Comments on: ‘Up’ Open Thread

By: Frank Polenose

Frank Polenose — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:33:32 +0000

I thought this was a great film - thoroughly enjoyed it. Frank @ Payday Loans

By: Peyton

Peyton — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:01:14 +0000

The opening sequence of Carl and Ellie's courtship and marriage was just beautiful… it was a wonderful example of what animation can do.

By: Bohemond

Bohemond — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:18:40 +0000

Amen, What?

We Right Wing Nuts(tm) heve just voted to give John Roeder your home address.

By: Dark Eden

Dark Eden — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:31:26 +0000

I will second (third?) the call to review some Studio Ghibli stuff. Anime and Manga are a great way to get entertainment that is outside the Hollywood PC bubble. Likewise I'd love to see some more focus on Bollywood as well. I'm not familiar with it at all and some good recommendations would help me out. (hint hint prod prod).

By: Tom Edwards

Tom Edwards — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:23:01 +0000

Up was brilliant in that it's actually a story of a man's loss, grief, and ultimate acceptance of death and the need to move on – all of which is dressed up with talking animals and adventure. He uses his house as a symbol of his wife – thus actually 'dragging' her memory with him.

The movie actually accomplishes in 80-some minutes what Benjamin Button couldn't in nearly 3 hours.

I mean, I just can't get over how brilliantly the whole movie plays out. There's far more intelligent and thoughtful filmmaking at work here than in any of the 'best picture' nominees I can think of.

By: JohnFNWayne

JohnFNWayne — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:16:53 +0000

Best major release since "The Dark Knight."

Pixar is on a roll, hopefully no sequelitis when the studio begins cranking out "Cars 2" and "Toy Story 3."

Saw it with a theater full of kids this afternoon, speaking anecdotaly, that appeared to have enjoyed it immensely.

More heart in those tiny, little pixels than most releases of the flesh and blood variety. The magic keeps coming.

By: jlakely

jlakely — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:46:14 +0000

Saw it in Arcadia this afternoon. One of the best movies I've seen in years. So emotionally true, it makes you cry without resorting to cheap sentimentality. I almost couldn't talk about it on the way home, because I'd start bawling while articulating the themes of the film.

That said, I laughed openly at least a dozen times. I even hugged my dog a little harder than usual when I got home.

Highly, highly recommended. Audience applauded at the end, the first time I've heard/seen that in a long time. Don't take kids under the age of 4. The PG rating is appropriate, and parents should pay attention to it.

By: BenBoychuk

BenBoychuk — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:37:22 +0000

Pixar has long given lie to the idea that animated = "kids." This is a studio that does not condescend to its audience. The opening montage featuring Ellie and Carl's life together was brilliant and poignant. It manages to speak to adults without necessarily alienating kids. Few children under the age of 13 will understand what that brief shot of the doctor's office meant — it flew right over my 7-year-old's head — but every adult in the audience I was in last night said, "Oh!" Deftly handled, I thought.

By: Jake_Was_Here

Jake_Was_Here — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:15:42 +0000

Well, they certainly can't be happy about having to put their stuff and Pixar's up against Ghibli's on a regular basis in the running for Best Animated Feature. But I was happy to see that they put SPIRITED AWAY back in the theaters on a larger scale after it took the Oscar.

By: Des_

Des_ — Sun, 31 May 2009 09:10:21 +0000

it was violent in a sort of stupid way, and having ellie lose a baby? really ? in a kid's movie?

Who says she lost a baby? Unless I missed something, the doctor was telling her she couldn't have children. It begs the question of why two such well-adjusted, loving people didn't adopt, but I find it hard to believe that 10 second conversation in the doctor's office (with no audio) would disturb anyone.

I also didn't see any violence that was disturbing. One dog bit the bird's leg, but that was about it. A silly sword vs cane battle, and the villain being a little too crazy, but nothing compared to Iron Giant, The Incredibles, or Monsters Inc. My 9 year-old was thrilled (and I didn't see a single kid in the packed theater that looked or sounded anything but ecstatic), and that's all I can judge it by. If this movie upset your child, then there are very few that they could possibly watch.