SpudV

I don't know how Pixar does it, but their tenth movie is as good (or better?) than anything else they have released. I liked "Up" better than "WALL-E" as the latter seemed a little preachy, and I could not relate well to a beat-up robot, no matter how cute. With "Up" you had a widower/curmudgeon (I can relate to the latter!) surrounded by change when all he wants is to go back in time to the way things were. Events force him to make an unusual escape, hence the house flying by power of helium balloons.

I won't give away spoilers, but I will say that Pixar's success is due to their ability to portray relationships and their animation skills. Unlike other filmmakers, they will take out of the ordinary relationships and draw you in where you end up caring about what happens to them. It doesn't matter if it's toys, cars, fish, rats or even robots, the folks at Pixar excel at developing a story built around relationships.

I found myself getting misty-eyed (well, maybe a little more than that) at the first 12 or so minutes, not for the obvious part but simply for the beauty of how the story of Carl unfolded without words, just images. I knew the tragedy was coming, and perhaps that affected my view. The other part that hit me hard is when they found they could not have children, as my wife and I went through a similar thing. We decided to go the adoption route, something Carl takes his time on. ;) The special element to "Up" is the talking dog angle. It's what my wife and kids (all animal lovers) talked about walking back to the car. Pixar did not overdo it but integrated this masterfully. The Talking Dug stuffed animal should be a hot seller leading into the holidays, along with the DVD. I might even pay full price for this DVD.

Finally, the story centers on great adventures, the Spirit of Adventure. You'll find yourself wondering if and when you'll start your own adventure after the credits roll.

While one should not expect an Emmy award winner out of the movies Hallmark typically puts out, "The Russell Girl" was OK entertainment for two hours. I appreciated the lack of long commercial breaks. It was difficult to say if the lead actress, Tamblyn, made the movie slow down in parts or if it was just the script itself. It did seem to drag out as she kept playing a "keep-away" game of her secret from her family.

Even though she was relatively young (early 20's) she had not resolved a major event that had happened five years ago, one she ran away from. This movie did fairly well in showing the results of not forgiving as well as the ineffectiveness of running away from a bad situation. It just seemed to take awhile to get to the ending that wasn't a surprise but was nice to see anyhow.

The strength of the movie came in giving the audience a chance to examine their own lives, if given the news of having an "aggressive cancer". Would we accept it as some sort of karma for the bad things we have done? Would we try to right past wrongs? How would we spend the little time we have left? Considering the junk that passes for entertainment on TV lately (watching someone strapped to a lie detector for an hour?), I did not have any regrets using up two hours of my life on this movie.

(A better Hallmark movie on forgiveness is "The Christmas Gift" with Neal Patrick Harris.)

"The Valley of Light" is a drama with a little bit of romance. I echo the other comments about the refreshing lack of foul language and violence that passes for entertainment nowadays. It's also great to see courtesy, good manners and integrity given prominence.

The drama centers on a man (Noah) troubled by his service in the military (post WWII). Without family to fall back on, he goes on his own "odyssey", following whatever river he happens to find himself on and fishing for food. One river takes him to an encounter with an old man who has some encouraging and enlightening words for him, as well as a possible path.

In the next town over the ridge, he finds some answers to what he needs in life, befriending a mute boy in need of a father and a widow woman in need of love. When a crisis hits, Noah has to decide whether to cut and run or work with the relationships he has built to that point.

Nearly all of us define our lives by the relationships we hold dear, and the movie does an excellent job in showing how Noah developed his relationships with the mute boy, the widow, and the rest of the townspeople. I found myself (a techie guy who works on computers all day) while watching the movie longing to go to that time of no gadgets or TV. Beautifully filmed, good acting and story come together for an enjoyable movie.