Took the Mommy Unit and the F1 to see the new Pixar flick, "Finding Nemo".

If you have kids - they'll probably like it.

I hated it.

I liked all the other Pixar flicks so far (Toy Story, TS2, Monsters Inc., Bugs Life) but Nemo is where Pixar takes a hard left turn into PC-land.

The computer animation is incredible. But the story is flat, boring, and actually quite depressing. VERY few times were actually even mildly funny or amusing. In all the other Pixar flicks the story was exciting and actually able to keep adults engaged and entertained as well. But Nemo was a bust.

It has all the elements to make a liberal FEEL good - the handicapped kid fish Nemo with his special gimpy "lucky" fin, the cowering and whimpering father who needs a female fish to learn how to be strong and brave - basically how to be a man. The female fish Dorie (voice of Ellen Degeneres), is a mentally-disabled fish.

Then there's the ever present theme that "fish are friends, not food" for the animal-rights whackos. Sharks are "reformed" from eating other fish. There's even a scene where a school of tuna are "saved" from an evil fisherman's boat that would make any PETAhead proud.

And did I mention how depressing it was? Gee, let's make a movie where a kid fish's mommy is killed, he's a cripple, he's lost in the ocean and get's put into an office fish tank only then to be given to an evil bratty human kid who kills every fish she's ever had. And make the Daddy fish search for what seems like eternity for the little gimpfish through one "kidscary" scene after another.

The ONLY funny part I saw in the whole movie were the seagulls. They nailed the seagull mentality to a "T" in this flick.

Again, if you have a little brood of kiddies, they may like it. But to me, it was nowhere NEAR as fun or entertaining as the previous Pixar flicks. I don't think the little one liked it either.

Did you hear the dialogue where the fish are talking about the divers (or was the boat) being Americans? some snide comment that went by me, but I did hear the "americans" part of it. edited to add:  kidscary is on the money!!  some parts scared the heck out of my 3 year old, if I had known no way!!

I think that part is when they are talking about pollution and the comment is that Americans are the worst.
Fuck em

Mine

Seagull mentality?  WTF?

Thanks for the review.  You just saved me $11.

The wife, kids, and I saw it yesterday.  We actually all enjoyed it.  My 4 and 2 year old both got through it fine with no problems of being scared.

I'll agree that compared to other Pixar flicks it's a little flat.

While Mac sees nothing but liberal themes in the picture, I saw some pretty interesting non-liberal themes.  Do not read beyond this if you don't want to know anything about the movie.





At the start of the movie, you meet the main character Marlin and his wife who've just moved to this really great neighborhood.  Good schools, security, etc.  Now the first thing that strikes me is this is the first Pixar flick with an actual traditional married couple in it.  Toy Story had a single mom with a baby.  How does that work?  I mean, how does one get a baby and not have a daddy?  Anyway, they're marvelling over their new safe neighborhood, when some uber predator fish comes along.  The female fish goes to save her eggs, while Marlin tries to save her.  He gets smacked away and wakes up later to find his wife and all their eggs gone, until he spots just one left, which he vows to never let anything happen to.

You jump immediately to the first day of school for his son, Nemo.  Marlin has become the typical over protective father.  He doesn't want anything to happen to his son, and he coddles him and shields him from everything.  He worries about his son's small fin, while his son just wants to fit in with the other kids.  It's this overprotecting that causes Nemo to get fed up with his father's coddling and protecting and he swims off to a boat in open water to show he's not afraid or scared.  It's at this point that Nemo's snagged by a diver from the boat and the boat takes off.  Marlin swims after it, and the movie is about his adventure trying to find his son.

And furthermore, Marlin didn't need Dory, the comedic idiot with no short term memory, to be brave.  She nearly gets him killed at every turn with her inability to accept that there is danger out there.  What makes him brave is his drive to find his only son.  He learns that he can't protect his son for the rest of his life and that he has to let him grow up, even if that means he gets hurt along the way.  That's not exactly a liberal concept.

My kids did enjoy it more than I did, but I still enjoyed it.  What I didn't enjoy was the fact that the theater has jacked up the prices for matine tickets.  $6/adult and $5/child.

Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas...

Wife and I are going today, actually here in a few...

I just got back with my three-year old. I agree with Mac. The story was flat and there were some scary parts for the little kids. Just didn't seem up to par.

It was ok. Just ok. My son (8) liked it so...
The Seagulls were spot on though.

MINE?

Would expect anything less than PC? With Ellen Degenerate in a lead role/voice.

But what about hip cultural references?  You can't have an animated movie these days without those!  And what big-name stars provided the voices for the main characters?  Animation just works soooo much better when I know that it's not just lousy schlub voice actors doing the work but a bonafide celebrity whose just slumming for the easy paycheck. [/sarcasm]

Remember that Pixar belongs to Disney.  Remember "The Lion King"?  In that movie prey was referred to as [i]Circle of Life Friends[/i].  Awwwww, how comforting!

I talked to a few people who have seen the movie, including my wife.  While a few thought that it wasn't as good a Monster's Inc., none of them believed the idea of some kind of PETA type message any more than Blackhawk Down was a conspiracy to promote racisim.

Besides, the anti fish in captivity theory seems a little odd considering that Disney/Pixar gave away fish tanks complete with fish to promote the movie.  I can only imagine how many kids are going to fish shops after seeing the movie because they want a fish to name, 'Nemo'.

Do you really expect people to take the idea of a vegatarian Great White seriously?  It's supposed to be a just a JOKE!

Was Chicken Run designed to discourage chicken consumption?  Absolutely not.  PETA actually tried to tie in with the movie Chicken Run when it came out.  The producer Nick Park scoffed at them, saying "We picked chickens because they are the dumbest animal on the planet and we thought the idea of them coming up with a plan to escape was pretty funny."  Rick Larson said the same thing about his Far Side cartoons with cows.

On the other hand, I've based this on what I've heard second-hand and my opinion may change once I see the film myself.   I also don't like the rumors about Disney's version of The Alamo.

No kidding?  That's hilarious.

Here's another thumbs down.

Non-spoilerish comments:

1.   My 3 year old got frightened.   For parents, think of that first scene in Monster's Inc., where the monster "scares" the "kid"  -- not too bad, but if you get the DVD, you'll hear the directors say that they put in that silly 2d opening sequence to keep the first scene from being too scary.  Well, a number of scenes in Nemo are quite a bit worse.  

2.   Also, ditto on the "gag me with multiple liberal shibboleths" sentiment from the posters above.  Everything "good" that happens to someone in this movie, happens because of, or to illustrate, something currently at the forefront of PC liberal culture.  Everything bad happens because of the status quo or a traditional minset that has fallen into disfavor with the hollywood elite.  Lots of human self-loathing, too.  (Any evidence of "humans" in the story, or involvement by them in it, is negative).

3.  Like the most recent "Matrix" movie, this flick is overpopulated with shallow extra characters.  These contribute not so much to the story or development of the plot, and take away time from the story, time when the attributes of the main characters could be being developed.  Toy Story did well with a LOT of characters without detracting from the main few.   But mostly, Toy Story did that through voice talent.  Not such a great job with that here.  

4.  Ok, lets talk about dues ex machina.  This movie has quite a few convenient rescues in the cheap "show the guy drive off the cliff, then pan to him hanging on a vine" style, though its nothing like the level of spurious plot device abuse in the Harry Potter books/movies.

5.  Visually stunning, but less than stellar music and sound.  Strikingly missing from this movie is the input of Randy Newman.   His work on  Toy Story (both 1 & 2), a Bug's Life, and Monster's Inc. is part of what made those movies great, and of course, he got the oscar for that song from Monsters' Inc.  Finding Nemo brings us the musical talent of Thomas Newman.  (yes, there's a relation, he's Randy's cousin).  Technically proficient, but in terms of inspiration and imagination, not nearly as good.  Importantly, there are no good, strikingly memorable, "songs" here.    That's always been the halmark of a Disney movie, songs with words that kids can remember and sing to you until they make you sick of it.   But Disney dropped the ball with Lilo & Stitch ("Hawaiian Roler Coaster Ride?  Give me a break), and they've dropped it again here.

All in all, I'm glad I watched it during the "early bird" slot so it didn't cost me $30.   My daughter liked it well enough when it wasn't scaring the crap out of her (btw, she's not afraid of the sharks from Little Mermaid).  

My $0.02

Regards, Gonz.  

Disney.... Haha! What a bunch of hypocrites they are….. My kids have tons of disney movies, and the old ones aren’t very PC, now it seems disney is trying to about face, become more sensitive….

The first Peter Pan, referring to Indians as ‘Injuns’ and very sexist towards all the wimmins in the movie! ‘Tarzan’ talk about violent and tons of, Yikes, gunplay!

Any one got a copy of ‘Briar Rabbit’?

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah dat Disney….. [moon]


The wife and young'uns went last night to see, the little retarded clown fish movie...... I elected to stay home!

Screw Disney!

Yep, I got all of those old, anti-PC cartoons. I have some with Yesomite Sam actually holding up some real six-guns, and Elmer Fudd with his shotgun. And of course the Zipa-do-dah that is claim to to degrade the black people.

Pixar is not Disney. Disney is just distributing Pixar's films for now.

I haven't seen the flick, but lots of fairy tales and classic animated movies feature scary situations and broken families.

Show was sold out...

might have been an omen.. [;)]

I liked it.

I didn't see any of the liberal views that others here did.

Dorie - "mentally disabled"???

Well, if Dorie is mentally disabled then so is Goofy and he's been around a lot longer than Dorie.

Yea really.... I wonder too how many kids are going to want mommy and daddy to go out and buy them percula clownfish to throw in a fish bowl! [rolleyes] just to name it 'Nemo'

It's starting...

The American Marinelife Dealers Association is reporting skyrocketing sales of clownfish and tangs.  They are NOT happy about this since the demand could cause a significant increase in fish trade abuses and damage reputations of more ethical distributors.  It's kind of like when kennel clubs and animal shelters advocated curtailing the sale of Dalmations.

Thought it was ok.

Loved the explosion of the sharks, bubble at the surface gag with the birds. Funny shit, good timing.

While it was a good movie I still like Monster's Inc. the best out of the pixar movies. I think all the actors did a decent job with the voice overs. Like was said, the animation was great. The "American" and 'fish don't eat fish" remarks I would not have thought twice about had it not been mentioned here. Did not seem like a big deal to me.  My kids are 5 and 7 and did not get scared but I think the scene at the beginning where the mother dies might have been scary for some kids.  
I thought there quite a few funny scenes.  The  mines exploding, the fish talking about dental procedures, and some of Dorias lines.  

Darn. I was really looking forward to it, especially in light of how good the other Pixar flicks had been.

My 2 and 3 year olds watch Toy Story and/or Toy Story 2 at least three times a day, and I never get bored of them.

Wife and I went, she was just screaming to go.  Afterwards she didn't like it much, movie wasn't funny.  I heard when Dorie was talking "whale" it was suppose to be rolling laughter, and I tired but I could not laugh.

It had it's highlights, but sorta blah.

For the last month, my 3 1/2 year old has been relentless on this movie.

"Is it out yet?"
"Can we see it now?"
"Are they done coloring it yet?"
"Is it out yet?"

She's already got Finding Nemo sandals.  I'm afraid no amount of bad reviews are gonna get me out of seeing this one.  We're going on Sunday with my nephew.  He's a weenie, so he'll probably cry his way through it.

C'mon

There were some liberal thoughts put into this movie for sure but some of you can honestly say that Dorie was not funny?

It was a dark cold movie not very warm and fuzzy but the forgetful Dorie was the entertainment. and the Seagulls too.

mzzlebrk

I was gonna join a mommy unit and a G1 and a B2 to that movie on thursday evening.


edited to add: Actually G5 and B3. [:D] I messed up.

Well I don't have $50 bucks to take my mommy unit, G7 and my B4 to see it![BD]

I have always agreed with the Macallan on stuff so I will take your advice this time.

Beside's it will be out on DVD in 3 or 4 months and will be priced @ $14.99![:O]

I can use the difference for more ammo!

BigDozer66

I thought it was a pretty good film - I'd definintely go see it again.  The animation was absolutely incredible, and I laughed my ass off.

I guess if you're in this paranoid victim mindset that liberals are out to control your life and brainwash your kids, then there's very little you will enjoy in modern entertainement. [rolleyes]  

Although for those of you - I'd recommend "Equilibirum" - just saw it the other day, and MAN is that a kick-ass movie.  Part Farenheit 451, part Logan's Run and part Blade Runner (with a little bit of Matrix thrown in).  Plus, the hilarious preview for "Kill Bill" is on the DVD.


Btw - the people who are pissing and moaning about how a kids cartoon is suddenly scare in parts need to go see Bambi and Pinnochio.  Those are damn scary movies for little kids - especially Pinnochio, with the creepy gypsy, kids turning into donkeys, and the huge fucking whale!  Get over it - this isn't some new thing.

U.S. Sales restricted!

You can get them on ebay from European vendors but plan on paying out the ass.   $65 on DVD.

And I thought non-PC Hi-Caps were expensive.

My favorite disney movie was A Far Off Place. Reese Witherspoon was hot, well armed and tough.

That is why they should have more Godzilla movies on the big screen in the US!!!

Well, I'm no liberal hanky-stomper for sure.

I saw the flick and while it wasn't as good as Pixar's other fare, it wasn't a steaming pile of shit either.

Sorry, but I missed the whole liberal PC thing. I ususally see that sort of thing in every flick that come out of Hollywierd, but just didn't in this movie.

If anything, it taught that nature is a mother. Hell, the wife and all but one of the kiddies get eaten in the first five minutes. I used that to illustrate to my touchy feely wife that even though you live in a nice neighborhood where all is quiet, predators are everywhere, and it's a good idea to learn to protect yourself. Hardly a liberal message.

Loved the sharks. The sound of fifty seven three year olds shitting themselves when Bruce (Named after the mechanical shark in Jaws) the Great White showed up for the first time was a friggin' classic...I laughed harder at that than the movie.

I'm no fan of Ellen, but I though that the concept of a royal blue tang with short term memory loss was interesting schtick, and she played it funny as hell. The "whalespeak" bit was one of the funniest bits I've seen in any movie in along time. Besides, as a keeper of tropical fish (Suck on that, PETA) I've sworn on may occasions that my blue tangs, hell many of my fish, were indeed mentally deficient. Maybe it's just my influence. [:)]

I loved the stoner/surfer dude turtles and the seagulls were just fucking hilarious...best part of the whole movie...

All in all, it wasn't a horrible way to waste a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

JMO

SG

Seen it last night with the two kid units and their mommy unit.

I thought it was good. Dory, the blue lesbian fish was pretty damn funny.

The B3 unit jumped a bit at the sharks introduction but, that was more due to the extreme audio volume in the theater, I jumped also. None of this movie was too scary for a 3year old.



It's a [b]kids[/b] movie, how fortunate you were able to see through the suspense.

Anyway, to conclude: it was worth it.

Going tonight after work.
Bought my tickets for me, the wife, and the almost 2 yr old girl

Ya Monsters, Inc. was great!  Lots of funny stuff.  But I don't really care if Nemo is good or not, if Ellen Degenerate has anything to do with it, I'll pass thanks.