Toy Story 3 (Movie Review)

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 was a delightful watch but I must say that Woody, Buzz Lightyear & gang had a better outing the last time round in Toy Story 2. Nevertheless Toy Story 3 is still a good watch so I would highly recommend it to all you Pixar fans.

Without giving too much of the plot away, Toy Story 3 tells the tale of what happens to the entire gang as Andy (the toys’ owner) turns 17 and is moving on to college. The story is both adult whilst at the same time still accessible to the kids. As with all their movies, the Pixar boys have crafted a fine tale that’s made for both young & old which is a testament to their ability as master story tellers.

I love toys and watching Toy Story 3 reminded me of all the good fun I had with my own collection of toys as a kid. My imagination was my only limit and Toy Story 3 made me think of all the fun I had in make-believe worlds made up of a smorgasboard of toys that came from all kinds of universes that I mashed into one.

The heart-warming part about Toy Story 3 for me was just being around kids and hearing the squeals of laughter that were elicited from them as the movie went on. Toy Story 3’s great but not that great in 3D. The movie’s on its final leg so if you still haven’t caught it yet go catch it; 2D screenings are limited so if you wanna save a few bucks try to catch that one instead of the disappointing 3D version.

I give Toy Story 3 a respectable 3 out of 5.

“To infinity & beyond!!!”

PIXAR-ing The Weekend Away

Wall-E on Blu-Ray

*Sighs happily* Pixar makes the greatest animated flicks.  I picked up a copy of Wall-E yesterday after hitting Machines in 1U to swap my defective copy of Snow Leopard for a new one.

What prompted this purchase? Well, I caught some of this brilliant movie last weekend on ASTRO whilst celebrating Nineoverten‘s birthday and it looked terrible in low-res which got me to thinking about picking this one up a.s.a.p. I caught this movie when it first came out and I thought it was genius how they communicated so much with so little dialogue from both EVE and Wall-E.

Love is about thinking about others more than ourselves and at the heart of its environmental message Wall-E also has a touching love story between a boy & a girl. It  really warmed my heart to watch the lovable Wall-E melt EVE’s heart.

Boy…  it was great watching Wall-E in 1080p. The colours were vibrant  and it was great watching the animated short BURN-E (you’ve just gotta YouTube it up). I have yet to go through the bonus disc but I’m glad I picked Wall-E up cos’ it’s a great movie made even better in high-resolution. At RM120 I think it’s a worthwhile purchase for a movie-phile like me.

I had Toy Story 1 & 2 playing in the background today whilst ploughing through my email and it was nice revisiting old characters from some of Pixar’s early films. In fact Cars is playing in the background even as I write this post. I love Pixar. Stories always come first and the awesome CG is just the icing on the cake.

I give this revisit of Wall-E & Pixar a 5 out of 5.

UP

UP

Pixar has not disappointed me and I am pleased to announce that UP is worth a watch at the cinema and definitely worth picking up on Blu-ray or DVD for repeat viewings.

The tale of Carl Fredericksen and his floating house is a delightful and heartwarming. The opening scenes are genius! Pixar masterfully tells us Carl’s backstory that sets everything up to the moment when his house goes UP!

Watch it and be entertained whilst being reminded of some valuable lessons about what’s important in life and how much we can mean to people even though we might think otherwise. These are just one of many lessons that you’ll find in the course of Carl’s adventure.

Like all Pixar movies, UP is funny and features great 3D animation. The characters are colorful and zany which is sure to be a hit with kids and those of you with a weakness for cuteness. I caught this one in 3D at GSC Midvalley and once again am disappointed by the 3D effects which were minimal at best. You’d be better off catching this one at a regular cinema and saving the extra RM5 for something else.

All in all UP’s awesome! Go watch it NOW and be reminded why the makers of animated hits such as Wall-E and The Incredibles are masters at their craft. Check out the UP page at Apple.com for exclusive clips (some of which didn’t make it into the final cut of the film) to whet your appetite.

Rating: 5 Stars

Wall-E

Wall-E

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It’s heart-warming and at the same time touching. It’s amazing how Pixar never fails to touch my heart-strings whenever I watch any of their movies. What’s great about Wall-E is the fact that a full range of human emotions come from two robots and with so very little dialogue. It’s a beautiful move with an environmental message too! Do catch it! I promise you, you’ll both laugh and shed a tear in this one. Now that’s a guarantee.

Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Meeting The Robinsons Again: Lessons on Moving Forward

"Keep Moving Forward" -Cornelius Robinson-

I just can’t get the simple motto that drives Disney’s “Meet The Robinsons” out of my head. “Keep Moving Forward”. It makes so much sense. I don’t know if it’s biblical or not but it makes a lot of sense to me today to not be trapped by the past.

I know it’s not easy to forget the past. Painful experiences. Mistakes. These things make us the people we are today in a lot of ways. Both good & bad shapes us – there’s no denying that. The biggest mistake really; would be to dwell on these things and allow them to dictate who we are today. We can change. It’s hard work but we can do it with effort and a lot of divine grace. It’s not easy but the results at the end of the day are worth it.

In the past year or so I’ve been learning to leave the past behind and to glean wisdom from my mistakes. It’s so easy to slip back into a negative state of mind and wonder why things have not gone my way but in doing so I risk losing sight of all the good things that ARE already in my life. Living in the present is hard-work though cos’ more often than not we find ourselves trapped in 2 modes of thought:

 

• Living in the past, trapped by our past successes & failures
• Living in the future, never satisfied & always wanting more

Meeting the Robinsons again on DVD has helped me a lot these past three days and reminded me to be content with what I have now and to live each day out as it comes. I know that GOD is in control but I really do have a part to play in shaping my own life. The future is not cast in stone and there’s still a lot to do to live out life and make it good. It’s comforting to know that He can take all the bad that’s happened in my life and turn it into something beautiful in His time.

 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1

Living in the present means forgiving the past (and people too ya?) & learning from it, to have hope for the future but still focus on the now. And that my friend is what it means to “keep moving forward”.

My Movie Hit-list: Ratatouille

Ratatouille.

I am so looking forward to catching Pixar’s latest animated flick Ratatouille. Directed by Brad Bird (who also directed Finding Nemo & The Incredibles) I am sure it’d be as heart-warming and visually gorgeous as his previous two movies. I’ve replaced my Transformers wallpaper on my iBook with Ratatouille wallpaper in anticipation of the movie. It’s gonna be good fun. Wait for my review when the movie opens on August 16th.

For more Ratatouille goodness and wallpapers check out the official site at http://disney.go.com/ratatouille/

Say Cheese!!!

I Feel Funny in My Tummy

It ain’t funny when you it’s all runny in your tummy. It must have been lunch because I was perfectly OK this morning. I had lunch at the mamak opposite my office today before steppin’ in for work. In the past 2 hours I’ve heeded the call of nature twice. TWICE!

This week has been a troubling one. The Christmas production really has been taking a toll on me. All the disagreements I’ve been having with my buhd has got me feeling somewhat blue. Working with my best buhd on the production has not been easy. Sigh … but I’m glad we’ve sorta resolved things last night during the production meeting.

On a lighter note, “The Incredibles” are hitting the big screens soon! Superheroes the Pixar Way! Now that’d be a sight to see. The trailers look good and expectations are running high. Perhaps I could catch it this weekend, hmmm? But would I have the time? Sunday can be pretty much ruled out due to the video shoot, I guess that leaves Saturday. Heh heh. But knowin’ me I’ll probably be too lazy to leave Setapak tomorrow.

Looks like it’s gonna be a weekend chock full of production goodness spilling over into Monday too!