You Haven't Seen That Yet??? - Up

Plot: Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. "Up" takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures. via.

Nicole's Rating: B+

Why She's Appalled Matt's Never Seen It: I saw this a really long time ago, when it came out in theatres, so I'm going off of memory here. I'm actually pretty appalled that Matt didn't go see it in theatres. It was supposedly a ground-breaking 3D movie - not the first 3D Pixar film to come out, but the first film (besides like, My Bloody Valentine, I think) to be made specifically for 3D. And, you know. It was supposed to be spectacular. I, actually, didn't see it in 3D because... well. I bought 3D tickets but the theatre oversold the seats and there were no seats left for me and my two young, super cute and very disappointed cousins. Anyway. I remember crying within the first 20 minutes. I remember laughing hysterically at much of the plot and being genuinely moved by others. I wasn't too fond of the ending - it felt too contrived, too easily and comfortably wrapped up for such a good movie. I mean, not the end. But the part with the villain. That's the part I didn't like. In the cave? It was weird, and like. Too Disney. Too Cruella De Ville or Ursula the Sea Witch. Like, maybe, give us something a little different? Other than that, it was a fantastic movie.

Matt's Rating: B+

Matt's Review: Every time that damn goofy bird came on screen I immediately giggled like a baby during a peek-a-boo session. It was just so damn GOOFY. Plus I really liked that the bird served a purpose other than just comic relief. Up starts out with a now common place Pixar intro/setup that had me extremly depessed. For the first 10 minutes of the movie we watch as a happily married, and very much in love, couple get married, go through life, and struggles as one of them dies. It practically had me in the fetal position weeping uncontrolablly, but IM A MAN so I didn't.

The film then quickly becomes the quirky and light hearted comedy that we have come to expect from a Disney/Pixar combo effort. In fact I believe that Disney bought Pixar because Disney realized that their animated films were quickly slipping into a suck zone and wanted to grab the competition, tie it to a chair, and force it to work with them. It's a smart move considering how good Pixar is at making animated films. Anyway, the first act of the film is pretty good and had me smiling constantly. But the film truly takes off once Carl and Russell meet Carl's old hero. It quickly becomes apparent that Carl's hero is in fact fuckin NUTS and the drama just escalates from there. There is a wonderfully painful moment where our big goofy bird is being reeled in by the villain while Carl's house (which represents his dead wife's wishes) is being burned. He is forced to make a terrible decision. I almost fell off my couch in anticpation of what was going to happen next. That's something I have alwasy applauded Pixar for, they can quickly take a light comedy and turn it into an intense drama in a couple seconds. They do a wonderful job of building characters and setting up scenes. They also have a knack for making inanimate objects seem like real characters (that's personification for all you English nerds out there). They did this with Carls' house perfectly. When it was burning I could immediately sense the pain it must have caused Carl. The house was turned into a silent third character.

The one section I wasn't fond of was the blimp sequence. I enjoyed the old man sword fight that took place, and there were plenty of funny moments but to me it took a couple steps back in terms of quality. It came off as a little childish and cliche. I should probably keep in mind that this is an animated film for kids and let it go.

Overall I think it is one of Pixar's best films, definitely one of the best animated films I've seen in some years, but it falls one or two cheeseball moments short of being at the very top of Pixar's list.