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Up, a review by Dragonfire

I went to see the new Pixar movie Up today. 

After a long, mostly happy life with his wife Ellie, Carl is trying to deal with being alone and the changes going on around their home.  He decides to finally go to South America like they had planned for years, though he uses an unique mode of transportation.  Russell, a young Wilderness Explorer ends up along for the trip.  Once in South America, their adventure continues as they try to get to a specific spot.  Along the way, they encounter Dug, a talking dog, a goofy bird that Russell names Kevin, and Charles Muntz, an explorer that had been the hero of Carl and Ellie in their childhood.

My Thoughts

I loved this movie.  The plot is a bit different, especially for an animated movie, but it works so well and makes for a wonderful movie.  Time is taken at the beginning to introduce Carl and even show highlights of his relationship with Ellie.  Only glimpses of their life together are shown, but it is enough to know how strong their marriage was.  Those few minutes lay the foundation for the heart and emotion that the movie has.  There are a few sad scenes in the movie that might make some people cry.  The movie is incredibly touching and has more emotion than the live action movies I've seen this year. 

Some of what is going on during the movie is silly, but it works and blends perfectly with the more serious moments.  The balance between silliness and sweet, touching things is just right.  There is a lot of humor in the movie, much of which is provided by Dug and Kevin.  That bird is just so goofy that I can't help but crack up.  The movie didn't resort to gross humor like many other animated movies do.  The plot is interesting and makes for a very enjoyable movie.  The animation is stunningly beautiful.

This is the first Pixar movie to be done in 3D.  It is the first movie that I've seen in 3D..the theater here finally upgraded or whatever to show 3D movies.  I have seen the normal versions of some other movies that were also available in 3D, and with those other movies, I usually could pick out things that were done specifically because of the 3D to make the audience jump.  That wasn't done in Up and Pixar didn't use the 3D as a gimmick.  The 3D just ...enhanced things without distracting from the plot.  I did enjoy the 3D stuff.  Even the trailers before the movie were in 3D.

Overall, this is an excellent movie that deserves to be seen. 

 

I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Up

(From Up on May 30th, 2009)

Hang 'em High, a review by Rich

Hang 'em High



The first spaghetti western made in America (sans Leone) and Eastwood's first star vehicle made outside Europe. Eastwood's innocent cowboy miraculously survives his own hanging and then treks across the frontier to bring his hangmen to justice. Highly entertaining, featuring in small parts Dern, Hopper, and cowboy veteran Bob Steele as a dungeon prisoner.

Clumsy mish-mash of a Western, a potentially good film made badly.
Too many close-ups of the wooden Inger Stevens playing Rachel, trembling bottom lip and moody far-away stares, all should have been cut from the movie. The romance didn't work for me in this film, it should have been left as a gritty tale of frontier life.
Possibly the weakest in the Eastwood stable of Westerns for me, it was early in the career and too much 'eyes' and stretched believability - he was shot a dozen times in the parlour, but was up and about soon after - perhaps they had better health care in those days?
As Hollywoods first attempt to copy the gore and brutality of a Spag Western, and a staging post in Clints career, it is probably worth a watch.
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on January 19th, 2009)

Babylon 5: Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Synopsis: Sheridan tries to get the League of Non-Alligned Worlds sign a defense contract that allows the White Star fleet to patrol along the borders. And he does that in an very unusual way. Meanwhile Delenn (as representative of the religious caste) negoiates with Neroon (as representative of the warrior caste) in secret to end the fully outbroken civil war on Minbar.

My opinion: The episode is a great mixture of humour and seriousness. It's funny to see hwo Sheridan drives the league into the illusion that there is a new enemy to make them sign the treaty. And it's great to see how the mutual adversaries Delenn and Neroon work together to help their people. And then you realize that Neroon is going to betray Delenn. Very sad.


Synopsis: The religious caste has to surrender to the warrior caste. A place is chosen for the surrender. A place of great historical meaning from the time before Valen founded the Grey Council. Meanwhile Lyta is desperately looking for a job when Bester comes along an makes a proposal.

My opinion: While the Lyte storyline wasn't that interesting, the events back on Minbar were quite fascinating. One episode you are to believe that Neroon betrays Delenn. And the next you learn the plan hidden in another plan. It was a very good ending for the character or Neroon, an end worthy of a true warrior. And the end of the episode promises a great storyline for the next episodes.


Synopsis: After President Clark ordered the killing of 10'000 inoocent people on refugee ships, Sheridan is no longer willing to stand by. He prepares an attack agains Earth Force ships that carry out such illegal orders. They are going to retake the colony of Proxima 3, then Mars and finally Earth. A fleet of White Star ships and Starfuries has taken course to Proxima 3.

My opinion: Brother against brother. Civil war. The Minbari just had their own civil war, but it didn't feel as real as this one. This is probably because I - the viewer - am human. Of course I know it's only a TV show but nonetheless a battle between humans feels much more real than the war amongst the Minbari castes. And you hope with Sheridan that the crew of the destroyer can evacuate before it explodes. A worthy episode as name--giver of the season.


Synopsis: Garibaldi has arrived on Mars and finally meets the head of Edgars Industries, William Edgars. And Edgars fills him in on his thoughts and worries about Clark, the Psi Corps and Sheridan. Back on Babylon 5 Lyta is able to awake the teeps that were "modified" by the Shadows. Sheridan needs them for a certain task in the war to free Earth.

My opninion: A quieter episode but nonetheless an important one. Garibaldi decides to capture Sheridan and hand him over to Clark. What the hell did the Psi Corps do to him that he would do such a thing? The interesting question is: How many decisions made Garibaldi on his own and how many was he forced to do due to his Psi Corps reprogramming.

(From Babylon 5: Marathon on November 12th, 2007)