Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I've Fallen And I Can't Get Up

JA from MNPP here and I apologize for this post's title. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

Anyway, did you know that it's just a wee short 79 days until Pixar's Up comes out? No? You mean you don't have a kittens-in-wicker-baskets calendar behind your desk that you X off the days for until the movie is out? Well smell you fancy-britches.


The movie was one of my "orphans" from the "We Can't Wait" countdown, so I'm sneaking in my chance to bring up the movie here now. Wha ha ha, evil genius!

So I missed the forty minutes or so of footage that they showed at NY ComiCon - I spent an hour and a half in line for nothing though, so that was fun. Line: The Ride!

Still, that bitterness hasn't lain claim to any of my expectations for what will surely be a new masterpiece from the folks behind Finding Nemo and Ratatouille. Right? Surely they can't never ever break their streak ever? My crowing about their forever invincibility couldn't possibly be cursing them with unreasonable expectations or anything...


What do y'all think? Do we have another Wall-E here, or is this sucker gonna float on over into Cars-ville*? I want baseless speculation, dang it!

* For the record, I liked Cars, but I know the majority hold it in lower esteem.
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21 comments:

J.D. said...

Yeah, I get a Monsters, Inc./Bug's Life vibe from it. It'll be entertaining and beautifully animated, of course, but I ain't sure about actual quality - especially to the standard set by Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton.

Anonymous said...

I get the distinct impression that "Up" is the cinematic equivalent of a 'wasted pitch'. The folks at Pixar know that the bar has been set unreachably high for their next offering by the critical and box office success of "Wall-E", so they are trotting out what is, for them, relatively ordinary material. This will let folks recalibrate their expectations so that Pixar can kill with their subsequent release.

Anonymous said...

Will it be great...sure
Wall-E/Ratatouille great...not too sure but I loved Monster's Inc...so I'm hopeful!

ZiZo said...

Well, I know that I can expect a masterpiece (they didnt even let me down with Cars), it looks like its going to be hell of a ride... But I think it's going to be Pixar's first flop at the Box Office, unfortunately.... But probably Wall-E sized in the critically and awards.

Dave Van Houwelingen said...

Pixar has never made a bad movie. Cars and A Bug's Life weren't up to the level of most of their other stuff, but they were still really good. But I'm not getting a good read on this one yet. I hope it's great, but I'm not sure it can compete with Wall-E, which may make it a disappointment to many.

Anonymous said...

The last trailer alone is a masterpiece (Squirrel!).
I am so loving this movie!!!!
And I think WALL·E was the best film in 2008.
Anyway, not a single movie from Pixar has let me down...

Anonymous said...

I liked "Cars" a lot. It wasn't even too long for me. It's really easy to like it if you grew up in a small town.
However, since it's impossible to live up to anyone's expectations after two such great films as "Ratatouille" and "WALL-E", I prefer being pessimistic about "Up".

NATHANIEL R said...

"I prefer being pessimistic" omg Howler. See Happy Go Lucky immediately. :)

Anonymous said...

I dont know there is something about this movie that intrigues me. Maybe bc on the Ed Asner character it seems like it will be cute movie..

Anonymous said...

well, this has a very strong Bug's life kind of vibe: good, but far from being a masterpiece

i'm still watching it, anyway

NATHANIEL R said...

i hate Cars.

just need to put that out there. So for me there is no worry about Pixar finally breaking their streak cuz it already happened. now it's smooth sailing for awhile :)

Anonymous said...

I think it is going to be a 7/10 movie for me. Rachel Geting Married was also a 7/10 for me.

Katey said...

Having seen those 40 minutes at Up, I can promise you it's 100% charming and enjoyable, though more "cartoony" than Wall-E or Ratatouille. Of course, my favorite Pixar is Finding Nemo, so I've always enjoyed the lighter stuff from them.

Without ruining anything, I'll say the first 10 minutes of the movie are largely silent, and do as good a job at succinctly summing up the main character as those first 30 minutes of Wall-E. Also they will make you cry! In the first 10 minutes! Those Pixar geeks are evil geniuses, that's for sure.

DH said...

Cars wasn't horrible. Pixar just has such a high level of expectations. Up should be mediocre. Not brilliant like Wall-E, Ratatouille, or Nemo.

Anonymous said...

This looks worse than Cars - hope I'm wrong, but who wants to spend two hours with a crotchity old man? If I wanted to do that I'd visit my grandpa!

MT said...

I was extremely disappointed to see in the new trailer that this journey goes somewhere. I was really impressed with the teaser trailer which just showed the house taking off...

I suppose my disappointment is that this has a... plot?

par3182 said...

i just pretend the jaw-droppingly awful cars is a dreamworks pic

this one looks like a mid-range pixar, which still makes it a top ten contender

Saltire Flower said...

Cars was particularly dreadful, so I don't think Up could possibly be that awful.

Glenn Dunks said...

I really liked Cars if, for nothing else, perhaps the best animation I've ever seen. I could stare are that movie all day. of course, I like it for other reasons too, but... yeah. Gorgeous.

And, yeah, I'm looking forward to Up greatly. Duh.

NATHANIEL R said...

mattson that's exactly it! you're brilliant. I like the trailer but the open endedness of that trailer felt so... bursting with promise and now I'm like... Oh, they land. damn.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Ponyo has the Oscar in the bag this year