Cars 2

Cars 2, is a wonderful ride into a truly animated world of creativity. Disney and Pixar unite once more for the sequel to the blockbuster from a few years back.

As is typical fare for animated features these days, Cars 2 is revved up with an all-star cast of voice actors.  Larry The Cable Guy (Mater), Owen Wilson (Lightning McQueen), Bonnie Hunt (Sally), John Ratzenburger (Mack), Cheech Marin (Ramone), Tony Shaloub (Luigi), Edie McClurg (Minny), Katherine Helmond (Lizzie) and Paul Dooley (Sarge) return to Radiator Springs.

For this course, John Turturro (Francesco Bernoulli), Eddie Izzard (Sir Miles Axelrod), Joe Mantegna (Grem), Bruce Campbell (Rod “Torque” Redline), Michael Caine (Finn McMissile), Vanessa Redgrave (The Queen/Mama Topolino), Emily Mortimer (Holly Shiftwell) and Jeff Gordon (Jeff Gorvette) join the pack.  In the booth, calling the World Gran Prix action, Brent Musburger (Brent Mustangburger), and David Hobbs (David Hobbscap) join returning commentator Darrell Waltrip (Darrell Cartrip).

With all the names attached to Cars 2, you might assume to find a lagging storyline or perhaps a salve, to make up for any flaws within the script.  This is not the case, not in the least bit.  As mentioned, stars love attaching themselves to animated features of late, especially when the feature is associated with Disney and/or Pixar.  For me, Cars 2, is much more than your run of the mill, over hyped, summer animated blockbuster.  This film showcases some of the finest creative artists, doing what they do best, utilizing their knack for creating a remarkably unique portrait of artistic brilliance, which I’ll expand upon in just a few moments.  But first an overview:

In Cars, Lightning McQueen was center stage.  It was his film, and everything contained within, revolved around his story; around his character arc.  In Cars 2, Lightning McQueen takes a supporting and rather secondary role.  He’s used as a catalyst, helping set the position, for Mater’s story.  Without Lightning McQueen, Mater would never arrive in Towkyo, he’d never get caught up in the spy game, and he’d never rise above his persona, proving that even the lemon, the outcast or fool can have their day; can save the day.  

There are two overall themes in Cars 2, the outcast as hero/don’t judge a book by its cover, and the meaning of friendship.  Each of course, revolve around Larry the Cable Guy’s Mater.  And make no mistake about it, this is his film, and all the action in it, go toward its development. 

Mater joins Lightning as a member of his pit crew.  They go to Japan for the first leg of the newly formed World Grand Prix.  The contrast to Radiator Springs is front and center.  We see numerous fish out of water moments.  We see Mater rushing all over the place, experiencing everything new, taking it all in, like a kid on his first visit to a toy or candy store.  Mater’s innocence and lack of worldly experience, sets up many misunderstandings and miscommunications throughout the film, which lead to some extremely funny moments.  A few of these are:

Mater Vs. Wasabi 

Mater Vs. The Bidet

Mater Vs. The Rendezvous

Mater Vs. The Oil Spill

Mater Vs. The Zen Garden

Mater Vs. James Bond

So the story then progresses, as Lightning has a set back and blames Mater for his shortcoming.  Mater, destitute, has just had his world shattered and has a revelation, that he is nothing but a jinx & a disaster waiting to happen, seeks to leave Japan, intent for a return to Radiator Springs.  Miscommunication and Mistaken Identity rear its head once again, as Mater is thrust into the world of international espionage.  Obvious funny moments continue as the fish out of water motif is ratcheted up a few notches.  Although Mater has no idea why these “fancy” British spies believe he’s an American spy, he goes along because they asked for his help, and helping others is what Mater does, it’s in his nature, it’s who he is. 

Mater gets slightly caught up in this Mater rebrand, until another low point occurs, Finn tells him that he’s so good at his job because everyone sees him as a fool, he plays the role perfectly.  Well, we, along with Mater, fully know he’s not playing a role at all.  He has now returned back to the destitution.  The all is lost moment happens when he, the fool, must overcome certain peril, in order to help his best friend, to save his life, because that’s what best friends do.

Pretty much I’ve elaborated on what people can piece together for themselves through the trailers.  I won’t go any deeper, plot-wise, as to not risk leaking or spoiling the film.

For the remainder of this review, I’d like to return to the creative brilliance on display in Cars 2.  The naming of places and characters is outstanding, as they take well-known monikers for people, places, activities and things, and throw a car-like twist upon them.  A few examples:

Big Ben is Big Bentley

Tokyo is Towkyo

Lieder Hosen is Mater Hosen

Urination is Leaking Oil

Cow tipping is Tractor tipping

Pigeons are little toy airplanes

Sumo Wrestling is Yugo wrestling

El Camino is Miguel Camino

These are just a few of the extraordinarily well-crafted and detailed examples within the film.  For some additional examples, refer back to the cast list in the beginning of this review, where you’ll find numerous names converted into their car-world counterpart.

Cars 2, is creative beyond the name/idea twisting I’ve just described though.  It has some very advanced ideas and metaphors scattered throughout the film.  Some are obvious like the reference to urination above, but others are not as obvious, or pass by rather quickly on screen.  Some examples are:

Alternative fuel Vs. Gasoline

This idea is taken straight out of current news.  The debates rage on, in every aspect from independence from foreign oil, to environmental impact.  The subtlety the writers infused this broad scoped topic into the film was superbly done.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes are seen from beginning to end.  From redneck, hillbilly, references to Japanese game shows.  From arguing Italian men to the food pushing Italian Mamas.  From the seedy, criminal element to the prim and proper Royal types to the rigid nature of the Royal guards in London.    

Outcasts

The notion of outcasts is a major element of this film.  Therefore I won’t thoroughly dissect the messages and portrayals in the film.  But I will say that it was rather creative utilizing old clunkers and “lemons” from history to characterize this element.

Culture and Setting

As in the real world, ideas of culture can be seen, through the setting, in every section, every scene of Cars 2.  From the dusty roads and clay-like dirt terrain of Radiator Springs to the big lights and electric neon of downtown Tokyo.  From the circles and roundabouts, represented in the streets of Italy to the overcrowded traffic patterns of London.  From the rickshaws and vending machines of Japan, to the rowdy nature seen in the English Pub.

The creativity and depth of Cars 2 makes it a well-spent afternoon for adults.   Any child that enjoys cartoons will like this film, for all its animated glory.

However, there is one note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, in regards to suitability for children.  If you allow your children to watch mild violence and/or life threatening scenarios, well there really isn’t anything in Cars 2 that should make you think twice.  However, if you monitor what your children watch closely, than I should inform you there is a bit more violence in this film than I anticipated.  The film opens up with a sequence, seemingly taken, directly from a James Bond film, with gunfire, explosions and burning oilrigs.  Later in the film we see Rod “torque” Redline, not as a car, but in the aftermath, a compacted cube, of a meeting of the enemy.

There is also several moments, intended for humor, that deal with a cars undercarriage, the effect Francesco has on women, with the space between his wheels and his being exposed, with nothing to hide, and so forth.  Life and death scenarios are also seen in numerous situations, cars exploding on the track, a bomb attached to a car, cars about to be crushed and so on.  

There’s nothing really out of the typical fare that’s seen on television, but I felt it necessary to provide you, as a parent, with enough information to make your own decision.

Anyhow, as you can tell, I found this film very entertaining and something that most people would enjoy, from start to finish.

Bottle of wine

For this piece I started with the idea of a bottle of wine.  I then added the table and chairs, probably should go back and rework the fully visible chairs back a bit more.  Then I got the idea of a little cafe and added the small hanging lamp in the distance and the window.  In the window I thought I'd add a bit of scenery, so I put the hill and sky in there.  It was at this point a Dio song was playing, to which Rainbow popped in my head, so I added that and then the gold coins.  Hope you all like it.  let me know what you think.

At The Warning Track

As I continue on my track down Artwork Alley I've been trying to include more images of people and objects into my paintings.  This, I've found to be much more difficult then I thought it would be.  Anyhow, the people I've been able to draw look like they come out of some Nickelodeon or Adult Swim cartoon, but I'm still having fun, and I've bought a few books to help out with this aspect of painting/sketching etc...

My latest painting is an homage to the great game of Baseball.  Hope you all enjoy:)

The Green Lantern

Green Lantern

I have to admit I was really, really looking forward to this film.  Although I've forgotten much of the history and origin of The Green Lantern Corps., growing up I was a huge Green Lantern fan.  Not completely obvious, but nonetheless, Hal Jordan was always my favorite lantern.

I think my favorite lantern memories have to do with his epic battles against Sinestro.  Going in to see this film I was a bit baffled, seeing Sinestro was shown as an ally of Hal Jordan.  From some talks I've had, it appears it was pretty close to the comic origin.  Sinestro it seemed has a similar arc to Anakin Skywalker, from Star Wars fame, in how the dark side can seduce even the strongest Heroes.  That all said, despite a recent trend towards comic book accuracy, it wouldn't surprise me if some scripting liberties had taken place.  I'll update the review if I hear something contrary.

So without giving anymore plot away, which I already hinted around a bit, I'll break down my experience with The Green Lantern.

So how did this film live up to my expectations?

It was about what I expected but less than what I had hoped for.  I was hoping there wouldn't have been so much backstory, in regards to Hal Jordan's personal life.  I would have liked to see a little more training, which was pretty neat. Killowog sure does know how to train them.

I would have liked to see more of the corps in general, but this is Hal Jordan's story. So while slightly disappointed, I probably would have scripted it in a very similar fashion myself.  The back story was necessary & the writers did a really good nice job of handling something that could have been, for all intents & purpose, played out much more.

I liked the comedic aspects added to the story. The humor fit well with Ryan Reynolds acting as well as with the Hal Jordan we were presented with.

Like most Green Lantern fans, it was the ring that kept bringing me back.  Quickly, the Green Lantern's powers stems from his ring.  The ring is linked to the chosen recruit.  It provides the wearer the ability to create waves of green energy, taking the shape of whatever he sees in his his head.  The writers played around with this, using the objects as a developmental tool for Hal Jordan.

A brief example being early in the film, an immature Hal Jordan saves a banquet from disaster.  He does this by producing a race car to house a falling helicopter and the track it proceeded to run on.  This scene, while showing Hal's ability to be a Hero, it also shows he's yet to gain command of his power; he's not ready for the big time yet.  More scenes like this can be seen where it's interesting to see what objects Hal creates, and how these objects fit in to the particular points of the film they happen.

As mentioned, the film centers around Hal Jordan. A nice portrayal is painted, of a hero and his personal battles, overcoming his fear of loss & failure, in addition to coming to terms with his father's death, a death he witnessed at a young age.  Oh yeah, he does this all the while trying to save the world from the film's two antagonists.

The film's main antagonist is a force from space called Parallax that feeds off the fear of others.  Parallax spends his days & nights traveling around the universe, eating planets & stealing the life-force from each planets' inhabitants.  The secondary antagonist is Hector Hammond, played by Peter Sarsgaard, who, without further spoilage, has a connection with parallax as well as a connection to Hal Jordan.  Hector is the films link between the world we know, and the world that may become.

The relationship between Hector and Hal, is not only protagonist vs antagonist, but also alter-ego vs alter-ego.  It's an interesting dynamic that not only showcases the opposite ends of the power spectrum but also produces a triangle effect. As with most triangles in film, this one centers around a love interest.   Carol Ferris, played by Blake Lively is the girl Hector Hammond has always loved, and Hal Jordan, in Hector's mind, has always been the one in his way. This dynamic played out in a very entertaining fashion, as Hector's once figurative obstacle/foe transforms into a literal obstacle/foe.  In their stories climax, Hal sums up Hector's delusion perfectly by saying something to the effect of "Let her go & let her decide who she wants."  

While I enjoyed most of the elements in this film, I have to admit Sarsgaard was a consistent scene stealer.  His portrayal of Hector was spot on, pre and post transformation.   This isn't any indictment against the rest of the cast, as they were all good or better.  It's just Sarsgaard's portrayal of Hector was on a completely different level, and it was really fun to watch.

If you're a fan of the comic book you have to see it.  If you like super-hero films in general you should see this movie. If you like action films you'll like The Green Lantern as well.

It's filled with wonderful visuals & offered a celestially picturesque viewing environment. This, however, leads me into recommending you go see the 2D version over the 3D format.  You'd think, with what I just described, 3D would be stunning, vivid & gorgeous. Well that's what I expected to experience as well.

I saw the 3D version & while offering some beautiful scenery, it just didn't do enough to justify, let alone recommend, the extra cost incurred.  While there were a few wow moments you won't find with 2D, I just didn't see enough of them to say the 2D viewer is really missing out.  But then, after leaving a 3D show, I feel this way quite often.

I'm still waiting for the perfect 3D film; I'm hoping that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II, Transformers:Dark of the Moon or Conan The Barbarian can come close.  I'm not a fan of remakes, but from what I'm reading & from the trailers I've seen, Conan looks to have the makings of a real 3D winner, but again we'll have to wait to see.

Hope you enjoy the film. As always let me know what you think and if my experience helped you out.

New Painting and Some Poetic Verse

A boy was walking his dog

Along a road made of brick and gold

Only to find a well exposed

To which I thought he should find it's valve

Stop the spill and make it safe

But what happened 

He could not know

He turned the lever

and the Oily mess ceased to flow

But when he turned to look at his dog

He realized his pup had turned into a raspberry glow

If he had a mirror there

He would have seen an unfamiliar stare

His flesh and his self

Conformed, transformed

into a bird dark and bright red 

In the park

That afternoon

the leash was dropped

but the loyal pup did not go

For soon

Someone would have to verify

All the zaniness that transpired

For mother is very fond

of the cats back home.

Silence amongst the Cacophony

My first attempt with watercolors.  I found I enjoy the ease of application yet found the bleeding factor a bit unexpected at first, before I realized brush type makes a big difference.  The Flowers on, and including, the rocky white mossed basin and the trail of blood was done using oil, the grassy shoreside/hillside was done using watercolor as was the base of the pool, which I then proceeded to fill.  The droplets in the pool were airbrushed in and for the Ocean I used a paint tube.  There is a brief poem in the ocean as well.  I may go back and add some other elements, perhaps a boulder or some rocks later on, but for now I like the barren feeling that would accompany such a scene.

The Beaver

The Beaver

The Beaver is a film I told myself that I would not be taking in.  The previews never drew me in, in fact the whole concept seemed novel but off.  However, boredom on a Sunday afternoon, in possession of a free ticket, I headed the brief trek over to the theater to see if my initial judgment would be incorrect.  I said to myself that perhaps The Beaver would be one of those films that wound up taking you by surprise.

Before I go any deeper into this review, I'd like to say I am so glad I didn't pay to see this film.  This was tough for me to write, as I typically find something positive to say about a film. This is not because I want to be that positive reviewer, but generally each film has enough redeeming qualities to makeup for its lackluster ones.

That all said I have a couple more disclaimers to offer.  Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson are not two of my favorites.  I fully understand both are well regarded in Hollywood, and I can see why.  Foster was tremendous in Silence of the Lambs and Contact, as was Gibson in Braveheart, and even the Lethal Weapon films. Yet for the latter I still say Danny Glover made those films.

For me, they are the type of stars that do shine, but never merit watching on the basis of their abilities alone.  Most of their films I see because of a plot interest or another actor's involvement.

The Beaver is about Walter Black(Gibson) who is severely depressed, and that depression has taken over his life.  He is told to leave the home he shares with his wife, Meredith(Foster) and their two children, the oldest, Porter, played by Anton Yelchin.

On his way to his motel, Walter stops off for a bevy of alcohol.  To make room for the liquor, he removes some personal effects and throws them in a dumpster.  During this moment he finds a Beaver puppet atop the trash.  Why he took this puppet isn't really explained, and quite frankly doesn't make much sense.  He's going to the hotel intent on committing suicide, so there's really no use for a beaver puppet, and the puppet doesn't even "talk" to him until his second attempt at suicide.  The whole notion seemed contrived.

I'd like to make a brief side note here.  I was re-watching Elizabethtown last night and couldn't help see a glaring similarity with this film.  Early in Elizabethtown, Orlando Bloom's character is ready to kill himself.  He throws his possessions near a dumpster.  In The Beaver, we see Gibson throw some of his items in a dumpster.  Bloom's character is saved by  his sister's call, informing him of his father's death.  In the Beaver, Gibson's character is saved, first by a broken shower rod, but for good when this puppet "speaks' to him.  Not making any indictments, just pointing our a coincidence I noticed between the two films.

Walter then becomes one with the Beaver.  Everything seems like it's going great.  Seemingly, with the help of his Beaver pal, he gets his professional and personal lives back on track.  But something just isn't right, yep, he's unable to do anything without the Beaver. His previous inabilities haven't gone anywhere, the've just been transferred.  He now can do nothing without the Beaver, in fact in his mind, he's not doing anything at all, it's all the Beaver, all the time.

For those of you still wanting to see this film, I'll let you see for yourselves how it turns out.  Just don't be surprised, because I doubt you will, and don't say you weren't warned.

There are a few positive things though.  One being Anton Yelchin, who I thought did the best job of acting.  His character is torn between the fear he'll become his father. He's also trying to win the heart of a girl, who also has baggage issues of her own.  I felt he took ownership of the role, and it showed on screen.

The main thing I'd like to give credit to The Beaver for, is dramatizing what a serious problem depression is.  I am fully aware that depression is much more recognized today than it was just ten or fifteen years ago, but I've often felt many people still downplay the effect it can have, not only to the person, but to his family as well.

Depression can overwhelm you, to the point, which the film did a nice job portraying, of giving up on everyone who cares for you, giving up on yourself, on life in general.  It shows how there comes a point when the depressed grows tired of doctors and pills.  It clearly shows how sleep can become the only comfort in their world.

While I applaud The Beaver for it's pushing depression back into the mainstream, I don't applaud anything else about this film. To learn more about depression there are plenty of other films, but I would recommend checking out the numerous websites available and the information they provide.

To recap my disappointments with The Beaver:

The acting of two well-respected stars.  Gibson tried, but at times his performance seemed exaggerated and almost comedic in nature.

I can hardly blame Foster as she did her best with the role she had to play.  But I can blame her for the directorial effort.  She should have noticed the film's many flaws while filming, even before.

You might be saying I'm being too hard on them.  I can see that as a valid point. Yet I would then mention that they are both highly regarded in the industry, and when you are of their stature, they need to make their roles better than perhaps they were written.  But perhaps you would be correct, as I may be underestimating how poorly the characters were drawn.

There were as mentioned earlier contrived and/or cliched moments.
     A.  Walter taking the Beaver from the dumpster
     B.  Porter's love interest conveniently having emotional baggage
     C.  The leeway the Jerry Co. employees and VP gave "The Beaver"
     D.  The way Jerry Co's sales skyrocketed after the Beaver was on TV
     E.  The way Jerry Co's sales went to clearance later in the film
     F.   The resolution

Anyhow I can't really complain too much, seeing I saw the film for nothing.  And I can't say I was surprised, seeing I didn't really want to see the film. To end this review, I'll ask that if you do decide to go see The Beaver, let me know if you agree or disagree with my assessment.