Movies Disney-Pixar's Soul has reviews up, and....

[SaysWho?]

Good shit so far.

 

Soul Reviews - Metacritic

WWW.METACRITIC.COM

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Soul movie reviews & Metacritic score: Joe Gardner is a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. But one small misstep takes him from the st...

 

Soul review – Pixar's rapturous tale of a jazz nut on a surreal out-of-body journey | Film | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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There’s not much logic involved in this weird and wonderful story of a pianist who is accidentally transported to a strange, otherworldly domain

 

 

'Soul' Review: Pixar's Jazzy Existential Celebration Is One of the Studio's Very Best

WWW.INDIEWIRE.COM

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The first entry in the Pixar canon to center on a Black character is a magical crowdpleaser that embodies the Pixar Touch.

 

 

Soul is a sweet mash-up of earlier, deeper Pixar adventures

FILM.AVCLUB.COM

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Pixar's latest, Soul, is an appealing hodgepodge of past triumphs—a little of Coco’s afterlife adventure, lassoed to the high concept of director Pete Docter’s previous film for the studio, Inside Out.

 

‘Soul’ Review: From the Minds Behind ‘Inside Out’ Comes an Even Deeper Look at What Makes People Tick

VARIETY.COM

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Pixar gives audiences a fresh way to think about the dimension that defines their personality in a cartoon with a predominantly Black cast.

 

 

 

There are a few more lukewarm positive reviews, of course, and when the movie arrives, perhaps some of us will come out of the movie with that perspective.

 

I will say I've quite loved the previews and hope this movie nails it. Wish we could have seen it last summer as was scheduled, but COVID sucks.

 

 

[TheLeon]

Definitely looking forward to this one. It’s wild that I’ll be able to watch both this and Wonder Woman 1984 for “free” next week. 

[Pikachu]

Saved up Google Play rewards money to get 1 month of Disney+. Going to watch this and binge The Mandalorian Season 2.

[Reputator]

Yeah hyped for this one.

[chakoo]

The movie I'm most excited to watch this year. I will gladly sign up for a month of D+ just so I can watch this. 

[Spork3245]

It’s up on D+

[EternallDarkness]

Guess my expectations were a bit too high. It was enjoyable but didn't quite have the magic of say Coco or Moana. Still it was a fun flick and I am sure I'll watch it again.

[johnny]

i really enjoyed that

[Joe]

I freaking loved this movie.

[5timechamp]

really enjoyed it.. the Ny Knicks bit cracked me up.

 

Went to see the reviews and already saw some perspective reviews where they say they dislike the movie for how it tells its black story and how it follows black film tropes.. I was just too caught up and enjoying the characters for who they were instead of keeping an eye out for things to be offended about.

 

not sure where I rank this one yet.. still need to watch Onward too

 

[EternallDarkness]

1 hour ago, 5timechamp said:

I was just too caught up and enjoying the characters for who they were instead of keeping an eye out for things to be offended about.

 

 

 

which is basically how movies should be enjoyed. I didn't find anything to be offended about with this flick (of course I'm a cracker so what do I know  ) definitely enjoyable and plenty of cute parts, but I stand by my belief that Coco and Moana both blow it out of the water. Same applies to Onward. I like the message both movies send, I just found they weren't nearly as effective as either Coco or Moana. 

[Ghost_MH]

2 hours ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

which is basically how movies should be enjoyed. I didn't find anything to be offended about with this flick (of course I'm a cracker so what do I know  ) definitely enjoyable and plenty of cute parts, but I stand by my belief that Coco and Moana both blow it out of the water. Same applies to Onward. I like the message both movies send, I just found they weren't nearly as effective as either Coco or Moana. 

 

This is where I stand. This was a good movie, but I don't quite place it as highly as either Moana or Coco. I do also like Soul better than Onward. It's also a pretty great movie compared to a lot of the air l animated movies we got this year. It's better than Over the Moon, Trolls World Tour, The Croods, or Scooby. The Willoughbys came out earlier this year. That was pretty great. Random tangent, Netflix Animation has two great films under its belt. That's pretty cool.

 

Back to Soul. My biggest issue with the movie is that the two leads are mostly unlikeable. It's hard to thread the needle when you need redemption arcs for both of your leads. I think they're mostly successful here and I would totally contribute to the film's fresh score. However, in regards to redemption arcs, 22's was easily more deserved than Joe's and that's really where the film slightly misses for me.

 

Spoiler

The movie ending with Joe realizing achieving his dream wasn't what he thought it would be like and that maybe it was his time to die, is kind of wild. That's some redemption right there and it was probably the biggest miss for me in an otherwise pretty great movie.

 

[Mercury33]

It’s being nitpicky but you guys know Moana is a Disney Animation studios film not Pixar right?

 

Also you know you’re getting old when people are using that and Coco as the standard bearers now instead of Up, WallE, The Incredibles, Toy Story haha

[Joe]

3 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

This is where I stand. This was a good movie, but I don't quite place it as highly as either Moana or Coco. I do also like Soul better than Onward. It's also a pretty great movie compared to a lot of the air l animated movies we got this year. It's better than Over the Moon, Trolls World Tour, The Croods, or Scooby. The Willoughbys came out earlier this year. That was pretty great. Random tangent, Netflix Animation has two great films under its belt. That's pretty cool.

 

Back to Soul. My biggest issue with the movie is that the two leads are mostly unlikeable. It's hard to thread the needle when you need redemption arcs for both of your leads. I think they're mostly successful here and I would totally contribute to the film's fresh score. However, in regards to redemption arcs, 22's was easily more deserved than Joe's and that's really where the film slightly misses for me.

 

  Hide contents

The movie ending with Joe realizing achieving his dream wasn't what he thought it would be like and that maybe it was his time to die, is kind of wild. That's some redemption right there and it was probably the biggest miss for me in an otherwise pretty great movie.

 

What are the Netflix movies?

[johnny]

Just now, Joe said:

What are the Netflix movies?

Klaus. it’s phenomenal 

[Ghost_MH]

25 minutes ago, Joe said:

What are the Netflix movies?

 

25 minutes ago, johnny said:

Klaus. it’s phenomenal 

 

Correct. Klaus is phenomenal and The Willoughbys is pretty damn great as well. Also, Glen Keane deserves a mention for a pretty OK Over the Moon. He might be striking a little too close to his Disney roots, but it's still pretty good.

[Ghost_MH]

56 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

It’s being nitpicky but you guys know Moana is a Disney Animation studios film not Pixar right?

 

Also you know you’re getting old when people are using that and Coco as the standard bearers now instead of Up, WallE, The Incredibles, Toy Story haha

 

Yes, but that entire relationship is incestuous enough.

 

Either way, these new movies Disney and Pixar are putting out are really good. I still think Wall-E's opening half hour is the best hair hour of any Pixar film, but Coco is so good from beginning to end. Toy Story 3 gets pretty clear, but I still think Coco strikes better. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my own grandmother died like a week before Coco came out.

 

Also, Moana is the best Disney princess film, ever. Fight me.

[johnny]

moana is amazing 

 

pretty sure it’s the disney princess film i’ve watched the most 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I still haven't seen Moana. Or Coco.

[SaysWho?]

Coco's scene that you know about if you watched it really did give me tears. I've never had that happen in any movie I know of.

 

That said, of the Disney films of the 2010s, Toy Story 4 is so far and above despite the fact that something as cool as Inside Out exists.

[Ghost_MH]

8 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I still haven't seen Moana. Or Coco.

 

You should fix that. They're both amazing. Also, Moana has some legitimately amazing music. It's crazy that Moana's amazing soundtrack was followed by Frozen 2. That said, Frozen 2's Show Yourself is pretty damn good and the first song with any real emotion on the Frozen movies.

 

5 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Coco's scene that you know about if you watched it really did give me tears. I've never had that happen in any movie I know of.

 

That said, of the Disney films of the 2010s, Toy Story 4 is so far and above despite the fact that something as cool as Inside Out exists.

 

That particular scene hits hard and it's entirely earned. It's so good.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

5 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

You should fix that. They're both amazing. Also, Moana has some legitimately amazing music. It's crazy that Moana's amazing soundtrack was followed by Frozen 2. That said, Frozen 2's Show Yourself is pretty damn good and the first song with any real emotion on the Frozen movies.

 

 

That particular scene hits hard and it's entirely earned. It's so good.

Yeah, I've just really not been in a movie mood for quite some time. Haven't seen Frozen 2, either. I will eventually.

 

Also, I wasn't especially enamored of Toy Story 4. I mean, it was good and all, but I just never got the sense it was needed. Fun, but I was content with where Toy Story 3 left us.

[thewhyteboar]

Coco is definitely my favorite Pixar movie. The theater experience was quite memorable as well. I was severely hungover and just felt awful, but since we had already bought the tickets I didn't want to disappoint my wife. The theater was sweltering. It was winter so everyone had on massive coats plus the heater was blasting. A rather large woman sat on my other side so I was squished and had no space (my shoulders are already broader than 90% of the people in Korea, so I'm already used to having no space but this was ridiculous). Then that awful Frozen Olaf short played and it went on forever. I was sweating both from the heater and the numerous bottles of soju I had consumed the previous evening, and I just felt miserable and I wanted to leave. Seriously that Olaf short was the worst thing I have ever seen. Finally Coco started (that Olaf thing was at least as long as Lawrence of Arabia), and once I saw the bright colors my mood instantly changed. What a great movie.

[Reputator]

Hit all the right notes for me. Tears were shed.

[Ghost_MH]

1 hour ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Yeah, I've just really not been in a movie mood for quite some time. Haven't seen Frozen 2, either. I will eventually.

 

Also, I wasn't especially enamored of Toy Story 4. I mean, it was good and all, but I just never got the sense it was needed. Fun, but I was content with where Toy Story 3 left us.

 

Toy Story 4 was very good, but it didn't quite hit its mark the way Toy Story 3 did. The best thing to come from Toy Story 4 was the Forky Asks a Question said of shorts on Disney+. Those were great.

 

22 minutes ago, thewhyteboar said:

Coco is definitely my favorite Pixar movie. The theater experience was quite memorable as well. I was severely hungover and just felt awful, but since we had already bought the tickets I didn't want to disappoint my wife. The theater was sweltering. It was winter so everyone had on massive coats plus the heater was blasting. A rather large woman sat on my other side so I was squished and had no space (my shoulders are already broader than 90% of the people in Korea, so I'm already used to having no space but this was ridiculous). Then that awful Frozen Olaf short played and it went on forever. I was sweating both from the heater and the numerous bottles of soju I had consumed the previous evening, and I just felt miserable and I wanted to leave. Seriously that Olaf short was the worst thing I have ever seen. Finally Coco started (that Olaf thing was at least as long as Lawrence of Arabia), and once I saw the bright colors my mood instantly changed. What a great movie.

 

Coco is just brilliant. The music is spot on, the aesthetic is the perfect amount of colorful, and it hits all the right emotions. It's also very much my favorite Pixar movie.

[5timechamp]

2 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I still haven't seen Moana. Or Coco.

 

same... not sure why

 

no Good Dinosaur either

 

Im the old fart who still has Toy Story 2 or Finding Nemo at the top of the Pixar pile....

 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

3 minutes ago, 5timechamp said:

 

same... not sure why

 

no Good Dinosaur either

 

Im the old fart who still has Toy Story 2 or Finding Nemo at the top of the Pixar pile....

 

Several of their recent movies I haven’t seen. But most were sequels to movies I didn’t care about in the first place, like Cars or Finding Nemo. 
 

Incredibles 2 was good, though. I even bought Coco on blu-ray like two years ago and I never watched it. 

[SaysWho?]

13 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

Several of their recent movies I haven’t seen. But most were sequels to movies I didn’t care about in the first place, like Cars or Finding Nemo. 
 

Incredibles 2 was good, though. I even bought Coco on blu-ray like two years ago and I never watched it. 

 

I thought Nemo was great and was surprised at how small and uninteresting Finding Dory felt, so you're doubly not missing anything.  

[EternallDarkness]

9 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

 

Back to Soul. My biggest issue with the movie is that the two leads are mostly unlikeable. It's hard to thread the needle when you need redemption arcs for both of your leads. I think they're mostly successful here and I would totally contribute to the film's fresh score. However, in regards to redemption arcs, 22's was easily more deserved than Joe's and that's really where the film slightly misses for me.

 

  Hide contents

The movie ending with Joe realizing achieving his dream wasn't what he thought it would be like and that maybe it was his time to die, is kind of wild. That's some redemption right there and it was probably the biggest miss for me in an otherwise pretty great movie.

 

 

I'm not sure I see the same interpretation of Joe's arc. 

Spoiler

 I think he spent his life in pursuit of his dream only to realize it wasn't what he thought, and that perhaps it was the teaching, helping others find that spark that was truly rewarding. You see how memories of watching the girl with the trombone as well as him helping educate 22.

 

 

4 hours ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

 

Also, Moana is the best Disney princess film, ever. Fight me.

 

It's definitely one of my favorites. She is such a great character. 

 

 

3 hours ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

I still haven't seen Moana. Or Coco.

 

Holy crap...fix that shit NOW. I've watched both dozens of times. 

[Ghost_MH]

39 minutes ago, EternallDarkness said:

 

I'm not sure I see the same interpretation of Joe's arc. 

  Hide contents

 I think he spent his life in pursuit of his dream only to realize it wasn't what he thought, and that perhaps it was the teaching, helping others find that spark that was truly rewarding. You see how memories of watching the girl with the trombone as well as him helping educate 22.

 

 

 

It's definitely one of my favorites. She is such a great character. 

 

 

 

Holy crap...fix that shit NOW. I've watched both dozens of times. 

 

Spoiler

I can see that. That may certainly be where he ends up, but my issue is that he doesn't get there until after his own dream is a disappointment. At the piano, he's reaching into his memories of his body's time as 22 and remembering what she felt and thought while in control. His memory of her zeal for life and just being a better person than him gives him pause since she sacrificed her chance for him. Up until that point he's been pretty self-centered the entire movie.

 

If he had that revelation while in the middle of the gig or before he had spoken to Dorothea, or at least an inkling of it, I think it would have landed better.

 

Maybe my perspective is just colored here, because I've totally been where he was. I went to college as a graphic design major and then when I got the taste that working in art and graphic design professionally is awful. It's just another day to day job, just with a lot less security than other careers. Yeah, I left that stuff in the background as a hobby...which I don't really touch anymore because kids and stuff.

 

This is one of those times where the movie could have breathed a bit.

 

All that said, this doesn't stop the movie from being very good. I'm being incredibly nit-picky here. Pixar doesn't really have much in the way of misses. There's Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur. I mean, none of the Cars movies are really all that great, but at least I get what they're going for. Cars 2 was just plain bad and The Good Dinosaur is just so awkwardly paced. Every so often, I watch the movie because my youngest loves dinosaurs and everytime I think to myself "Well, shit, I forgot this entire chunk of film even exists." Like I forget that there are villains in this film and that it also features the most horrifying death in Pixar history.

[Joe]

I hear Brave is not great either. I still want to see it.

[5timechamp]

4 hours ago, Joe said:

I hear Brave is not great either. I still want to see it.

.. i wasnt too big on Brave either. Merida and the mom are fine. But the interplay between the kingdoms is where I found the fun. The mother/daughter issue that needed to be solved followed a too predictable path

[TheLeon]

I really enjoyed this one. The two Pixar movies of this year share what I'll call a "realization montage", and damn did it work on me both times. 

[Ghost_MH]

5 hours ago, Joe said:

I hear Brave is not great either. I still want to see it.

 

39 minutes ago, 5timechamp said:

.. i wasnt too big on Brave either. Merida and the mom are fine. But the interplay between the kingdoms is where I found the fun. The mother/daughter issue that needed to be solved followed a too predictable path

 

Brave is...fine. it makes sense narratively and is mostly paced OK. It just doesn't tell a very interesting story and what is interesting is telegraphed from like a mile away. At least it has some memorable set pieces and a coherent aesthetic. Merida showing all the boys up on the archery range was pretty good. That's more than I can say for The Good Dinosaur or anything Cars.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

I loved Brave. But it's the setting for me. It's not on the same level at a lot of Pixar movies and feels more like a typical Disney animated movie, but I'll take it any day over Cars or Nemo.