About two weeks ago, I had a bit of a movie marathon. One of the movies that I watched was Takashi Miike’s acclaimed samurai epic 13 Assassins, starring Kōji Yakusho. Put simply, I was less than impressed, and I explain why in my Filmwell review of 13 Assassins.
To this day, I still consider Cars to be one of the lesser works in the Pixar canon. Granted, a lesser Pixar work is still better than the finest output of most studios, but when compared to the likes of the Toy Story movies or The Incredibles (my favorite Pixar movie), I find Cars lacking. When it was announced that Pixar would be making a Cars sequel, I was intrigued because of the Pixar name but my skepticism ran high. And the subsequent teasers, trailers, and other press materials did little to change that.
But Variety’s Justin Chang recently posted his Cars 2 review and it’s a pretty glowing one, calling it “the rare sequel that improves on its predecessor”:
Super-fast cars, cosmopolitan settings, sustainable energy—what’s not to love? Critics and columnists should have fun parsing the deeper political messages of “Cars 2,” which never allows its gas-guzzlers-vs.-hybrids topicality to overpower its exhilarating sense of play. As the film zips from Tokyo to Paris to the Italian Riviera to London, Lasseter, co-director Brad Lewis (taking over for the late Joe Ranft) and their crack team of animators unleash the sort of wizardly action sequences most live-action directors would envy, powered by the brassy James Bond-style riffs of Michael Giacchino’s score. Pic allows the viewer to relax into a pleasurable groove even as its abundant in-jokes and peripheral details encourage the mind to stay actively engaged.
Set in a world where cars are outfitted with machine guns, rockets, parachutes, holographic displays and, in perhaps one innovation too far, insta-disguise mechanisms, “Cars 2” is as close to a pure boys’ movie as the toon studio has yet made—though all boys’ movies should be so universal in appeal. More so than the Pixar norm, pic possesses a certain lowbrow streak entirely consistent with its vroom-vroom milieu, handily demonstrating that the often-aggravating staples of so much kid-friendly animation—nonstop banter, ethnic accents, goofy wordplay (mileage may vary), even bathroom humor—can be executed with wit and class.
I had initially planned on skipping Cars 2 and instead, sending my oldest—who, not surprisingly, digs the first Cars movie—off to see it with his grandparents. But now I’m truly intrigued, and might just have to tag along for the ride.
If you’re any sort of film buff, than chances are, you’ve got a favorite film poster or two that you’d love to hang, in all of its glory, in your living room, office, or home theatre. Thus, I can only imagine what Eddie Shannon’s residence looks like. Shannon is the owner of Film On Paper, an online gallery of original film posters that recently launched. As Shannon describes it:
After two years of preparation, I am very proud and excited (and a bit nervous) to finally reveal this personal project to the world. Film on Paper was created because I decided I wanted to photograph my collection of original film posters and share them with a wider audience. The site represents 17 years worth of collecting and features posters from all genres as well as several countries, multiple sizes and various formats.
Film On Paper is a true labor of love, and it shows: the site currently boasts nearly 1,500 posters representing over 900 films, along with copious photos, notes, and background information. In other words, make sure you’ve got a spare hour or three before you visit the site.
Trainspotting poster photo by Eddie Shannon. I chose this poster because an old roommate had one like it from a visit to England, and it hung in our house’s TV room for the longest time.
I originally meant to post this well over a week ago, but somehow it fell through the cracks. Better late than never, I suppose…
You might have noticed that Filmwell—one of the sites for which I write—has been relatively quiet for the last few months. Well, that’s changed: the site is back at a new home (thanks to The Other Journal), is sporting a new design, and more importantly, featuring some new content… including my review of Mamoru Hosoda’s wonderful Summer Wars.
Other recent Filmwell articles include M. Leary’s review of Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy and Jeffrey Overstreet’s review of Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff. (For a good time, read Overstreet’s introduction to the new and improved Filmwell.)
My latest Filmwell article—a “meditation” on my favorite wuxia film, Zhang Yimou’s Hero—was posted earlier this morning. My official review of the film, originally posted back in 2003, can be found here.