The film follows a young girl who is asked to attend a summer weekend hockey camp with her two friends until she gets news from them that would change everything where she deals with new emotions as well as the need to fit in with members of an elite high school hockey team. It is a film that explores a young girl becoming a teenager with her emotional avatars trying to figure out how to adjust to this new phase in her life while dealing with four new emotional avatars who are trying to take over. The film’s screenplay by Meg LaFauve and Dave Holstein, with additional contributions from Ronnie del Carmen, explore the five key emotions in Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) who are overseeing the emotional state of Riley Andersen (Kensington Tallman) while they have created a new section under their main console in a tree-like series of threads known as Sense of Self that gives Riley her identity and personality. When the puberty alarm goes off, the team deals with not just their headquarters becoming shambolic but also meeting four new emotional avatars in Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adele Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).
The new team led by Anxiety is trying to come up with many scenarios that she believes would hurt Riley leading to a power struggle in which Joy and her team are cast out along with their symbol of Riley’s Sense of Self that is discarded along with a mountain of bad memories forcing Joy and the gang on a new quest to return to headquarters. It is in this journey where Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust all work together to try and stop Anxiety from creating a sense of chaos where Riley wouldn’t just alienate her friends but also try to win over the team’s captain Val (Lilimar) for a spot in their elite hockey team. The script also has more development in the characters in which Fear, Disgust, and Anger do bring in more ideas with Joy becoming overwhelmed in trying to maintain her optimism while Sadness finds a way to return to headquarters and take control of Joy’s new discarding device that would allow their Sense of Self to return. Still, things become more complicated with Anxiety trying to steer Riley into a place where she feels she can be accepted that only adds to more problems.
Kelsey Mann’s direction is broad in its overall presentation where she expands this world that Riley’s mind is in as there are more islands that represent her personality with the Sense of Self being an underground where memories could be stored in a river and create new threads. With the aid of animation directors David Torres and Amanda Wagner and character designers Dean Heezen and Deanna Marsigliese, Mann creates a world that is vast where the main headquarters where Joy and her team are overseeing Riley’s emotional and mental state while the room where Riley’s memories are planted for the Sense of Self tree is world that is unique until Anxiety and her team would take over where there is a shift in tone in the film as well as the look of the Sense of Self tree that Anxiety has created. Mann’s compositions in the wide and medium shots do add to the sense of wonderment in the world. They include the scenes outside of headquarters where Riley’s memories are stored and archived including a vault where Riley’s secrets are held.
With the aid of cinematographers Adam Habib and Jonathan Pytko, production designer Jason Deamer, along with art directors Rona Liu, Laura Meyer, Keiko Murayama, Joshua West, and Bill Zahn, and visual effects supervisor Sudeep Rangaswamy, Mann would create new variations of worlds including Imagination Land that Joy and Sadness used to go but Anxiety’s arrival has changed things. Joy and the gang would also meet a couple of 2D hand-drawn animated characters in Bloofy (Ron Fuches) who was a character that Riley liked as a kid as well as Floofy’s assistant Pouchy (James Austin Johnson) as it adds to this sense of surrealism to what Joy and her team would deal with. The sense of lighting and mindfulness in Riley’s face adds to the complexity of her emotions where Mann really plays into the ideas of emotional and mental chaos. Even where Joy faces realizations in what Anxiety is trying to do along with Envy, Ennui, and Embarrassment where these nine emotions all play a role in Riley in who she is and what she can be. Overall, Mann crafts a rich and evocative film about emotional avatars dealing with the complexities of a girl becoming a teenager.
Editor Maurissa Horwitz does brilliant work with the editing as it is straightforward to play into the humor and action while allowing shots to linger for some of the dramatic moments in the film. Sound designer Ren Klyce and sound editor Coya Elliott do amazing work with the sound as it plays into some unique sound effects as well as how a keyboard sounds in a device that Anxiety uses. The film’s music by Andrea Datzman is wonderful as it features variations of Michael Giacchino’s themes while creating some flourishing and bombastic orchestral pieces along with some electronic bits while the music soundtrack features some mixture of pop and indie music including a song by the Linda Lindas.
The casting by Natalie Lyon and Kevin Reher is incredible as it features some notable small voice appearances from Flea, Paula Poundstone, and Bobby Moynihan as a few characters Joy and her team bump into, Frank Oz and Dave Goelz as a couple of mind cops, John Ratzenberger and Kirk Thatcher as a couple of construction people who destroy headquarters to create something new for the new avatars, Pete Docter as Dad’s Anger, Paula Pell as Mom’s Anger, Grace Lu and Sumayyah Nuridden-Green as Riley’s best friends in Grace and Bree respectively, Lilimar as the hockey team captain Val, Yvette Nicole Brown as Coach Roberts as the head of the hockey camp who takes the progress of her players seriously, and the duo of Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Lane as Riley’s parents who both deal with the fact that Riley is now a teenager with their emotional avatars realizing they’re about to enter a bumpy ride. The duo of Ron Fuches and James Austin Johnson are fantastic in their respective roles as the 2-D hand-drawn cartoon characters Bloofy and Pouchy whom Joy and her team meet in the back of the mind as they are childhood idols of Riley.
Yong Yea and Steve Purcell are superb in their respective roles as the video game character Lance Slashblade, who was a secret crush of Riley, and Deep Dark Secret as a gigantic figure who prefers to remain mysterious as he represents the deepest darkest secret that Riley does not want anyone to know. June Squibb is amazing in her brief role as a tenth avatar known as Nostalgia who pops in every now and then who arrives too early to be used. Kensington Tallman is excellent as Riley Andersen as the young girl who has become a teenager where she deals with many different emotions as well as a lot of uncertainty that plays into the many mistakes and confusion that teenagers often endure. Paul Walter Hauser and Adele Exarchopoulos are brilliant in their respective roles as the emotional avatars Embarrassment and Ennui with the former not saying much as he’s often shy and flustered over his actions where he unexpectedly bonds with Sadness while the latter is hilarious in how bored she is while having a rubbery look where Exarchopoulos allows Ennui to have some of the funniest lines in the film.
Ayo Edebiri is amazing as Envy as this tiny, cyan-colored avatar that is trying to do whatever she can to make Riley be impressive while is in awe of many things where Edebiri brings a lot of nuances to her voice. Tony Hale and Liza Lapira are incredible in their respective roles as Fear and Disgust with the former being more concerned with Riley’s state of mind while also being prepared for the worst while the latter brings a lot of humor in her own crush towards Slashblade while also dealing with Riley’s growing pains where she also must step up her game in trying to help Riley. Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black are great in their respective roles as Sadness and Anger with the former becoming concerned with what Anxiety is doing where she knows that Riley is going into emotional chaos while she befriends Embarrassment. Black’s voice role as Anger has a lot of humor in the way he overreacts and gets mad at while he also becomes aware of how overwhelmed Joy has become where he helps lead the charge to help Riley.
Maya Hawke is phenomenal in her voice role as Anxiety as this orange-like avatar that is this representation of anxiety that is trying to protect Riley by visualizing the worst possible case scenarios while also doing what she can to make Riley look cool in front of new people. Finally, there’s Amy Poehler in a spectacular voice performance of Joy as the leader of Riley’s emotional gang who is trying to maintain Riley’s emotional/mental state while hoping to discard bad memories as a way to protect her only to find herself in a power struggle with Anxiety as Poehler brings more emotional weight to her character who starts to become overwhelmed while also to coming to terms with the complexity of Riley’s emotional and mental well-being.
Inside Out 2 is a sensational film from Kelsey Mann and Pixar. Featuring a great ensemble voice cast, wondrous visuals, and its exploration of growing pains in the mind of a young teenage girl. The film is a coming-of-age film that does not just explore a girl’s mental state but also the many trials and tribulations that a bunch of emotions must endure to help this young girl’s state of mind as she is growing up and dealing with changes that can be horrifying but also welcoming. In the end, Inside Out 2 is a phenomenal film from Kelsey Mann.
Pixar Films: Toy Story - A Bug's Life - Toy Story 2 - (Monsters Inc.) – (Finding Nemo) – The Incredibles - Cars - Ratatouille - WALL-E - Up (2009 film) - Toy Story 3 - Cars 2 - Brave (2012 film) - Monsters University - Inside Out - The Good Dinosaur - (Finding Dory) – (Cars 3) – Coco - The Incredibles 2 - (Onward) – Soul (2020 film) - (Luca (2021 film)) – Turning Red - (Lightyear) - (Elemental (2023 film)) – (Elio (2024 film)) – (Toy Story 5)
© thevoid99 2024
The film is the simple story of two 40-something women who work and live together as they both lose their jobs as they decide to go on a vacation through a suggestion of an acquaintance of theirs unaware of a secret plot involving a madwoman who wants to destroy this place that caused her all sorts of emotional pain many years ago. It’s a film with a simple premise yet it play into the many typical clichés expected in a film where people go on a vacation and hoping for some fun in the sun yet writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo go into places that is way out there in terms of what is considered unconventional as well as just add a dosage of low-brow humor into the mix. The result is messy but it has this odd tone that makes it endearing due to the fact that the main protagonists in Barb and Star are these somewhat dim-witted yet heartfelt ladies who just live to have fun, have a few drinks, wear these pants known as coulettes, and be completely silly.
Upon their arrival to Vista del Mar in Florida, they meet a British man named Edgar (Jamie Dornan) unaware that he’s really a spy working for a madwoman named Dr. Lady (Kristen Wiig) who hopes to destroy Vista del Mar because of what happened to her as a teenager many years ago by unleashing a swarm of killer mosquitoes. Yet, Edgar is hoping that the mission succeeds so that he and Dr. Lady becomes an official couple yet finds himself falling for Star and questioning what he is trying to do. Adding to the chaos is Barb’s own quest for adventure as well as the fact that Barb and Star talk constantly in their Midwestern accent and are often oblivious to what is happening around them as it adds to the film’s offbeat tone.
Josh Greenbaum’s direction is all over the place in terms of what it wants to be yet it somehow manages to work because of how insane the script is in its approach to offbeat, low-brow humor. Shot on various locations in Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with additional locations in Albuquerque, New Mexico as Nebraska, the film opens with a young kid (Reyn Doi) being a paperboy as he’s singing to Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb’s Guilty as it sets the tone for what is to come where it gets dark upon the appearance of Dr. Lady and who this young kid and it then cuts to Barb and Star at work shoulder-dancing to Shania Twain’s Man, I Feel Like a Woman. It is among these moments that showcase a film that isn’t going to this traditional vacation film mixed in with a spy thriller as the scene where Barb and Star arrive at the Vista del Mar hotel is presented as this lavish musical number. The usage of wide and medium shots do help with the musical numbers that include another one from Edgar as Greenbaum knows when to create some unique compositions that do pay tribute to musicals while keeping everything else simple. Even in intimate moments where characters are in conversation as it feature bits of humor including some of the most fucked-up moments that include a crab with the voice of Morgan Freeman.
Greenbaum also play into this realm of absurdist humor as it relates to Dr. Lady as she does have this strange back story that is weird in itself while the absurdity continues into a man Dr. Lady hires in Darlie Bunkle (Damon Wayans Jr.) who does a poor job in hiding as he tries to relay information to Edgar. The film also play into elements of surrealism yet Greenbaum keeps it to a minimum in favor of focusing on the friendship of Barb and Star as well as the chaos they find themselves in. Especially in the film’s climax where it is thrilling yet there is this odd sense of humor to it that is insane while not being afraid of being low-brow as it also has this what-the-fuck moment that is baffling but endearing. Overall, Greenbaum crafts a weird, imbecilic yet outrageously funny film about two women in their mid-40s going on a vacation where all hell and hilarity ensue.
Cinematographer Toby Oliver does excellent work with the film’s cinematography with its vibrant usage of colors for the scenes of Vista del Mar in the daytime/nighttime scenes as well as some low-key lighting for the interior scenes set in Nebraska and at Dr. Lady’s lair. Editor Steve Welch does nice work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some stylish jump-cuts and montages as it play into absurdist tone of the film. Production designer Steve Saklad, along with set decorator Mariana Castaneda and art director Rafael Mandujano, does amazing work with the look of the Vista del Mar hotel as well as the hotel rooms and some of the exterior locations as well as the quaint and kitsch home of Barb and Star. Costume designer Trayce Gigi Field does fantastic work with the costume in the design of the coulette pants as well as some of the cheesy clothes that Barb and Star wear and the clothes that Dr. Lady wears.
Special makeup effects artist Stephanie Pasicov, along with makeup artist Malinalli Contreras and hair stylist Lizeth Correa, does brilliant work with the look of Dr. Lady as well as the hairstyle that Barb and Star have. Visual effects supervisor Nicholas Hurst does terrific work with some of visual effects for a few action-suspense scenes as well as a few funny moments in the film as it is mainly set dressing. Sound editor Nancy Nugent and sound designer Jon Title do superb work with the sound in the way some of the parties sound as well as the sounds of oceans from the hotel rooms and in some of the sounds inside Dr. Lady’s lair. The film’s music by Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor is wonderful for its mixture of suspenseful orchestral music, kitschy jazz, and island-based beach music along with some original piano songs by the comedy-music singer Richard Cheese with songs about boobies and such while music supervisors Julianne Jordan and Justine von Winterfeldt provide a fun music soundtrack featuring Barbra Streisand with Barry Gibb, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Pitbull, and many others including some original songs including the lavish musical numbers.
The casting by Allison Jones is incredible as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Gerry Bednob as a motel owner, Michael Hitchcock as the Vista del Mar hotel concierge, Ernesto Godoy as a guy in a speedo, the trio of Nevada Arnold, Elizabeth Kelly, and Ariana Gancicova in their respective roles as the three-year old, seven-year old, and thirteen-year old Dr. Lady, Karen Maruyama as a caricature artist, Kwame Patterson as the hotel bartender, and Mark David Jonathan as his musical persona Richard Cheese. Other notable small roles include Wendi McLendon-Covey as Barb and Trish’s friend Mickey who suggests they go to Vista del Mar, the quartet of Vanessa Bayer, Fortune Feimster, Rose Abdoo, and Phyllis Smith as a group of ladies Barb and Star have important conversations with that are often comical with Smith’s character wanting to talk about horses, and Reyn Doi as the young paperboy named Yoyo who plays an integral part into the film’s unique plot.
Damon Wayans Jr. is fantastic in his small role as the spy Darlie Bunkle as someone who tries to make sure Edgar does his job though he does a terrible job in trying to do disguises and hide himself in awkward ways. Jamie Dornan is incredible as Edgar as a spy who goes to Vista del Mar to oversee the mission yet finds himself falling for Star where Dornan doesn’t just show that he is really funny but also can sing and dance in a weird yet exhilarating musical number as it showcases that there is a lot more to him than just being attractive. Finally, there’s the duo of Annie Mumulo and Kristen Wiig in their dual respective roles of the titular characters as these two women from Nebraska with these weird accents and they talk in a certain rhythm and say silly things as they just provide a lot of wit and endure their own individual adventures as Mumulo and Wiig are just so hilarious to watch while Wiig also brings a lot dark camp to her role as Dr. Lady in this strange and chilling performance that has Wiig just being downright weird for all of the right reasons.
Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar is an absolutely fucked-up and insane film from Josh Greenbaum that for some strange fucking reason not only works as a comedy but it’s also a film that refuses to be defined as anything which makes it work. Thanks in large part to the performances of Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo along with their outlandish and far-out screenplay as well as gorgeous visuals, offbeat gags, wild musical numbers, and a supporting cast including a hilarious Jamie Dornan. It is a film that not only refuses to take itself seriously but manages to embrace all sorts of low-brow and surrealistic humor that will baffle many yet also has a lot of heart. In the end, Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar is a sensationally fucked-up film from Josh Greenbaum.
Josh Greenbaum Films: (The Short Game) – (Becoming Bond) – (Too Funny to Fail)
© thevoid99 2021
Directed by Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen and screenplay by Docter, Meg LaFauve, and Josh Cooley from a story Docter and del Carmen, Inside Out is the story about five figures representing different emotions who observe a young girl who copes with moving to a new city as they embark onto an adventure. The film explores not just a family dealing with a new move as it is largely told by emotional spirits who observe everything that is happening in these ongoing changes in life. Featuring the voices of Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Lewis Black, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane, and Kaitlyn Dias. Inside Out is a compelling yet evocative film from Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen.
Lava
Written and directed by James Ford McMurphy, Lava is a musical short film that revolves a volcano falling in love. It is a simple short story where a volcano is singing to find someone to love as he often sees two of everything while being unaware that there’s a volcano under the sea looking for him. It’s a visually-exhilarating and evocative short film that features the voices of Kuana Torres Kahele and Napua Greig as these volcanoes as they both sing the song continuously which is presented in a traditional Hawaiian presentation. The result isn’t just one of Pixar’s finest shorts but also a love story that manages to be so much more.
Inside Out
The film revolves around the five emotions inside the mind of a young girl as she copes with moving from Minnesota to San Francisco as things go wrong prompting two key emotional figures to retrieve some core memories that define this young girl. It’s a story that is about a young girl growing up and coping with changes in her life as she struggles to adapt to her new situation only to act out in ways she couldn’t understand. Most notably as her two main emotions in Joy (Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) struggle to retrieve core emotions from a world of long-term emotions where Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader), and Anger (Lewis Black) are forced to take over where things go wrong. Even as they would try to do something to make her happy again but realize that all five emotions need each.
The film’s screenplay does start off with the birth of Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) and the emergence of Joy who would be the leader of controlling Riley’s emotions as she is later joined by Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger. Joy would also make sure that Riley’s most important moment would emerge as they would represent core memories and special islands that represent her personality. When Riley is forced to move from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents (Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Lane), things become complicated where Joy tries to maintain control but an incident where Sadness touches a core memory orb would trouble things as an attempt to discard it would force Joy and Sadness out of their headquarters and into the world where Riley’s long term memories are at. The script doesn’t just have elements of adventure but also drama and humor as there is a balance to the many things that occur in the film. Most notably as the five emotional figures are well-rounded characters who are just trying to manage a young girl’s emotional state.
The direction of Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen is quite vast in not just their approach to the world that Riley and her family is in but how it’s viewed from her emotional figures. It is presented with a richness in the 3D-computer animation style as it plays into not just the world that these characters are in but also what they need to do. Though much of what Riley experience is controlled by Joy, the sense of curiosity from Sadness would be the catalyst for what is to come. Most notably as it plays into the sense of change that Riley would encounter in San Francisco ranging from all sorts of things include veggie pizza, not having things at the home already, and not feeling the need to play hockey. It plays into not just a girl growing up but finding herself at odds with her surroundings as she becomes moody where Anger, Disgust, and Fear try to make her happy but a lot of comical hi-jinks ensue and more.
The direction also plays into some very strange moments where Joy and Sadness meet with an old imaginary friend of Riley in Bing Bong (Richard Kind) where they try to catch a train to the headquarters as the stop into a world that is literally abstract. It plays into things that these emotions aren’t able to comprehend as they’re growing along with Riley where Joy is forced to come to terms that she can’t control everything. What would happen wouldn’t just be moments that are very emotional but also some realization that all of these emotions have to be together help develop a person in its growth despite all of the growing pains this young girl would go through. Overall, Docter and del Carmen create a sprawling yet riveting film about a group of emotions watching the development of a young girl.
Editor Kevin Nolting does excellent work by going for something straightforward with some montages for the film‘s opening pre-credits sequence that plays into the life of young Riley. Production designer Ralph Eggleston and art director Bert Berry do amazing work with the look of the headquarters where the emotions do their job as well as the land outside of headquarters and the dark abyss in between. Sound designer Ren Klyce and sound editor Shannon Mills do fantastic work with the sound from the sound effects that occur in the world outside of headquarters as well as the places that Riley goes to. The film’s music by Michael Giacchino does brilliant work with the film’s music as it features an orchestral score that is very playful as well as some quirky elements that play into its humor and themes to play into its sense of despair.
The casting by Natalie Lyon and Kevin Reher is incredible as it features voice work from Pixar regular John Ratzenberger as a cloud, Bobby Moynihan and Paula Poundstone as a couple of forgetters who suck out fading long-term memories, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea as a mind-worker cop, Frank Oz and Dave Goelz as a couple of security guards, Paula Pell in a dual role as a dream director and the mother’s anger, Josh Cooley as the fear manifestation in the form of a clown, Lori Alan as mother’s sadness, Pete Docter as father’s anger, Rashida Jones as a cool girl’s various voices of emotions, and Carlos Alazraqui in a dual voice role as father’s fear and an imaginary Brazilian helicopter pilot. Richard Kind is terrific as the voice of an old imaginary friend named Bing Bong who helps Joy and Sadness find their way back as he also hopes that Riley would remember him. Kyle MacLachlan and Diane Lane are superb as Riley’s parents who deal with Riley’s sudden moodiness as it relates to their new living situation and changes in their life. Kaitlyn Dias is amazing as the voice of Riley as an 11-year old girl who deals with growing pains and changes in her life as Dias brings a realist approach to anyone who has deal with growing pains in that age.
Lewis Black is brilliant as Anger as he represents someone that knows when to push buttons as he comes up with a plan that he thinks will get Riley to become happy. Bill Hader is hilarious as Fear as someone who is constantly scared as he always list things that should go wrong on a certain day. Mindy Kaling is excellent as Disgust as a manifestation who makes Riley say no to broccoli and other things while giving Riley things not to like. Phyllis Smith is phenomenal as Sadness where Smith brings a lot of emotional weight and curiosity to the role as it adds a balance to Riley’s emotional turmoil. Finally, there’s Amy Poehler in a remarkable voice performance as Joy as the upbeat head of emotions who tries to maintain some control unaware of how troubled Riley is in her growing pains forcing her to grow up a bit as it’s that great mix of humor and realism in Poehler’s voice.
Inside Out is a tremendous film from Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen as it is definitely one of Pixar’s finest films. It’s a film that doesn’t just explore the idea of growing pains but also one that is told through various emotions that try to cope with changing times and changing worlds. It’s also a film that manages to be so much in terms of bending genres as well as be something that kids and adults could relate to in terms of growing up and change. In the end, Inside Out is a magnificent film from Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen, and Pixar.
Pixar Films: Toy Story - A Bug's Life - Toy Story 2 - (Monsters Inc.) - (Finding Nemo) - The Incredibles - Cars - Ratatouille - WALL-E - Up - Toy Story 3 - Cars 2 - Brave - Monsters University - The Good Dinosaur - (Finding Dory) - (Cars 3) - Coco - Incredibles 2 - Toy Story 4 - (Onward) - Soul (2020 film) - (Luca (2021 film)) - Turning Red - (Lightyear) - (Elemental (2023 film)) - Inside Out 2 - (Elio) – (Toy Story 5)
© thevoid99 2015
