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I saw the new Pixar film ‘Cars’ last night, and despite the general panning it has received from the critics, I thought it was superb.

With Pixar you really do set your sights high. The original Toy Story broke new ground in animation and set the bar for others to jump. The second Toy Story proved the exception to the rule that a sequel can never live up to the original. Again, the standard of animation was improved upon to the point where they were ready to animate people in ‘The Incredibles’. With Cars, the character models are less animated, they are after all, cars. However, they do not have any less of a personality.

Some critics have complained that the audience is never engaged enough to care about the plight of the characters (In short, hot-shot race car gets stranded in hick town and can’t escape) however, I’d disagree. While the central character arc is fairly predictable Pixar fare: The hot-shot comes to realise that there is more to life than racing, and eventually grows to love the town he is ‘trapped’ in and the residents. There are several other narratives running through the film, with themes such as how the town of Radiator Springs, once a thriving community, falls into a ghost town as a new Bypass is built.

Character-wise, again, it is what we’ve come to expect: The young, good looking hot shot, the love interest who seems out of place in the small town, the crochety old man with a hidden past, the goofy sidekick, the hippy VW camper, the militaristic jeep…

But it is because we are in familiar territory that makes the film so enjoyable. There are no big twists in the plot, but as this isn’t “The Usual Suspects”, does it really matter? It is a fun film, with a simple story and amusing characters that provides genuine escapism for a couple of hours. But I defy anyone not to be even slightly moved when the historical montage of Radiator Springs is shown.

The jokes do not come as thick and fast as in say, Toy Story or Monsters Inc. but again, there are some for the adults and some for the children. (Although from the giggles in our screening, I imagine more children understood the joke about the ‘Piston Cup’ than the BBFC would have liked.

Pixar, being Pixar bring a huge amount of detail that brings the town of Radiator Springs to life. From the ‘Diner’ Petrol station that looks like an engine block to the shapes in the rocks that look like cars, to the reference to Cadillac Ranch, where a group of rocks in the background look like the tail fins of the Cadillacs in the famous art piece.

Again, as we have come to expect from Pixar, the animation is stunning. The cars may not be as agile as The Incredibles, but what they lack in flexibility, they make up for in detail. Apparently a single frame of Cars took 17 hours to render. If there was any one thing to encourage me to make the switch to HD-TV and the next generation of DVD, it would be to see the detail in Cars.

More than any other Pixar film though, the music really takes centre stage. From the opening rocky Sheryl Crow track (which wouldn’t look out of place on a ZZ Top album) to the Rock & Roll playing in the 1950’s style Radiator Springs, to the uptempo version of ‘Route 66′, this is a driving soundtrack. I had to purchase the album (something I rarely do for soundtrack albums) and although I was driving through the town, closing my eyes at a red traffic light, I could easily have been cruising through the American midwest.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a pixar film without a smattering of ’star’ voices. Owen Wilson is perfectly cast as the young, cocky Lightning McQueen. Paul Newman was good as the grouchy Doc Hudson, but Michael Keaton was unrecognisable and unmemorable as bad guy Chick. Long-Time Pixar voice artist John Ratzenberger again makes an appearance, a joke that is played on during the closing credits.

Racing legends also make cameo appearances, including Michael Schumacher, Mario Andretti and Richard Petty.

Overall, a good night at the cinema, much more fulfilling than the disappointing Pirates of the Carribean 2.

So the Radio Times has compiled a list of “essential viewing” for a crash course in film.

As a bit of a film geek myself, I do have some questions with the list. As well as having to admit to not having seen a great majority of the films on the list.

Top is Casablanca. I’ve not seen this yet, although it is on my Amazon rental list.

The rest of the list includes films such as Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s masterclass in creating a noir future, and Armageddon, cited as the best example of Bruckheimer action excess.

Notable by its absence is Citizen Kane. While I don’t subscribe to the school that says that Kane is the greatest movie ever made, it is an important film for anyone to watch. Not least because of the numerous references to Welles’ most famous piece in other movies. (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Moulin Rouge, Bowfinger and even The Simpsons).

As for the best example of 80’s/90’s excess, I’d say Top Gun fits the bill better than Armageddon. Granted Armageddon features the more spectacular effects sequences (including the destruction of Paris, Hong Kong and New York by asteroid showers), but Top Gun has the epitome of the “All American Hero”, who needs to prove himself over the legacy of his father, the high-tech weaponary and fast planes and bikes “Boys and their Toys”, and even the not so subtle gay subtext that has dated the movie, which is firmly set in the late 80s. An example of a style of movie that would set the tone for movies like Armageddon to follow.

As far as Genre films go, the list is pretty comprehensive, although I’d have added “Touch of Evil” alongside Pulp Fiction, as the latter draws heavily on Film Noir, which I regard Touch of Evil to be a perfect, and posibly more popular example. (Build My Gallows High is also noir, but I can’t comment on that one).

The List in Full:

Casablanca (1942)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1919)
Blade Runner (1982)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Build My Gallows High (1947)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
High Noon (1952)
Rear Window (1954)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Un Chien Andalou (1928)
Armageddon (1998)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Annie Hall (1977)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Performance (1970)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Blackboards (2000)
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Shoah (1985)
Winter Light (1962)

I’m buying the newspaper The Daily Mail at the moment, as they are giving away “Free” CDs, and to justify the whole experience, I am reading some of the articles.

The Daily Mail is the educated man’s Sun, in that it purpotes to be a serious paper, yet a lot of the articles are complete twoddle.

I read an article criticising the Scout Movement for entering the 21st Century for introducing proficiency badges such as Information Technology. More Scouts are acheiving this badge than the traditional skills such as ‘knot tying’. (In truth, there isn’t a single ‘knot tying’ badge, the ability to tie a “Round Turn and Two Half-Hitches” would typically form part of the requirements for another badge).

As a former Scout and Cub Scout leader, I was shocked that the article suggested that the more traditional skill badges were being phased out. However, five quick minutes of research proved this not to be the case. In fact, the IT badge is not a single badge, but five separate ’staged’ badges.

The Mail criticised the IT badge for having the requirement: “Show that they can switch on and close down a computer safely”. This is the first requirement for the first stage of the badge, which when you consider that the Scouts are for children aged 10-14, they are only beginning to start using a computer unsupervised. The rest of the requirements for that level cover identifying the components of a computer, and using computer software for creative (and Scouting!) purposes.

By stage 5 of the IT badge, Scouts are required to design integrated systems, create websites, have an understanding of copyright law and “Reflect critically on the impact of IT on their own life and that of others – consider political, social, ethical, economic, moral and legal issues”. I’ve not seen the requirements for GCSE IT, but I wouldn’t think these were far behind. At 14, a Scout would only be starting their GCSE years, so stage 5 of the badge is pretty impressive.

And the more traditional badges are still present, from “Camper”, to “Hobbies” (always the easiest badge, IMHO!). The old “Air Spotter” badge, back from the beginning of the scouting movement is still present, and Scouts all have the opportunity to do any of these Proficiency badges, so my faith in the Scout movement is restored. In fact, I’d love to get back involved again… the problem is, that like a Scout stuck between deciding whether to pick “Music” or “Badge Collecting” as his hobby, I seem to have my hands full of hobbies at the moment.

Link to scouting proficeincy badges at ScoutBase