Up In The Air

Not the feel good movie of the Christmas (that's right I said Christmas not Holiday) season, but UP IN THE AIR is a good one. It's not the best film of the year by any means and I honestly believe that the critics say UP IN THE AIR is the best is because they don't like it when genre films are the bread winner of 2009. George Clooney is cool. Men want to be him and women want to...date him. Clooney is 100% in this movie. He plays Ryan Bingham a corporate headhunter who's job is his life. Home for him is traveling, connections at airports, and executive status at the Hilton. He has a number in mind for frequent flyer miles only he hasn't hit it yet. Set in his ways Ryan's life is threatened when his company brings him home and “grounds” him. His company now fires people over the Internet. Unhappy with this Bingham proves to his boss that the new system is flawed. With success Ryan's boss puts him back in the air but with one condition, he takes the young woman that helped create new Internet job firing tool with him to show her the ropes in the real world. Along the way Ryan meets a woman who's business also includes a lot of flying. Will Ryan finally “connect” with someone besides his job?
Director Jason Reitman (Thank You For Smoking, Juno) does a really good job at keeping George Clooney and the story around his character interesting. A lot of people left the theater not liking the ending but I thought it ended the only way it could end. The only thing this movie should get is a Oscar nomination for Clooney basically playing a character loosely based on himself which is a hard thing to pull off, just ask Mike Tyson for when he was in THE HANGOVER.

I give UP IN THE AIR a very high C+

~Caleb

Avatar

This particular review has taken me several hours to even start writing because I am still pondering what I saw at 12:00am this morning? Leaving the theater I felt awe struck and let down at the same time. My biggest problem with the film I will get out of the way and that's the fact that the movie is long. When I see this again very soon my problem with the length very well may go away because it wont be 3:00am.

AVATAR has been a film seven plus years in the making and in a lot of movie geeks opinions the movie to end all movies. The director of AVATAR James Cameron is one of the greatest filmmakers of our time and I consider myself a fan of his work. What I am not a fan of our some of his fans who think he is the god of action/science fiction film making. Come on guys ALIENS and T2: JUDGEMENT DAY were forever ago, its time to move forward and thats what Cameron has done with AVATAR. I am not going to bore you with how one can make the observation that AVATAR could be DANCES WITH WOLVES in space. The Internet is already filled with that stuff like that. Yes, the story going on in AVATAR has been done over and over again but you have never seen it told like this.

In the future Earth is out of resources and finds what they are looking for in deep space on a moon called Pandora. Jake which is a paraplegic war vet takes the place of his late twin brother on a project to learn about the moon's indigenous humanoid race called the Na'vi and this is achieved by a taking on a “avatar”identity. A “avatar” is more or less a incarnation of a hybrid Na'vi and earthling humanoid.
In Jake's “avatar form he is sent to get to know the culture of the Na'vi and tell them to move away from their home so the corporation he works for can mine and bulldoze for Pandora's rich and wonderful resource. Jake falls in love with the culture and race of Pandora so naturally he joins forces with them to protect what the Na'vi call home.

I got really bored with this part of the story because these moments just seemed to drag out forever. With that being said, what makes me really like this movie a lot is how the groundbreaking 3D and motion capture effects made Pandora come alive. This has to be seen to be believed and you just have to trust me on this because trying to explain what I saw on screen would just come across as rambling.

Blockbuster or flop one thing is for certain AVATAR has set the standard for 3D special effects film making.

B+

Black Dynamite

A movie like BLACK DYNAMITE is one I almost took a pass on, because with an idea of a film that is a blaxploitation homage, it has the chance to have a million things wrong with it. The trailers I had seen made the movie out to be awesome but jokey and spoofy as well. I didn't think Hollywood needed nor did I want to see another I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA. Well I am glad to say that BLACK DYNAMITE is more of a true homage than a spoof. The movie does have a lot of funny moments that may very well be spoofy but at the same time it's bad @$$ cinema, which I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA was not.

To understand where a movie like BLACK DYNAMITE is coming from you first have to understand the films that stared the likes of Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly, and Pam Greir.




BLACK DYNAMITE is the story of 1970s African-American action legend Black Dynamite. The Man killed his brother, pumped heroin into local orphanages, and flooded the ghetto with adulterated malt liquor. Black Dynamite was the one hero willing to fight The Man all the way from the blood-soaked city streets to the hallowed halls of the Honky House.

The thing that I love most about BLACK DYNAMITE is that it's well crafted and thought out and shows a great attention to detail. On the website www.moxiecinema.com I read that the movie itself is meant to have this long lost gem of a film quality, and it does I'm happy to report!

It gets a little too silly at the end but for the most part BLACK DYNAMITE should be the best time you had at the theater in a long time.

It's a high C+ from me, enjoy!

-Caleb

The Proposal

When a high-powered book editor faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she's actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant, who she's tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade but he has a few demands of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska to meet his quirky family. With an impromptu wedding in the works and an immigration official on their tails, Margaret and Andrew reluctantly vow to stick to the plan despite the precarious consequences.

THE PROPOSAL was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I began watching with very low expectations only to find out that I was enjoying the flick. Sadly, Sandra Bullock's character is not the one that makes this film work. She does however play a very convincing witch. I believe this type of character is a first for her which was cool to see, but IMHO even though these types of movies are her bread and butter it's time to see Sandra do something else. What makes THE PROPOSAL work is the comedic talent of Ryan Reynolds and Bettie White. Ryan is already a established movie star and films that make quick and easy millions like THE PROPOSAL will only help him to become a mega movie star, which is a good thing.

Not much else to say about this sub standard romantic comedy except that I did happen to like the role reversal between the two leads, it's subtle but watch for it. The small cameo role of the jack-of-all-trades of the small town played by Oscar from the television show THE OFFICE is priceless.

THE PROPOSAL gets a C-, Enjoy!

Caleb

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

If most of you do not know already, which I think the majority of my readers do, is that I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. PULP FICTION was the film that was a breath of fresh air to me and most if not all of America. It was not until his KILL BILL movies that I became the Tarantino fan that I am today.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is the Tarantino WWII film I have been waiting for almost over 5 years. He has had this movie in his head for 10 years. It has taken so long because he had just kept writing and writing to where eventually it became almost like a novel.

With me being a huge fan of Quentin's work it would come off as sounding very elitist of me when I say that INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is the masterpiece of Quentin Tarantino. In my honest opinion this new movie is his masterpiece; however, this is not the Tarantino WWII I expected or wanted to see. I was expecting to witness a balls to the wall World War II Men on a Mission DIRTY DOZEN film done Tarantino style. This movie is not that. Quentin definitely threw his hat into the ring of the WWII sub genre, but INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS turned out be oh such more. What most people misunderstand is that Quentin's filmmaking is more reinventing than paying homage. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is the re-imagining of how World War II did indeed end.

Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France... a young Jewish refugee Shosanna witnesses the slaughter of her family by the "Jew Hunter" Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero takes an interest in her and arranges a movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history. I really want to tell you how Shosanna, Aldo and the rest of the "Bastards" end WWII but you really must see for yourself. How they stop the war? So are you telling us that this is a fantasy? No, it's more like if these men, these "Bastards" were really in the big one, then this is how WWII would have ended.

While not being the Men on a Mission movie that I was hoping, I still love this film LOVE it. After seeing it twice I like everything about it every shot, every scene, every performance, and every bit of music. I love it. Tarantino has created a WWII universe that we only get to see glimpses of. A sequel or something like the BAND OF BROTHERS mini-series would be awesome. I am satisfied but also longing for more. Please Mr. Tarantino let this be not the end to your wonderfully crafted WWII universe, please?

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS gets an A-

~Caleb

District 9

Okay so I lied, sue me. The week I thought about quiting must have been a bad one for me. You still may not hear from me much on here but that's okay because I don't think that many people still read this blog much anymore. Friday morning @ 12:01am I had the privilege to see one of the best most important science fiction films since who knows when, maybe THE MATRIX. What about the movie MOON Caleb, as some of you may be wondering? MOON was awesome and one of the coolest films of 2009 but found it just did not move me like District 9 did.

This film like every film ever made will have have it's lovers and haters. I only state this because with this film it will happen, sadly. All reviews of art be it amature or professional is subjective, but haters be wrong because this movie is just too cool. I really hope that DISTRICT 9 does more than just find it's target audience during the film's theatrical run. Moviegoers who know what DISTRICT 9 is beyond just the trailers, will more than likely end up loving the movie just like they thought they would. Others may cry bologna sauce and outrage over the mockumentary first 15 minutes and utter lack of Hollywood star power. Most just want that double cheeseburger from MacDonald's and for Will Smith to welcome the alien invaders with a "Hell No" and a punch to the face. Moving on, enough with the soap box jazz.

Years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Nothing happened. It turns out that the aliens were refugees. The creatures, which are called Prawns because of their crustatious like features, were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them. Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when MNU field operatives come into District 9 to move the aliens into a more controlled environment like a concentration camp. Wikus van der Merwe , a MNU worker contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide, District 9.

The trailers and website can set you up for what you want to happen next, human verses alien carnage. You will have no idea what is in store for you, no idea. The action in this film is wild and the alien weapon technology is bugnuts crazy! Bolts of energy that blows people, aliens, and other stuff up. Some moments are like something out of the video game Halo, but this is no video game.

If the awesome action does not grab you then the unapologetic social commentary might. The reactions from this aspect of the film will be just as brutal as some of the films most gory of moments.



DISTRICT 9 is a smart genre film that will be talked about and picked apart for years. It will be if not already a science fiction classic.

It is a strong A+ for DISTRICT 9! Enjoy!!!!

~Caleb

G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra

From the very first trailer this movie looked all shades of bad. Hollywood has tried this formula before with the '90's STREET FIGHTER and MORTAL KOMBAT movies and we all know how thoes pieces of crap turned out. The fact that a G.I. JOE movie was going to be helmed by the guy responsible for VAN HELSING wasn't very promising to me to say the least. I just felt this movie was doomed from the very start.

Would it be fair of me to say that G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA is a good movie or one of the best of the summer? No it would not because quite honestly it is not. What the movie is I can honestly say is a honest to goodness; bad to the bone Saturday morning sugar coated crazy G.I.JOE movie. This film is 100% G.I. JOE!

Purists will scoff at a lot of what the movie did not translate from the cartoon or the comics, but all of that can be forgiven in my opinion because what the filmmakers did do right was capture the essence of what playing with the toys or the cartoon was about and that is FUN. I have only one big flaw with the film and that is the stupid slow motion action. I am fine with a slow motion punch, kick, and even the occasional gun blast. What I am not okay with is when this over used special effect is used for stupid stuff like A JET DODGING A MISSILE OR BLAST OF SOME KIND! This happened in the movie way too much.

What I love most about this film is that it's JOE'S fighting COBRA. The movie does have a weak but not too dumb back story for some of our favorite characters to create some drama to carry the action along. Unlike that other 80's toy and cartoon movie that is more about a boy and his robot changing car.

So if you were a kid growing up in the late seventies and early eighties and watching Saturday morning cartoons was your thing, then you should love G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA! B+ Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Caleb

FROM THE BARGIN BIN - Slaughter High (1986)

SLAUGHTER HIGH was one of the million FRIDAY THE 13TH knock offs to come out in the 80's. Being that the film came out in '86 I had that feeling that it was going to be bad. Yes the movie is bad but also very entertaining for a slasher film from 1986. The bad is just what you would come to expect from a slasher film from the eighties. SLAUGHTER HIGH has not aged well at all. The dialogue is awful and filled with slasher movie cliches. Someone scares some girls with a hockey mask and even mentions Jason. The best one I thought was when one of the teens tells everyone that they all just need to stay awake. Stay awake? Last time I checked this guy wasn't attacking you in your dreams?

A group of popular students play a cruel prank on a shy nerd resulting in a terrible accident. Years later a reunion is held where each of the students face a stalker killer who may be the same nerd out for revenge.

Some of the kills and special effects have held the test of time quite well than I remember as a kid watching the movie on USA's Up All Night hosted by Gilbert Gottfried.

$4.99 was the cost of fun and SLAUGHTER HIGH gets a D+!

~Caleb

The Collector

What a truly great surprise, I did not expect this movie to come to Springfield at all! This film also it seems just came out of no where and sadly may only last a week. If tonight is date night and you like a good horror movie, skip FUNNY PEOPLE ( it will still be waiting for you next week) and go see THE COLLECTOR.

THE COLLECTOR is the best thing that is happening in horror right now. Ever since say like 2002 horror movies have been like they were in the late seventies and early eighties, cool and scary. Today horror is in a bind. The genre is and has been over saturated in stale ideas (j-horror), torture porn(that's SAW for all my non horror readers), boring haunted house tales, and the uninteresting horror remake. When I say that THE COLLECTOR is the best thing to happen in horror I am telling you that this film is an anything but ordinary nail biter horror movie. The premise is what I love best about the movie.

A thief has been scoping out a house he is going to rob for weeks. The family that lives in the house are going on vacation. Times are rough because his wife owes a lone shark some money sooner than later. Our jewel thief has to do the job before midnight despite what his boss(or partner) says. This is truly where the story begins. What the jewel thief does not know is that a masked killer has been staking out the family as well. The thief breaks in to find the house is set full of nasty traps for the family to fall prey to. So begins a very interesting and awesome cat and mouse game as the thief uses his skill to save the family without becoming a victim himself.

Never before have I been on the edge of my seat in the theater than I was for THE COLLECTOR. The ending sort of lost me but other than that everything worked for me.

It's a B+ for THE COLLECTOR! Enjoy at your own risk!

~Caleb

Coraline

A friend from work let me borrow CORALINE to watch over the weekend. This is the first stop motion animated films I have seen. Yes, I feel like a dork for never seeing A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS or CORPSE'S BRIDE. Too many movies and so little time. I actually plan to purchase A NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS when I get a Blu-Ray player.

CORALINE is a really great film and that is just from watching the 2D version. From what I hear the 3D version is the way to really watch it! 2009 is really shaping up to be a very cool year for kid's movies! UP, CORALINE, and in October is WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE which the buzz is nothing but good things.

CORALINE is a nice little spooky story for children. A young girl finds a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. At first glance this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life, only much better. But when her parallel life turns dangerous, and her "other" parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, bravery, and some new friends to get back home.

CORALINE really soaks the viewer in the aesthetic and intelligent storytelling. This is not ICE AGE 20 OR THE WILD; however, it is a tale that will resonate for a portion of the moviegoer hitting on their own feelings of selfishness and wanting the spoils without the work. This is a story and a movie for the ages. If I had seen this movie when I was say 8 or 10, by the time high school rolled around I would have been like "you remember that movie Coraline? Wasn't that movie cool?". Trust me, some of your kids will be saying this down the road.

Can't wait to see this in 3D, I give CORALINE a B+! Enjoy!!!!!!!!

~Caleb

Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince

It is a sure bet that anybody or everybody that reads this blog has or will be seeing this movie. HARRY POTTER and the HALF - BLOOD PRINCE is the movie event of the summer or perhaps the year! I could have posted a review earlier in the week but after two screenings I wanted to let the dust settle before giving a true opinion. Do I think that this sixth movie is the best movie in the series yet? No. Do I like the movie? Yes, yes I do like it a lot. While I like the movie very much I can't help but scratch my head at some of the adaptation choices. The main one being at the end with the very anti climatic battle at Hogwarts. The only thing that I can come up with is that the filmmakers went this route so that not to make these last three films in the series redundant? The other thing that I thought was weird was how very matter of fact the whole revelation of who the Half - Blood Prince was? The book made a big deal about it and it is the title of the film, so whats up with that? Now on to what I did like.

Two factors will always bring me to watch HARRY POTTER and the HALF - BLOOD PRINCE with a smile on my face. The first thing is Jim Broadbent as Professor Slughorn is hands down some of the best acting I have seen all year and one of the best performances in the film series ever! The second thing is the three main characters of Harry Potter. Watching these movies you the viewer really feel invested as a part of these kids lives, we have grown up with them. This factor is what really does it for me. It is the comradery going on between Harry, Ron and Hermione that makes this installment special. Budding romances are not the only thing going on, the movie has plenty doom and gloom.

In the sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and in both wizard and muggle worlds Lord Volemort and his henchmen are increasingly active. With vacancies to fill at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore persuades Horace Slughorn, back from retirement to become the potions teacher, while Professor Snape receives long awaited news. Harry Potter, together with Dumbledore, must face treacherous tasks to defeat his evil nemesis.

An excellent calm before the storm HARRY POTTER and the HALF - BLOOD PRINCE gets an A- Enjoy!!!!

~Caleb

I Love You Beth Coopper

Several if not all genre movies are for the most part meant to be comfort food. When you watch a slasher flick, mafia film, teen comedy, and even the chick flick. All these types of movies have rules that the audience loves or knows by heart. The really great genre films always tend to bend, reinvent, or the very risky changing of the rules. The type of films I tend to enjoy the most are genre movies. I really enjoy the familiar. I don't buy into the 'It was bad because it wasn't original' way of thinking when watching movies. The thing that I have been saying for years is that 'it's not always about the story, but how you tell the story'. This brings me to I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER the new teen comedy that will get lost in the multiplex this weekend due to BRUNO, ICE AGE: 3D, and whatever else is playing at a theater near you.

I did enjoy the movie but my being entertained I will admit is somewhat bias because I just really like teen comedies. The problems with I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER is that it plays the teen sex comedy too safe, which in turn really makes the movie look like a bad overplayed cliche. Too many times the movie was trying to be an R rated comedy wrapped up in a PG-13 one. The PG-13 comedy teen sex comedy can be done and the proof is the very funny and underrated FIRED UP. I blame the studio 20th Century Fox for this tiny blemish. Before I mention the rest of the things that I did not like or hurt the movie, let me tell you what it is about.

A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school, Beth Cooper during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that very night and decides to show him the best night of his life.

Let me start with the nerd/geek factor, the movie nails it, but once these characters are established the script doesn't know where to take it. A character who constantly recount movie quotes the entire movie gets old very fast. You are a movie buff, we get it now move on! If that's all you got then you make yourself one dimensional and cliche. Now that I think about it the movie is just really cliche and weak. The things that I did like was that as cliched as the movie is the script does have good witty moments to it. The actors, especially the two leads play the characters very good. These people seem very real to me and not some fake MTV crap. The movie does have it's moments but they just come too little too late. I would hardly call the night Beth Cooper gave our hero the best night of his life.

It's a C- for I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER

Public Enemies

The more I think about this film the more I like it. I have been a fan of the filmmaker Micheal Mann since the 1995 classic Heat. Mann has a style all his own when it comes to making films about cops, robbers, crooks, and thieves. It is a style that I have grown to love. When you go in to see a movie that's directed by Mann say MIAMI VICE be prepared to get sucked into the characters and the world they live in. Mann's movies are very character driven and I think that's why most of them are great films. It's important to point out that Mr. Mann is not an action movie director, but the cherry on top of his crime dramas is his action. Before this review I should have done some research on the background of Micheal and see if he ever worked as a police officer or ever was a detective. I mention this because the way his action scenes unfold loud, fast, and sometimes brutal. He makes the realistic hyper realistic, I say this because as real as it all may feel, we are still watching a movie.

PUBLIC ENEMIES is a film about the most famous year in the life of the 1930's most popular bank robber, John Dillinger. This film wastes no time and gets right to what Dillinger was good at which was robbing banks. This is no “who is John Dillinger and why does he do the things he is good at?” film, this is the “ Dillinger was an iconic bank robber and this is how it all went down!” film. Watching the movie Dillinger seems like a very charming man and who better to play him then Johnny Depp. Depp is one of the coolest and most likable actors working today and Dillinger was well liked doing what he did in the Depression Era. The woman in the “red dress” Billie Frechette played by Marion Cotillard was very stunning in her performance. The love between these two was believable but dragged on at times. If this movie does good I hope to see more of Marion in the future.

Agent Purvis the man after Dillinger played by everybody's favorite Batman Christian Bale was another top notch performance for the actor. Purvis is a hunter in every sense of the word and will stop and nothing to get his man. Purvis and his squad are the good guys but Dillinger can't help but be the hero, because it is his story nonetheless. The rest of the cast is amazing and is a who's who of quick roles. When I was watching I kept going saying 'cool, he's in this movie!'.

What I did not particularity care for was the choice to film the movie in digital. Mann has used digital since I believe COLATRAL and on modern movies it looks great, but it just does not work for me when your movie is set in the '30's. My other gripe is that Micheal Mann likes to make long movies so a lot of sub plots get left on the cutting room floor thanks to Hollywood suits. So even though it may be 30 minutes longer I would like to see a director cut of PUBLIC ENEMIES when it comes out on DVD. Most of his films have director cuts and it really helps the flow like it or not.

It's a B- from me for PUBLIC ENEMIES. Enjoy!!!!

~Caleb

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The big question on a lot of my readers mind is did I or did I not like this new Transformers movie? The answer is yes, yes I did like the movie, this new film felt very much like Transformers to me. Does the movie have problems, of course but I forgive a lot of them. The movie is getting a lot of hate in the national media and on the Internet. Too much action, too many robots, and not enough substance is in a nutshell what people are screaming bloody murder over. I won't spoil every thing but here is a taste of the anger in a few sentences give or take. Non politically correct stereotype speaking Transformers. Action moving the story instead of long boring dialogue scenes. All the Decepticons looking the same and very hard to tell them apart. Whenever the Transformers fight each other and it's not shown in slow motion it just doesn't look very good at all. All these reasons are very forgivable in my opinion with the exception of the last two.
I do not love TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN, but I was sold from the very start of the picture. It has been two years since the events from the first movie and the Autobots have teamed up with the military to hunt down and destroy any and all Decepticons roaming the planet Earth. The movie could have used about 15 - 20 minutes more of this, but instead the filmmakers show us lots of Sam going to college which is fine because it works and is very funny at times. The humans are still and always will be the main characters, which in the long run really hurts these movies. The filmmakers should realize that what fans really want is a Transformer movie where the robots are the main characters. As long as the future sequels will always have Meagan Fox running slow motion, I will be a happy camper.
The first movie was an origin movie told through the eyes of the humans, so it had a lot of build up and little action dealing with the Transformers. In REVENGE it was not like that at all, in this movie the action moved the plot a lot more than in the first movie.
The plot is simple, a Decepticon named The Fallen wants revenge and is seeking a very power weapon that will harness Energon which in turn will destroy the Earth.
Bottom line is TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN is not a great movie, but had a lot more Transformers fighting each other which made me very happy!

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN gets a C+! Enjoy!!!!

~Caleb

UP

My love for PIXAR films has been a tough one. I thought TOY STORY was awesome and then came A BUG'S LIFE and that one didn't do it for me so I was done. TOY STORY 2 came along and I was hooked again, but just only on that series. It wasn't until THE INCREDIBLES that I took the guys at Pixar seriously. CARS was a let down for me, too much of a kid's movie. I really want to take a second look at the one about the rat that wants to be a chef and I still have yet to watch MONSTERS INC. Then came WALL-E, this was the first time in my adult life that a animated movie could very well be a best movie of the year for me. Pixar was starting to make actual films and not just eye candy for kids and parents. This studio is getting the love it very so much deserves from critics, movie geeks, and most importantly moviegoers.

How much did I like UP? I liked it enough to turn around and go see it again in a heartbeat. I have loved adventure movies since birth and UP is one of the coolest I have seen in a gosh darn while! My head is still spinning over this movie. I haven't felt this way towards a movie since KILL BILL VOL.1, that was way back in '03 so I may be missing a movie or two, but that just shows you how much I really liked UP. I need maybe a few days to get my thoughts together. In fear of just rambling gobs and gobs of praise I will sum it together with saying that this movie has it all.

In closing I realize that I don't really need to sell people into seeing UP, it's a Pixar movie and the quality that comes from this studio sells itself. People will see it and like it and say 'yep, another masterpiece from Pixar'. I hate spoilers so this holiday season I will give a more detailed review seeing as this one will no doubt be one of my top ten of 2009!

A+ Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

~Caleb