Buffalo's This Week in Movies, May 30th, 2009
Posted: May 30, 2009UP is a winner. Animation has really come a long way since my childhood, when I was blown away by the 2-D thrills of The Sword in The Stone. Not only are our cartoons today generated on computers, they are also given new life via digital 3-D. Now, this was my first experience with digital 3-D, and my buddy who works at the cinema, Angelique, handed me a pair of those bulky, state of the art glasses as I went in, saying “Don’t forget to return these. They cost a fortune.” Well. I wasn’t planning on bolting with the nifty 3-D glasses. I think if you wear them in real life they make everything look flat. Weird.
I took the glasses off and put them back on all throughout the movie. The images were just too dark with those fancy sunglasses. In retrospect, I would have probably enjoyed it more in the “non 3-D” version.
Still, Disney’s newest is a grade-A movie all the way around. The story is beautiful, and in a short, 90 minute film, they manage to give us the complete backstory on the old man who ties thousands of helium filled balloons to his house to float don to South America.
He ends up carrying along a pint sized Boy Scout hitch hiker, and the adventure just soars from there. The story of undying love is a thing of beauty, and the moral lessons abound. Much like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the old man discovers the key to real happiness is sometimes right in your own back yard, no matter if that back yard is on the top of a mountain overlooking a gigantic waterfall in South America.
There is so much to see, and so many laughs (the “talking” dogs are my favorite) Up will no doubt become a Disney Pixar instant classic. Five stars.
Speaking of sheer fun, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN is that rare sequel that manages to outsmart the original. Night watchman turned inventor Ben Stiller endeavors to rescue the magic tablet that brings all the displays to life, this time to help rescue his old friends from a life time trapped in the basement archives of The Smithsonian.
Excellent acting all around by an all-star cast, but it is Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart that steels the show with her adorable ‘40’s language and quirky attitude. She brings out the best in Ben Stiller as well, who is much more alive in the role than he was in the original.
Guest cameos from Darth Vader, Oscar the Grouch, the living Lincoln Memorial and a bevy of bobble head Einsteins are just a few of the things that will bring broad smiles to the faces of old and young alike. Five stars.
Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.
Buffalo
Comments
rebyll says...
Jessy went to see "Up" yesterday with some friends and LOVED it...... I guess I'll wait for the DVD.
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