Things are looking UP

Returned from the D23 event "UP all night" at the El Capitan in Hollywood, where I saw PIXAR and Pete Docter's UP. I loved it! It is a wonderful movie. I thoroughly recommend it, and I hope it does as well as it deserves!! It has an interesting story with fun twists and surprises. Delightful, at times sinister, at times an action/adventure movie. I would say that, except for songs, this film has it all!

The 3-d stereoscopic effect is nicely understated and is only used to help tell the story. The event itself was nice, too, though there was a good long wait first: in line 8:30 pm, doors opened at 10, film started at 11. Once inside we were welcomed by the organ music of Rob Richards, who played an hour non-stop, until the lights went down for a little welcome by D23-head Steven Clark and a nice talk by actor John Ratzenberger, who has the distinction to have voiced characters in all of the Pixar features. Then trailers, including a nice one for The Princess and the Frog, followed by a little live dance show. Then the very nice short film "Partly Cloudy," and finally the main feature. After ten minutes I clearly heard sobs from audience members!
Lots of laughs and cheers, too! Outside again at 1:30...

This event also proved that getting the D23 membership was a good idea, also price-wise, as this event was free - though the normal price including drink & popcorn would be $25, and one could bring a guest, that is $50! Plus the two magazines so far published $32 makes a total thus far of $82, which is less than the $75 membership! And, of course, everyone in the audience got a free event pin (and baloon). With two magazines yet to come and the Expo coming up, the membership has paid for itself already! It's not too late folks, you can still become member! D23 needs your support, so things can happen that probably never will happen again!

[Addition: hear Pete Docter on NPR as RealAudio or WMA!]

[Addition: the more cerebral reviewers point out some things they think are "wrong" with the picture, and I myself could do this around two-thirds in (when my thoughts begin to drift off I attribute it to a bit of dragging repetitivety and lack of clarity that encumbers most otherwise perfect PIXAR movies just over halfway through), but let's face it, I was genuinely entertained by UP, silly or not, and to me that is what counts! It happens so rarely these days...]