Tag: Pixar

Celebrate age 13 with ‘Luca’, a pleasant Pixar journey

Jeff Mitchell

“Luca” – What’s the most challenging age during childhood?  How about age zero?  Sure, you load no responsibility, and your mom, dad, grandmother, a daycare worker, or some other parental unit feed and change you throughout your first year on Planet Earth.  Then again, your folks completely control your daily itinerary.  Walking is a problem, and so is speaking in clear, concise sentences.  Age zero is no picnic, but when looking back, 13 years young probably is – “Survey says” – the #1 answer on “Family Feud”, seven days a…

AHFW’s Top 20 Films of 2020: #1 ‘Soul’

Jeff Mitchell

1.“Soul” –  Joe (Jamie Foxx), a piano player, misses his shot to perform on a big stage, and he – without warning – finds himself in the afterlife.  This passionate jazz musician now exists in The Great Beyond and The Great Before, and he mentors a soul-in-training (Tina Fey) while hoping to return to his first love: music…on Earth!  Directors Pete Docter and Kemp Powers strike hilarious and affecting notes, as their animated film magically offers tangible life lessons that our parents, teachers, and friends have told us a thousand…

‘Soul’ is the warm chicken soup and philosophical hug that we need right now

Jeff Mitchell

“Soul” – After your death, you will be what you were before your birth.” – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher Pixar embraces amusing visual merriment, the kind that only animated films can bring, and turn to “Cars” (2006), “Monsters, Inc.” (2001), and “Toy Story” (1995) as some chief examples.  Well, Tom Hanks could’ve dressed up as a cowboy doll in live-action versions of the “Toy Story” franchise, but I don’t know.  I’ve seen horror-show glimpses of “Teletubbies” (1997 – 2001) and grew up on the Sid and Marty Krofft’s bizarre acid…