G M S

This movie/series is just remarkable. From Woodrow to Augustus, and from Deets to Pea eye. From Jake Spoon to Blue Duck and from Clara to July Johnson and Elmira. No question that this is one of the all-time greats. Is it sentimental? Yes. Is it caricatured? Yes. Is it embellished? Yes. Is it compelling? Unbelievably so. You will not come out of this movie and think it is overdone, even though it probably is. You just want more of the same. The story, and the acting are just remarkable.

Visually stunning, atmospheric, achingly personal, and remarkably inspiring. The quote by George Eliot in the closing credits explains the greatness of this story: a simple farmer, father and husband, who quietly refuses to compromise his convictions, despite emotional, social, familial, spiritual, and political pressure. The world sees his defiance as meaningless, but George Eliot sees his quiet struggle as the foundation of goodness in the world. His family, who become collateral damage, are equally remarkable, rallying around each other and pressing forward in their adjacent struggle. The visual beauty of the film’s landscape is a spiritual experience in its own right, but the integrity of the two protagonists has an even deeper beauty that touches the soul.

I thought the theme was interesting to attempt, and it is visually stunning, but it did not really capture either Jamie Foxx’s or Tina Fey’s enormous talents sufficiently in my estimation. I didn’t find myself laughing hard once, which with those two leading the cast was very odd. The Jazz music was very nice, but I don’t see most younger kids being interested in those musical interludes like they would with songs from other Disney features. I thought that the movie Coco was much better at exploring the concepts of extra-earthly existence in a familial construct, and was more tender and sweet with it, rather than this more abstract approach to explaining existence, with seemingly soulless Jerry’s at the helm of an eternal day care center, for what reason we don’t ever understand. SOUL also had a strange lop-sided approach to existence, in that it tried to introduce the concept of pre-earth individual intelligence, but then suggested that after we die we are absorbed into some abstract orb of energy, where we lose all aspects of individual existence or awareness. That really seemed really odd, and I question how children would come away from that. I don’t want to get too caught up on those metaphysical holes that I found challenging in the story. I think the message of appreciation for the little moments in life was the true essence of the movie, which did cut through these other issues. For this reason, I’d still give it 3 stars, but would not place it in the pantheon of Pixar classics.

If Guy Ritchie and Michael Bay directed/produced a new adaptation of Emma where all the characters are Transformers with cockney accents, it would be better than this... ...actually, that idea is not half bad.

I couldn’t vote anything but 5 stars for this series and these guys. It’s one of my all time favorite series, but sadly this is my least favorite of the three. I’m only half way into it, so this may be premature. But, as much as I thoroughly, fully and completely enjoy Ewan, this series seems unbalanced in terms of screen time and focus on Ewan individually relative to the other people, and the relationships amongst the team. To be fair, all of the series have skewed towards Ewan, and I can understand why given that he is a strong draw, and very charismatic, but I have missed Charley’s monologues and personality, the interplay between the two, which seems to take a backseat this time around to the heavy handed ‘eco’ theme. I have missed Claudio, I have missed Russ and David and watching the team toil so hard like they did in the last two series. This series just seems much more like a “produced” and “scripted” adventure, while the others felt more pure, simple, and spontaneous. Cross our fingers we see more of what gave the previous two series such charm, but Sadly this series has traded some of its soul for budget. I hope that I’m not too unfair. I still really like this series, but the previous two series were the inspiration for my daughter and I getting our motorcycle licenses together, they are that good.