Cars

[topspeed]

Anybody else as geeked to see this as me?

The wifey's going on her annual trek to Bev Hills with her friend, so it's a Guy's Weekend for me! Thus, once Friday rolls around it's going to be my dad, my boys, and me standing in line with ticket in hand. 3 generations of gearheads ready for more Pixar magic!

Sweet!!!

[GMichael]

Way cool. That's the way to do it.
I'm still trying to talk wifey into it.

[Woochifer]

Definitely looking forward to this one as well! We'll probably look for it in a couple of weeks when the crowds thin out. So far, we haven't ventured out to any of the summer movies.

I was originally headed down to L.A. next week on business, and thought about trying to catch Cars over at the El Capitan in Hollywood. But, that got cancelled, so I'll catch it around here, maybe at the Grand Lake theatre in Oakland (Wurlitzer pipe organ goes on weekends!).

Sounds like it will be a great outing for the "boys." Enjoy!

[Geoffcin]

Anybody else as geeked to see this as me?

The wifey's going on her annual trek to Bev Hills with her friend, so it's a Guy's Weekend for me! Thus, once Friday rolls around it's going to be my dad, my boys, and me standing in line with ticket in hand. 3 generations of gearheads ready for more Pixar magic!

Sweet!!!

But it's getting tougher to drag my teenage kids out to movies like this. At least they didn't mind going to X-3.... (as long as the old man pays)

[Geoffcin]

Definitely looking forward to this one as well! We'll probably look for it in a couple of weeks when the crowds thin out. So far, we haven't ventured out to any of the summer movies.

I don't like fighting the crowds either, but here in multiplex heaven, if you don't go see the movie the first week, they move it to the smaller theaters. Big difference seeing a movie in a 600 plus seat theater with a 70ft screen as opposed to a 275 seat with a 40ft.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

I went to see it at a special screening at Pixar for Disney employees. It remainded me of Doc Hollywood with Michael J Fox. It was like Owen Wilson was playing Michael part in the movie.

One thing I noticed was that the quality of the animation just keeps improving. I saw so many visual subtleties like streets lights on car hoods, reflections of other cars on the side doors. I was especially enthralled by the big race in the opener. WOW!

The sound was excellent in the theater, well balanced with outstanding movement throughout the theater. The projection system was digital 4k presentation that had a really cool opening feature centered around the projection systems visual potential. I do not know if the public will see this.

This movie IMO is up there with the Incredibles as some of Pixar's best work.

[topspeed]

I went to see it at a special screening at Pixar for Disney employees. It remainded me of Doc Hollywood with Michael J Fox. It was like Owen Wilson was playing Michael part in the movie.

One thing I noticed was that the quality of the animation just keeps improving. I saw so many visual subtleties like streets lights on car hoods, reflections of other cars on the side doors. I was especially enthralled by the big race in the opener. WOW!

The sound was excellent in the theater, well balanced with outstanding movement throughout the theater. The projection system was digital 4k presentation that had a really cool opening feature centered around the projection systems visual potential. I do not know if the public will see this.

This movie IMO is up there with the Incredibles as some of Pixar's best work.

That's good to hear. Just about anything I've read regarding this movie has been positive. An excellent article written by the film's Director, John Lasseter, in Fortune talked about how detailed this one was going to be. He said it would set the bar and I don't doubt it. BTW, the Fortune article is a fun read and if anybody is interested here it is.

3 more days!

[topspeed]

What a fun movie! I don't think the story was as good as The Incredibles, but it was fun nonetheless. Sir T nailed it with the Doc Hollywood reference, which was fine by me as I actually like that movie as well.

The animation/graphics in the movie are simply jaw dropping. Pixar didn't just raise the bar; they broke it off and threw it in the bushes for the competition to hunt around for awhile. The level of detail was astounding ! My dad pointed out some very small badges on Paul Newmans character, Doc Hudson, that were real badges relating to optional carbs on the '53 Hornets. This precision, especially with the older cars, really allowed him to enjoy the movie at a whole different level. The Mercury police car was the same car he had when he was in High School! Come to think of it, he may have actually had more fun than my kids .

For gearheads, this movie is manna from heaven. For those looking for another magic carpet ride from Pixar, this doesn't quite attain The Incredibles level, but I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[Troy]

Saw it this weekend.

Loved it.

It's a must for any NASCAR (or really any form of racing) fan. The car sponsored by "Hostile Takover Bank" and the thousands of sponsor stickers slathering the cars, the DW announcer car etc. are just a few of the inside jokes that we will all "get" that others will miss. Dale Jr., Mario Andretti and even Schumi cameo as well. Too bad that the race scenes are so predictable, but it the strongest "kid appeal" aspect of the movie, so that part of the story is the simplest.

For me the real star is the little desert town, Radiator Springs, and the whole melancholy Route 66, bypassed highway-town, lost road culture subtext of the story. It's WAY beyond the 6 year old mentality that the rest of the movie was clearly written for. Yeah this particular subject is really close to my heart, but with this year being the 50th anniversary of the Interstate, the timeliness of the subject is undoubtedly no accident and should be on a lot more minds than it is. It truly is beautifully done. The hyper-reality of this roadside world is enthralling.

The movie just plays like an homage to the call of the road and America's love affair with the car. The scenes where the male and female lead go for a drive captures the simple joy of a drive in the country. They nailed it.

Pixar is just so damn good at combining subjects for kids with adult themes and subtexts, it's a perfect balance.

The knocks on it are the simplistic storyline, the rote race scenes and that the car characters are sometimes just weird and unsettling to look at. They feel VERY alien to me for some reason. I suspect it's the eyes in the windshields. I think they shoulda used the headlights as eyes since that's what most people consider the eyes when they anthropomorphize a car.

Overhyped? You bet. Ignore the hype and just see it.

[Groundbeef]

For me the real star is the little desert town, Radiator Springs, and the whole melancholy Route 66, bypassed highway-town, lost road culture subtext of the story. It's WAY beyond the 6 year old mentality that the rest of the movie was clearly written for. Yeah this particular subject is really close to my heart, but with this year being the 50th anniversary of the Interstate, the timeliness of the subject is undoubtedly no accident and should be on a lot more minds than it is. It truly is beautifully done. The hyper-reality of this roadside world is enthralling.

The movie just plays like an homage to the call of the road and America's love affair with the car. The scenes where the male and female lead go for a drive captures the simple joy of a drive in the country. They nailed it.

.

I live in Springfield IL. Just wondering if you have heard about the "Mother Road" Festival that we have hosted for the last few years. It has been very popular and drawn fans of the old Route 66 from around the world. I know we have had visiters for the festival from as far away as Germany and England. There are still some old sections of 66 in and around Springfield. From what I understand Springfield was sort of a bend in the route.

Anyway I think that they are having the festival again this year, and if you are looking for more info just let me know. The MC for the last couple of years has been the old lead in the Route 66 TV show. Ironically very little of the show was ever shot on 66. He has been a guest on the local talk radio before the festival. Very nice and approachable.

As far as the movie, it was great. I think that the simple story doesn't take away as much as add to the story. A simple story leads to much more time to develop the characters, and make you get sucked into the film. This was just great story telling.

I have no opinion on the choice of eyes. Headlights or eyeballs on the windshield...it's still a talking car.

[cam]

I decided to have a Dad Son weekend since Fathers day was on Sunday. So Saturday we started it of by going to see The Fast And The Furious Tokyo Drift and then on Sunday we went and saw Cars. They were both really great movies, well Cars was really good. My Son just loves anything to do with cars, just like his old man. Normally I would not have gone to see a movie like Tokyo Drift in the theater but my Son is just a car fanatic. So we decided to have a car themed weekend. I recommend Cars to everyone but Tokyo Drift, well lets just say I went just to hang out with my Son.

[ericl]

Saw it last night, great flick. I didn't like it as much as the Incredibles though. Larry the Cable Guys character was great, and I am usually not a big fan of his. Cute story nonetheless. Animation was incredible. saw it with my cousin and we both kept commenting that we couldn't believe some parts of it were animation. Amazing.

[L.J.]

I gotta chance to see this on DVD last night. Very nice picture and sound. That opening race scene was great.