Top box office hits are on the mark
Inside Out
Exceeding the animation edge, Pixar’s “Inside Out” goes for a twist on the inside-her-head conconcept by probing the brain of happy Midwesterner, 11-year-old Riley Anderson (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias), who endures and crosses both physical and emotional lines when her mom and dad move to San Francisco from Minnesota.
The hockey obsessed and naturally goofy tween is not necessarily the main character of Pixar’s newest instant classic. Inside the brain (command center) of Riley reside five emotions vying for control over Riley – joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust. Combined with “core memories” these artful characters slide orbs up a pneumatic tube which influences Riley’s conduct in the outside world. Translation: “Inside Out” is a family and adult-friendly artful simulation of neuroscience theories and truths.
Structuring responses to the ebb and flow of life events as contingent upon past experiences and the ability to recall steadying coping skills, Riley’s daily life choices hinge on a blend of skills. For instance, all “joy” (voice of Amy Poehler as a super energetic blue-haired barefoot bot) would produce an over-the-top optimist. Maturation motivates the correct mixtures of emotion (which is what differentiates us from others).
When joy and sadness are accidentally ejected from Riley’s mind control room, the girl languishes in a lost state of mind seeking that which was left behind in the Midwest. Meanwhile, her inner feelings and memories straddle the abyss of forgotten moments, hitch hike on a train of thought and visit a nightly Dreamworks factory.
This Pixar presentation is top of the chart having received 99% accolades and historic comparisons to the visionary “Fantasia.”
Jurassic World
Up close and snorting, did your favorite dinosaur floss?
As tourists descend upon “Jurassic World,” they rush to see the largest, fiercest and most repulsive eating machine. The great lizards bring in the bucks for corporate which translates to bigger, better and more dangerous, all in an effort to spike attendance.
Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) have been sent to the Costa Rican park to visit their aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), the park’s operation manager. They ditch her assistant eventually steering their gyrosphere into the restricted containment area where they fall prey to the park’s newest predator.
Their headstrong VIP attitude leads them into harm’s way, as the genetic manipulated creature has scaled a 50-foot fence and is set to ravage creatures and guests.
Dinosaur wrangler Owen (Chris Pratt) has whispered control over a strain of Raptors which cements his designation as the rogue, hard-headed go-to action hero, along with his unintended sidekick Claire mastering rugged running, dodging and jumping in her prominently displayed nude business heels.
“Jurassic World” has an ambiance of the immortal “King Kong” as the creatures tear into each other. That’s director Colin Trevorrow’s brilliance merging multiple perils seamlessly into the story and concentrating on a menagerie of snarling teeth close-ups of multiple extinct carnivores.
Allusions to “King Kong” surpass the enclosure wall, jungle habitat, and blasting lead. More than discarding an already disturbed natural order for risky greed parallels come human/creature bonding and the often explored military uses. You cannot compare Claire to the great ape’s vulnerable love interest Ann (Fay Wray). She’s more of a modern antithesis as a controlling executive continuously proving (to herself) I can do anything a man can do better in a dress and so-called “ridiculous” heels.