Last movie you watched......

The story behind "I am Number Four."

Caution: If you read this article, you may never want to see the movie.

http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/69474/

 

"Toy Story 3"

SPOILER BELOW











Wow. Just wow.

Like most kids, one of the conceits of my childhood was that my toys were alive. We played football with them - kept stats and everything. They had a rock band in which we'd put records on high speed. "Money for Nothing" always brought the house down, especially when the little rabbit started jamming the opening riff/solo.

So when Andy is playing with them, raising them up in the air, well, the faucets turned on. What just kills you is that they are all in their still-life state, so they can't make any expressions at all, but you know they are having the absolute time of their lives. They all had this belief that this would happen again some day, but they also had doubts. (Some religious overtones to the theme, as well, when I start to think about it a little bit). Another theme it hit on is that there are people in life who just idolize you and love you unconditionally - a dog, a child, a friend, and on and on - and how easy it is to make them happy with just a little bit of attention and reciprocation.

I knew everybody cried at the end of the movie, but I thought it was mostly because the kid was going to college, and that's such a sad moment for everyone: The end of childhood. But the way that final scene was done ... I couldn't have seen that coming.

Your toys love you back.

Who would have thought?

Just an unreal payoff. (And I didn't even talk about the incinerator scene).

 

If it's been on DVD for several months you don't have to worry about spoilers...

Yes, great film. I would argue the best trilogy of all-time.

 

I'm scared they're going to screw it up with a "Toy Story 4."

That's a lot of money to leave on the table with as risk-averse as Hollywood is these days.

 

Watched "Language of the Enemy" the other night. Very good movie, until the end, when it becomes a nearly blatant ripoff of Romeo and Juliet.

For anyone interested in learning a little about the Israel-Palestine conflict, this is an excellent flick. Even despite the ending, I still recommend it.

 

I have a lot of worries when it comes to movies these days, but I have faith in Pixar regarding the Toy Story franchise.

I haven't liked every Pixar movie, but they were all well-made and had good scripts. Pixar has yet to phone it in like the rest of Hollywood has.

 

Reassess.

 

Oh, no question. That character is fiction. Most of Sorkin's screenplay is. It's not much more than a decent film.

 

OK, what trilogies are better? I'm not a fan of the LOTR movies. Star Wars, Godfather, Terminator both started with two masterpieces, but the third installments were both mediocre or at least did not live up to the expectations created by the first two.

 

Maybe the Bourne movies? Maybe Indiana Jones?

 

Bourne's a fair mention, but the bar isn't raised that high, there. They're solid commerical potboilers, which don't particularly break any new ground.

Indiana Jones I and III were beyond great.
IV was mediocre, at best.
II sucked, beyond belief, and remains virtually unwatchable, past the opening ten minutes.

 

Animation technology's made unbelievable strides in the past two decades, and for what it is, the Toy Story trifecta is essentially flawless.