Up
7 June 2009, late at night
Shima and I just saw Pixar’s latest film Up. A crotchety old man flies away in his house accompanied by a boy-scout of sorts; they have an adventure together. It’s a very sweet film. The opening is probably bound to make a good chunk of the audience tear up. I think it’s amazing that Pixar can make these computer animated films that are so touching. Pixar are basically in a league of their own when it comes to making animated films. They have no competition whatsoever. The only films I think match up to the quality of Up are Pixar’s previous efforts. This film is phenomenal, and you’d be stupid not to see it.
I went and saw it this weekend as well, but opted for the 3D version. It was pretty amazing. The 3D was very subtle and not at all annoying. I’m still out on this whole 3D thing, but Up sure does a good job of changing my mind.
by stashuk on June 8 2009, 7:03 am #
Slate’s Cultural Gabfest podcast had an interesting conversation about Up and mentioned that it’s amazing that an animation studio is consistently producing the most human movies.
That said, Pixar only puts out 1 movie a year and each one takes forever to make. Up, for example, was first pitched 9 years ago.
by tyler on June 8 2009, 11:43 am #
I saw the 3D version as well, which I didn’t think was amazing. The 3D effects were definitely subtle, but I think they were so subtle as to be unnecessary. I don’t remember a single scene that stood out because of its being in 3D.
let me be clear — I’m not advocating that they put in intentionally annoying/overt 3D effects just to have them. And I think the movie itself was awesome. I just think that having 3D at all was useless and that it would have been just as good in “2D”. I’ll probably see it again, not-in-3D (I rarely see movies twice, but Up really was great).
by Weiguo on June 8 2009, 12:42 pm #
I might watch it again in 3D, just to see what’s up, but I heard the glasses kind of dull all the colour, which I think might take away from the film. The scene where the balloons pop out of the house was gorgeous.
Seriously, Pixar makes everything else look like straight up amateur hour bullshit.
by ramanan on June 8 2009, 1:39 pm #
I’m not a fan of the 3D version because the colours aren’t as great since the glasses make everything a little bit darker, the 3D effects don’t make the film any better to compensate for the loss of colour, and it’s more expensive.
by Red on June 9 2009, 2:22 am #
Martha sent me this strangely angry review of the film. Bizarre. I’m going to have to assume there has been some sort of recent tragedy in Eileen Jones’ life. Also, i’m not sure she realizes Up is a children’s film, and all the repetition is probably important so your 3-year-old realizes the chair, the house, the scrapbook, the promises, are important.
by ramanan on June 9 2009, 9:23 am #