1. 'Up'
First of all, I challenge anyone to get though the first heart-breaking 10 minutes of this Pixar film without soaking a hanky in tears. It's just absolutely devastating watching Carl (Ed Ansner) lose his life-long love Ellie, especially when we imagine their marriage ends
like so many of the happiest do. And even though experiencing Carl's loss is gutting, it sets up his curmudgeonly character for an incredible emotional and aerial journey when he endeavors to attach his house to a mass of balloons that
carry him away to his childhood dream of Paradise Falls. What he doesn't realize before lift-off is that he's got a stowaway: an unsuspecting Boy Scout, Russell, who's in need of companionship as much as Carl. What transpires when Carl reaches his destination is by far the years most emotionally-affecting, masterfully-rendered and, yes, uplifting family film of the year.
12-22-2009, 12:12 PM
