Wah-wah! Here comes the sun.

Not as touching as Up, but still better than many animations out there

// July 29th, 2010 // movie talk

Walt Disney Pictures

Toy Story 3

TOY story 3 maybe is one of the movies I couldn’t wait to see this year (maybe second after Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows). I like part one and two, I like Tom Hanks and I like Pixar. So, that were probably the reasons why I didn’t want to miss this one.

Last year, I re-watched part one and two on the theater in 3D. That was great experience because I thought I have lost the chance to ever view those on big screen especially for part two, which for some reason I missed when it was played on theater. I didn’t know why I missed that because I remember enjoyed part one a lot. Maybe due to me having almost no money at that time (hey, I was only a jobless student after all).

I’ve been dreaming of seeing part three on imax. Well, I kept wondering when Pixar finally released something on imax. I always thought they’re going to be the first animation company to do so, but for some reason they didn’t.

When I saw Wall-E then later Up, I kept thinking how those movies will be looked great on imax 3D.

Last year, I was impressed with everything about Up. The movie was perfect. I even root for that to win the best picture for academy award. They didn’t win, but I wasn’t that disappointed, I still have a hope that one day soon they will definitely will win.

Unfortunately, I missed seeing Pixar first ever feature on imax due to my four months trip to Indonesia. I was disappointed because this should be a historic moment for a pixar fan like me.

Strangely, I declined to watch it 3D. It’s not like I agree with Roger Ebert view on that topic, but since I already missed that on the biggest screen on theater, I didn’t want to make this experience even smaller. The 3D technology seemed to make the screen looked smaller, so I thought that viewing that on regular screen was better than 3D.

Now, let’s talk about the movie. So, Andy is growing up and about to leave for college. What about the toys then? They’re still the same, they didn’t grow up, and they’re purpose were still the same, to be played by children. The problem is, Andy is no longer a children.

In part two, Jessie (the cowgirl toy) shared her sad story being abandoned by Emily, the owner who grew up. Now, it seemed like Emily situation all over again.

Without spoiling the story too much, Woody and the gang ended up at Sunnyside daycare. It seemed like this was probably the best ending for those toys, but we know it wouldn’t because then there would be no story.

So, yes just like the previous movies, there would be villains in this one. Unfortunately, the villain character on this movie seemed repetitive from the part two, again I won’t spoil that one because I still think this is a must movie see.

Was I disappointed? Not at all. I still enjoyed the movie and would not mind seeing it again. Of course there were some touchy moments (though ‘Up’ still tops the list on that subject).

Of course there were some funny moments a la Pixar that until now still couldn’t be beaten by Dreamworks and any other animation out there. Some of my favorite were the ones with Buzz Lightyear (though he’s never been my favorite character, or with Barbie and Ken (Michael Keaton did an awesome job).

Overall, the story quite predictable and there weren’t really surprising moment. However, the geniuses behind the movie knew how to please the audience, so you didn’t really care about the predictable plot and such and you still walk away of theater satisfy just like I did.

… And now some quick review from other movies…

Frost/Nixon

I thought this one going to be “heavy” movie, so I kept declined to watch it until I am ‘mentally’ read, then I decided to give it a chance anyway despite feeling worried I may be won’t be able to finish it. I was so dead wrong. This movie was actually very light, easy to understanding and very entertaining as well. It’s a must see movie for everyone, especially if you’re in media/journalism field. Frank Langela deserved his Oscar nod, but I think Michael Sheen should get nominated as well.

To Kill a Mockingbird

GREGORY Peck is exactly what I thought Atticus Finch would act/look like, but from what I hear the actor did like “Atticus Finch” to his own children. Maybe that’s why he could deliver his part so well. The credit also goes to Mary Badham who played the daughter, Scout (now I see why Bruce Willis and Demi Moore also named their daughter, Scout). Of course, the movie couldn’t catch up to the brilliance of the book, but I think they quite succeed.

The Vanishing (the remake)
The beginning was great because they were still faithful to the original. The cast was great, especially Sandra Bullock, who looked amazingly gorgeous and she got something on her that would make you sympathize and wondered on what happened to her after she went missing. My only (but the biggest) problem is how they changed their ending into typical Hollywood thriller. They basically change the essence of the original and that just simply wrong thing to do.