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Jun. 22nd, 2010 10:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Toy Story 3 was wonderful. I'll try to break this reaction down, because it would be a mess otherwise (it's still a mess, because I'm a mess, and I ramble a lot):
Quick thoughts:
If you read all of that, A+. I didn't even get in half the things I was thinking. Maybe I'll leave it for my many rewatches when this comes out on DVD.
I love you, Pixar. (And I want to work with you, please.)
-- rachu
Quick thoughts:
- Loved the short! Day & Night is pretty simple but I loved it for that simplicity and the execution.
- The opening sequence was brilliant. How much do I love that they did something like that - letting us see this from a boy's imagination? Perfect.
- KEN IS NOT A GIRL'S TOY! I loved it. Also, way to go, Barbie. You may have redeemed all the Barbies I hated so much in the past (I chewed all their hands).
- Lotso was so not cool. Five-year-old me would totally chew your head off, you jerk.
- Spanish!Buzz was a surprise and a delight.
- Was Sid (the bad kid in Toy Story) the garbage man?! I think he had the same t-shirt on. NICE.)
- Trixie and Rex! Trixie and Rex! I LOVE THEM VERY MUCH. I love that Bonnie's toys are so sweet, right down to Mr Prickle Pants, but TRIXIE! I want more Trixie and Rex scenes! Dinosaurssssssss.
- The noir!telephone was perfect, and everything about it - how it was used, how it was animated - is everything I love about this trilogy (maybe even the studio) - it's so creative. It's so intelligent and so unique and so imaginative. It's just like the toys' Great Escape from the daycare - everything is established, the characters and their uses and the layout of the place, and used perfectly, in this smart, incredibly imaginative way, which I adore.
- This movie got a little dark at times, didn't it? The first TS3 review online mentioned that the first movie was about friendship, the second about growing up, and the third about mortality and maturity, and there were moments in this that really proved that. Maybe it's why it struck a chord in me - this idea of moving on from things.
- This movie was very deliberately a send-off, especially that last scene with Andy and Bonnie, and I liked that. I don't really like when I can see the intention of something clearly (hi, Glee) but this scene felt sort of like it meant something to the creators, too, which was lovely.
- What a great blend of everything you could ever want in a movie - humour, characters you want to root for, genuine heartbreak, even excellently choreographed action. I think they did this better here than they did even in Up. What I'm saying, basically, is: hello, perfect movie. AND YOU'RE A SEQUEL! (I haven't thought about where I would put this with all the other Pixar movies yet.)
- I am a sap. I'm not very showy with these sappy feelings, but I'm a sap. When I was a kid I had a blanket, and it got old, but I didn't want to throw it away, so when my mum threw it in a bag with other old things, I cut off a tiny piece of it and put it in a box. When I was a little bit older, I had this wonderful book of fairytales and nursery rhymes with gorgeous illustrations and colourings, and I lent it to a friend and she never gave it back and I've never really forgiven her for that (YOU'D BETTER HAVE TAKEN CARE OF IT, BITCH).
Toy Story was the first movie I remember watching at the cinema, and Toy Story 2 may be my most-watched movie ever. This trilogy is a big deal to me because I am a sap, and I'm ecstatic and incredibly relieved that it lived up. I kind of knew it would, because it's Pixar, but I also really didn't know it would, because I'm always a little terrified the day a Pixar movie gets released (how long will they be this good?). So that was good. - Oh, Pixar! The best thing about this company as movie-makers (i.e. not just animators) is how closely they seem to pay attention to keeping things genuine. I can genuinely believe these relationships and these feelings and the decisions they make, despite how large-scale and unbelievable the situations they make, and that may be their greatest strength. I can't think of many movies (i.e. not just animated movies) that get that right. I enjoy feeling for these fictional characters - understanding why decisions that everyone makes may be difficult, why Woody was torn between his friends and his Andy. (It's why I tear up in The Incredibles every time Bob/Mr Incredible says he's not strong enough - that emotion would be cheesy or not entirely believable in other movies, but relationships and characters and feelings and even the stakes were built up here to a point where I totally fell for every bit of it.)
- It's also why: Woody and Buzz! Everyone else! Best friends! Family! TEARS. I always get gooey when they stick up for one another unconditionally (fuck, you guys, I'm talking about toys), but that scene in the incinerator...I only teared up slightly there, but ohh. Everyone reaching for each other. HANDS. AGHH. I love these friendships so much.
It's actually scary, though! I love that it truly feels like things were going to go terribly wrong, and that they wouldn't be able to get out it, just for that scene. I can't imagine it ever getting this dark in other Pixar movies. - I feel very strongly about keeping things of your childhood and feeling torn about what to do with that past and maybe that's why I cried through the last fifteen minutes. I started when Andy started taking out all his toys, and when he pulled Woody back I may have let out a little whimper and started all-out bawling. HE LOVES HIM.
I glanced to the little girl sitting next to me and she looked a little bit worried for me, but at the end she wiped her face, so I guess she cried, too. (which is awesome.) It's so hard, growing up. This movie gets the point across even further by never talking about it explicitly - subtle and beautiful and something everyone understands. - Woody was going to maybe be alone at college, which killed me. Woody is my favourite, maybe because I always love the captains. I never really cared for Bo Peep, but when everyone in that incinerator reached for someone and Woody just stared ahead for a second (JUST TOYS.) before he looked at Buzz, it killed me.
(I bugged my sister while waiting in line to buy popcorn to get the TS3 combo, which came with a cup with a toy of a character attached to the lid and she said no. (She's younger than me.) I really only wanted the Woody or the Rex one, anyway.) - Thank goodness they had a five-minute "extras" sort of reel during the credits, because if I'd walked out right after it ended people would've seen the mess that was my face.
- I love Andy and I love that he values all these things that he owns, which the young 'uns these days (e.g. Molly, his sister) seem to lack - what do you buy that you truly care for? People live off of cellphones and iPods and virtual space and it feels like less people care about keeping tangible things to love. There are things I have that I couldn't bear to give away. I hope people feel the same about the things they have, too. That's what I carried away with me once this movie ended.
- What I love about animated movies in general is that every single frame has to be created. There's consideration behind everything that is shown: the framing of a shot, the random car zooming past in the background even though no one's really paying attention to it. I'm not entirely sure Dreamworks gets that the way Pixar does - I loved How to Train Your Dragon, but I don't see the precision that Pixar has in making it look like a movie's been filmed.
I'm geeking out here and being an over-the-top fan, but really: I love the camera angles in this movie, the things that draws your attention - they even have the focus technique (bringing things to focus and blurring things further in the background, then switching it) that live action movies have, but it's done very neatly. I only even noticed how much Pixar movies look like they've been filmed because of something I heard on the Creative Screenwriting podcast for Wall-E last year (Andrew Stanton! I found it fascinating, so go look it up!), but it's so interesting to pay attention to. - It's kind of obvious how much the quality of animation has improved since TS2, and I loved it very much. The colouring, the textures, even the filming-style. It's gorgeous. (Love you, Pixar.)
- This script was great and very tightly-structured - everything was purposefully introduced and I liked how clearly everything fit together. Plus it was hilarious, which is good (and what I mean by that is thank goodness I had reason to laugh, too).
- I didn't watch this in 3D (and I will never watch anything in 3D, which my dad is annoyed about), but it's sometimes obvious what things are done to make a non-3D movie a 3D movie. I am very impressed, therefore, that at no point in this movie did I think "oh, that was done just so it could look good in 3D" - nothing in your face (literally), not even the action sequences. Great restraint, Pixar!
- The voice cast was fabulous. I just want to talk about Woody again - he's sarcastic and goofy and kind of a jerk sometimes, but he's their captain, and I love him and how he brings everyone together. And I don't think he would have that effect on me if he hadn't been Tom Hanks, because he's just perfect. I love the voice cast in all - the telephone, Buzz, Jessie, Rex, the pig, even Lotso - but Woody is just perfect.
If you read all of that, A+. I didn't even get in half the things I was thinking. Maybe I'll leave it for my many rewatches when this comes out on DVD.
I love you, Pixar. (And I want to work with you, please.)
-- rachu
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Date: 2010-06-22 02:38 pm (UTC)damn, i really want to watch this.
YES SID IS THE GARBAGE MAN. I SAW IT ON THIS EPIC! BLOGPOST LINKED FROM TUMBLR THAT PICSPAMMED ALL THE ALLUSIONS TO ALL THINGS PIXAR IN TS3. IT WAS SO EPIC.
yesterday night, instead of WORKING OF EFFING MATHS i was looking at videos of Roz from Monsters Inc (the boss!slug who goes "I'M WATCHING YOU, MIKE WAZOWSKI") because i'm supposed to sound like her in part of my tsd play and that was so much fun honestly (SHE WAS VOICED BY A GUY. A GUY! i love how voice acting works, seriously. EDNA MODE BY BRAD BIRD SORT OF EPIC.) but it's very draining to be honest. but either way i ended up looking at pixar's website(which is fabulously classy but still just wonderful) AND I WAS LOOKING AT THEIR INTERNSHIPS AND JOBS AND STUFF. CAN YOU FUCKING IMAGINE INTERNING AT PIXAR?
i would die of happiness. I WOULD BE A COFFEE PERSON TO WORK IN PIXAR IT WOULD BE AWESOME.
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Date: 2010-06-22 03:30 pm (UTC)- I loved the opening scene so much. So much. I really kind of wish there were a whole seperate film that just shows that imaginary universe -- it's just so awesome to me.
- I've been hearing that Barbie hand-chewing was an epidemic. I've just been hearing a lot of people confess to that lately, hehe.
- Sid was the garbage man, I believe! I hope! Kid turned out less crazy than I thought he would (I imagine he went through a lot of therapy after the toy incident in the backyard.)
- I enjoy feeling for these fictional characters - understanding why decisions that everyone makes may be difficult, why Woody was torn between his friends and his Andy.
I like that too. In fact, I had a whole class based on that last semester. Character histories and how they affect the decisions and relationships with other characters -- it was really awesome. And I swear, almost a third of the class was spent analyzing The Incredibles, hehe. My professor loved The Incredibles.
- I feel very strongly about keeping things of your childhood and feeling torn about what to do with that past and maybe that's why I cried through the last fifteen minutes.
Exactly!! Yes, I feel really strongly about this too (not enough people do, it's disappointing). As a result, I remember everything from my childhood; everything I ever loved. And I'm really glad that I do, I still love it all and won't let it go. I don't have to. But anyway, that's part of why I cried that whole way through, those feelings are super important to me.
- Love all the technical detail stuff here, ahh! Because you know I agree. Since watching the first two before leaving, the animation and lighting quality was really noticable, absolutely beautiful work! Everything was perfect, the detailing, the acting, everything.
Okay. I should stop there, but this is my favourite post!
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Date: 2010-06-22 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 04:55 pm (UTC)- That imaginary universe made my life. It's so wonderful to have something that captures the craziness of imagination so vividly. And the scale of that scene, with all the big spaces and the moving trains! And the colouring! I loved it. Just thinking about it makes me smile.
- I just remembered how Toy Story ended and now I'm amused he even managed to become this garbage man! Poor traumatised evil boy.
- Yay! Character histories and the way they influence what they do and who they are are the kind of thing I like thinking about so to know there are entire classes like that is exciting.
- I feel like everyone who didn't react to the idea of keeping or letting the past go are either very young or don't see the point of it, which really makes me sad. I'm terrible about getting used to big changes, too, which may be why I cried so much - I love that this movie ends with telling you to move on, but to not be afraid of looking back. Or something. (yes, I have been thinking about this too much.)
- I still wish I'd been able to watch the first two movies in full before watching this one, but I really did love how much about it's changed.
Please keep going! I honestly feel like I could talk about this movie for a long time now.
(Also, are you going to post these TS icons anywhere? Because I want some and you've got so many for Woody and Woody-Jessie and those are all relevant to my interests!)
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Date: 2010-06-24 07:29 pm (UTC)- Yes! I'm so serious when I say I want there to be a whole film based purely on Andy's imaginary adventures. Because that scene was absolutely brilliant from the score to the visuals. The colours were especially beautiful to me. In fact, the colouring of the entire film is killing me right now. The colourscript is so amazing, I'm dying over it.
- I know! I wonder if Sid spent a whole bunch of time afraid to go near any toy. I also kind of wonder what happened to his sister. I think about these things!
- Yes! I loved that class a lot, actually -- initially I was scared of it (it also included performances, but that actually turned out awesomely for me.) We also spent a lot of time on The Iron Giant. My teacher must have loved Brad Bird, actually.
- Yes. I feel like younger people aren't going to understand why so many people got emotional over it. But it's like-- There's a certain age bracket (17-23 or so) who the film hits just right because we're in a stage of having to move on and it scares us. I'm also terrible at dealing with change, haha (We're very alike, you and I!), and I don't really believe in letting go of my childhood fully, it always has a place in my heart. So it struck a chord with me. But I like what you've said about moving on, but not being afraid to look back. That describes it perfectly!
I could talk about this for a long time too, so it's all good, hee. I have been obsessing like mad. Listening to the soundtracks on youtube and loving them. Dropped $50 on the art book. Am drawing fanart and making icons. I'm going all-out, here.
(I plan to soon, but feel free to take them from my icons if you want right now! It's fine with me, I'll be posting soon, hopefully. )
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Date: 2010-06-26 05:40 pm (UTC)- Rewatching that scene where Sid was ambushed by his already scary toys, I get the feeling he was afraid to go near toys for the rest of his life. He probably doesn't want to drive that garbage truck with the toys sewn onto the front!
- The Iron Giant is wonderful. Are you a Ratatouille fan, by the way? Other than how gorgeous the food looks, how much I loved how they animated the rats and Linguini, and how gorgeous the food looks (that scene where Remy makes the soup, mmm), I don't really get how much love it gets.
- because we're in a stage of having to move on and it scares us
That's probably exactly it. I don't think it affects older people the same way, either - maybe they've already been able to get over it.
My obsessiveness seems to centre around thinking about the writing of everything thoroughly. This is fun! It's a relief that someone's been thinking about it like I have!
(I took a couple, yay, thank you! :D)
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Date: 2010-06-27 04:18 am (UTC)- That's what I figure, too. It's weird, though, because I'm sure that he comes across a lot of toys while working as a garbageman.
- The Iron Giant is so fantastic, definitely one of my top films. And regarding Ratatouille, I am of course a fan of Ratatouille, but I see what you mean. I actually forget that it exists a lot when I list off all of the Pixar films. I'm not sure why. But I do love it (I think it's Wall-e that I don't love as much as other people. I love it, but it's a different sort of love.)
- I know it affected my mother, but that's probably because she feels the same way I do about childhood and all that. I'm sure Andy's mother tearing up over Andy's empty room got her, too.
I obsess over almost all aspects of films, hehe. Animation, design, music, writing -- everything! It's all nice. But I definitely have, aaah.
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Date: 2010-06-27 06:14 am (UTC)- I love the first hour or so of Wall-E, but that may be because it came out around the time that I really, really started paying attention to movies in general, so just the idea of animating that robot to be such an endearing character is exciting. I love it for the romance of it - the "Save the Earth!" stuff, not so much, but I can forgive it for what that first half is. (The Pixar film I tend to forget is Monsters Inc., but maybe that's because I haven't seen it in years.)
- Aw, Andy's mother. I kind of love her even though we see so little of her.
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Date: 2010-06-28 06:10 am (UTC)- I like WALL-E, he's a really cute character and he's animated in such a way that even without the ability to speak, you know exactly what he's thinking. But at the same time, I love good script-writing -- things like Toy Story and The Incredibles and their witty exchanges stick with me a little bit more than WALL-E. Also, yeah, it was a little preachy after the first half. (I rewatched Monsters Inc. last night and still do love it. You should watch. I guarantee you'll tear up at the very last shot, c'mon.)
- I agree. Except for when she comes into Andy's room and takes his stuff for that 25cent box in TS2. Who does that!? Don't sell your kid's stuff while he's away at camp, woman!
- Oh, I'm curious as to what you think of the idea of Woody being a hand me down from Andy's father, which is something I heard in a video with Lasseter a little earlier. If that was the case, though, why does Woody not understand the whole concept of Andy growing up and moving on? Because if he belonged to Andy's father, surely he went through that stuff. I'm a little confused about that -- might just be a little plot hole (I don't usually care about plot holes). I'm still thinking way too much! Heh.
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Date: 2010-06-22 05:14 pm (UTC)JOSS WHEDON WROTE THE SCREENPLAY. YEAH, HE DID. \o/ EXPLAINS A LOT, DOESN'T IT?! :DDD
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Date: 2010-06-24 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-23 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-24 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-23 06:42 pm (UTC)1. The short was so cool and unique! The concept was relatively simple but the animation was fantastic.
2. I thought that perhaps they were going to redeem Lotso in the end. He was a sad, abused toy and I was a little disappointed they didn't do the traditional Heartwarming Ending where he becomes everyone's friend for real. But, I guess not all bad people (or toys) have a change of heart. Seeing him chained to the front of the garbage truck was hilarious.
3. Bonnie's toys were so cute omg! I especially loved the Shakespearean hedgehog. But you know who was even cuter? BONNIE. I hope if I have a little girl someday that she is filled with that kind of imagination and joy (and wears tutus with rain boots).
4. This movie made me feel guilty for every toy I've ever thrown away or donated (my Barbies are in Guatemala! I hope those Guatemalan children took care of them!). I still have my childhood blankie and most of my stuffed animals (at my parents' house). I totally agree that people are becoming more and more attached to intangible things. Maybe it's because I work in a museum, which is all about preserving tangible evidence of our existence, but I like stuff. I'm afraid I'm going to end up on an episode of Hoarders at some point.
5. Ahhh the incinerator! They actually made me believe that was the end for them!
6. What's so beautiful about Pixar is even though the stories are about outlandish situations or characters, the emotions are totally grounded in realism. That's what separates it from other animation studios. Other studios focus on OMG TALKING FISH. Or OMG talking insects. Pixar focuses on the why rather than the who, the how, or the what. That's why How to Train your Dragon felt a bit like a Pixar movie; it wasn't just DRAAAAGONS! It had genuine human emotion.
7. I loved the ending. Part of me wanted Andy to take Woody with him to college, but a) he would have been without his friends! and b) it would have undermined the message about growing up. I'm happy they ended up with Bonnie. I can imagine for myself that when Bonnie grows up all of them to go to Sunnyside and be happy now that it's not run under an evil dictatorship (I LOVED the tag-teaming in the caterpillar room during the credits).
8. THIS MOVIE WAS SO CLEVER. The opening sequence. Everything in Sunnyside (the roulette wheel! The prison movie stuff! The great escape!). Glorious.
9. Is there any explanation for why certain toys are gone (like Bo Beep)? I need to re-watch the first two movies since it's been awhile since I've seen them. I guess it makes sense that there wouldn't be an explanation, because from the toys' perspective some of their friends would leave without warning.
10. I watched it in 3D because I had no other choice (the theatre I went to wasn't showing it in 2D), and while I'm sure it added depth to the canvas it wasn't an obviously 3D film.
11. I wanted to mention the preview for Tangled before the movie (did you get it?). WHY IS RAPUNZEL A SECONDARY CHARACTER IN HER OWN MOVIE?
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Date: 2010-06-24 05:19 pm (UTC)1. It really was, wasn't it?! I watched it and loved it, then got worried that many people wouldn't enjoy it as much. So brilliant, though.
2. I was surprised he didn't change, but then I was really pleased, because that really does suit the tone of this movie - I mean, it's still Disney and it's still about toys, but it was darker and it deserved the irredeemable!villain. I do wish something worse happened to him, though. (even though I laughed.)
3. YES BONNIE! Kind of like the older version of the kid from Monster's Inc., but even cuter. And she was so endearing and she played with toys a lot and she made vrooming noises! I wish more kids were like her. She was deserved to inherit Andy's toys.
4. I don't have a lot of stuff? But I have a lot of tiny things. :P And a lot of books. That collection will probably only really start expanding when I live on my own. And exactly - I just kept thinking about all the things I've thrown away and felt miserable.
6. THAT'S EXACTLY IT. (Stop saying things better than I do!) I feel like Pixar uses the animation basically to maximize how their imagination can be used, and to overcome implausibilities of every story (talking animals/toys, flying houses) - the stories they tell are still essentially truthful and heartfelt, which I really, really love. I think it's key to why their movies are so genuine. Dragons did get that right.
7. That tag-teaming made me really stupidly happy, and I'm even happier now that I realise it was in the credits, because yay for Pixar not bashing messages into our heads! Aah. And I love Andy moving on and also not being afraid to look back on things. (Andy's a good kid.)
8. They're so good about being genius about the little things, it's just wonderful. I genuinely feel like I could pause every couple of frames and find something else to be delighted by. Dreamworks gets overly clever about its jokes, but Pixar is just right.
9. Nope, no explanation. I like the idea that these toys started disappearing/"dying" before we got to them, like the toys that are left have had to mature and get used to things just like other people do, growing up. (It's entirely possible I'm reading too much into this.)
10. My friend's brother complained to me that the 3D was useless and I felt sad because things flying into your face isn't the point!! I've read it does give it some depth, though, which I'm happy about. I would like more 3D things to be approached this way.
11. I didn't get it, but I watched a preview a couple of weeks back, and THAT WAS MY REACTION! I read some pre-production notes about how they wanted to get the romance over with in the first third of the movie so they could focus on Rapunzel and her weird, twisted mother (or stepmother), which is such a cool concept, but I'm disappointed because they seemed to have ditched that completely. :/ And now it's slapstick too, which is, ugh, can we try to be a bit darker, please? Pixar did it, right?! Damn it, Disney.
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Date: 2010-06-24 10:00 pm (UTC)Stop saying things better than I do!
You know I'm always thinking the same thing! I don't even have to write a review for this movie because I can just link to this one!
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Date: 2010-06-26 05:45 pm (UTC)Ooh, definitely. Just like Ellie in Up was the loud, cheerful, boisterous one, or Helen/Mrs Incredible isn't afraid to kick some butt. The next Pixar movie that isn't a sequel is coming out around 2013, I think, and that's got a female protagonist, which I'm so psyched for. Even the less-major characters we've seen so far are strong and smart and they've convinced me that a girl lead would be absolutely awesome.
Disney needs to have more faith in the female lead and appealing to boys. It does make sense in an infuriating way, though - I can't think of any female-centric movies (not even kids movies) that appeal to both genders well.
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Date: 2010-06-26 10:13 pm (UTC)The only films I can think of with female leads that appeal to guys are action films with a female protagonist - like Kill Bill. One of the reasons I like Tarantino is because he writes strong women.
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Date: 2010-06-27 12:57 am (UTC)