Finding Dory
After my initial dislike for Pixar's last few outings, Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur, I learned that it is always a good idea for Pixar to only make one movie a year. That way, they can concentrate all their efforts on making a single solitary animated film, and not trying to put out two in one year.
When Ellen began to premiere the trailers for this movie on her YouTube, and on her talk show, and on her Facebook, and on her Twitter, etc. (you get the picture), I was mildly excited. I might have raised an eyebrow or two, and was not exactly sure how to react. But, then I remembered all of Pixar's other efforts to make a sequel, and realized that Toy Story 2 was the only one of them that ever did anything for me. I remember enjoying Toy Story 3, up until the ending, which ruined everything for me. I recall the global hatred for Cars 2, and how the mere existence of the sequel had begun to besmirch the likability of the first Cars movie--which was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite underrated Pixar flicks. And I could not forget how I had actually liked Monsters University when it was first released in 2012...until I realized that the storyline and the new cast of characters would, in fact, not be in line with the first Monsters Inc movie--where was Squishy by the time they started work at the factory, and how could they have just met in college when Mike specifically says that he and Sulley have known each other since the fourth grade?
But, I cast my cynicism and nitpicks aside, and kept some sense of optimism for Dory's new movie, the memory of watching Finding Nemo for the very first time in my kindergarten class. I went into this movie spoiler-free, reading hardly any reviews, and not knowing how the movie would end.
And it was fantastic. I laughed, I cried, and I clapped right along with the rest of the theater audience, once the movie was over. The animation was as beautiful as ever, the way the story unfolded was brilliant, even if the truck scene] was a bit of a eye-roller, albeit hilarious.
I also really liked Piper the short film that preceded the movie, as well as the end-credits scene where a couple of familiar Pixar characters return briefly. Overall, I'm thoroughly glad Pixar has made a sequel that I can re-watch and not dislike. It's nice to see my favorite animation studio back on top.
"Finding Dory": 9.8/10
"Piper": 9.7/10
The Right Stuff
I rented this from the library, along with The Social Network and Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, two of my all-time favorite movies. It's an incredibly fun, 192-minute-long thrill ride about a man who is constantly setting speed records, while a group of other men are busy with reaching new heights of their own.
Check it out if you are a fan of 2001, or other super-long movies about outer space.
9.5/10
Last edited by Mickey (June 21, 2016 (03:04pm))
Have you seen a big-chinned boy?