fine whine

We got back from the vacation today, having had a nice spot of weather this morning (it rained all of Thursday) and little to do with it, and tonight we watched The Incredibles. It was, in a word, incredible. Despite the occasional moment where I was totally distracted by the technology (I remember noting that the ice guy's alter ego's leather jacket was amazingly rendered) I was pulled in completely otherwise. The visuals were stunning, and the "production design" insanely great. The home of "E" is magnificently styled but the whole movie reeks of some sixties dream of the future, except in a good way.

Oddly enough, I didn't find myself liking "Bounder" so much as previous shorts they've done. I find myself thinking that they threw that one in just for the kids, since this movie, despite what the audience may have thought (I was surrounded by two times if not three times as many children as adults) this was a movie for grownups. It's the reverse of the traditional (not necessarily animated) "family" movie that is aimed at the kids but throws in the occasional joke only the parents can understand, to make up for all the ones smacking them in the knees.

There wasn't a single fart joke that I could remember in the entire movie. There was however a lot of sophisticated humor and even some breathtaking action sequences that take the promise of the speeder bike chases from Return of the Jedi and makes them, sans Ewoks, into something I'd want to watch again. Fortunately the kids were having a blast, as the movie was more than a bit lengthy, but I was enthralled to the end (whereupon John Ratzenberger as "the Underminer" appears and attempts to steal the show). Being married and working in a job that has no need for my real talents brought nothing extra to the experience for me, of course.

In other Pixar notes, Cars doesn't look all that great from the teaser. I realize that it was little on which to go, but I don't think the reason we haven't seen a movie with slack-jawed yokel talking trucks is because nobody's thought of it yet.

As for their "competition", I maintain my opinion that Shrek and its ilk will never measure up to Pixar's work as long as they aim low with stale pop culture references and fart jokes. Shoot higher, guys, the audience you will lose (if any, gotta give people a little credit) won't remember you anyway.