Brave (films, theaters, dvd, versus)

[sailordave]

Loved it. Good original story, plenty of funny parts, and feel good moments.

[karlsch]

'80s big hair is back - thanks to Pixar: Pixar Reinvents Big Hair for Brave | Underwire | Wired.com

Has Pixar ever made a bad movie?

[TabulaRasa]

This looks wonderful. It's times like these that I wish I lived closer to my neice and nephews.

[LibraGirl123]

I'll probably go to see this next week. I love me a good Pixar movie.

[Urban Sasquatch]

Gotta be honest -- as a HUGE fan of Pixar, I felt this one fell short of the hype. I've never, ever before felt that any Pixar movie was predictable, not once... until now.


There was an idea there, and not a bad one at all but it felt unexplored and the characters and situation felt shallow, unenriched. The heroine and the situation between her and her mother felt undeveloped.

Given the huge success of films like UP! in which Pixar told the most amazing little love story in just a few minutes with virtually NO words, why couldn't the history between Merida and her mother have been expanded?

Given the vast storybook capability of productions like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., what stopped Pixar from expanding on the key situation and bringing to life Merida's emotional and maturational evolution?


I was not so disappointed I'd tell anyone to avoid it, not at all; but given the way I've walked away from other Pixar productions versus how I felt with this one, I have a sense in my gut that I've gone in expecting The Sixth Sense and walked away with The Last Airbender.

[OzzyRules]

I didn't get the idea of a witch being used for guidance and morality. And it was a dark witch at that.

We've come a long way since Shakespeare. Yikes.

[sailordave]

Originally Posted by karlsch

'80s big hair is back - thanks to Pixar: Pixar Reinvents Big Hair for Brave | Underwire | Wired.com

Has Pixar ever made a bad movie?

Yes they have. Cars 2.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

I didn't get the idea of a witch being used for guidance and morality. And it was a dark witch at that.

She reminded me a whole lot of a Hayao Miyazaki witch, especially Yubaba in Spirited Away. This was a well-deserved homage.

Spoiler

And if she had been truly dark, she would not have bothered to offer the caveat in the cauldron.

Many people have the expectation that Pixar is going to make a Grand Gesture, both in theme and technological feats, with every film. For the most part, they do. The thing is, some of these gestures are more subtle than others. I remember the very first Pixar short film, the one in 1986 with the little Luxo lamp which became the Pixar logo. This first feature changed everybody's attitude about computer animation.

In Brave, the mother/daughter relationship is explored and for some people this is too cliche or sentimental.
I've noticed that many of the people who feel this way enjoyed the first half of the movie more than the second--I was the opposite.
I agree with Urban, that the mother/daughter dynamic could/should have been expanded. It was my favorite part of the movie.

Probably the producers wanted to keep the story a bit more commercial, hence the comic relief with the triplets (and they *did* make me giggle more than once.)

[Urban Sasquatch]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

She reminded me a whole lot of a Hayao Miyazaki witch, especially Yubaba in Spirited Away. This was a well-deserved homage.

Spoiler

And if she had been truly dark, she would not have bothered to offer the caveat in the cauldron.

Many people have the expectation that Pixar is going to make a Grand Gesture, both in theme and technological feats, with every film. For the most part, they do. The thing is, some of these gestures are more subtle than others. I remember the very first Pixar short film, the one in 1986 with the little Luxo lamp which became the Pixar logo. This first feature changed everybody's attitude about computer animation.

In Brave, the mother/daughter relationship is explored and for some people this is too cliche or sentimental.
I've noticed that many of the people who feel this way enjoyed the first half of the movie more than the second--I was the opposite.
I agree with Urban, that the mother/daughter dynamic could/should have been expanded. It was my favorite part of the movie.

Probably the producers wanted to keep the story a bit more commercial, hence the comic relief with the triplets (and they *did* make me giggle more than once.)

That pursuit of commercialism in order to rapid-fire productions to the consumer OVER the importance of story is what has me greatly concerned with the future of movies.


I love the movies; not merely as a person who enjoys stories, but the special feel of attending a movie in the theater with family and friends, the magic of the big screen bringing a truth to the phrase "larger than life", the communally shared sense of wonder and emotion when a great movie is presented.

Movies have generally stopped BEING presentations and instead have badly faltered to productions... or even just "products".


For me, a good movie almost has no time limitations on it. LotR demonstrated once and for all that while there will always be a few nay-sayers around, larger audiences WILL sit through additional screen time for the sake of enjoying a great story brought to life. This is something we've known since the days of Gone With the Wind. Even in our modern era of machine gun inmagery in gem tone colours and gnat-like attention spans, GOOD stories still win out by drawing upon the real human factor.

LotR not only held captive repeat audiences, when the extended versions came out on DVD with up to 45 additional minutes of footage they sold like hotcakes.

People love the MOVIES, people want to go to the MOVIES.

In general people (in this case read "consumers") WILL continue to be moviegoing patrons, but it is in the HOPES of finding that gem.

I know that I, for example, adored the first two Harry Potter movies because they truly were the novels brought to life. Therein lay the magic: The novels brought to life.

The third film not only fell flat, but I was further disgusted by an interview with Cuaron where he stated that he'd wanted to bring -- and no, I am not making this up -- his "interpretation" of Potter to the screen.

I still went to the movies, but did NOT eagerly anticipate the release of the remaining films. In all but one of the remaining films I waited until they'd dropped out of mainstream release and into bargain theaters (I attended the last one in a mainstream theater) because I did not wish to pay good money for bad adaptations by people who couldn't understand that when a novel is brought to the screen one's job is to bring the BOOK to life, not to feed me "your interpretation". If you want to do your interpretation, go write your own bloody book and bring that to life.

Since then I avoid Cuaron on principle, regardless of what else he may have done. I see him as the man who mortally wounded that franchise and I see him as someone who doesn't really understand a director's job.


In the case of Brave... I suppose I should have known it would fall a bit flat when the toys and games hit the market before the movie's release. When the hype has to do the talking FOR the movie, something is amiss. I saw the first teaser for Despicable Me -- no kidding -- nearly THREE YEARS before the movie was actually released. An end to filmdom? No, but something was definitely amiss.

[Niftybergin]

I was mesmerized by her hair.