I’ve been a movie buff for as long as I can remember and when i see something that good, I want to see it again. It’s not going to be in theaters for very long. Seeing it on the big screen is different than seeing it at home.
I saw ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ nine times when it first came out. There was a theater in Pacific Grove not far from where I was stationed that catered to retirement age folks. They typically ran a movie for longer because, well, some of the old folks had forgotten they’d seen it the previous week. So nine Sundays in a row I watched Captain Jack Sparrow make an ass of His Majesty’s Navy. It’s a record I still haven’t broken.
Last summer I wrote the review for ‘WALL*E’. It was a Pixar® Film with an incredible short and I left the theater wanting to go right back in and see it again. I did, three hours later. I honestly missed that feeling. It hasn’t really been the same since. Until now.
Pixar’s® ‘Up’ doesn’t just capture the audience’s heart, it engages it. Like my friend Peder says, Pixar® found the heartstrings and rather than just tug on them they beat them with a mallet. If the beginning doesn’t make you sniffle, I’m not sure you have a soul. Blame it on the allergies, do what you have to do, but don’t lie to yourself.
‘Up’ has everything you could want in a movie. Yes, it has the scenes that make you realize there’s something in your eye (allergies), but it also has action and adventure and a good amount of comedy. The plot consists of an cranky old man and an inner city wilderness scout who fly to South America in a house held up by balloons. If that doesn’t take you back to a childhood spent in tree forts pretending to be something you still had the potential to be, I don’t know what will.
Carl, our cranky old man, is voiced by none other than Edward Asner, who turns 80 in November (happy early birthday Ed.) Russel, the over-eager wilderness scout is voiced by nine-year-old newcomer Jordan Nagai. Dug the friendly and loyal, if not clueless, dog (whose thoughts we can hear thanks to a collar invented by his master) is voiced by co-directer Bob Peterson and Muntz, our villain, is voiced by the illustrious Christopher Plummer.
I expect ‘Up’ to do very well at the box office. Repeat offenders like myself are liable to see it more than twice, and likely to drag our friends along. I urge you to do the same.
And, as always, I encourage you to bring your own candy. Remember that a pat-down search by theater personnel is likely to be a violation of your Constitutional right to protection against illegal search and seizure. Cheers.
