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I read brody's review of Pixar's "Inside Out"and came away thinking I should avoid the film. He claimed it was a saccharine oversimplification of inner mental h

I read brody's review of Pixar's "Inside Out"and came away thinking I should avoid the film. He claimed it was a saccharine oversimplification of inner mental health, with all the nuance of Michael Bay (my paraphrase). https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of-the-pixar-universe https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-curse-of... Months later when I told this to a friend, they looked at me like I was crazy, because the whole point of the movie was the exact opposite!

hardwaregeek 6y ago
Occasionally he'll fawn over a movie that I like, or despise a movie I dislike, which is nice. Most of the time he'll take a perfectly good film and twist it, give some uncharitable socio-political reading (inevitably invoking Brecht, Godard or Marx), and complain that someone else did it better. That being said I do respect his opinions in the same way I respect Kael's. They may be abrasive, unfair and inconsistent, but hey, at least it's their own unique view. It gets old reading the same positive review of Parasite (even though I loved it).
adamsea 6y ago
Thank you for the link - just read it and love the review. I loved "Inside Out", but I have to say, Brody convinced me: "The film is on the wrong track from the beginning, when the first view of the world, through the eyes of the infant Riley, is taken by Joy, and Joy becomes, from that point on, the default leader, Riley’s emotional captain. Given the smack on the bottom that brings Riley and all of us into the world, and the lusty howl that follows, I’d say that something altogether different is in the driver’s seat. Anyone who hears a baby scream at the slightest quiver of need or discomfort knows better than Pixar that primal forces, entirely more hirsute and imperious, are in control from the start, and those forces only slowly and grudgingly make room for the five cutesy minions of emotional negotiation. "

hardwaregeek 6y ago

Occasionally he'll fawn over a movie that I like, or despise a movie I dislike, which is nice. Most of the time he'll take a perfectly good film and twist it, give some uncharitable socio-political reading (inevitably invoking Brecht, Godard or Marx), and complain that someone else did it better. That being said I do respect his opinions in the same way I respect Kael's. They may be abrasive, unfair and inconsistent, but hey, at least it's their own unique view. It gets old reading the same positive review of Parasite (even though I loved it).

adamsea 6y ago

Thank you for the link - just read it and love the review. I loved "Inside Out", but I have to say, Brody convinced me: "The film is on the wrong track from the beginning, when the first view of the world, through the eyes of the infant Riley, is taken by Joy, and Joy becomes, from that point on, the default leader, Riley’s emotional captain. Given the smack on the bottom that brings Riley and all of us into the world, and the lusty howl that follows, I’d say that something altogether different is in the driver’s seat. Anyone who hears a baby scream at the slightest quiver of need or discomfort knows better than Pixar that primal forces, entirely more hirsute and imperious, are in control from the start, and those forces only slowly and grudgingly make room for the five cutesy minions of emotional negotiation. "