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joeb4513
Reviews
Up (2009)
Pixar Takes Crap, Turns To Gold
Pixar is truly an amazing animation studio. Over the years it has produced classic films with great lessons for all (not just the wee ones) in Toy Story, The Incredibles, WALL-E, and now Up. With the success of their latest film, Up, I am convinced that the big wigs over at Pixar Animations could take a dump and literally fashion it into gold (which is apparently safer to own than the dollar these days).
Frequently Pixar seems to amaze the masses, even those pesky critics, with their beautiful animations and relevant story lines that touch the heart of every individual. I myself, a 22 year old male, had to recruit every ounce of testosterone in my body to not blubber like a baby during the sad introduction of Up. These days it seems like the "kid" movies that Pixar puts out are far more relevant and important than what Hollywood traditional puts out. Frankly, I'm sick of all the movies showing me a post-apocalyptic future where every day we get a day closer to a real-life episode of "Life After People." Hollywood needs to take a lesson from Pixar and start making some films that go beyond the trials and tribulations of a man battling robots in the future. Sure, blow 'em up movies and fart movies serve their purpose, but Pixar seems to be the only studio putting out films that contain touching drama, hilarious comedy and stories that are relevant to our everyday lives. They were able to get me to care about a freakin' robot in WALL-E, for crying out loud! Whereas if I were to go see Terminator Salvation (which I won't), I'm sure I could give a flying hoo-hah about John Connor.
What amazes me the most about Pixar is how creative the films are. I am dumb-founded as to how they take an idea that would probably get laughed at (not in the good way) initially, and turning it into something we as people can relate to. Imagine how the pitch meeting probably went.
Writer: So I have this movie idea where an old guy fills his house with a bunch of helium filled balloons and floats to an unexplored paradise.
Pixar: That sounds like crap... But luckily everything we touch turns to gold, so go for it.
We can't wait for the next one, Pixar. Keep the shorts coming before the feature (they should do this for live action films, too!.
Into the Arms of Strangers (2007)
Different than expected, but good nonetheless
Into the Arms of Strangers is an interesting film. I just saw it yesterday at the Oxford International Film Festival, and ended up liking something I was unsure about. I feared at first that this would be another typical story for the mystery/thriller genre, however, I was able to stay intrigued throughout the film. If you can get past the fact this film wasn't made with film (nearly impossible for indie productions) and there are no recognizable actors, I bet you could end up enjoying the film. Despite having no recognizable actors, I found the acting to be very good. Ron Carey did a great job as Andy. I was convinced that his emotions were real and therefore was able to sympathize with him, which is very important in my book. April Wade as Erin also did a great job for reasons that I won't say as to not give anything away.
I also met with the director before and after the film. This was his first feature length film, but it was not obvious. Sometimes directors can buckle under the pressure of making a feature as opposed to a short, but you would think that director Chris Harris had done this before. A good all around effort from cast and crew.