Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pissing off the troops

No, I'm not talking about our military. I'm talking about the visitors to this blog. There is nothing that seems to tick off the general animation industry more than saying something bad about a Pixar film.

My dislike for Wall-E has possibly created the most comments of any of my posts. Congratulations. This is what I love, causing people to get pissy and say what's on their mind. Good for you!

We all have our opinions. And no matter how much you try to convince me otherwise, Wall-E was weak. Any number of nominations or even awards will never change my view.

I still think highly of Pixar. All you industry wannabe kool-aid drinkers can relax. Presto was genious, Up looks promising and most of their films were good. It just so happens that Wall-E wasn't one of them!

13 comments:

Unknown said...

"WALL-E was weak."

Highest reviewed movie of the year, first serious animated contender for Best Picture since Beauty and the Beast. 'nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to you, Staloren, for sticking to your guns. I also thought Wall-E was weak. And I love most of Pixar's movies. LOVE them! Just not this one.

Wall-E's weak point was where Pixar's movies are usually strongest: the story. This movie really burst the bubble for me: I no longer harbor any illusions that Pixar has some magic storytelling mojo that the other big studios lack. They can make big, ugly, unfortunate mistakes just like everyone else can. They do do it less frequently though, and we should all learn from that!

I was truly mystified to learn just how many people deeply loved this particular movie--especially critics. But love it they do. My guess is that they fell in love with Wall-E and Eve, who are both extremely adorable characters, and the rest of the movie made little impression on them. Love makes everyone a little bit blind, so if they prefer not to think about the movie's huge, gaping flaws, I'm not gonna fault them for it!

Staloren said...

The reason the critics like WallE is because it is pretty different from your usual animated film.

And by and large, critics hate animated films. It is only natural that WallE is received well by the critics. No surprise here.

Anonymous said...

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997399.html?categoryId=3247&cs=1

"Pixar raises the bar again with Wall-E"

...and once again the more limited members of the animation community gripe about not being able to jump as high.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous #2, you are like a broken record. Sad to see so many fanboys coming to this blog nowadays.

Anonymous said...

Academy gave best animated picture to Happy Feet. 'nuff said.

Anonymous said...

Good point on Happy Feet. If that doesn't drive home the point that the Academy is off kilter. I dont know what does.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

The reason critics liked Wall-e is because it's a great film.

And it's daring and original.

And it captured the audiences imagination, heart, and mind.

Brilliant.

Anonymous said...

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/best-movies-2008-critics-picks-and-award-nominations

Critical Consensus: Top 10 Movies of 2008

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Wall-E
3. Milk
4. The Wrestler
5. Benjamin Boring
6. The Dark Knight
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Doubt
9. Revolutionary Road
10. Rachel Getting Married

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Staloren, I think it's more likely that what pisses people off is that you equate anyone who sticks up for Wall-E to an "industry wannabe Kool-Aid drinker."

You didn't care for Wall-E. Fine. I don't like the movies Unforgiven, or Crash, or The French Connection, but they all won best picture. I don't say that anyone who likes them is a "Kool-Aid drinker," it's just a matter of taste.

A lot of Hillary Clinton supporters used to accuse Obama supporters of "Drinking the Kool Aid." The fact is, he is now everyone's President. In the same way, Wall-E will probably be nominated for best picture, will definitely win Best Animated Film, and will be widely considered a great film, and an animated classic, for a long long time, and no amount of trash talking can change that.

On the other hand, if your goal is to attract more comments/readership, your trash talking has succeeded. Again.

Anonymous said...

I think you miss the point staloren is saying when he talks about the kool aid gulpers.