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Author Topic: Up  (Read 34010 times)

FroHam X

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Re: Up
« Reply #10 on: May 29, 2009, 12:13:37 AM »
I’ve never gotten the effusive gush that comes over normally sane people when the subject of Pixar comes up. The “everything they’ve ever done is a masterpiece! (well except Cars)”

I wouldn't say every film of their's is a masterpiece, but a couple are and the rest range from great to exceptional.

Potato potahto.

 ;)

The thing I love about Pixar is that even though their animation and technical achievements are always stunning, they pay even more attention to stoy and character. And they're director-driven. What other studio is like that?
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: Up
« Reply #11 on: May 29, 2009, 12:25:57 AM »
 :D

Minerwerks

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Re: Up
« Reply #12 on: May 29, 2009, 01:40:20 AM »
Leaving the theater from a midnight show of UP in 3D, I wasn't quite sure what I just saw. It had moments that felt like a Pixar movie, but I didn't feel my emotional investment had been built on or rewarded.

I get the impression the goal was to make an old-timey rousing adventure, but somehow, a tonally much different beginning was added. I was expecting it to continue being somewhat nuanced (as most Pixar films tend to do) and then turned broadly whimsical, eventually taking on such wild scenarios it was almost surreal. To me, this had the effect of undercutting the characters' important moments and making them feel manipulative instead of honest.

Is the film really bad? I certainly give it more credit than something like MONSTERS VS. ALIENS as it does try to be a rounded film. If there are critics willing to give the thing a perfect score, it obviously touched something in them. And while I was moved, this film tried to put things together that in my mind don't fit with each other. Others might see it differently.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2009, 01:42:51 AM by Minerwerks »
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Re: Up
« Reply #13 on: May 29, 2009, 11:03:08 AM »
I don't have a review formed in my head yet; the experience is still settling.  Up is a much more mature, adult film than I was expecting based on the fantastical premise of a house carried away by balloons.  In Ratatouille, Brad Bird sold me on the idea that a rat could control a human by pulling hair, but this film contains Pixar's greatest leaps of creative imagination yet.

And I'm not just talking about the house.  (Remember, this is the spoiler thread.)

The bad guy has isolated himself from the world and is surrounded by his well-trained dogs.  How well-trained?  Well, there's one who can prepare delicious gourmet meals and three who pilot aircraft.  Their steering wheels are bone shaped (and squeak when the pilot bites down.)

That all can go down fine in a kids film, something with a tone closer to Cars.  But Pete Doctor sets high emotional stakes in the beginning, with a brilliant sequence that sets the film on very realistic ground.  The emotions that underpin the adventure and carry this movie through, are often sometimes occasionally undermined the silly stuff.

I think what ultimately keeps the film on par with Pixar's other masterpieces - aside from the expected big laughs, eye-popping cinematography, (I'm saying it.), and overall technical mastery - is the intriguing counterpoint of the two old men.  Our hero, Carl Fredricksen and the bad guy, Charles Muntz, are both people who go a little mad in pursuit of a dream that will take their entire lives and leave them emotionally empty. 

Maybe it's because Carl's emotional stakes are so beautifully defined, but Russell the wilderness explorer doesn't fare nearly as well.  His emotional story is underdeveloped to the point where I question if it's even necessary.  Especially since Doctor has to stop the action to shoe in Russell telling us what's missing from his life.

There's more rattling around my head, but I'm going to wait for others to chime in.

Bill Thompson

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Re: Up
« Reply #14 on: May 29, 2009, 06:21:08 PM »
That all can go down fine in a kids film, something with a tone closer to Cars.  But Pete Doctor sets high emotional stakes in the beginning, with a brilliant sequence that sets the film on very realistic ground.  The emotions that underpin the adventure and carry this movie through, are often sometimes occasionally undermined the silly stuff.

Fantasy can be highly emotional, I don't see how tossing in fantasy elements detracts at all from the emotions of the film. Right from the get go the world of Up was clearly established as a fantasy one, a world where you either buy what is happening or you don't, the type of place where magic can happen and you need to be along for the ride to get everything. I don't see the need to big it down with an adherence to reality, especially in the case of emotional tones, when reality doesn't produce any more emotional honesty than fantasy does.

Maybe it's because Carl's emotional stakes are so beautifully defined, but Russell the wilderness explorer doesn't fare nearly as well.  His emotional story is underdeveloped to the point where I question if it's even necessary.  Especially since Doctor has to stop the action to shoe in Russell telling us what's missing from his life.

I didn't have any problem with the development of Russ, from the get go I thought little bits were dropped here and there that told us exactly what his deal was and why he acted how he did. His speech detailing that was just the icing on the cake for me.

As I said in the other thread, I loved it. I thought it looked great, I didn't see it in 3D since my brother doesn't like 3D, and there was a wonderful symmetry in the story. Moments paralleled one another, and where I would disagree with Keith is the idea that it was a Pixar formula movie, I thought it  was very deep. The odd couple wasn't Carl and Russ, it was Muntz and Carl, with only one of them realizing that by living and loving he had experienced the greatest adventure of all.

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Re: Up
« Reply #15 on: May 30, 2009, 01:51:21 AM »
That all can go down fine in a kids film, something with a tone closer to Cars.  But Pete Doctor sets high emotional stakes in the beginning, with a brilliant sequence that sets the film on very realistic ground.  The emotions that underpin the adventure and carry this movie through, are often sometimes occasionally undermined the silly stuff.

Fantasy can be highly emotional, I don't see how tossing in fantasy elements detracts at all from the emotions of the film. Right from the get go the world of Up was clearly established as a fantasy one, a world where you either buy what is happening or you don't, the type of place where magic can happen and you need to be along for the ride to get everything. I don't see the need to big it down with an adherence to reality, especially in the case of emotional tones, when reality doesn't produce any more emotional honesty than fantasy does.

Yeah. That's where the style comes into play, I think. These are Pixar's best looking people in terms of characterization since both the physical comedy and emotional stuff work so well. Carl looks exactly like he should, as do Russ and all the others. The style works just as well in the city as in the jungle. Perhaps FLY will have a problem with all the people not looking the same, but it makes sense and works.
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Junior

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Re: Up
« Reply #16 on: May 30, 2009, 01:55:37 AM »
Also, Michael Giacchino's music was awesome. His music rocked in Star Trek and Lost and Cloverfield and now this. This guy is a new favorite.
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Re: Up
« Reply #17 on: May 30, 2009, 04:57:08 AM »
Dave Poland made some excellent comments in his own wrestling of the fantasy/reality of the story:

"What struck me while watching it was that at its end, we would inevitably find out that Carl was imagining the entire adventure from a near-catatonic state in his rest home room. There might still be time for a happy ending, as Carl would find the inspiration to live again – and live boldly – from the imagination of this tale.

The reason why I anticipated it, knowing that it was highly unlikely for a Pixar movie, was that this movie is quite dark. And like The Wizard of Oz (the film), when Carl goes to his Oz, it is both rooted in the known world and drenched in obvious unreality… surreality.

Up engages this schizophrenia of utter earnest emotional reality and what is clearly imaginary throughout. Carl and Ellie, as a couple who have spent a life together, are as touching and gentle and real as any couple you can imagine, given that they are Hallmark card perfect in their way. Russell is so much the real kid who scouts, motivated to please.

A flying house that has a navigability that makes no sense… as is a living object Carl is fighting to save even though he has no stake it its survival.  This is not a real world. But Carl is so very real… so very vulnerable…

There is a part of me that is perfectly comfortable leaping into the “it’s just a cartoon” mindset. But something else seems to be going on here. And honestly, having only seen the film once, I don’t think I am fully prepared to deconstruct it. But there are so many pieces of this puzzle that struck me as tradition breaking.

It’s an adventure… big colors… fun stuff. But the tears flow with life and death and the rather sophisticated idea that love is the greatest adventure of them all.

This cartoon is easily the most complex journey of the summer so far… a journey of emotion… a journey of hope… a journey of the impossible and the human spirit that can make the impossible possible. Up. Way up."

Something I haven't mentioned yet that struck me as fresh for Pixar was the cold-bloodedness of the action set pieces.  Sure, there's a lot of fantastical whimsey with Russell being swung from a rope.  But when characters directly attack each other, it's done with a definite attempt to bring them down.  (The Incredibles had an easier time escaping from Syndrome's island.) There were two specific moments where I thought the film was going to go all Joss Whedon.  When Alpha tosses Dug, I swear my heart stopped.  Kevin's cries to his family (especially while under the net) will probably hit parents hard.

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Re: Up
« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2009, 07:28:09 AM »
Hi, I have to start by saying I do work for Pixar but I didnt work on this film.
Having said that I have seen Up a few times now and I think it just keeps getting better and better. I definitely get a little dust in my eye at at least three moments - the montage at the start, the scene 2/3s in where he looks through her book, and the final shot of the film. Also it just a really, really funny film and the absurdity of much of it remind me of an Aardman film. The character designs are fantastic , the animation is amazing and the lighting and rendering are beautiful. My only complaint would be that I wish it were 5-10 minutes longer. I think they get to south America too quickly and easily and I think Muntz could have met a better demise, I actually feel kinda bad for him.

I think it is just such a great film. I went to see it with a paying audience on opening night and it was jam packed and there were lots of kids and everyone was riveted and laughing a lot which was great.

Roll on Toy Story 3!

Bill Thompson

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Re: Up
« Reply #19 on: May 30, 2009, 08:07:47 AM »
Dave Poland made some excellent comments in his own wrestling of the fantasy/reality of the story:

"What struck me while watching it was that at its end, we would inevitably find out that Carl was imagining the entire adventure from a near-catatonic state in his rest home room. There might still be time for a happy ending, as Carl would find the inspiration to live again – and live boldly – from the imagination of this tale.

The reason why I anticipated it, knowing that it was highly unlikely for a Pixar movie, was that this movie is quite dark. And like The Wizard of Oz (the film), when Carl goes to his Oz, it is both rooted in the known world and drenched in obvious unreality… surreality.

Up engages this schizophrenia of utter earnest emotional reality and what is clearly imaginary throughout. Carl and Ellie, as a couple who have spent a life together, are as touching and gentle and real as any couple you can imagine, given that they are Hallmark card perfect in their way. Russell is so much the real kid who scouts, motivated to please.

A flying house that has a navigability that makes no sense… as is a living object Carl is fighting to save even though he has no stake it its survival.  This is not a real world. But Carl is so very real… so very vulnerable…

There is a part of me that is perfectly comfortable leaping into the “it’s just a cartoon” mindset. But something else seems to be going on here. And honestly, having only seen the film once, I don’t think I am fully prepared to deconstruct it. But there are so many pieces of this puzzle that struck me as tradition breaking.

It’s an adventure… big colors… fun stuff. But the tears flow with life and death and the rather sophisticated idea that love is the greatest adventure of them all.

This cartoon is easily the most complex journey of the summer so far… a journey of emotion… a journey of hope… a journey of the impossible and the human spirit that can make the impossible possible. Up. Way up."

Something I haven't mentioned yet that struck me as fresh for Pixar was the cold-bloodedness of the action set pieces.  Sure, there's a lot of fantastical whimsey with Russell being swung from a rope.  But when characters directly attack each other, it's done with a definite attempt to bring them down.  (The Incredibles had an easier time escaping from Syndrome's island.) There were two specific moments where I thought the film was going to go all Joss Whedon.  When Alpha tosses Dug, I swear my heart stopped.  Kevin's cries to his family (especially while under the net) will probably hit parents hard.

I really don't get this argument, fantasy doesn't have to be separate from reality. Miyazaki has made an entire career out of brilliant fantasy worlds with realistic characters and emotions. Up is a fantasy world with big fantasy happenings, but in no way does that mean that you can't have real pathos or characters who wrestle with real world problems. That is what great fantasy is, telling a wonderful tale that could never take place in reality with characters that could easily exist in reality.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2009, 09:08:23 AM by Bill Thompson »

 

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