Up

The joyful music begins to play. The drums begin to roll. I march out onto the stage and heroic music floods the stadium and I bow to it. But then I open my eyes and realize that just because I have now completed all ten Best Picture nominees don’t really mean that much. Am I glad that I’m finished with them? Yes, I really truly am, I can get back to my regular watching now that I’ve watching the finest films 2009 had to offer (apparently).

Tonight, I watched the Best Picture nominee Up for about the millionth time, but the brilliant part about this movie is that I don’t think I can get sick of it. I know that this is just my opinion, and I know that people will agree, but others won’t, but I truly think that Up is Pixar’s best, which is saying something when I think of the Toy Story movies, and Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles, I truly love their movies, but there was just something more that Up has to offer.

The movie begins and we’re introduced to Carl Fredrickson, played perfectly by the great Ed Asner. We meet him when he’s a little boy and we see that he worships his hero, Charles Muntz, who is a pilot and an adventurer who finds a creature’s bones in Paradise Falls, South America. But, no one believes Muntz that it’s a real animal’s bones. So, Muntz boards his zeppelin and goes back to Paradise Falls, exclaiming “Adventure is out there!”.

So, Carl wants to go to Paradise Falls and he meets a young girl who shares the same dream. We then get a beautiful montage (one of the best I’ve ever seen) of their lives together passing, never getting to go to Paradise Falls, but always trying. I'm not ashamed to say that it makes me cry every time. Finally, his wife dies of old age and Carl lives alone in grief and memories.

Well, the house that Carl and his wife, Ellie, lived in their whole life is in the way of a construction project and he keeps getting offers to have the house be bought, but he refuses. He then assaults a worker and he is sent to court and has to go to a retirement home. He then attaches balloons to his house and flies to Paradise Falls with a young scout named Russell who was under the porch at the time looking for a ‘snipe’ as per the request of Carl.

So, they land on the opposite side of the canyon of Paradise Falls and they have to walk the house the rest of the way, meeting talking dogs, Charles Muntz and a giant bird named Kevin along the way.

Well, I’m sure that you’ve probably watched this film before; it’s a wonderful movie that makes me cry several times, and makes you laugh just as much. You really feel for Carl and his quest, and he learns a wonderful lesson by the end of the movie.

Like I mentioned earlier, the casting was practically perfect. Ed Asner plays Carl perfectly and makes the character loveable, even though he’s a jerk most of the movie. The plot was really good, it certainly wasn’t the greatest, but it was fantastic just the same. It’s a perfect family movie, everyone can enjoy it. The animation was amazing, and I really wish that I had gotten to see this movie in theaters, or even better, in 3-D. Oh well.

So, do I think this should be up for Best Picture? Most definitely. It deserves its place amongst the other ten films, and ranks above a lot of them. I would love to see it win.

So, overall, you know, I keep thinking about it, and I think it deserves it. I’m going to give this film a perfect 10 out of 10.

Up next is Moon, then (500) Days of Summer as per your choice.