As If You Need It, Here's My Review of Cars
I hate making these past-midnight posts. Every time I want to say, "today," I have to realize that today hasn't happened yet. But saying "yesterday" to avoid confusion in reference to something I did an hour ago just seems so odd even though it's logically correct. I should probably make more of an effort to make posts earlier, but I post when my day is over and most days for me don't end until after the next day officially starts. Sufficiently confused? Good.
So lately it's been a slow vibe. Just crawlin' by is what time seems to be up to lately. Over the weekend I poured myself into a new project of adding a VGA connection to the projector system in my parent's theater room. I had to put wires in the walls that lead from the projector down around the room to the video decks. What this means is that now anyone can bring in their laptop or computer and sit down and plug into the theater room with no real fuss. The reason behind why I did it is because I had nothing better to do. Also, I wanted to be able to, on the off chance, use the projector with my laptop even though it's technically not my projector. Regardless, it does up the house's resale value. I just needed something to do, and that seemed interesting to me. I guess it could be said that I'm running out of projects.
On a complete whim, I decided to catch a twilight showing of Pixar's Cars earlier. Now, for about two years we've been waiting for this movie and the advertising for this film has been lackluster. I mean, talking anthropomorphic road vehicles? That can't work, can it? And plus, early reviews have been somewhat negative. Many critics think it's one of the weakest Pixar films ever. That criticism may have been enough to keep people from seeing it in the numbers that made earlier Pixar films record-breakers, and so the first-weekend performance was both successful ($60 million) and disappointing (Not $75 million). I wasn't completely sure I was going to get my money's worth, but I had $5 to kick around so I figured why not.
The movie blew me away. I don't normally say this about any movie, but Cars is fantastic. Definitely my favorite movie of 2006 so far and the best movie I've seen since Batman Begins. I was utterly shocked at how good it was compared to how poorly it was advertised. You see the trailers and commercials and they made it out to be this fast heartless NASCAR rip-off movie. In reality, the large bulk of the movie is about the small town you only see a glimpse of in the promos. The characters are fun and the music is lively and the story, though uninspired, is much more entertaining because of how well it's told. But two things really hooked me on the movie: 1) It is stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful. The colors of the landscapes, the hues of night times, the reflections on the cars themselves and the race scenes too are all richly rendered. At times, I could have sworn it was all real somewhere. And 2) It reminded me of my cross country road trip. There were a couple scenes in particular with our main character driving Route 66 through the southwest USA that just brought me back to the drive. This could be one of the best road trip movies ever made. It just captures the vibe of being on the road so nicely. Hey, if any movie can remind me of a great moment in my life, it has my full appreciation and thanks.
So lately it's been a slow vibe. Just crawlin' by is what time seems to be up to lately. Over the weekend I poured myself into a new project of adding a VGA connection to the projector system in my parent's theater room. I had to put wires in the walls that lead from the projector down around the room to the video decks. What this means is that now anyone can bring in their laptop or computer and sit down and plug into the theater room with no real fuss. The reason behind why I did it is because I had nothing better to do. Also, I wanted to be able to, on the off chance, use the projector with my laptop even though it's technically not my projector. Regardless, it does up the house's resale value. I just needed something to do, and that seemed interesting to me. I guess it could be said that I'm running out of projects.
On a complete whim, I decided to catch a twilight showing of Pixar's Cars earlier. Now, for about two years we've been waiting for this movie and the advertising for this film has been lackluster. I mean, talking anthropomorphic road vehicles? That can't work, can it? And plus, early reviews have been somewhat negative. Many critics think it's one of the weakest Pixar films ever. That criticism may have been enough to keep people from seeing it in the numbers that made earlier Pixar films record-breakers, and so the first-weekend performance was both successful ($60 million) and disappointing (Not $75 million). I wasn't completely sure I was going to get my money's worth, but I had $5 to kick around so I figured why not.
The movie blew me away. I don't normally say this about any movie, but Cars is fantastic. Definitely my favorite movie of 2006 so far and the best movie I've seen since Batman Begins. I was utterly shocked at how good it was compared to how poorly it was advertised. You see the trailers and commercials and they made it out to be this fast heartless NASCAR rip-off movie. In reality, the large bulk of the movie is about the small town you only see a glimpse of in the promos. The characters are fun and the music is lively and the story, though uninspired, is much more entertaining because of how well it's told. But two things really hooked me on the movie: 1) It is stunningly, breathtakingly beautiful. The colors of the landscapes, the hues of night times, the reflections on the cars themselves and the race scenes too are all richly rendered. At times, I could have sworn it was all real somewhere. And 2) It reminded me of my cross country road trip. There were a couple scenes in particular with our main character driving Route 66 through the southwest USA that just brought me back to the drive. This could be one of the best road trip movies ever made. It just captures the vibe of being on the road so nicely. Hey, if any movie can remind me of a great moment in my life, it has my full appreciation and thanks.