Pixar: Soul

Yeah, Inside Out was much better, nearly a good film, something not quite there, but not bad at all. Forgot about that one. Bit of a shame it had the same idea as The Numbskulls, the long running Beano strip.

 

I like it, in fact I plan to get the Blu-Ray, my only complaint is, the movie is titled Soul, and I know it's about his spiritual journey and finding out how valuable living your best life is. It just seems to me that real Soul music instead of jazz would have been an even better fit.

 

I'm not sure that he could be a teacher teaching disco to kids.

 

The Jazz club in "Soul" is a dead ringer for the Village Vanguard. The front door area, the awning and even the stage are styled after the Vanguard.
Soul:

Actual Half Note:

Village Vanguard

the stage in Soul

The Vanguard's stage

 

Yes and VV was the more legendary club in terms of performances and recordings. I think the creators of Soul chose Half Note as the club name because it has a better ring to it for people not knowledgeable about jazz.

I'm sure they kicked around "jazz" as a title but as said above, the underlying subject of the film is to explore whether the soul is best served by a spark as the means to enjoy life or by enjoying life purely on its own terms as a sort of taoist spirituality. The title Soul, therefore, has nothing to do with music. To then force the characters, score and script to be about soul music just seems wrong.

 

Who said anything about disco? Real soul music would have been great!

Who said anything about the script being forced to be about soul music? But a movie titled SOUL could easily incorporate that type music just as they incorporated Jazz which has absolutely no connection! There's a reason it's called SOUL MUSIC, it comes from the soul, which totally relates to the movie!

 

I think you are thinking too much about this movie that is made for kids not middle to old aged men.

 

We must have seen different movies. Jazz does have a connection from the opening scene and is the entire motivation of the main character and drives the entire narrative. All good music comes from the soul.

 

Soul opens at #1 on the Nielsen streaming chart (US only).

'Soul' Leads Nielsen Streaming Rankings for Dec. 21-27


Pixar's Soul became the first feature film to top Nielsen's weekly streaming rankings, debuting at No. 1 for the week of Dec. 21-27.

The movie, which premiered on Disney+, topped two other high-profile premieres during Christmas week: Drama series Bridgertonand George Clooney's feature film The Midnight Sky, both on Netflix. Wonder Woman 1984 also premiered on Christmas on HBO Max, but Nielsen's streaming measurement doesn't currently include that platform and WarnerMedia doesn't release viewing data for HBO Max.

Soul captured about 1.67 billion minutes of viewing time — the equivalent of almost 16.7 million full runs of the 100-minute film. Bridgerton (1.2 billion minutes) and The Midnight Sky (1.11 billion) claimed the third and fourth spots on the chart behind The Office, whose last full week on Netflix before moving to Peacock delivered 1.44 billion minutes of viewing time.

A second Disney+ property, The Mandalorian, remained in the top 10 a week after its season finale, drawing slightly more than a billion minutes of viewing time. Two other originals, Netflix's The Crown and The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two, also made the top 10.

Streaming platforms contend Nielsen's methodology doesn't capture the full scope of viewing on devices other than TV sets. Nielsen also only measures U.S. audiences, not those in other countries.

Nielsen's top 10 streaming programs for Dec. 21-27 are below, with the prior week's rank in parentheses. Original streaming series and films are marked with an asterisk.

1 (nr). Soul* (Disney+), 1.67 billion minutes viewed
2 (2). The Office (Netflix), 1.44 billion
3 (nr). Bridgerton* (Netflix), 1.2 billion
4 (nr). The Midnight Sky* (Netflix), 1.11 billion
5 (1). The Mandalorian* (Disney+), 1.02 billion
6 (nr). How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Netflix), 705 million
7 (3). The Crown* (Netflix), 700 million
8 (4). Grey's Anatomy (Netflix), 691 million
9 (nr). The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two* (Netflix), 660 million
10 (8). Criminal Minds (Netflix), 648 million

 

Thx Kevin. I had never seen pictures of the Half Note, so that was the assumption I made (that it was the Half Note in the movie), since they made the effort to use that name (and not the VV or Blue Note, or whatever).

 

I saw this and thought it was very good as children's movies go. I joked with the parents that their children had now been trained in the Church Of Pixar, complete with its own cosmology. I did wonder if it was a bit too complicated for kids.

I do wish there had been more actual jazz in the film, both in the story and the soundtrack. I get having the New Age-y stuff in the pre-life but because we spend so much time there, it becomes the predominant mode.

 

too complicated for kids yes, a kids movie no.

 

Seen it twice now. I like Soul but not in love with it. Seems like a film trying to be deeper in meaning than it really is. Didn't quite achieve the level of say Inside Out imo. Reznor and Jazz theme are big plusses but could have got more of the Jazz part.

 

As a school teacher, I can tell you you're selling children short!

There's only one that's actually called SOUL MUSIC though, wonder why!

 

Again, no. There is not only one genre called soul music. More to the point, the film is about a jazz musician.

 

Ask any singer, musician what type music is called soul music and they aren't going to go off into sub categories of jazz or blues! Ask someone to name a soul singer and see if they name a jazz singer! Ask someone to name a soul group and see if they name Duke Ellington or count basie!
Think whatever you want, but only one type music is actually called soul music!

 

You're making my point for me. There's no distinct soul music genre. It is a loose rebranding of elements of jazz, R&B and gospel. You just cited two of the most renown jazz bandleaders from the big band/swing era for some unknown reason. Who would you name as a universally recognized soul artist? Sam Cooke? Ray Charles? Most people think of them as R&B.

Another important point: New York is known as an epicenter of jazz and for its jazz clubs like Village Vanguard, Half Note, Fat Tuesdays, Blue Note, etc. You seem to want to force a "soul club" into the village. This ain't Motown or even Philly where the film takes place. It's fitting to give New York a jazz vibe--take it from a New Yorker born in the Bronx.

 

A lot of school children are short!

 

You don't think there is any connection between music that generally falls into the generic category 'soul' and jazz?

Also you seem to be saying that unless music does come under the generic category 'Soul' then this music doesn't 'come from the soul', and therefore should not be included in this movie*. Right? Perhaps you should stick to Macca threads.

 

Or perhaps you should come out of fantasy land! Sure you can say music comes from the soul, that's not my point! I'm talking about the type music that is universally known as soul music! Slant and twist it anyway you want but Jazz and blues are not categorized that way!
Artist such as....
Smokey Robinson
David Ruffin
Luther Vandross
Teddy Pendergrass
Luther Ingram
would all be considered soul singers, not Jazz and not blues!

 

Disney does more for Jazz at EPCOT.

EPCOT honors the history of Jazz music in American Adventure | The Disney Blog

 

Just watching this with my kid and I realize the ringtone on Joe's phone whenever his phone rings is Charles Mingus - Better Get Hit in Yo' Soul off Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus.

 

The ringtone I remember hearing was "Haitian Fight Song." There's a different version of that tune called "II B.S." on MMMMM.

 

Ah yes, I think you're right!

 

You made the right choice in not seeing Soul but in my opinion you should really give the first Cars film a try. It's way better than people think it is and is nothing like the atrocious Soul.