Movie Review: Inside Out (2015)

by Tony Dayoub


There are Pixar films for kids, and there are Pixar films for grown-ups. Inside Out is definitely one for adults, and that grants it a kind of longevity. See, movies like Monsters, Inc., Cars, and even Toy Story have to depend on cutesy characters and sequels to extend their shelf life because, fun as they are, once you've seen them there isn't much there to revisit. Their concerns are those of children: finding what you're good at, fitting in among new friends, coping with a loss of popularity, etc. Movies like The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Up may still have cute characters but they have a more mature focus: adjusting to middle-age and familial responsibility, overcoming our consumerist tendencies, remembering you're only as young as you feel, and so forth. Inside Out definitely falls into the latter camp.

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

by Tony Dayoub

This post contains spoilers.

With the release of the near-universally praised Toy Story 3, the latest offering from Pixar, has come the inevitable backlash from dissenters. Ignoring two of the most high profile reviewers, who just seem to be aiming their contrarian rhetoric at those of us misguided enough to provide their sites with more traffic, let me instead zero in on writer (and friend and reader of Cinema Viewfinder) Ryan Kelly's well argued piece at his blog Medfly Quarantine, which honestly seems motivated from a desire to be objective about this box office phenom. You should read it for yourself, of course, but the general gist can be found in the post's second paragraph, which reads:

Movie Review: Up

Up is perhaps the first Pixar movie I can think of that is specifically aimed at a general audience rather than child viewers. Sure, the other films have a broad appeal. But none of them seem especially geared towards adults as much as this one. Its storyline focuses on love, commitment, loss, and renewal... adult subjects that will certainly go over the heads of young ones. Ed Asner voices Carl, a crotchety old man who, as we learn in Up's prologue, wasn't always this way. Like in last year's Wall·E, this sequence is almost completely devoid of dialogue, and recounts the story of Carl's lifelong romance with Ellie, an audacious girl who fanned Carl's smaller spark for adventure into a grand flame. Their dream was to search for a long missing hero, Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who had disappeared in South America. But like John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Their meager savings end up redistributed towards more urgent needs, and dreams get put on hold. And one day, Ellie is gone. Carl is alone, holding onto everything he owns, his house a mausoleum erected in Ellie's memory. Enter Russell (Jordan Nagai), a Wilderness Explorer (Pixar's version of a Boy Scout). The last badge he has left to earn is the one for assisting the elderly. Russell's timing brings him into Carl's life at the moment he embarks on an harebrained exploit to South America, flying in his house, which is held aloft by hundreds of helium balloons. It's an evocative image, dredging up childhood dreams of magical journeys for any adult. And the movie pays it off unpredictably, as Carl and Russell end up forming a nuclear family of sorts with an exotic bird named Kevin as the mother, and a talking dog named Dug filling the role of family pet quite hilariously. But most impressive is the natural way the filmmakers forge the bond between Carl and Russell through each character's personal loss, Russell's being the distancing from his own father after his parents' divorce. These may seem like common points of identification nowadays. But any longtime Disney film fan can tell you that divorce is usually a taboo subject in their animated films. Adult or child, Up has a lot to offer anyone seeking a gentle reminder that life's adventures begin when and where one isn't looking.

Movie Review: Horton Hears a Who - My First Venture to the Cineplex with my Son

by Tony Dayoub



My wife thought Jake was still too young to go see his first movie at a theater. He'd get restless. He'd cry too loudly. How would others be able to enjoy their time at the theaters while this "terrible two"-er ran around wreaking havoc? Not to mention, what kind of enjoyment could we derive from it if we're too busy changing diapers, or shushing him to enjoy the movie? I was determined to introduce him to one. I wanted to start our father-son bonding over my love of films soon. But it would have to be the perfect one. One both of us could enjoy. Based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who seemed to fit the bill.