Ed's Review Dot Com

Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key. Madeleine McGraw, Christina Hendricks, Jordan Peele, Keanu Reeves, Ally Maki, Jay Hernandez, Lori Alan, Joan Cusack, Bonnie Hunt, Kristen Schaal

Andy has gone off to college and turned his toys over to Bonnie. Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang are off on a road trip with Bonnie’s new toy Forky who she made and loves as her new toy. Forky, however, being a spork, thinks of life much different that the toys do, so Woody takes him under his wing to teach him his new life as a toy. But when Forky gets lost, Woody sets off on a side trip to find him and bring him back when he runs into Bo Peep, his very old friend, and they set off on an adventure to bring Forky back. This is the fourth in the series of Toy Story films from Pixar, and a nice new addition to the group.

I have always enjoyed the Toy Story series, and found that they have been getting better as they progress. Is this the best of the Toy Story films? Sadly, I have to admit it’s not, but it’s pretty damn good just the same. The story here is rather contrived, but the characters are just as lovable as ever. Gabby Gabby is a nice new villain although she does bring her share of sadness with her as well and we will feel very sympathetic toward her situation. The whole story is a bit repetitive of all the other, “toy gets lost and has to try to make it back home” and “toy isn’t number one anymore and has to deal with his loss of status in his owner’s heart” story lines, but the animation is so spectacular, the voices are so spot on, and the characters are just so special, that it makes up for the little weaknesses in the story itself. This is another great Pixar film and one you gotta go see while it’s still in the theater. Amazing job, guys, and I loved it!

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NWave Pictures, Serengeti Entertainment, Atlantic Productions,

Tim Allen

Rex (Tim Allen) the penguin has been off at sea for three years learning how to catch fish and avoid predators. Now it’s time for him to return to Penguin City and find a mate and settle down. But according to the laws of nature, when the egg is lain, the male must stand over and keep the egg warm all winter while the female heads out to sea to gorge herself with fish. This is the story of a year in the life of the penguins (particularly Rex) watching his egg and raising his child.

This film has some of the best nature footage I have seen. It’s certainly very high quality and very instructing and very entertaining. Seeing this in IMAX 3-D would have been wonderful. But there is a problem. Well, perhaps it’s a problem, but the narration is by Tim Allen who is a really great guy and a good actor, but it’s a voice over of everything from Rex’s point of view. The problem is that they fall into the trap of making up a story that probably has nothing in the world to do with real king penguins. It is really cutesy, with lots of made up thoughts that is really very childish. On the other hand, this might be really good for young children who could learn a lot about the species while hearing an entertaining story along with it. It’s a bit like on one hand there is DisneyNature Bears, and on the other hand there is “Charlie the Lonesome Cougar”. For those of you who are not familiar, Disney sent out photographers into the wild to capture wildlife footage by the mile. With what they brought back (and truthfully I’m certain a lot of it was staged), they turned it into two types of features. On one hand they had Disney’s True-Life Adventures (the childhood version of the new DisneyNature films) which were very educational and really tried to show nature in natural terms, and Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar on the other hand was a childhood adventure made for the kids, and shown on the Disney Sunday night TV show in 2 parts. Both served a different purpose. This version of the film is the childish one, and it loses a bit, in my opinion, due to the silly dialog made up strictly for entertainment. But there is a lot of information here. Now, one final point. There is a European version of this film narrated by David Attenborough. I have included both previews below. His version “sounds” like the serious version I was looking for, but unfortunately that soundtrack was not available to me. It would be wonderful for them to provide both tracks to allow you to choose both. Perhaps that will happen in a release at some point. All in all, this was a good movie, and really a lot of fun to watch. I recommend it.

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Great Ape Productions,

Tim Allen

Tim Allen narrates this DisneyNature film that follows the life and troubles of a baby Chimpanzee named Oscar and follows him as he grows up in his day to day life.

Disney has always been able to bring nature to the screen since the early days of Uncle Walt’s True Life Adventures. This is another along the same lines. I really was interested in this film, as it was quite beautiful to see, and certainly very educational, but made up a life story for this Chimp that seemed to be true. Tim Allen did an awesome job narrating this. In fact, until this very moment I had no idea it was him. He was flawless in the delivery and made it a very interesting story. Now as to whether the thoughts and emotions that they give to this band of chimps is really true or not, I’m not so sure, but it is true nature, filmed in their everyday lives, and is very accurate in the way they are portrayed. Some very interesting things happen to Oscar, and it certainly keeps your attention. This was a really good nature film, and truly a spectacularly shot piece of film making. If you can’t see it in IMAX, then at least try to watch it on the best HDTV you can find. Disney has done an excellent job with this one!

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Revolution Studios, 1492 Pictures, Skipping Christmas

This is a very funny film. It was a big mainstream film back in 2004 and is shown every Christmas. Tim Allen is at his funniest in this film, and Dan Aykroyd is hysterical as his neighbor. The whole bunch is really good. Luther has an epiphany finally, and realizes what it’s all about, and makes one of the grandest gestures ever. It’s a heartwarming moment, and in the middle of this very funny comedy, there is a bit of true heart. It’s a really good Christmas film, and one I highly recommend!

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The Walt Disney Company, Pixar

Tom Hanks, Tim Allen

We waited and waited and waited and now it’s here!  What a wonderful movie.  An amazine feat of 2 sequels to a movie that each was greater than the one before.  It’s the strength of the characters.

I don’t want to spoil any of your enjoyment of this film (assuming there is anyone out there who hasn’t seen it yet), but this movie did bring some surprises.

First, you would suspect that this is a great family film for all ages. Well, it is that, but it’s a surpise how many grown, macho men, come out of the theater with their hat brims pulled down, staring at the ground, not wanting anyone to see the  tears rolling down their cheeks.  I don’t think men cry at movies, but in droves the do at this one.  That wasn’t expected I’m sure.   Why?  Because, especially in the last part of the movie, it really connects to a guy’s deepest feelings.  We’ve all put away our toys and gave up that wonderful part of our life because we grew up.  We didn’t want to, but we had to.  So facing what Andy is facing, strikes a chord that hits us.  We did that too.  Perhaps today’s world is too complicated.  Toys today are not a simple as Mr. Potato Head, a Slinky dog, a toy dinosaur, or a raggedy old pull string cowboy.  We used our imaginations.  Kids today have high technology toys, but they don’t build the connection to them like we did.  There are many moments like this.

But the kids are going to love it too.  There are lots of new characters, some scary, some trying to be scary, but they’re all trying to survive in their own way and determine their own worth.  The story is very strong, the old characters are there, and still load of fun, and the new ones are nice to get to know.

I can’t see any reason for anyone on earth not to love this movie.  It has to get the highest rating of any movie of the year so far!

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