Cars

A few Fridays ago I had the rare treat of seeing a movie on its opening weekend. Our friends Danny & Trina treated me to Cars at the nicest theater in town (Hoyt's Regal by BCC) as well as all the fixin's: a huge tub of buttered popcorn, soda and a bunch of candy. Now that's the way to go to the movies!

I'll try to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I really enjoyed the movie and heartily recommend it. Make sure to stick around for the credits, which were my favorite part.

We've been watching a lot of Monsters, Inc. at home lately, and the recent sentencing of the Enron guys just reminds me how sharp that movie still is. By comparison, the oil at the heart of Cars is pretty much ignored. Obviously no real gas was used to make all the CG cars go, but I couldn't help thinking how much must get burned for the huge NASCAR events the movie is based on, just for all the RV's to get there!

I don't mean to wax political or be a downer (go see the movie, it's great!), and I should probably just stop reading Collapse, but something about the excess of the pre-race fanfare struck me as uncomfortable given the current world situation.

That said, my dad (seen above working on his 1970 Chevelle Super Sport with our friend Terry) is probably the ideal audience for the film. He's a huge car buff, avid Car Talk listener and do-it-yourself auto restorer. He loves car shows, backroads and small-town America, and just going out for a cruise. Brandie is constantly amazed at his abillity to spend hours in the car, thinking nothing of driving 12 or 14 hours in a day. He also loves the kind of American West portrayed in the film, not the big suburban sprawls of LA or San Francisco but the little towns you find off the freeway.

I've never really shared my dad's enthusiasm for cars, but found a happy collision of worlds with the Cars movie: my interest in Pixar and the craftsmanship of their films, and his in cars and the car culture the movie celebrates. It's really been fun to talk with him about it, to see what he appreciated and why.

Happy Father's Day, and thanks Mr. Lasseter!