{"id":21837,"date":"2020-12-23T14:29:34","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T22:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=21837"},"modified":"2020-12-23T14:29:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T22:29:34","slug":"soul-provides-plenty-of-holiday-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=21837","title":{"rendered":"SOUL Provides Plenty of Holiday Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10493\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This animated film from Pixar Studios premieres December\n25<sup>th<\/sup> on Disney+.&nbsp; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For decades now, family-friendly animation studio Pixar have\nbeen creating fantastic new worlds. <em>Soul<\/em> is the latest effort from the\nstudio, a movie that takes viewers all the way from a jazz club in New York to a\nspiritual realm known as the Great Beyond. The story and plotting harken back\nto other features from the studio and as a result this newest effort doesn\u2019t\nalways feel as fresh as some of Pixar\u2019s classics. However, like everything else\nfrom the production company, it is a beautifully animated and entertaining film\nthat will have no difficulties engaging the entire family.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Soul-street.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21839\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) is a middle-aged music teacher who\nstill dreams of playing jazz professionally. He gets his opportunity when an ex-student\nnamed Curly (Questlove) tells him that famous performer Dorothea Williams\n(Angela Bassett) needs a new backup band member. But after a successful\naudition, an accident occurs. Gardner awakens as a spirit in the Great Beyond\nheading towards a bright light. Naturally, this unexpected development doesn\u2019t\nsuit the lead, who is desperate to return home and perform. In order to do so,\nhe sneaks off into the Great Before, a place filled with souls readying to head\nto Earth. Once there, Gardner befriends 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who doesn\u2019t have\nany interest in occupying a human body. The protagonist decides to assist her\nin gaining a pass to Earth so that he may use it to get back home to the world\nof the living. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Soul-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21840\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As expected, the visuals are outstanding, from the New York\nCity environments to the heavenly world above. In fact, some elements of the\nbusy downtown streets, including the passing vehicles, are more photo-realistic\nthan ever. The movie also offers some great imagery in the Great Beyond. In\nparticular, an area home to lost spirits, where the leads meet a \u201cmystic\nwithout borders\u201d expert named Moonbean (Graham Norton) offering advice into\ngetting the lead\u2019s untethered soul back to Earth. The character travels on an\nenormous glowing ship that sails through waves of sand &#8211; these images are some of\nthe film\u2019s most distinctive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story itself is very cute, if not outright hilarious. Admittedly, as incredible and striking as several of the environments presented might be, early jokes generate little more than a chuckle or two. And as impressive as it looks, the plains of the Great Beyond and the character designs will remind viewers of other Pixar features (in particular, <em>Inside Out<\/em>). There\u2019s also a lot of jumping around story-wise. The plot spends a lot of time setting up how the Great Beyond works, but then switches its focus to the characters back in New York (even if the protagonists don\u2019t return in the way they intended). From this point forward, the movie earnestly follows Gardner trying to justify his life goals, while 22 discovers the small wonders of life as she tries to find her purpose. It\u2019s all amusing but hardly subtle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Soul-seminar.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21841\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, not all the gags result in laughs, the message feels a\nbit on-the-nose and plot points are ultimately tied up in an overly saccharine little\nbow (in fact, the movie ultimately skirts the opportunity to address sacrifice\nand loss during its climax, which could have made a bigger emotional imprint).\nStill, the characters are sweet and likable, the music is great and the tone is\nupbeat and positive. This is a film committed in its attempts to show viewers\nthat even the simplest things can bring joy and wonder.<em> Soul<\/em> may not be\nthe greatest entry in the Pixar franchise, but it is a well-animated and enjoyable\nfeature that will provide families a welcome distraction over the holiday\nseason. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This animated film from Pixar Studios premieres December 25th on Disney+.&nbsp; For decades now, family-friendly animation studio Pixar have been creating fantastic new worlds. Soul is the latest effort from the studio, a movie that takes viewers all the way from a jazz club in New York to a spiritual realm known as the Great [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,1424,1455,5922,7287,8564,8600,10273,16155,16531,18736,18737,18738,18740,22930],"class_list":["post-21837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-angela-bassett","tag-animated","tag-disney","tag-family-film","tag-graham-norton","tag-great-beyond","tag-jamie-foxx","tag-pixar","tag-questlove","tag-soul","tag-soul-film-review","tag-soul-movie-review","tag-soul-review","tag-tina-fey"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21837\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}