Kaneda
02-09-2009, 05:02 PM
Alright, Pixar's next movie "Up" is coming out in a couple of months.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MSVaOfZcnU&feature=related&fmt=18
So at NYCC I saw the first 50 or so minutes of the movie, and what I saw I believe is very good. I wrote a synopsis of what happened in that half of the movie. Naturally, spoilers.
-Movie opens with old news footage of a famous Lindberghesque pilot/explorer "Charles Muntz" who discovered some unexplored forests in South America, "Paradise Falls."
-A young (and quiet) boy, Carl, watching the footage in an old movie theater. He's an enthusiastic fan of Muntz. his walk home from the theater is a rather funny scene in which he pretends to be a famous explorer.
-On his way home he finds and enters a run down old house where he meets Ellie, a very energetic young girl who shares his interests. She wants to become a famous explorer and travel to Paradise Falls as well, they become close friends.
-A lengthy and wordless montage follows them as they grow older together. They get married, they fix up the run down house and live in it. Carl becomes a balloon salesman at a zoo. Ellie wants to have a baby, they prepare a nursery and everything, but she miscarries. Ellie is deeply effected by this, and Carl tries to get her mind off of it by bringing up adventuring again. They try to raise enough money to afford a trip to Paradise Falls, but life keeps getting in the way. Eventually Ellie dies.
-By this point the movie really properly takes off, Carl is an old man, and seems very effected by Ellie's death. Developers are trying to get Carl to sell his house they can develop in that area, but he refuses. When a construction worker accidentally damages Carl's mailbox (that he had painted with Ellie), Carl gets in a fight with him and badly hurts him (hits him with his walker.) Carl gets a court order to move to a retirement home.
-Naturally, Carl is conflicted and upset by this. The day comes when he has to move, but instead of leaving the house, he reveals that he strung up a bunch of balloons to his chimney. His house is lifted into the air, and he sets off to Paradise Falls.
-Midflight, Carl discovers Russell, essentially a Boy Scout, on his porch. Carl lets him in, but is annoyed by his energetic antics. Eventually they enter a large storm and they lose control of the house, Russell helps navigate the house through the storm as they crash near Paradise Falls. Just not quite in Paradise Falls.
-The House is still sort of in the air, but Carl and Russell are in the ground. They decide to pull the house over to Paradise Falls (there's like, a gardening hose or something they pull it by.) On the way they meet a large and colorful ostrich-like bird that accompanies them. Later they come across Doug, a dog with a collar that essentially gives him the power to speak, only he's as annoying and stupid as a dog that could actually speak would be. So the group are on their way to Paradise Falls. It seems like there's going to be some sort of antagonistic character (not revealed yet) who's pretty obviously going to be Charles Muntz, the explorer from the very beginning of the movie.
The only part I didn't like was the dogs. Dreamworks and other animation companies in general have gradually ruined the appeal of that sort of idea, so by now I just don't like them and wish they'd stay silent. They felt un-Pixarly. However, the preview ended kinda shortly after the talking dog characters were introduced, so who knows.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MSVaOfZcnU&feature=related&fmt=18
So at NYCC I saw the first 50 or so minutes of the movie, and what I saw I believe is very good. I wrote a synopsis of what happened in that half of the movie. Naturally, spoilers.
-Movie opens with old news footage of a famous Lindberghesque pilot/explorer "Charles Muntz" who discovered some unexplored forests in South America, "Paradise Falls."
-A young (and quiet) boy, Carl, watching the footage in an old movie theater. He's an enthusiastic fan of Muntz. his walk home from the theater is a rather funny scene in which he pretends to be a famous explorer.
-On his way home he finds and enters a run down old house where he meets Ellie, a very energetic young girl who shares his interests. She wants to become a famous explorer and travel to Paradise Falls as well, they become close friends.
-A lengthy and wordless montage follows them as they grow older together. They get married, they fix up the run down house and live in it. Carl becomes a balloon salesman at a zoo. Ellie wants to have a baby, they prepare a nursery and everything, but she miscarries. Ellie is deeply effected by this, and Carl tries to get her mind off of it by bringing up adventuring again. They try to raise enough money to afford a trip to Paradise Falls, but life keeps getting in the way. Eventually Ellie dies.
-By this point the movie really properly takes off, Carl is an old man, and seems very effected by Ellie's death. Developers are trying to get Carl to sell his house they can develop in that area, but he refuses. When a construction worker accidentally damages Carl's mailbox (that he had painted with Ellie), Carl gets in a fight with him and badly hurts him (hits him with his walker.) Carl gets a court order to move to a retirement home.
-Naturally, Carl is conflicted and upset by this. The day comes when he has to move, but instead of leaving the house, he reveals that he strung up a bunch of balloons to his chimney. His house is lifted into the air, and he sets off to Paradise Falls.
-Midflight, Carl discovers Russell, essentially a Boy Scout, on his porch. Carl lets him in, but is annoyed by his energetic antics. Eventually they enter a large storm and they lose control of the house, Russell helps navigate the house through the storm as they crash near Paradise Falls. Just not quite in Paradise Falls.
-The House is still sort of in the air, but Carl and Russell are in the ground. They decide to pull the house over to Paradise Falls (there's like, a gardening hose or something they pull it by.) On the way they meet a large and colorful ostrich-like bird that accompanies them. Later they come across Doug, a dog with a collar that essentially gives him the power to speak, only he's as annoying and stupid as a dog that could actually speak would be. So the group are on their way to Paradise Falls. It seems like there's going to be some sort of antagonistic character (not revealed yet) who's pretty obviously going to be Charles Muntz, the explorer from the very beginning of the movie.
The only part I didn't like was the dogs. Dreamworks and other animation companies in general have gradually ruined the appeal of that sort of idea, so by now I just don't like them and wish they'd stay silent. They felt un-Pixarly. However, the preview ended kinda shortly after the talking dog characters were introduced, so who knows.