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to see the world the way I see it now

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Name: Anna
From: Durham, NC, United States
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introduction to poetry

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

-- Billy Collins

Every tear you cry
Every doubt you have
All of these things will pass away
All of your big mistakes
Your little old heart would break
Wishing that i could take them back
Write down the things you don't want
Burn them in a glass
Write down the things you dream of
Make a paper plane that flies to Heaven

-- Jann Arden

Sunday, July 30, 2006

bugs with wings

Last night we went to see Cars, the new Disney/Pixar movie. My expectations for some reason weren’t as high for this one as they have been in the past. Surely this wouldn’t be as good as Finding Nemo… I’m hardly a Nascar fan, and I’d read some really terrible reviews.

The reviewers obviously have no sense of humour.

It was great!

Any movie where the bugs flying around are tiny blue VW Beetles with wings has to be a hit with me. (Trying to figure out how to attach wings to my blue bug…)

The animation details were incredible. Watching Madagascar the other day was a let-down anyway, but next to Cars it looked like something a tenth-grade class worked up. Pixar get right down to the tiniest detail: light reflections on the paintwork of the cars, the crunching sound of wheels rolling slowly over gravel, etc. Among my other favourite details are the use of the wheels as 'feet' to add expression; the glittering paintwork McQueen receives at the end of the movie; and, of course, the clips at the end in which other Pixar movies are spoofed with cars (Toy Car Story; Monstertruck Inc.) And the Tractor Tipping was hillarious.

And what’s more, I didn’t think about my dissertation once during the entire movie. I came home with Route 66 in my head, wanting to go on a nostalgic road trip from Chicago to LA, getting my kicks, before becoming a digital animator for Pixar.

The geographical references were amusing, especially this one:

Cars - the Cozy Cone Motel:

Inside, all the ornaments are little cones: the lights, the picture frames (displaying the Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge, both cone-shaped), the clocks...

Southern California's Wigwam Motel, also off Route 66:

Don't listen to the reviews. Go see the movie.

posted by Anna at 4:13 PM

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2 Comments:

At 2:11 AM, Brian Sibley

I hate to be a sourpuss...

And heaven knows, I am a life-long Disney fan -- hey! let's speak the truth here, a FANTATIC! -- and think John Lasseter is a GENIUS and Pixar movies are great...

BUT...

I found CARS a good lap-and-a-half TOO LONG... And rather self-indulgent, almost as though it had become impossible to resist EVERY opportunity to show off the brilliance of the (utterly brilliant) animation techniques...

I also felt that the story was a re-tread of earlier Pixar scenarios: new, cocky car meets tired old car and learns about life, love and friendship... WEll, if you simply substitute 'toy' for 'car', what does that remind you of?

And finally -- now I'm being a downright grouch! -- I really didn't get the whole concept... I mean, I love anthropomorphic cars (from Susie the Little Blue Coupe to Herbie the Love Bug) but these cars don't live in a world of PEOPLE, but a world of cars... So why do they need doors and seats? Come to that why/how do they EXIST in the first place?

OK, I'll shut up now... I know when I'm in the wrong...!!
At 6:38 AM, Anna

Oh well, Brian, what can I say! Perhaps I was just in the mood for a good laugh. I'll grant you that the lack of people makes the whole car concept rather redundant; but then, these are cars with eyes and mouths, so we can't be too analytical. Although I'll admit I did wonder how Sally the Porsche had managed to arrange all the little cone-shaped curious inside each motel room without the use of opposable thumbs (but then I just thought I was being pernickety!)