Movie Non-Review: "Cars"
Category: Movies...
Posted Friday, June 23, 2006 at 09:37 PM [GMT-6]

Not a full-blown review, just a few observations from this afternoon's viewing of Cars:

  • Obviously, the animation is amazing...spectacular...incredible. But I was also struck by the audio. Not the soundtrack, which was obligatorially eclectic but still forgettable, but by the sound effects. Tires rolling over sand. The glorp of the asphalt paver. The vrerp of an air wrench. It all rang so true. Sound is a bigger part of these movies than I think we sometimes realize, and Pixar works the details like no one else.

  • The "One Man Band" short that preceded the movie was excellent and I wonder how much fun the production team has in assembling it. It's all theirs, of course...no human actors whose voices must be synched up before the thing's complete.

  • As with X-Men 3, you need to stay through all the credits. It's easier to do with Cars because various animated scenes continue to appear while the credits roll. But there's still a couple of "Easter eggs" at the very end and we noticed a few people didn't stay quite long enough to catch them. Without being too spoilerish, think of some of the great Pixar movies remade to star cars instead of, well, whatever they originally starred. Actually, I'd like to see the credits again, as well, because some interesting names appeared, but too quickly to see in what capacity.

  • Overall, this is one of the most enjoyable movies we've seen this year. Yes, it's a glorified cartoon, but don't underestimate the power of a good story well told.
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Comments

We rented "Bee Season" with Richard Gere last night. Good movie. Interesting.

Posted by: Janie at June 24, 2006 01:43 PM

We rented "Bee Season" with Richard Gere last night.

I didn't realize he was in town. <rimshot>

Haven't seen it yet. I've like Gere in the last couple of things I've seen him in (Chicago, Shall We Dance).

Posted by: Eric at June 24, 2006 01:45 PM

We just saw "Cars" as well. It really was an enjoyable movie. We even got to see it at the drive-in, which made those credits even more fun! I was laughing out loud at Mack's commentary.

Posted by: Linda at June 24, 2006 03:36 PM

Linda, I forgot to mention Mack's observations at the end...that was priceless.

It occurs to me that the Pixar folks reward the faithful with those little "throwaway" scenes. They'll mean nothing to people who haven't seen any of the series of Pixar movies, although they can still appreciate the talent of those who assembled the scenes. Given the amount of work it takes to create a single frame of an animation of this quality, those scenes are even more amazing.

Posted by: Eric at June 24, 2006 04:01 PM

Eric, a Sunday matinee showing of "Cars" was part of our Father's Day celebration.

I give it a 'thumbs-up,' but not WAY up.

Like you, I was very much taken with the animation. I thought a great indicator of the 'state-of-Pixar-art' was near the opening scene, as the door/ramp is opening, the sunlight is coming into the darkened interior, and moving across Lightning's hood ... the play of light on a polished surface was, to me, nothing short of real ...

Great animation ... but, only a good story (with few surprises) and good characters ...

Don't get me wrong, it was an afternoon well spent, and well worth the cost of admission ... when it comes out on DVD, we'll probably get a copy of our own, to watch again and again.

But, somehow, I wasn't captivated by the story and the characters ... I wasn't moved, as I was with previous Pixar efforts ... "Toy Story," Monsters, Inc" and "Finding Nemo."

Still, though, a good movie ... if some of you reading this haven't seen it, you should!

Posted by: Jeff at June 24, 2006 08:59 PM

Awww, Eric, with rentable movies, Gere is always in town!

Steve took his "little", Geoffrey, to see Cars and they absolutely loved the movie!

Posted by: Janie at June 25, 2006 09:47 PM
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