Cars Movie Outing
This past weekend, Tobey and I went to see the long-awaited new Pixar animated film - “Cars“.
I don’t know about you, but it felt like we’ve been seeing and hearing about this film for well over a year. Let’s just say that Pixar knows how to build up marketing hype - maybe it has a little something to do with Apple’s Steve Jobs being at the helm, another company that really knows how to market itself.
Just in case you aren’t on a first name basis with Pixar - just think of “Toy Story”, “Nemo”, “Monster’s, Inc.”, “The Incredibles”, and “a Bug’s Life”. They’ve basically raised the bar for animated movies for an entire generation of kids and grown ups.
“Cars” is their most visually stunning effort yet, and a fun movie. It receives “two thumbs up” - one from Tobey and one from myself. You get lovable characters, action, and an uplifting story - all trademarks of Pixar films. While cars as characters is a tougher sell than cute fish named “Nemo” or “Dori”, Pixar does a great job with bringing them to life, as Tobey was literally pumping his fist during the climactic scene to urge on the hero.
At two hours, this movie is a little longer than your typical animation, and a little tough on the attention span of an active three-year old, but it still won out. Tobey was frightened a bit during a scene mid-way thru where the main character - “Lightning McQueen” had to out-run a train on a dark and deserted road. But, after asking when the movie was going to be over a couple of times, and announcing that he was “thirsty” - he repeatedly resisted my efforts to take him out of the theatre for a short break. “After this scene” or “when its over” was all I got in response. We even stayed to watch a rather funny bit during the credits, as Tobey didn’t want to miss the bonus “episode”.
Without giving away any spoilers - the basic theme of the movie is that a hot-shot race car named “Lightning McQueen” (voiced by Owen Wilson) gets “stuck” in a small town called Radiator Springs just off the beaten path of Route 66. He wants nothing to do with this small town, and the folk there, but ends up learning some much needed lessons about life and himself before he can move on. There are a ton of fun characters, but Tow Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) and Luigi (voiced by Tony Shalhoub) were two of my favorites. Tobey really liked Ramone (Cheech Marin) because his character was a colorful “low rider” who changed his car color in the movie as often as the Oscars host/hostess changes outfits.
We loved Cars!
Originally uploaded by aswitzer.
Grammy and Gramps joined us at the Pavillions Theatre that is located halfway between Englewood and Boulder. It is safe to say that we would recommend this film for nearly all generations. It also has a great soundtrack that we all enjoyed, and Gramps and I now own thanks to Father’s Day yesterday. (Thanks Carrie!)
So, go see this fun summer movie if you get the chance! If you miss it in the theatre, it’s definitely worth a DVD rental or purchase this Fall! Don’t worry, you definitely won’t miss it’s release if the marketing is anywhere near what it was for the movie! 
Recent Related Posts:
Movies I've watched recently:
-
2007-12-21 02:37
Not the happiest of stories, but a well written, well acted sci-fi movie painted on the interesting canvas of an empty NYC.
0.3 -
2007-11-03 13:30
Great action, and a better story than I expected from an action flick. Ran a little long, especially for my four year old. Shia LaBeouf was perfect cast in his role and really held the whole movie together well.
0.3 -
2007-06-28 19:45
A worthy addition to the Bruce Willis action movie franchise
0.3 -
2006-11-18 12:45
This is definitely a new "Bond". Gone is the smoothness, and goofiness of recent Bond movies - Daniel Craig gives us a rough, raw version, and I like it. Don't miss this in the theatres! I look forward to the next installment.
0.3 -
2006-07-10 23:30
I commend the story for its reality, but it was one of my least favorite Vince Vaugh movies, because it really isn't a comedy.
0.3