Toy Story 4, mini movie review

 

Rating: A

When I heard that there was going to be another Toy Story movie I honestly rolled my eyes.  "Seriously? Another one?" I thought, and went about my day unfazed.  A little time later the trailer came out, and I was still not excited.  What could they do more?  Does this story about toys need rehashing?  How is this not going to be a simple repeat, just with a new kid?

Out of obligation I went.  Dragging my feet a little.

Boy did I have fun!

Andy is in college, and the homage he receives is that of nostalgia and background retailing.  Not too much.  Just enough.  Bonnie is the toys new kid, and they're all still wonderfully together, except for Bo Peep, who we haven't seen in quite awhile, but she wasn't Andy's toy, she was his sister's, and out of no where she disappeared.  I felt her loss back when, but moved on.  Bonnie is the focus now, and she's growing up a little.  Not growing out of toys, but entering a new phase in life: Kindergarten.  In order to cope with this transition Bonnie creates a toy out of trash and unknowingly brings it to life.  Forky.  A spork with doodads.  Forky has an identity crises, and in the midst of a road trip there's much insanity mixed with hilarity.

Toy Story 4 is a charming movie filled with warmth.  There's friendship, forgiveness, love, second chances, all the Pixar good stuff.  And plenty of jokes.  Seriously a ton of "laugh out loud" moments with a giggle here and there.

And we finally find out what happens to Bo Peep!  She's doing well.  Real well.  She's tough.  I really love what they did with her character.

There's plenty of new characters mixed in at a steady rate, adding to the story instead of overcrowding.  The new characters are interesting and fun.    One of them has me laughing on the inside right now just thinking about them.  But all the classic characters are there as well, fully utilized: This is their story.

So, without giving too much away, Toy Story 4 is a nice new chapter.  A great family film.  Worth seeing many times. 

MPAA: G

Anyone Can Cook! No, Really ;0)

I found "Anyone Can Cook!" at the Disney Store.

It isn't a cookbook, would have been awesome if it was, but a pretty thick journal instead, priced at $16.95.  I love how it's a full recreation of the book found in Pixar's Ratatouille with Auguste Gusteau on the cover, just like the movie.  Really fun.  So, instead of journaling, it would be cook to write out all the recipes I find online in various places.  This would be a handy little book to keep these recipes in, as I'll share or tag, and then they get buried, and I never make them.  Come on, wouldn't this be cute in any kitchen?  So cute.

Coco, mini movie review

Rating: A

In Coco, the latest offering from Disney's Pixar, Miguel is a boy who finds himself different from his family.  They are all shoemakers, a trade passed on from one generation to the next.  Music is banned.  Many generations back Miguel's great-great-grandfather left the family to pursue music, never returning, leaving his great-great-grandmother to find a way to support herself and her family, the banishment of music the result and the family's love of shoes established.  Miguel is torn between his family and the music that pours through him.

During Miguel's plight, it is also that time of year where the dead come to visit the living.  The day of the dead.  The family ofrenda is all set up, every ancestor displayed lovingly with a photo and favorite offering.  Every member represented except for Miguel's great-great-grandfather, whose photo was ripped.  Miguel believes he's discovered who his long lost great-great-grandfather is, and while doing so, desperate to display his musical talents, he steals a guitar from a tomb, and in so doing finds himself trapped in the land of the dead.  There he finds his family, new friends, and discovers a great family secret.

Coco is a delightful family movie about those who come before and also about what makes us who we are.  I love the music theme that runs throughout with great songs, but also just the love of music that is presented.  As a hobby genealogist I loved the theme of ancestors and family.

The Land of the Dead where Miguel finds himself is a visual masterpiece.  The colors and artistry beautiful.  I loved the spirit guide animals that fly around, and all the other little details that can be seen.

If you haven't seen it yet I highly recommend Coco.  A great family film.

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements.

P.S. The Frozen short that comes before about Christmas traditions is really cute.  (Songs could have been better).  Word on the street is that it's getting pulled this weekend due to complaints over it's length, which is a problem, as it's about 21 minutes long.  After 15-20 minutes of trailers that's about 40 minutes of wait time before Coco.  Also, 21 minutes isn't really short.  It's about the length of a full Disney Channel animated episode.  And those sick of Frozen may not want to wait through it.

Am I the Only One Disturbed?

 I love Pixar's Brave.  LOVE it!  The movie features a Scottish princess, after all, and I'm proud of my Scottish roots.

 But the doll set, featuring Queen Elinor and the Bear, that was released before the movie came out Freaked me out a little.

 You open up the bear.

Put Queen Elinor inside.

And close it.

SPOILERS!!!  And the Disney Store didn't even place a "Spoiler Warning."

Toys do seem to give away a little too much . . .

And just holding the bear feels weird.  It looks disturbing, yes, but holding it . . . holding it . . . it's hard to describe.  "It just feels strange," I told my sister-in-law Krista one day when she was in my room.  "See, hold it."

She took the bear from me, shifting it from hand to hand before clutching the middle.  "Oh, that is strange."

I got the set before it was discontinued, the store had it on sale for $10, because I already had a Merida doll.  Merida needs her Mom, after all.  That's the point of the movie.

Now when you go into the Disney Store Queen Elinor is sold by herself, without the bear.

Monster's University: Movie Review

 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

When the previews started for Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc., the young kids in the audience during the showing I attended were in a fit of giggles; The Lego Movie, Despicable Me 2, Turbo, and other future animated releases kept the young ones engaged.  Of course trailers are designed to be snappy.  As the Featured Film progressed, the kids attention didn't seem to stay focused.  The problem, really, is that Monsters University is an animated teen/adult movie.  Just like the very last chapter in A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner, there are some stories you just can't appreciate until you've lived a little.

Personally I loved the movie, but then I was in the target audience.  Mike Wazowski, that cute, highly enthusiastic single eyed monster, has dreamed of becoming a scarer at Monsters University.  He's prepared and worked hard, studying, giving it his all his entire life just to be accepted as a Scaring Major.  It's there that we meet some familiar faces from the first film, watching how characters interact and grow.  At University we see how Mike and Sulley became such good friends.

The movie made me wonderfully nostalgic.  I started longing to go back to school!  But then I'm a bit of a nerd.  Though none of the schools I attended had sororities or fraternities, it was amusing watching the houses compete.  And along the way we meet some more fun characters in the Oozma Kappa fraternity.

The story was fun, but the first movie was much stronger in this regard, having a stronger plot.  Monsters Inc will always be a delightful classic.

Pixar's animation was stunning!  They just get better and better.  The exterior/environmental shots were breathtaking.  So beautiful.

Overall Monsters University was a fun movie that I rather enjoyed.

Radiator Springs at Christmas: California Adventure

Lightning McQueen: "Where am I?"

Tow Mater: "Where are you?  Shoot! You're in Radiator Springs.  The cutest little town in Carburetor County." 

~ From Pixar's Cars, 2006

 Cars is one of my most favorite Pixar movies; it juggles for the top spot with Brave and Up, Monsters Inc. and Ratatouille falling close behind.  It's also one of the most bashed Pixar films as well with only a 75% rating from rotten tomatoes.

Cozy Cone Motel at Radiator springs

This expansion of California Adventure Disneyland opened last June, and I was biting at the bit to go!  I first learned about Radiator Springs being brought to life in the D23 Summer 2009 issue and was ecstatic.  The whole idea of it was so incredibly cool. 

 Sarge's Surplus Hut

 Fillmore's Taste Inn

 Ramone's House of Body Art

 Flo's V8 Cafe

 Luigis Casa Della Tires

 It was a lot of fun walking through Radiator Springs, seeing it all decked out for the Christmas season.  Pure awesome, and it got me in an early Christmas spirit.

A Trip to Scotland? Yes, Please.

Ah, man.  Being the Disney freak that I am, I'm on their mailing list.  So, every so often I'm sent something that takes my breath away . . . as in, "That's so cool!"  A couple years ago Disney opened a family hotel retreat in Hawaii called Aulani, a paradise every family can enjoy.  For a while there it seemed I was getting a mailing a month for it.  That took my breath away.  Someday I'll make it to Hawaii.

And sometime ago, back in 2005, the company started "Adventures by Disney."  Last year I got a mailing for their Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos vacation that looked amazing.  Though, Italy sounds nice too.  Then last weekend I got this:     

An Adventure in Scotland, inspired by Pixar's Brave!!!  Beside Japan, and Paris . . . and Italy, Scotland is a country I've been dreaming of visiting for years.  It's not just beautiful with amazing ruins and castles, but I've got deep ancestry there as well. 

So I've been dreaming, and drolling, over this all weekend!  "Happy thoughts!" as Peter Pan would say . . . though he seemed to prefer London, despite his American accent. 

Sarah

Brave: Movie Review

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Stars (I need to find a fancy graphic for that).

Last Friday I saw Brave, the latest flick from Pixar, with my brother Steven, Dad, Alec (a cousin who is still quite young), and two Grandma's in tow.

There have been an incredible amount of anticipation for this film, and I've been doubly excited, and nervous, to see Brave.  For the first time Pixar is doing a Princess movie, taking place in Scotland, and it's also their first time piece.  I have a lot of Scottish ancestry, so that made it doubly exciting for me.

The problem is, going into the movie, much of the plot had already been spoiled by other professional movie reviewers, who know better, and Disney Store toys.  Out of all the toys Disney Store has produced, no other movie release had as much spoiler info then this one.  The reviews were mixed, having received a 75% fresh tomato rating, and that made me all the more nervous.  Cars 2 was a huge disappointment.  The visuals were stunning, and Cars, the first, despite popular opinion, is my favorite Pixar movie.  Brave had to bring it, and in a big way.

I loved the movie!  Sure, it's not perfect, but I'm fine with that.  Some complained the story was weak and not up to Pixar standers.  Personally I loved the story.  It does get a little weird in the middle (a plot point given away in a BIG WAY by the Disney Store toys.  Thank you Disney Store) but it's apart of the fantasy magic of the movie.  Every Princess movie must involve magic.  There's a law written somewhere declaring it.  But I loved the message.  For once a movie is all about honoring your elders, a theme I didn't anticipate, which is missing in a lot of big Hollywood movies, and loving your parents.  It's a movie that doesn't focus on a girl getting a guy, but on a Mother and Daughter working through their problems, albeit in an unconventional way.  Plus the lead character Merida and her younger brothers, three mischievous rascals (who stole a couple scenes) have both parents!  How many kid movies can you name where that happens?  Yes, there's Tangled and Mulan, but it doesn't happen as often as it should.  And I applaud Pixar for the strong family element this movie conveys.

 The music is excellent, with a Scottish flair, by composer Patrick Doyle (I've been a Huge fan of his since his work on Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility).  The art and landscapes are breathtaking.

What's even more amazing is Merida's hair.  It's lively, displaying perfectly her inner spirit.  I read somewhere that Pixar worked three years developing two software programs for her hair, and it shows.  Each piece of her hair is animated and brought magnificently to life.  Throughout the movie I couldn't decide whose hair had more magic:  Rapunzel from Tangled or Merida's.

My only real complaint would be the portrayal of the men in the movie.  There was a whole lot of testosterone running about like crazy, and not a whole lot of intelligence.  And I wish the little brothers had more scenes, because they were a lot of fun.

At the end of the movie I was quite satisfied (BTW, stay till the end of the end credits, because there's a tag scene with the witch).  My Dad was a little disgruntled, because he couldn't decide what audience this movie was aiming for, which was the same problem Owls of Ga'Hoole had.  Alec, who's about seven, I don't really know his age, liked it, but couldn't say why.  The Grandma's enjoyed the movie.  But my brother Steven, who holds a Bachelors Degree in Digital Media: Gaming and Animation, said it's the best Pixar movie of them all, and that he loved the story and visuals.

The movie brought in 66 million this last weekend, which is a very strong opening.  I'm glad, because I want this movie to do well.

If you haven't seen it, I hope you have the chance.
BTW, the 3D was interesting, but it can easily be enjoyed in 2D.

Sarah