Favorite Animation: Up

              

The theme of Pixar’s Up, at least to me, revolves around letting go off the past and looking forward to the future. The first 10 minutes of Up is probably the most emotional scene of all of animations and it’s even more touching than other love stories out there. Carl is a timid guy who does not like to speak much, while his partner Ellie has a strong personality which is a complete contrast. One thing they have in common is their love of adventure. Ellie’s dream is to fly to South America and live in a house at Paradise Fall – the land lost in time- for an adventure of a lifetime. Carl and Ellie got married, did all the cute couple things. Their goal is to fly to Paradise Fall, so they start saving. To quote Remy from Ratatouille “the predictable thing in life is its unpredictability”, they need to use the savings for other emergency cases. Sadly, Ellie fell ill and passed away with her dream unfulfilled. It is amazing how Pixar can make you care so much about the two characters with just 10 minutes into the story almost without any dialogue. We, the audience, care because we saw their sincere feeling and care for one another and we can’t help but feel sorry for Ellie and Carl that their dreams did not come true. The first 10 minutes show us clearly Carl’s motivation to reach Paradise Fall with his house tied with balloons.

             Along the way to Paradise Fall, Carl was accompanied by a little boy, Russell, who is a wilderness explorer. He has awarded all the badges except the badge for assisting the elderly. We later learn that the main reason he wants to get the assist the elderly badge is because his dad had promised him that he would attend Russell’s ceremony once Russell is promoted to be a senior wilderness explorer. Along with his innocent, happy-go-lucky personality, Russell actually is having a rough childhood. He doesn’t have a close relationship with his father and he couldn’t talk to his father because a girl named Phyllis said that Russell is bothering his dad way too much. The backstory of Russell here is subtle because we didn’t get the full explanation of who Phyllis really is. I will devote a section talking about Phyllis and Russell’s relationship with his family.

              We saw that Carl did manage to fulfil Ellie’s dream by placing their house close to Paradise Fall. Carl, although he fulfilled Ellie’s dream, was not that happy. He opened Ellie’s adventure book and saw their memento of photos from young to old. One lesson we can learn is that adventure is not always about exploring the wilderness. What happens to us every day, whether it’s mundane or it’s extraordinary, is an adventure that we should cherish. We should not stand still in one place repeatedly thinking of the past and regretting what we should have done differently. There is new adventure out there for us to embark on and live a full life. We saw at the climax of the animation that Russell threw away his sash of badges to save Kevin. We also saw Carl threw away most of the furniture to lighten his house so that it can fly. I think this is a beautiful symbolism from Pixar. The old furniture in the house symbolizes the old memories between Carl and Ellie which Carl dwell onto and drag him in one place without moving forward and enjoy other great adventure out there. I’m not saying that memories are useless and we should throw everything away. My point is that we can’t keep holding on to the past and lose sight of what lies ahead of us. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring to you.

              We can see how Carl’s character develops from a grumpy, selfish, old man who refuses to interact with other people to a kind person who cares about Russell, Doug, and Kevin. Those are the people and things that matters to him now. He also said “it is just a house.” Which means he can now let go of his painful memories and begin to start a new chapter in life. Who would imagine an animation can be that deep filled with philosophical ideas?

Favorite Animation: Wall-E

Wall-E beat Kungfu Panda to win the Oscar for Animated Feature and that in itself tells a great deal about the caliber of this animation from Pixar. At that time there were a lot of talks going on about the fear that Pixar may lose it sense of identity with the acquisition from Disney in 2006, but I am glad that Disney would not interfere with the creative direction of Pixar but Disney may have interfered (I don't know). The only thing that I know is that both Ratatouille and Wall-E are a masterpiece and these two animations came out after the acquisition.

The story takes place in a dystopian future where we follows a robot, Wall-E of course, who is left alone on earth and continues his daily routine of cleaning up the waste. He meets another sleek robot Eve who is sent to scan the earth for something which I won't spoil here if you haven't watched it yet. Wall-E and Eve later go on a mission across the galaxy to change the fate of the earth. Does it sound like Interstellar?

The idea of 2 robots interacting in a dialogue-free animation for the the first 30 minute just doesn't work on paper, but Pixar somehow finds a way to do another brilliant job here with a beautiful and emotional touch. Again, the first 30 minutes is a bit slow which may not go well with the kids but to some adults, it is probably the best part of this animation.

Another special part is that my jaw "literally" dropped at the end of this animation. If you love animation and especially if you are a big fan of Pixar like I am, I definitely recommend that you check out this masterpiece as soon as possible.

PS: I can't wait for "The Good Dinosaur".

Quote of Wall-E: "I don't want to survive. I want to live."

How I Met Your Mother

I'm surprised by the fact that the writers choose to go with such a controversial ending given the nature of a sitcom. With all the character development throughout 9 seasons and how relatable the characters are, fans must be furious to say goodbye in such a fashion. Whether the sitcom ends with a good note or bad note, it's up to you, the viewers, to decide.

Favorite Movie: Edge of Tomorrow

Adapted from a Japanese manga, Edge of Tmr is a brilliant sci-fi action movie. Not to mention Emily Blunt is one awesome action movie star.

Favorite Movie: Life of Pi

"So which story do you prefer?" - Pi

Movie Quote: Fight Club

"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."

Movie Quote: Cast Away

"I have to keep breathing.. For tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what tomorrow will bring." - Chuck in Cast Away

Boyhood

A film 12 years in the making, Boyhood depicts the life of a young boy growing up in Texas from a small kid to an 18 year old man. The fact that the director has casted the same characters for 12 years is an astonishing filmmaking technique. One takeaway from this film is that life is a serie of milestones and life goes on from one moment to another. Your philosophy changes as you grow up and experience new moments in life.

Favorite Movie: The Prestige

You know it's a brilliant movie when batman and wolverine go head to head. Obsessed with magic perfection, two former colleagues battle each other to reign supreme in the world of magic.