Movie review - Up

Up is a great movie, with great animation and story, plus, it's very funny. What else would you expect from Pixar? They keep their perfect record here with one of their best movie to date. It is rating PG in many countries, probably because it deals with losing a loved one near the beginning and some dogs that are, well, bad dogs... Grrrr! Nothing really frightening, but very young kids may be in search of comfort on a few occasions.

Most of the movie is quite funny for the whole family. The theatre I was in, at Montreal's AMC, was packed and there was a lot of kids. But they didn't bother me during the movie, as I rarely heard them. That's a good indication that they must have been captivated by the movie. Of course, since there is a 3D version of this movie, that's the one I saw. It's well done and not too much "in your face", as some other movies are. It gives it depth, rather then throw stuff at you. I think as movies matures in their use of 3D, this will become the norm. If you can't see it in 3D, or don't want to, I'm sure it will be as enjoyable in 2D.

The story is that of Carl, a boy who dreams of adventures and who meets a girl, Ellie, with the same dreams who becomes friend with him and who he later get married to. They always want to get to live a big adventure, but life doesn't always let you do these thing, when you become responsible adults. As they grow old, the adventure seems less likely to happen. When his wife dies, Carl is alone and old. One day, something happens and he gets to live his adventure, for himself and in memory of Ellie. The way it happens is absolutely unreal, but this being an animated movie, we can forgive that little detail. As it can be seen in the trailer, Carl attaches a lot of helium-filled balloons to his house, which then simply floats away.

So get the whole family and go see Up, in 2 or 3D. Everyone will find something fun in it.

All the previews before the movie are in 3D (I assume they show the 2D versions with the 2D version of Up...) and shows that this is more then just a trend. As movies gets competition from big screens TV and surround-sound systems at home, movie studios must find a way to keep people going to movie theatres. 3D is one way to do this. Expects more movies to be in 3D in the near future. One of the preview was a teaser for Toy Story 3, opening Summer 2010.

Finally, as it is the tradition with Pixar movies, we get a short film before the main feature. Also in 3D, Partly Cloudy is a fun animation which answer the question "where do storks get the babies they deliver from anyway?". Very funny as well.

Movie review: Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

I wasn't expecting too much from Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, beyond a fun ride and nice visuals. The movie was fun in that way, except that it was partly ruined by the 3D technology part. I don't know if I was sitting too close to the screen or if my eyes did not adapt properly to their technology, but it looked really bad. I barely got the 3D effect in a few shots, most of them being out of sync. The close up in particular did not work at all, as I saw two separated images and the colours did not match properly because of this as well. Just one or two images out of sync from the two projections would probably cause the same issue. I went to see it alone, so I couldn't compare my experience and I didn't check with the other people in the room either, as I am a bit shy. I hope this was an exceptional problem, because I can't imagine why they would use this technology if it's not working properly. I saw an Imax 3D movie not too long ago and it looked great, so I doubt it's me.

What's more, the movie theatre I saw it at, the Guzzo at Marché Central, in Montreal, charged $3 extra for the glasses rental, on top of asking for an ID card they kept as hostage to insure they get them back! And we had to sign a piece of paper too. There were 3D previews before the movie, and they looked better than the movie itself, while not perfect, so I'll take a chance and try again with another movie, most likely, but I can't say I'm that anxious to try again. Note to the studios: Use Imax 3D or make sure the theatres you let use this new technology are properly tested and trained.

Had it not been for the disappointment noted above, I would surely have enjoyed this movie much more. The story is interesting, the visuals are probably very nice without the bad 3D and the actors do a good job. As can be seen in the trailer and implied in the title, our "heroes" go to the centre of the Earth to discover an old lost world. Of course, one must completely let go of reality to accept how they enter and exit that world, let alone accept the complexity of a world such as this one, so deep under the surface. But it's fantasy and it's fun to relax your brain from time to time.

The movie stars Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem, as well as shorter roles with Seth Meyers and a few others. There are many funny scenes, lots of action and a bit of romance. So, a nice summer pop-corn movie if you like adventure and nice endings. It is not only inspired by the Jules Verne's work of the same name, it is referred to in the movie.

If you do see the 3D version, I'd like to know how it went for you and where you saw it. I just can't accept it can be this bad everywhere...

Movie review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Imax)

I finally saw the newest Harry Potter this evening. As planned, it was the Imax version, with part of it at the end in 3D.

I did like it, but not as much I had hopped. The visuals are great and it's a good story. I did not read the book, but I still feel like they had to cut some of it to make it only two hours long, which is normal, but I wonder what I'm missing. The 3D part also wasn't that impressive in some scenes, but very nice in others. It's still getting darker, as expected, with the gang growing up and having to deal with increasingly more evil characters.

There's also a lighter side to the movie, with happier situations and some humour. So in general, I did enjoy the movie and I'm looking forward to the next one!