1. An interesting conversation/editorial about “A World Cup Mentality” over at the NY Times between David Brooks and Gail Collins. One particularly relevant soundbite (ht TB):
We in this country prefer pastimes that are rational and quantifiable. Football plays can be drawn up in a playbook and baseball lends itself to statistical analysis. Americans prefer pastimes that are rational; the rest of the world rewards resilience and neuroticism. But the rest of the world follows a sport that rewards resilience and neuroticism. Soccer is a sport perfectly designed to reinforce a tragic view of the universe, because basically it is a long series of frustrations leading up to near certain heartbreak.”
…
“But [soccer]’s also a game that teaches you that life is unfair. Because goals are so scarce, it is possible for a team to be outplayed for 89 minutes and yet still score one fluke goal and win the game. Superior performance often does not translate into victory.”
2. Also from The NY Times, A.O. Scott’s beautiful review of Toy Story 3 could not be more enticing. He writes:
In providing sheer moviegoing satisfaction — plot, characters, verbal wit and visual delight, cheap laughs and honest sentiment — “Toy Story 3” is wondrously generous and inventive. It is also, by the time it reaches a quiet denouement that balances its noisy beginning, moving in the way that parts of “Up” were. That is, this film — this whole three-part, 15-year epic — about the adventures of a bunch of silly plastic junk turns out also to be a long, melancholy meditation on loss, impermanence and that noble, stubborn, foolish thing called love. We all know money can’t buy it, except sometimes, for the price of a plastic figurine or a movie ticket.
2a. On a related Pixar note, Slate has a wonderful slideshow of youtube clips about John Ratzenberger’s (Cliff from Cheers) involvement in the studio’s films. It would appear that there really is a ‘fruit-from-the-root’ ethos at work over there, with love birthing goodness and creativity rather than the other way around (ht AZ). It shows.
p.s. Our “Gospel According To Pixar” publication is almost ready!! Stay tuned for an announcement before the end of the month.
3. I have to confess, I haven’t been a big fan of Narnia on screen, and from the looks of the new Voyage of the Dawn Treader trailer, that doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon…
4. A very thought-provoking meditation over at The Topmost Apple about denial, powerlessness, repentance, and grace as viewed through the lens of AA’s first step. John Calvin even weighs in.
5. A fascinating piece from ABC news about self-proclaimed messiahs. Hard to believe the guts of Pastor Quiboloy, esp at the 2:30min mark, even harder to believe that the reporter cops CS Lewis (ht JS):
6. In music, NPR is streaming the entire new Stars record, The Five Ghosts, a full week before it comes out.
7. In television, The A/V Club has a great new post up asking How Has The Culture Of TV (And Watching TV) Changed? Not surprisingly, they use Friday Night Lights as one of their primary case studies. Definitely worth your time. And how about that Breaking Bad finale?! Did we just witness a perfect season of television? HBO has just posted some Game Of Thrones promos, and it looks fantastic.
COMMENTS
11 responses to “Another Week Ends: Soccer, Toy Story 3, John Ratzenberger, Narnia, Step One, Self-Proclaimed Messiahs, Stars”
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LOL. You're right – the reporter in the 'Self-proclaimed Messiah" piece totally ripped off C.S. Lewis's "liar, lunatic or Lord" thing without giving the man credit! What a fascinating clip that was… Loved the "Toy Story" review and can't wait to see it (hopefully today!). But I must take issue on one point: Despite not loving the first two efforts, I think "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" looks wonderful! (It's always been my favorite "chronicle.") With "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows" out in November, followed by "Dawn Treader” in December, this is one mom who can't wait for the holiday movie season! (By the way, the Harry Potter books are FULL of great Mockingbird material…)
Looking forward to the Gospel According to Pixar!!!
Just saw Toy Story 3, and it's absolutely wonderful. It's too bad it can't be included in The Gospel According to Pixar, because it's rife with good material! (And no, the Times review didn't pick up on that aspect, not surprisingly… )
Among many things I found touching was the last scene with Woody sticks with me because of the overtones of hearing his owner say "Well done, good and faithful servant". I feel like I have to write a whole series of posts on Toy Story as a whole and look at how thoroughly the trilogy explores how those who seek to save their lives lose them but those who give up their lives save them. Woody as the often stubborn, resentful and insecure toy who ends up serving a prophetic role to other toys is also food for thought.
Plus, as a Miyazaki fan, the Totoro cameo is just too sweet not to mention. It's nice to see that Woody gets even a teensy bit of help from Totoro. There's also a great hommage to Vader taking down Palpatine, too.
I saw the Toy Story 3 on Saturday and completely concur with what's being said. It was phenomenal on every level. Apart all the regular Pixar accolades (superb character development, deep wells of emotion, perfect use of humor, clever action sequences), it should be mentioned that Pixar proves once again that they know better than almost anyone out there how to pace a film. This is an underrated and very rare gift.
WTH- your "well done, good and faithful servant" mention is spot-on and almost brings a tear to the eye, two days after seeing the film. I mean it.
It should also be mentioned how incredibly beautiful the film is, visually. The colors, the compositions, the detailing, the shadows – it's all so incredibly sumptuous. i know some of this has to do with advances in the technology (just watch Toy Story 1 again), but still, the animators really outdid themselves.
p.s. i keep reading that 3D is not a must for this film, and after seeing it in 3D (which slightly mutes some of the colors), i would agree. It's not essential. Which is to Pixar's credit, once again.
We saw Toy Story 3 together as a family on Saturday. Let me tell you, as the parent of a seven year old boy, this was a deep and moving film for parents. Abreaction at every turn!
An interesting little fathers-day followup over at AICN about TS3, in Harry's review, which I was wondering about as well:
"What is Andy's father situation? The father isn't there the day the boy goes off to college? We met Andy right after the birth of Andy's sister – and there was no Father then. I like to think that Andy's father died in some manner that left Andy's mom with the money to buy the house and take care of the two kids. Whatever happened to Andy's father, he was out of the picture significantly in advance of the first film… but… I always harbored the suspicion that WOODY was Andy's father's toy. That Woody's obsessive compulsion to be there for ANDY came from that relationship he had with Andy's father."
Did anyone else find the father's absence conspicuous?
I might have to revisit Toy Story 1 and 2 to satisfy my curiosity about that point. Andy's dad doesn't seem to have any presence in the film yet when the toy collector wants to buy Woody from Andy's mom she refuses and say the toy has been in the family for more than one generation. That could mean that Andy's father had it before Andy did, which might explain why she would refuse to sell it. It might also explain why Andy is so unusually attached to Woody even at the age of 17, when most people have cast off their toys. A strong family connection of a toy to a parent makes sense. I happen to still have a teddy bear my mother made for me when I was two years old.
Single parent families seem to be common in Western animated films. A film like Persepolis can be jarring not just because of the war motiff but also because both parents are present and Marjane's uncle even plays a huge role. Not that I'm suggesting anyone take the youngsters to see Persepolis. That's more of a teen movie.
I can honestly say I've never once thought about Andy's father. But now I can't STOP thinking about him. Thanks, guys!
The scene that really blew me away (besides the amazingly beautiful ending, of course) was the incinerator scene. Lotso has been offered undeserved forgiveness (i.e. grace), which he chooses to reject, thus ending up in what you might call Toy Hell. The other toys scramble and scramble to escape the looming fiery abyss, and then they finally just… stop. And hold hands. And love each other. There's nothing else they can do, and they know it. And it's then, and only then, that they are saved by a "hand" from above!
DZ, Kerry and I noticed that from the beginning with TS1. What made it all the more noticeable is the reversal it represents from so many Disney animated stories, in which it seems to always be the mother that's absent.
Margaret, I concur. Favorite scene is ending, close runner up is the incinerator! Very insightful comments, BTW.
Thanks, Jeff. I guess I'm learning to think like a Mockingbird 🙂