuff they were getting at but I don't think its particularly right to say its more for adults. 

 

Although I found Terry grabbing the wrong black man to be some social commentary that would go way over kids head.

[sir stiff_one]

I mean, there are no kids in it right?

[Isaac]

46 minutes ago, Capwn said:

The bits with the 2D character in the 'real' world were amazing, only a matter of time now until someone attempts to do a Who Framed Roger Rabbit type film but with the 'real' world being full CG. 

 

It's been done - the new Jungle Book.

[Capwn]

1 hour ago, Isaac said:

 

It's been done - the new Jungle Book.

 

Eh? I only saw one of the recent two remakes. One had 2D animation in it?

[sir stiff_one]

A prick? How so?

[Festoon]

On 29/12/2020 at 18:15, tenrou said:

I had a look at this thread a few days ago and saw a lot of praise and after watching it I was questioning if it was just me that didn't really like it.  Interesting that the more recent responses are not quite as positive.  I liked the first half but it felt it petered out really quickly.  The cat bit in particular was drawn out and lacked punch at the end.  Not their best in my opinion.

 

It felt more naturally like a shorter film that had been filled out somewhat to reach 1hr 45min to me too.