Animation fans can rejoice this weekend with the release of Pixar’s 10th feature film, Up.
The studio’s first 3-D film, directed by Pete Docter and rated PG, is expected to run away with the box office crown. It opens at more than 3,700 theaters. After dazzling the opening night audiences at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, the beautifully animated pic has been receiving spectacular reviews all over the world–it’s current score is a an almost perfect 97% on rottentomatoes.com. Here is just a sampling of what some of the top critics are saying about the movie:
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times writes, “Rarely has any film, let alone an animated one powered by the logic of dream and fantasy, been able to move so successfully — and so effortlessly — through so many different kinds of cinematic territory.” Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly agrees, “As buoyant and richly tinted as the balloons that figure so prominently in its story, Up is also thoroughly grounded in real emotion and ideas of substance.”
Unfortunately, Manohla Dargis, the curmudgeon in residence at The New York Times manages to inject some negative comments in her review. After counting all the visual and emotional virtues of the film and comparing its first 15 minutes of the film to the great classics of the silent era, she whines, “But much like Russell, the little boy with father problems, and much like Dug, the dog with master issues, the story starts to feel ingratiating enough to warrant a kick. O.K., O.K., not a kick, just some gently expressed regret.”
A nice bit of counter-programming is the Sam Raimi-directed horror film Drag Me to Hell. Opening in just over 2,500 theaters, the PG-13-rated film has been getting solid reviews from critics who normally despise the genre. The film boasts great Boo! moments and a sly, humorous tone that balances the shock tactics quite well. Tippett Studio, ReThink VFX, i.e. Effects and Michael Kaelin & Assoc. are responsible for the pic’s clever special effects.
Things get a bit crowded in holdover land, with last weekend’s victor, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian likely to feel Up’s bite the most. Terminator Salvation, Angels & Demons, Star Trek and X-Men Origins: Wolverine will likely fill out most of the top 10 slots.
Up may also signal the de facto end of the line for Monsters vs. Aliens. The DreamWorks Animation CG-animated film will likely lose most of its 3-D outlets to Up and finally get knocked out of the top ten after nine weeks in release.
