The Prestige TV Podcast - Where 'Soul' Ranks Among Our Favorite Pixar Movies

Episode Date: December 30, 2020

Rob Harvilla and Shea Serrano talk about 'Soul,' released on Disney+ on Christmas Day, and where it ranks among their favorite Pixar movies. Hosts: Rob Harvilla and Shea Serrano Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is heavens? No. It's the great before. This is where new souls get their personalities, quirks, and interest before they go to Earth. Meet 22. I don't want to go to Earth. Stop fighting this. I don't want to!

Uh... Okay, look, I already know everything about Earth, and I don't want anything to do with it. You're missing out on the joys of life. Like, uh, pizza. I can't smell. We can't... We can't taste either? All that stuff is in your body.

No smell, no taste. No taste or touch. See? Okay, I get it. Welcome to TV concierge. I am your very temporary host, Rob Harvilla, joined here today by the great Shea Serrano, and we are discussing Seoul

Pixar film, which debuted exclusively on Disney Plus on Christmas Day. I have three kids. Shea has three kids. We each watched Soul at home with our respective kids. we will discuss now whether you out there should watch the movie alone or with your own respective kids. That's what's happening. That's what's up. Che, how are you? Happy holidays. Are you in good spirits? I'm in great spirits now that I have officially heard your podcast voice,

which is awesome. Very professional. Thank you. Thank you very much. I suppose I will start by saying I enjoyed Soul very much. I thought it was minor Pixar. It's not going to crack my top five. And I am grateful for that. It was the day after Christmas. My wife and I were quite exhausted, you know, physically and otherwise. The kids were all keyed up.

You know, I was in no mood for the first 10 minutes of up. You know, I was in no mood for the last 10 minutes of Coco, even though Coco is still my favorite Pixar movie. I did not need to be emotionally devastated or even particularly. emotionally moved at this time. The director of Soul, Pete Doctor, has directed a few Pixar movies, I believe, Up and Monsters Inc. And Inside Out from 2015, Inside Out was the most harrowing cinematic experience of the 21st century for me so far. I saw it with my son. He was four. I cried the entire time. It was like a depiction of the death of childhood. Every time I talk about Pixar, I talk about how upset Inside Out made me. I was very worried about Soul, but I found

it to be very light, you know, just very pretty to look at and listen to and think about, but it did not bring with it the usual sort of Pixar adult devastation that you get from inside out or like Toy Story 3 or Up or Coco. How did it, how did it land for you? Wait, what are your, this isn't, so this doesn't make your top five, but what are your top five? Well, let's see. Coco is definitely number one. I did this. That's my number one too. All right. Awesome. Awesome. I did this with Sean for the big picture, and I forget it now. and I'm not going to get it right. Toy Story 3 is way up there.

Wall E is a movie that like every time I rewatch that a lot and every time I do I get more out of it. Like that's one of the biggest growers. You have three out of three of my top five with me right now. Keep going. All right. We are perfectly aligned. Probably the original Incredibles. I'm out.

Okay. We're doing so well, Shay. How do you round yours out? I have Coco, Toy Story 3. inside out Wally and my surprise pick is cars which is just a very It's a very touching movie for me

But I think I think Soul for me Bumps cars out of the top five In the top five all right It makes it in there yeah yeah So it's interesting You mentioned the whole like emotional aspect of it or the thing that Pixar has gotten into lately

Where they're like you know what We're just gonna fucking squeeze your chest Until something comes out of you Exactly They had done that over and over and over again. I had the same sort of feeling with Inside Out. The part when sadness is just comforting Bing Bong, it was just a little too much for me to deal with. Bing Bong.

But like in a very beautiful way. The same thing with Toy Story 3. They hit you a couple of times. The trash compactor when they all join hands. When they hold hands, it's just rough. And then at the end when Andy is doing his whole like, here's who each character is and why they're. Teaching the girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So those were like sad movies Because of those parts to watch Same with Coco, the end When he sings with his grandma Soul went I was expecting it to be like That thing But it went the opposite direction for me

He's very life affirming And it made me feel good About like all Because you're watching it And you're like Oh okay cool His spark The thing that he's like put on the earth

To do is play the jazz piano or whatever And like oh I wonder what my thing Is my thing writing is my thing being a dad? Is my thing being a husband? Like, what's my thing? And then you get to the end. Podcasting. Is it podcasting?

Then you get to the end and they're like, it's just being alive and like living and being with your people. And you're like, oh shit, that makes me feel so much better because I thought like, did I waste my life? Like I was going through the same sort of shit that Joe was. And then at the end they're like, no, you didn't. You did all this stuff you're supposed to do. I'm like, fuck yeah.

I felt great. I felt great when it was over. All right. Well, that's great to hear. I didn't feel terrible when it was over. It was like a movie about death, but it never feels like capital D death, right? Like you're never,

I was rooting for Joe, but I was never worried about him. Like he's so unhappy for a lot of the movie. Like his spark is playing piano, but he's been sort of thwarted in his dreams. You know, like he seems to have very few, like personal relationships,

like his big emotional scene with his mom. Like he is a cat. He is in a cat's body. Technically at the time, like it's 10 minutes into up, like you're crying, because you care so much about this married couple, you know, the last 10 minutes of Coco,

you're crying because you know the relationship with this kid and his great-grandmother. But Soul just felt more abstract to me, but like in a good way. Like it was just pretty to look at and listen to and think about, but I never worried about the characters the way that I've had to worry about most Pixar characters, even like the Toy Story Toys.

You know, it was just, it was more of an abstract sort of, thing. And like, I don't really know if my kids grasped, you know, 20% of the larger sort of existential questions of it. Like, how old are yours now? The twins are 13 and the younger one is eight. Okay. So what was their read on it? Did they just think it was funny or did they like grasp it? No, they didn't. They weren't so concerned with understanding the like larger philosophical implications of the movie. They were just like, the baby especially. Oh, that's funny. He doesn't how to walk. Look at that cat. Look at that cat. Making, doing cat thing. Like, you know,

that sort of, that sort of stuff. The cat going up the staircase alone, I think, was the single funniest part of the whole movie for me. Yeah. Pooping out the pizza, you know, that's a classic, that's a classic cartoon. I really like that part. Yeah. That was fun. That was fun. So yeah, I did not, I love that you found it life affirming. And I did to a degree, but I was just more relieved that I did not sink into despair at the end of it, as I somehow have after many other Pixar movies. Like, the last movie I saw in a theater this year with my kids was Onward, was the previous last Pixar movie. That's a tough one. I mean, that's just, that's a movie about a dead dad. And I'm sitting there as a dad. I got, I'm flanked by my boys. And I'm like,

one day I'm going to die. And they will see me as like a pair of sentient pants. And it's like, I really, this is, there's not enough cherry Coke in the world for me to really deal with this right now. And so it was very nice just to sort of sit on my couch the day after Christmas and not sort of contemplate my own mortality for a change while watching a cartoon. Yeah. Did you read anything about this movie or know anything about it going into it? Very little. I mean, I try not to. The one thing I knew, like just being a music person, like this is, the score is by Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross, Trent Reznor, of course, of nine inch nails. You know, now they've got this sideline. They won an Oscar. for the social network. They did like the girl with a dragon tattoo.

They did that bird box movie with Sandra Bullock. Like this is their first kids movie. You know, this is their first time like writing music in a major key. They did the Watchman soundtrack that was wonderful. And so like I as just a sort of a music nerd person, the main thing that I did know and was expecting going into it was like, here comes the nine inch nails guy,

you know, scoring a Pixar movie and what's that going to be like? And like, it was awesome, honestly. Like I want to, I'm going to get into that soundtrack. track is writing music. I think our friend Sean Fennessey tweeted about that. They're like, this is now in the writing music rotation. Right. I thought when I didn't know anything about it going in.

Yeah. I thought it was going to be like a like an inside out situation. I didn't know somebody, I didn't know Joe was going to die. So they're doing the whole, they're doing the whole thing. He's like walking past all the dangerous stuff. Nothing is happening. And then he drops down. I thought that was like the gag. Like, ha, ha, ha, he missed all the crazy stuff. And now he just fell down. whole and then they like play it out and you're like oh fuck he died he died like they killed off the main guy this early in the movie i think watching it backwards like that like it's like structurally it's the opposite of of cocoa where you're like approaching death at the end of the movie and it's inevitable and you know it's coming and you know you know you're going to have to say goodbye to this

character to mama cocoa here when he dies early on you're like oh okay well that was done and it's fast. They must be working their way toward him coming back now. And so like a part of me was like squinting a little bit to see is he going to stay dead. But I felt like there was not really a chance of that happening. That was the only part I was a little like, I need to see what happens here. Or I need to see like, I need to see what 22 Spark was. I need to have somebody say it out loud so that I know for sure. Like whatever. But it was fun. It was a fun movie. I spent a lot of it not knowing that it was Jamie Fox, who was the main character. I kept hearing like hints of his voice in there. Who did you think it was? I thought it was like somebody that I'd never heard

of before. Okay. I definitely didn't expect Tina Faye, you know, and especially Tina Faye voicing a black man in a barbershop. That's, I'm glad I hadn't read that particular detail before I saw the movie. That's just, yeah. Did not expect to spend my day after Christmas with Tina Faye in a black man at a barbershop. It's fascinating. For a movie, it would have been pushing two hours if they had added this. I was sort of bummed. The end felt a little abrupt to me in that we did not get to see Joe enjoying life now. You know what I'm saying?

And we did not get to see like 22 at all, like in IRL, right? Like what I thought the movie was building to the whole time was like a touching reunion of Joe and 22 on earth. You know? And if 22 was like a baby or like a little kid or something, like I didn't know how. they were going to do it, but it felt like that's what you were building to is like this, this very touching scene where they meet on earth. And now they together are enjoying like the little moments in life. And like we, we stop sort of right short of that. And I guess that's sophisticated in its way. But, but yeah, I was a little surprised at the abruptness of the

ending. I would have liked that. I would have liked one of those like 11 years later. Right, right. And he's in the, and he's in his classroom teaching and a student walks in and they like share a look. They don't even have to say who it is, but they share a look and they're like, oh man. Hold on a second. Shea, you just wrote a better ending to this movie. That would have been cool. This is your spark, Shay, is writing better endings. Rewriting the end of Pixar movies. For movies. No thanks. Let me ask you a question. This movie came out on Disney Plus, streaming on Disney Plus, and like we've read so much about, you know, like Wonder Woman debuting on streaming on Christmas Day. Wonder Woman was terrible, by the way.

You watch Wonder Woman. I have not. I kept seeing how bad it was and I was like, holy crap. Yeah, this was way better. But like, we're talking a lot about what this means for the future of movies and the future of movie theaters.

And like, I love going to movie theaters with my kids. You know, I'm sort of respectful of that argument and that concern. But I got to say, as a father of three, you know, now with a baby in the house,

this new thing where every movie debuts more or less, like at home, it's fucking awesome, honestly. Like, just for me, personally. Because I can't, I can't leave the house to see a movie unless it's for work, quote unquote. And so for me personally, this is just a way better system. But still,

even with the kids, you're not into it. You want the theater. I want to go to the theater. I want to sit in the chair and smell the smells and look up at the big screen. I feel like if Wonder Woman had come out on a theater screen, people would have said it was like at least 30% not as bad. I agree with that. Like that's part of it. Seeing it gigantic. Same with Tenet. I watched Tenet at home. And I'm like, what the fuck? I probably would have liked it a lot more. I still wouldn't have understood it in the movie theater,

but it would have been cool to see everything going backward in the movie theater. To feel the seat sort of rumbling with that big AVX surround something. Like, I miss that. I miss that a lot. Giant thing of popcorn. Yes, absolutely. No, I respect that. What was the best kids movie that you saw in 2020?

The Invisible Man. that was the last movie we went and saw at the theater and life affirming definitely life affirming laramie and the twins went the baby didn't go okay good the twins are super into scary movies so the trailer came out for that one and i'm a big i'm a big peggy from madman fan sure absolutely and i was like oh we got to see this and then i saw it was lee one l and i'm like oh we definitely and then blumhouse the thing came up and i'm like for sure We're all, it was like all of the stuff that I like. Yes.

And so we went and watched that one at the movie theater and we walked out of it like, hell yeah. Yeah, the twins were into it as well. They were super into it. Oh, man. My kids won't even watch the Mandalorian anymore. They get freaked out when the Mandalorian like shoots, you know, a wamp rat or whatever. Yeah, it's, we're not there yet.

We went a long time before they got, they probably got in scary movies like 18 months ago, maybe two years ago. They started watching them with their cousins. and then it became like a thing they did with their friends. So like they went, we went to the, they took them to the, Larammy took them to the theater to go see It Too. And it was just like, it was like a group of like seven seventh graders all just in the, like they probably had the, they had the time of their life.

You know what I'm saying? They came running out like super pumped, whatever. But yeah, the invisible man. That was the best kids movie of the year for us. So you don't have to deal anymore at their ages with like the super kiddie stuff. Like the worst kids movie I saw this year was Scoob. Scoob exclamation. We did not watch Scoob.

No, you don't have to deal with Scoob. You don't got to deal with Trolls World Tour. We didn't do trolls world tour. The baby is not like super into movies like that. Okay. Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic was great. Yeah, I like Sonic.

Jim Carrey was going for it in that movie and I appreciated it. I appreciated it. That was the whole Jim Carrey experience. Yeah. Yeah. So Sol, to wrap up here, I think. So it cracks the top five, you think. That's a...

For me, yeah, it's interesting. there. Yeah. It's in there. I don't know if like rewatching it again, if it's going to move up or down. I have it at number five right now. I don't know if rewatching it four or five times is going to go up a spot or two or down a spot or two. But that's where I have it at the moment. Okay. I don't think I start in the top five, but I did sort of, it's a grower. You know, the same way, again, Wally is a grower. And I don't really know what the connective tissue between those two movies is. But it's a movie that I imagine I'll be thinking about, you know, and like listening to the soundtrack. And like, I'm, sure I would find new things to really enjoy about it when we go back to it. You know, but it's, it's, it's not going to quite bump off the Incredibles yet. But this is, this is a good starting place for both of us. All right. It's a wonderful to talk to you again, Shay. Hope your family as well.

Yeah, yours too. Wait, how old are your kids? You didn't tell me. Oh, geez. My kids are nine, seven, and two months. So, you're a two month old. Ew. Holy crap.

Yeah. You still got 18 more years to go with that one. That's right. We got a lot of scobs in our future, unfortunately. Thank you very much, everybody, for listening to this extremely professional edition of TV concierge. I'm Rob Marvilla. That is Shea Serato. We'll see you next time.