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[franfar]

I liked the Toy Story trilogy when I was younger, but I never liked re-watching them. 

[GiantCALBears]

The best Pixar film for adults and maybe this is justifiable given its subject matter is Ratatouille. It's odd to say but it feels like a much more grown up film than a lot of the others. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by GiantCALBears

[Maxmoser3]

All Eyez On Me  was a pretty good movie. I hope it does well for Lionsgate this weekend!

[Dementeleus]

8 minutes ago, GiantCALBears said:

Lol no way. Dory level so that means you think FN is a lot better than TS3? 

 

Oh, for sure. Well above TS3 (which would probably be somewhere in the middle of my rankings, so maybe a touch better than DORY, I guess.)

 

edit: off the cuff Pixar rankings, yay.  

 

Wall-E / IO / Up / Ratatouille (maybe?)

TS 2 / Incredibles / Nemo

Monsters Inc / TS 1

TS 3 / Dory

Cars

A Bug's Life

MU

Good Dino

Cars 2

 

Haven't seen enough of Brave to rank it. Haven't seen Cars 3 (obv).

[Blankments]

5 hours ago, The Mummified Panda said:

I took a Choral Literature class with my choir prof for funsies and he had a long discussion with us about "Empty sensationalism" being prevelant in music today.  Directors and conductors choosing contemporary pieces that make audiences go "Wow!  This is different!" and then forget about it after they leave because they're devoid of musical depth.

 

I couldn't help but think the same thing is true with film.  I'll leave something like Guardians of the Galaxy 2 thinking "Wow that was a fun time, cool visual sequences and set pieces!" and then have no interest in ever thinking about it again because it was a theme park ride, and there was nothing in it to challenge audiences.

 

Throwing a lot of color and one liners on the screen doesn't make a good movie.

Taking the bait here, warning that I'm pretty tired right now, sooo I might not be entirely coherent. I'm also playing devil's advocate in a way, because I somewhat agree with your point.

 

But all that matters to me in making a good film, particularly in clear attempts to make money, is the ability to capture an audience of any age. I guess I'll be using GUARDIANS 2 and CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS as my examples because apparently it's a controversial opinion on these boards to find these both good movies (GOTG2 is the best blockbuster of the summer so far and CU is the best animated film of the year so far IMO). GUARDIANS 2 might not be LOGAN or even WONDER WOMAN in its attempts to find a dramatic powerful theme to it (it amounts to what I'd call just an examination of fatherhood in a lot of ways, rather than anything else), but unlike those other two, I'd say it's focused on testing the characters from the first one in a rough way. The moments that audiences are talking about from GOTG2 I'd say isn't really setpieces in the typical sense (with the exception of the Yondu highlight scene in the middle of the film.) It's moments like

Baby Groot dancing through the credits, or a surprisingly emotional ending, or Drax's moments with Mantis

 that I've been hearing from my non-film-friends as the highlight. It is designed to be a blockbuster, but unlike, say, ROGUE ONE (which I like and clearly connected with an audience although in an entirely different way but that's a point for another time), people went to see GOTG2 for the characters. Obviously, that's why most blockbusters catch on, but GOTG2 takes a risk and actually knows that, making it probably one of the least-action-filled MCU films yet, and it's all the better for it. 

 

Meanwhile, for CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, I want to address one aspect of Tele's critique first and foremost:

"The characters in it aren't kids but aren't adults either, they're a weird amalgamation of the two that feels strange and flat." This is a weird complaint to me. Personally, I disagree with it because it reminded of something like Gravity Falls where they're kids, but they're clearly being voiced by adults which feels weird initially but you buy into it.

 However, I want to talk about the longevity of CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS, the books, as they affected me as a kid, and how I can see the film affecting kids this age (if they haven't read the books). When I was a kid, CU was the first book series I think I ever read. The mix of chapters and comics, along with the fun Flip-o-Ramas and potty humor, made it a great entry level into reading. However, beyond the surface level toilet jokes, there was always a clear message behind it: don't be afraid to be creative. When 7-year-old me read Captain Underpants, I wanted to be like George and Harold. I started drawing more and working on coming up with my stories more. I even made a few comics in an attempt to be like them with my own superheroes. It might sound like a stretch, but I don't know if I'd be into the creative arts and still be trying to be a playwright if books like Captain Underpants hadn't encouraged me to use my imagination to create. As for the film adaptation, I think it nailed this aspect of the story despite not having the comic element as prevalent. Personally, I know a lot of my enjoyment of the film came out of the nostalgia for the books, but from what I've talked to kids at the summer camp I'm working at, it seems like a few of them (the few who have seen it, since most are going to WONDER WOMAN lol) have been inspired by the George and Harold of the film as much as I was when I was a kid. As a side note, the kids who are going to WONDER WOMAN are being inspired by her too.

 

My point is that the impact of a film might rarely have to do with the artistic merits behind it, and to say we can do away with films like GOTG2 and CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS seems really dumb to me. Like I didn't like POWER RANGERS or CARS 3, but I cannot deny the impact both of them have in both the youth of today, and the fans of both franchises. I saw POWER RANGERS with someone who grew up loving it, and he absolutely adored the film. I thought it was shit, but I have no right to take that away from him even if I found it an incredibly vapid film. And I realize I've talked solely about films with pre-existing properties, but I think it applies with every film, and in every demographic. Basically, I don't believe there's such a thing as empty sensationalism, because there's no way a film - or any form of art for that matter - doesn't have at least one person taking something from it that impacts their life in a positive way. And that's what's beautiful about art to me, and why I want to become an artist. If I could make a play that impacted someone the way the Captain Underpants books or SpongeBob as a cartoon or Spy Kids, all of which are "bad" works of art, impacted me as a kid, I'd consider that a tremendous accomplishment. That's just my thoughts on the subject.

 

tl;dr: Broad impact of all art inherently makes "empty sensationalism" not a thing.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Blankments

[GiantCALBears]

1 minute ago, Empire said:

Dory level....

 

I would put Dory in the bottom 5 of Pixar. 

Bottom 5 for me has the two Cars movies and the 3rd could be joining if I decide to watch. I don't think it's in my bottom 5 but it's definitely not in my top half. 

[Goffe]

Dory is so very average, though. Talk about a movie that is nobody's favorite. 

Edited June 17, 2017 by Goffe

[franfar]

1 minute ago, GiantCALBears said:

The best Pixar film for adults and maybe this is justifiable given its subject matter is Ratatouille. It's odds to say but it feels like a much more grown up film than a lot of the others. 

Loved that movie when I was a kid, still think fondly of it now. Also, Up. 

[GiantCALBears]

1 minute ago, franfar said:

Loved that movie when I was a kid, still think fondly of it now. Also, Up. 

I'm so glad they haven't made a sequel. It's a fantastic piece of art that needs to be left alone. 

[Blankments]

4 hours ago, That One Guy said:

RIP to a legend.

 

 

Aw, man, I missed this news. RIP, Rocky is astounding.

 

4 hours ago, CoolioD1 said:

cars 3 thread was a good weekend to get highbrow. time to give my definitive Maya Deren ranking (i know people have been excited to hear my take on this)

 

1. At Land

2. Meshes of the Afternoon

3. Ritual in Transfigured Time

4. Meditation on Violence

5. A Study in Choreography for Camera

6. The Private Life of a Cat

I've only seen Meshes but it's pretty great; I need to check out her other works.

[Dementeleus]

@Blankments, can you spoiler-tag some of that stuff?

[superduperm]

22 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

 

Since I think it's the weakest of the TS trilogy... no.  

Well... how do I say this...

 

No.

[That One Girl]

Just now, Telemachos said:

@Blankments, can you spoiler-tag some of that stuff?

 

You should read the full thing Tele  

[AniNate]

Dory isn't my favorite Pixar but it's still probably the film of theirs I've most purely enjoyed in this decade.

[GiantCALBears]

Speaking of Ratatouille, next week is the tenth anniversary of its release. Wow how time flies. 

[superduperm]

Just now, tribefan695 said:

Dory isn't my favorite Pixar but it's still probably the film of theirs I've most purely enjoyed in this decade.

Inside Out and Toy Story 3 exist.

[nomyth]

Up holds a special place in my heart because I had such a great viewing experience with it. I saw it midnight OD with my best friend and the audience was just so into it. You could hear a pin drop at the end of the married life sequence. I think half the audience was in tears.

[AniNate]

Just now, superduperm said:

Inside Out and Toy Story 3 exist.

 

I know.

[Empire]

9 minutes ago, GiantCALBears said:

Bottom 5 for me has the two Cars movies and the 3rd could be joining if I decide to watch. I don't think it's in my bottom 5 but it's definitely not in my top half. 

My bottom 5:

Brave

The Good Dinosaur 

Dory

Cars 2

Cars

 

Haven't seen Cars 3 yet. 

[YM!]

Pixar Sequels ranking:

TS2 > TS3/Dory > MU > C2

A+.       A.                B+.     C-.