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Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it.

By Michael Rechtshaffen

Michael Rechtshaffen

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Given the inherent three-dimensional quality evident in Pixar’s cutting-edge output, the fact that the studio’s 10th animated film is the first to be presented in digital 3-D wouldn’t seem to be particularly groundbreaking in and of itself.

But what gives Up such a joyously buoyant lift is the refreshingly nongimmicky way in which the process has been incorporated into the big picture — and what a wonderful big picture it is.

The Bottom Line Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it.

It’s also the ideal choice to serve as the first animated feature ever to open the Festival de Cannes, considering the way it also pays fond homage to cinema’s past, touching upon the works of Chaplin and Hitchcock, not to mention aspects of It’s a Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz and, more recently, About Schmidt .

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This Amazing 57-Year-Old Kung Fu Movie Is Basically John Wick With A Sword

Denzel washington's gladiator 2 role looks like the perfect follow-up to his 2021 drama with 92% on rt, new netflix mystery thriller starring john wick 2 actor rises in us top 10 chart.

There's nothing better than an easy review: Pixar's latest summer offering, UP , is a fantastic film. Simply fantastic. Seriously, if Ratatouille and Wall-E deserved to be in the running for Best Picture of the Year (as many said they did at the times of their releases) then UP certainly does.

It's that good.

The film - which was written by Bob Peterson ( Finding Nemo , Ratatouille ) and directed by Peter Docter ( Monsters, Inc. ) - delivers all the things we've come to expect from a Pixar animated feature: gorgeous visuals, a strong story rife with moral lessons and (gasp) good character development; humor both low-brow (for the kids) and high-brow (for the grownups), with strokes of bold wit and a dash of sagely wisdom for good measure.

And yet, UP also delivers something quite unexpected: Pixar's most adult-oriented story yet, slyly disguised in a fantastic adventure tale.

UP tells the life story of Carl Fredricksen (the unmistakable voice of Ed Asner), a shy little boy who grows up in (1930s?) America, an era in which people pack into movie theaters to watch news reels about adventurous explorers like Charles Muntz, who travels the world on one epic quest after the next.

Young Carl Fredricksen idolizes Muntz: He spends his lonely days roaming his neighborhood pretending to be Muntz until one day he runs into Ellie, an energetic and fearless young girl (everything Carl is not) who idolizes Charles Muntz just as much as Carl does. Ellie and Carl cross their hearts then and there and swear to be great adventurers like Charles Muntz, and with that oath, theirs is a match made in heaven.

After that fateful first encounter, we get a truly beautiful montage of Carl and Ellie's life-long romance. We see the young kids grow into a teenage couple; see them get married and buy a house, working day jobs (balloon vendor) while saving up for the kind of adventures they fantasized about as kids. We watch the couple deal with the ups and downs, joys and tragedies of life; and gradually we watch them grow into old age, Ellie's "My Adventures" scrapbook still unfilled, even as her time on Earth ends.

With Ellie gone, Carl becomes a disgruntled old man desperately trying to hold on to a house, heirlooms and a lost-love he cherishes. A physical confrontation with neighborhood developers leads to Carl being forced into a retirement home for the rest of his days - but before the old man will give in he decides to honor the oath he and Ellie swore as kids and take one last shot at adventure! Carl ties an impossible number of balloons to his house (working a balloon cart at the zoo was his job for many years), rigs a steering system and UP he goes!

But there's a stowaway on board: a young boy scout-type named Russell (Jordan Nagai), who is desparately trying to earn his last merit badge assisting the elderly, for personal reasons that are as moving as a they are heartbreakingly naive. From that point on, the story mainly focuses on Carl trying to find room in his broken heart for love and friendship again, with Russell acting as his primary foil and simultaneous source of inspiration. Russell is also handy for providing the comedic relief the kids will get.

Of course there's a whole flying to South America, evil nemesis (Christopher Plummer), talking dogs/mythical bird adventure thrown in there. All of that stuff is pretty cool, and will be sure to entertain the kids. However, as one of the grownup kids, the story (for me) was all about Carl dealing with his profound sense of loss and love. The flying house escapism, fantastic creatures and evil villains were all just means and metaphors for that awesome emotional narrative.

No lie, there were a lot of sobs and sniffles around me in the theater. If you're old enough to know about love and loss, it's hard not to be affected by UP . By now it's no secret that Pixar knows how to tell a fantastic story, but who knew they could handle romantic drama so well? Superb work.

Visually, UP is just as stunning. The digital 3D tech employed for this film is far from a gimmick - it enhances the experience of the film by multitudes. When Carl and Russell are walking over cliffs or trekking through gorgeously rendered South American jungles, with an enormous floating 3D house harnessed to their backs, it's not just some of the most gorgeous eye-candy seen onscreen (the balloons are truly amazing), it's also a very clever and potent metaphor for grief. Rendered in 3D, those themes stood out loud and clear; the rest of the time, this movie was just a treat to look at.

I confess having wet eyes myself, not once, or twice, but on several instances during UP . Sometimes I was thinking, "This movie is breaking my heart." Other times I was thinking, "This movie is melting my heart." And sometimes, I was simply thinking, "This movie is so damn beautiful."

It definitely lifted me UP .

Pixar's Up follows widower Carl (Ed Asner) who travels to South America with young wilderness explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai) by attaching thousands of balloons to his home after the bank threatens to foreclose on it. Discovering the legendary Paradise Falls, Carl meets his childhood hero, explorer Charles Muntz. However, Muntz isn't the kind-hearted man Carl hoped he would be, and the grieving widower finds himself pitted against his former idol.

Movie Reviews
5 star movies

Review by Brian Eggert May 29, 2009

The Spirit of Adventure. Pixar Animation Studios has captured it before, but never so precisely as in Up . The themes throughout the picture address life’s immeasurable potential to take a journey or explore the unknown. Through the studio’s gloriously bright and colorful animation, tangible and beautiful and alive all at once, they inhabit an emotional complexity that is conveyed with the utmost ease. There are layers to this picture; however, each is clearly described for children and adults alike, rendering a universal entertainment that wisps the viewer away into an escapist fantasy remarkably devoted to its very real characters.

As a boy, Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) aspired for adventure with his playmate, and future soul mate, Ellie. The two children dreamed of visiting South America, to a faraway land called Paradise Falls, discovered by daring explorer Charles Muntz (voice of Christopher Plummer), containing unusual creatures never before seen by human eyes. The children kept an “Adventure Book” to log their fanciful wish of someday living in Muntz’s forgotten wonderland. But their dreams, like many of us, were slowly consumed by reality. Carl and Ellie were married, but they could not have children, which made their bond even stronger. Years pass, and in time, Carl, a 78-year-old balloon vendor, finds himself alone. Ellie has passed on and his life of adventure with her. This is all shown in a beautiful, wordless opening sequence that establishes the entire picture’s emotional substance.

Carl has become a cantankerous old man living alone in the rickety home he and Ellie built, a city growing all around him. He speaks to his absent wife, aching for her company. When he finally must resign himself to a retirement home, he instead launches the house from the city with countless helium-filled balloons and takes off for Paradise Falls. Accidentally stowed away on his porch, however, is Russell (voice of Jordan Nagai), the young Wilderness Explorer desperate to earn his “Assist an Elderly Person” badge. Russell’s sweet virtuousness recalls the young Carl, though the grumbling senior doesn’t realize it.

When they arrive at their destination, the world they find is best discovered for yourself. Among the mysteries are misty mountains, a chocolate-loving exotic bird, and a talking dog named Dug (voice of Bob Peterson). The reject of a small army of talking canines, Dug, and those like him, speak via electronic collars. If you’ve ever questioned what dogs would say if they could talk, this film captures it, in all their loving, naïve, desperate-to-please splendor. Who created these collars? Carl doesn’t care. He just wants to set his house down by the falls, as he promised Ellie he would do long ago. But as Carl quickly learns, there’s more at risk than his own desires.

Arguably the funniest of the Pixar films, the laughs are only matched by the thrills. Carl’s crankiness and Russell’s hilarious innocence keep the audience laughing, while dog humor is prevalent and twisted slightly by their ability to speak. Take the hench-pooch, Alpha, a Doberman Pinscher who stands with a threatening glare until his falsetto voice, raised by his broken collar, squeaks as if he was sucking the helium from some of Carl’s balloons. Near-constant humor helps ease some of the film’s later, more gripping suspense that might otherwise frighten youngsters.

As with every Pixar film, the stakes are set from the beginning. But these aren’t mindless conflicts cleared away by equally mindless animated antics. These characters are tangible, the turns of their stories occasionally heartbreaking. Pixar’s animators illustrate the characters through mild stylizations that don’t detach from their humanness. Of course, they’re cartoons, but they have depth and sheen and the faultless illusion of flesh. Cute animals are present not merely to elicit awww reactions from the audience; rather, they have fully conceived personalities, even while remaining true to their nature. Dogs are just dogs. People are just people. How they react in this amazing situation is what’s extraordinary. And the imagery used within the story captures a kind of vintage iconography, employing objects rooted in the simplicity of their design, such as balloons and blimps, bringing to mind an immediate classicism.

Director Pete Docter, who helmed Monsters, Inc. and conceived Toy Story and WALL•E , works alongside co-director and writer Bob Peterson, himself the writer of Finding Nemo . Together, they create a world where the impossible is just a step passed intention, where adventure arrives by your own making, and where escapism doesn’t necessarily mean escape. Once again, Pixar shows audiences that the potential for animated features is boundless in the right hands. In contrast, competing studios like Dreamworks and Fox prove time and again just the opposite.

How appropriate then that the film speaks with awe about the pure concept of Adventure, about the romantic possibility of unexplored nature and newfound technology colliding in a grand discovery. Pixar finds wondrous ways of touching on this theme on and offscreen, through their story and by way of their breakthrough animation techniques, while also acknowledging that the need for adventure and exploration have tragically become characteristics of the past. And so, Pixar films are contemporary cinema’s abundant fountain where our thirsty imaginations are quenched, as they can realize the most spectacular story, infuse it with the most sincere of human emotions, and render it with the most visionary narrative scope.

Up is the kind of film where even critics find themselves incapable of putting into words just how cheerful and entertaining it is, ever at a loss to explain how everything is just right. Each line of dialogue and the accompanying gestures extract the precise emotion intended. As always, from Toy Story to WALL•E , Pixar’s clarity of purpose astounds. Flawlessly evocative, the film’s joys are so very joyful and the saddening moments ever so tender. Miraculously transporting us up and away through means by which only Pixar can, this is Movie Magic at its purest, realized with all the infinite possibilities of the cinema, animated or otherwise.

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What is Up ?

It is a love story. A tragedy. A soaring fantasy, and a surreal animated comedy. A three-hankie weepie and a cliffhanging thriller. A cross-generational odd-couple buddy movie; a story of man and dog. A tale of sharply observed melancholy truths and whimsically unfettered nonsense.

Artistic/Entertainment Value

Moral/spiritual value, age appropriateness, mpaa rating, caveat spectator.

On top of all that, Up opens with a standalone cartoon short ( Partly Cloudy ) and a newsreel, like going to the Saturday double-bill matinee in the old days, when Carl Fredrickson was a shy, wide-eyed lad who idolized dashing celebrity explorer Charles Muntz and dreamed of adventure, but became tongue-tied in the overwhelming presence of the irrepressible, voluble young Ellie, his polar opposite and kindred spirit.

Up opens with an eloquent, economical prologue that is among the most arresting tributes to lifelong love that I have ever seen in any film, let alone a cartoon. Joy, serenity, hope and heartbreak, dreams long cherished and long deferred — a lifetime of indelible memories effortlessly evoked in a few brief minutes.

Now a stumpy, crusty old geezer who lives by himself in a forlorn bungalow glaringly out of place in a neighborhood in the throes of urban upheaval, Carl (Edward Asner) is a widower, but Ellie remains very much a presence in the film. She is still the center of Carl’s world, and their love story is the only story he has.

No, Carl won’t hear of selling his house to the faceless suit who razes and erects worlds around him. He doesn’t want the help of the hopelessly earnest young Wilderness Explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai), doggedly fixated on doing the old man a good turn to earn his missing “Assisting the Elderly” merit badge.

Above all, Carl is contemptuously determined that whatever his future holds, it won’t be the sanitized comfort of the Shady Oaks retirement home. What other animated film has contemplated the anxious stubbornness of the elderly to cling to whatever independence they can for as long as they can, to remain connected to familiar places and things? What other animated film even has a senior citizen for a protagonist? ( Howl’s Moving Castle doesn’t count; Miyazaki’s doddering heroine is really a youth in a grandmother’s body.)

And then things start to unravel, and Carl’s future is no longer in his hands — not without reason, to his guilty shame. You may have seen or known about similar cases from the outside; Up shows us the story from Carl’s inside perspective.

And so we come to the great conceit celebrated in the much-seen trailers. If you’ve seen the trailers, you don’t need me to describe it, and if by some twist you haven’t, why would I rob you of the moment of revelation? It is a sequence of singular magic, and the delight of discovery comes but once.

Suffice to say, Carl precipitously decides to throw caution to the winds and embark on the long-dormant dream he and Ellie shared: to follow in the footsteps of their childhood hero Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) and go to South America to see the spectacular Paradise Falls in the “Lost World” of Venezuelan mesa country. Yes, the journey started in that magical moment has a destination; Up is not the aimless, lofty film one might imagine from the trailer.

Yet nothing so far could prepare you for the lunacy that commences once the film reaches the vicinity of Carl’s destination. Somehow, like Dorothy with her cyclone, like Muntz in those old newsreeels, Carl has left the ordinary world behind and landed in a “Lost World” of his boyhood pulp fantasies — a world of lighter-than-air airships and biplane dogfights, of exotic refugees from a Dr. Seuss zoology, of “Wallace & Gromit”–esque dogs who cook, among other things, and even (in a conceit echoing the film version of Michael Crichton’s “Lost World” tale Congo ) communicate in a way that is both goofily human yet hilariously canine.

As wonky as the proceedings get, director Pete Docter ( Monsters, Inc. ) and screenwriter and co-director Bob Peterson ( Finding Nemo ) never entirely lose touch with the ragged human emotions underlying the story. There’s an obvious metaphor in the film itself for the strange blend of realism and zaniness, partly tethered to solid ground, partly twisting in the capricious winds of whimsy.

More fundamentally, Carl’s house, the film’s central metaphor, is the embodiment of his shared life with Ellie, and thereby a symbol of Ellie herself. Up offers a sweeter and less uncanny counterpoint to Gil Kenan’s Monster House , a darker computer-animated tale of a crotchety, reclusive old widower inhabiting a house that’s as much a character as the humans, with a mind of its own. Ellie’s childhood “Adventure Book,” a scrapbook documenting her exploits and aspirations, with its blank pages saved for her hoped-for trip to South America, epitomizes the tension between unrealized dreams and what turns out to be the actual stuff of our lives.

But it goes deeper than that. Not to spoil the emotional and narrative territory, I’ll append some brief final thoughts to the end of the review for readers who have seen the film.

There is also poignancy in Russell the Wilderness Explorer’s back story, and in the simple vignettes in which, ultimately, two broken lives prop one another up. Although not as centrally or violently, Up feels the gulf of grief and betrayal in the wake of the absentee father as acutely as The Spiderwick Chronicles — another family film in which a house is much more than a house.

As powerful as the emotional underpinnings are, the characters experiencing those emotions don’t quite come entirely into their own. They’re somewhat archetypal, not entirely unlike the characters in WALL-E , rather than fully realized, specific individuals, like those of Finding Nemo , The Incredibles and Ratatouille . In part because of this, for all its emotional power, for all that Up gets right, on first viewing I find the overall effect to be poignant and charming rather than enthralling.

Rarefied standards, applicable only to the work of Pixar. The very fact that I came this close to the end of this review without mentioning the studio’s name or comparing it to previous works is a testament to their sustained achievement. There was no need. Only one team in the world is doing work like this.

I did not cry while watching Up , though certainly many will, but I was moved to tears afterward thinking about it. It has become commonplace to say that Pixar makes films as much or more for adults as for children, but this is too facile. Up is a film about life that makes realities of adult and even geriatric experience universally accessible, even to the youngest viewers. Isn’t this among the noblest things a story can do?

Final thoughts (thematic spoilers)

For viewers who have seen the film, some parting thoughts about the symbolic depths of Carl’s house.

As noted above, the house represents both Carl’s shared life with Ellie and Ellie herself, who even in her absence remains the defining fixture of Carl’s life.

At first, the house — Carl’s memories, his mourning, his love for his late wife — is his refuge, his solace in a world that is moving on without him, leaving him behind. Then, in a moment of crisis, the house becomes his escape, his freedom. It buoys him up, elevates him above an intolerable situation.

As time goes on, though, the house starts to become something else: a burden. Baggage. An increasingly torpid, even ridiculous dead weight that he feels obliged to drag laboriously around everywhere he goes.

In the end, it threatens to become something worse: a death trap. It is something Carl must let go. Maybe not all at once — maybe it starts with piecemeal efforts that lighten the load — but in the end the whole thing has to be cut loose.

And then, a paradoxical miracle: Only when he lets it go does it finally take its rightful place in the whole drama of his life. The whole story-arc of the house is an astoundingly fluid metaphor for bereavement, grief, loyalty to departed loved ones, malaise and the threat of morbidity, and finally acceptance and something like peace.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray, Up comes loaded with extras, including commentary by directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, a new short with Dug the dog (“Doug’s Secret Mission”), and behind-the-scenes featurettes on story development (“The Many Endings of Muntz”) and the filmmakers’ expedition to Venezuela’s tepui highlands (“Adventure is Out There”).

Blu-ray extras offer tons more: featurettes on several characters (elderly Carl, young explorer Russell, brightly-plumed Kevin, even Carl’s house!), a geography game and more. The Blu-ray set also comes with the movie on standard DVD, so it’s worth getting even if a Blu-ray player is still well in your future.

I have mostly stopped reading movie reviews prior to viewing the movies, except for the reviews you write. Perhaps I just read the wrong reviewers, but I’ve noticed that more and more of them pretty much just give away the entire story and leave no room for surprise. It’s almost as though movie reviewers these days want to make sure that the movie consumer knows exactly what their $9.00 (or whatever it costs in your market) is getting them. It sure doesn’t leave a lot of room for surprise and wonder. This was brought to mind rather strongly in comparing your review of Up with the review published by another Christian venue for the same movie. I read yours before seeing the movie (I skipped the spoiler section on first reading, though your spoilers tend to be more coy than most), and the other review post-viewing. While I appreciated the other critic’s insights into some of the themes, I found the six or seven paragraphs summarizing almost the entire movie to be way to revealing. The review gave away too much. I say this not to pick on the other critic, but to illustrate what I see to be a general trend in movie reviews. I’m not a particularly observant movie watcher. I know little about movie-making technique, and I rarely sit around after viewing to analyze what it was that made the story work. I find reviews helpful to tip me off to things to keep an eye out for that I might otherwise miss, insights that amplify the viewing experience, and of course, whether the movie is one I might want to see. For me, a good review is one that I can read both before and after seeing the film and get something out of each time, while also getting to enjoy the movie itself. So thank you. Your reviews are consistently excellent (even when I have to disagree with your conclusions), and have been instrumental in pushing me to see movies I might not otherwise have seen (e.g. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days ). You don’t give away the story or spoil the movie for me, either. For all these things, I am grateful. Thank you!

I think you should up (no pun intended) your rating to an A+. I saw the movie with my teenage kids and they were moved by the incredible love of the couple. I’ve never seen love expressed so simple and so joyful in a cartoon movie.

Thank you for your “final thoughts” on the real role of the house in Up . There was something about the house’s relationship with Carl I didn’t quite get at the time (possibly because I was holding a 2-year-old on my lap, and the moment of the great house-purging occurred just as he — the 2-year-old — ran out of cherry icee — otherwise, he sat through the entire thing in rapt attention), but your comments on how [ spoiler alert ] the house became a burden to be dragged around and Carl’s piecemeal attempts to rid himself of it before realizing it was a real life-trap made the whole movie click for me. And, for what it’s worth, I was one of the guys who cried in the theater (probably the only time during the movie I was glad we’d seen it in 3‑D … those tinted buddy holly glasses are good for something). Not too many animated movies deal with the unsharable grief of a miscarriage (and certainly none with that degree of economy and emotional precision). But then, I cried in Cars (and every other Pixar movie), too, when Route 66 gets bypassed and Radiator Springs becomes a forgotten ghost town, so maybe I’m just a sucker for a good story.

Up was a joy. Your review not only encouraged us to go see it, it magnified our pleasure with the qualities and values it presented. Thanks for your site. You’re a gifted educator.

Thank you for your interesting review of Up . I thought the film was “cute”, but I was personally disappointed after all the hype. Something bothered me (besides the repetitive soundtrack): there were a lot of violent elements in the film (life-threatening situations for the heroes). I understand this is a cartoon, but at the same time, this is not a film with talking cars, superheroes, animated toys, or talking animals (well … okay). We have a character who tries to kill the young Wilderness Explorer not once, not twice but three times (the last time with a shotgun!). When the crazy guy falls to his death, there is no reaction from our “heroes” (not even shock or horror) — their only concern is for the house (and for the weird bird). This situation kinda felt odd in a film geared to young kids.

What are you opinions on the character of Kevin as a gay/transgendered character (colorful, rainbow-like character)? I’ve read that this was a subtle nod by Pixar to the Prop 8/GLBT crowd. I saw the movie and didn’t pick up on it, but others who have seen it had commented on this. I am interested to hear your opinion on this.

I’ve read a lot of reviews of Up , but I don’t think I have heard anyone addressing this particular issue [ spoiler warning ]. When Carl lifts up his house for his trip to Central America, he severs his home’s plumbing and electricity. He makes it clear that he doesn’t have any more balloons or helium. He can’t go back. He only has the food he keeps in the house, and he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to find more edibles in the jungle (and he certainly isn’t prepared to hunt). If he has a medical emergency, there is no doctor or hospital for maybe hundreds of miles. That leads to one conclusion: Carl is going to South America to die. Carl is clearly really healthy for his age (evidenced by all the physical activity he performs), but if he did succeed in moving his house to the cliffs, he would probably only have a few weeks before he died, probably of starvation. This journey is not just an adventure, it’s a suicide mission. I think that the heart of the story lies in Russell (and also Doug’s) ability to make Carl come alive once more. Once Carl realizes that he has a responsibility to others besides himself, Carl realizes that he has to fight to stay alive. I would like to make some comments on your final thoughts on the great metaphor that is Carl’s house. I think that in making the journey, Carl is trying to write the last chapter of his life, and the love story between himself and Ellie. By ripping it from the ground and disconnecting all pipes and wires, he has deliberately rendered it impossible to live in for very long. He has tried to draw the curtain on his life, but Russell and Doug draw it back again, and for the first time since Ellie’s death, Carl has someone to live for — thank goodness.

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If you’ve heard anything at all about Longlegs , the new horror movie starring Nicolas Cage, you’ve probably seen someone claiming it’s one of the scariest movies ever made . From the movie’s excellent marketing to the avalanche of disturbed reactions from early screenings , all of the buzz ahead of this movie is that it’s utterly terrifying. It isn’t, though. Most horror fans aren’t likely to find it scary at all — which doesn’t stop it from being a great, supremely creepy movie. Longlegs situates itself in the long line of classic horror-thrillers like The Shining and The Silence of the Lambs — movies that are better at making people squirm than making them jump. Director Osgood Perkins ( The Blackcoat’s Daughter ) is clearly more interested in hearing audiences’ nervous laughs than just their screams.

On its face, the movie is a fairly straightforward serial-killer hunt with a few supernatural twists. Horror veteran Maika Monroe ( It Follows ) plays Lee Harker, a young FBI agent who seems unusually talented and intuitive. As a result, she gets assigned to investigate one of the FBI’s longest-standing mysteries: a series of brutal killings in which a father murdered his family in their own home, then killed himself as well. The only things linking these killings is that a daughter in the family has a birthday on the 14th of the month and that at each of the crime scenes is an encoded, seemingly Satanist note from someone who calls himself Longlegs. But there’s no evidence that anyone outside the family was ever at any of the homes when the crimes occurred.

A dark figure in a ghostly habit shape fills up most of the frame while standing in front of a doorway with a cross above it in Longlegs

Perkins’ script plays out all this setup with a deft hand, pulling in visual and narrative references from movies like Zodiac , Seven , and The Silence of the Lambs to help orient the audience as quickly as possible. Within the first 20 minutes or so, we already know all the details about the case and everyone involved, which frees Perkins to start infusing the movie with his unique brand of off-kilter creepiness.

Take Lee Harker, a character visually patterned after The Silence of the Lambs’ Clarice Starling, but lacking her put-upon steeliness. Monroe plays Lee with an off-putting vacantness. She’s unquestionably brilliant, but her interpersonal demeanor is uncomfortably terse, as if talking to people or even looking at them is an unpleasant chore for her, and a distraction from finding her next clue. This dynamic makes every scene she’s in disquietingly awkward, cleverly making viewers uneasy even when there aren’t brutal crimes on screen, and adding to the movie’s ever-building sense of tension.

Perkins isn’t afraid to leverage Monroe’s fantastically strange performance for comedy, either. In one early scene, Lee meets the daughter of her FBI boss, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood). Lee sits on the girl’s bed with her whole body locked in tension, examining the room like a crime scene, desperate for something to talk about. Finally, after drawing the awkwardness out, she picks up a ballet trophy that’s missing its head. When Carter’s daughter says she doesn’t know where the head is, Lee comments, straight-faced, that locating a missing head would be her job, not the girl’s. It’s a pitch-perfect joke about her own strangeness, and Lee is the only one who isn’t in on it.

Blair Underwood as Agent Carter in Longlegs holding a cloth up to his nose and looking toward a crime scene that’s off-screen

It’s a genuinely funny scene, but in a way that feels refreshingly antagonistic. It’s like Perkins is daring us to laugh our way through the characters’ awkward discomfort. Longlegs is full of these inappropriate little punchlines — and as the movie’s violence increases, and its tone becomes darker, they get even more effective. Each one is a little challenge to see just how disturbing a scene can be while still forcing an uneasy chuckle out of the audience.

Balancing a mood like this, equal parts terrifying and funny, feels nearly impossible, particularly when falling too far to either side would topple the movie entirely. But Perkins never slips — he keeps the tension and discomfort perfectly measured throughout. That tone is exactly what makes Longlegs creepy, rather than scary.

Scary, in this case, is something physical a movie does to you: an increased heart rate, a nervous sweat, muscles tensing in anticipation of an inevitable jump. Scary comes in waves. It ebbs and flows, coils and releases in a steady rhythm. Creepiness, on the other hand, is dread that constantly builds on itself. While the fear from a scary movie comes from the anticipation of the tension releasing, creepy movies find fear in the idea that that tension might never release at all.

Maika Monroe alone in a car as Lee Harker in Longlegs, screaming at the top of her lungs and gripping the steering wheel

Perkins has frequently brought up David Lynch as a source of inspiration, and movies like Mulholland Drive or Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me are prime examples of the heights of this kind of creepiness on film. In Longlegs ’ case, every inch of the movie feels crafted to heighten this oppressively discomforting mood and the uneasy feeling that you might never escape its particular brand of off-kilter, Satanic strangeness. In no place is that more straightforwardly clear than in Nicolas Cage’s performance as Longlegs himself.

Far from the perfected psychopath that generally defines the serial-killer mold, Cage’s performance is built on discomforting goofiness. He screams in his car to hard rock music, speaks with a clownish voice that feels more fit for a character on a children’s TV show from hell, and generally floats around scenes with a perverse giddiness that suggests he’s confident that he has Satan’s full backing. It’s a thoroughly unnerving performance, but also a hilarious one. Perkins allows Cage to play up Longlegs’ silliness for laughs, only to juxtapose it with his grisly murders immediately afterward. The humor and horror enhance rather than undercut each other, making each chuckle feel like you’re slipping deeper into Longlegs’ own twisted, gross reality.

The back of Nicolas Cage’s head in Longlegs, as he sits at an metal table in an interrogation room

All that said, Cage’s performance is unmistakably big, and full of bold choices. It’s likely to be a litmus test for whether you’re on the movie’s wavelength. Longlegs ’ lack of direct scares combined with Cage’s performance and the script’s sense of humor is likely to put some viewers off the movie right away, particularly when combined with the marketing’s overinflation of the movie’s terror.

Longlegs isn’t the generationally terrifying movie it’s been sold as. It’s funny, strange, and creepy in exactly the right measures, but that won’t stop some viewers from being disappointed over having their expectations set incorrectly. With Longlegs , Perkins doesn’t want viewers to flinch in the theater; he wants to make them flinch later, anytime they hear a noise in the dark. Or to spend a few days wondering what made them laugh at something so grotesque, even though the movie invited those laughs in the first place. When we’re far enough away from Longlegs ’ marketing push to forget it entirely, we’ll still feel lucky to have the film asking those questions on its own terms.

Longlegs debuts in theaters on July 12.

The Death Note musical fixed the anime to become the superior adaptation

There’s a secret reason nicolas cage looks so damn weird in longlegs, hell yeah, the sequel to netflix’s best horror-thriller has a trailer and release date, loading comments....

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Pixar's stunning adventure is an upper for everyone.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Meant to entertain, but might inspire an interest

Carl and Russell become good friends and teach eac

Strong role models for multi-generational friendsh

There's some mild peril from thunderstorms hitting

This movie is part of the Disney-Pixar dynasty, wi

Two adults drink out of champagne flutes.

Educational Value

Meant to entertain, but might inspire an interest in travel and adventure.

Positive Messages

Carl and Russell become good friends and teach each other about responsibility, caring for nature, and the movie's main theme about "the spirit of adventure." Loyalty, grit, teamwork, and creative thinking are also themes.

Positive Role Models

Strong role models for multi-generational friendship and a successful marriage. Young Ellie befriends an otherwise lonely young Carl; they become best friends and later a married couple. He takes care of her after she grows ill, and he embarks on a journey to fulfill a lifelong dream of theirs. Russell is a spunky, determined kid. Characters demonstrate integrity, empathy, and gratitude.

Violence & Scariness

There's some mild peril from thunderstorms hitting the house, and a sad sequence that shows Ellie sick in the hospital and then Carl in a funeral home, surrounded by flowers. Both a real gun and a tranquilizer gun are fired at various characters. A house gets set on fire. Younger kids might be scared by some 3-D images that jump at them from the screen, as well as Muntz' dogs, which sometimes appear seemingly out of nowhere, growling and angry. Muntz tries to get rid of Carl and Russell, even if it means trying to kill them. One character falls to his death.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

This movie is part of the Disney-Pixar dynasty, with merchandise and other marketing tie-ins associated with the film.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Up is the second Pixar movie (after The Incredibles ) to receive a PG rating, mostly due to a few potentially frightening scenes involving a band of trained talking dogs trying to get rid of the protagonists, some moments where characters almost fall from a floating house, and some guns firing. That said, it's Disney/Pixar, so the violence is mild. Viewers should note that an early wordless sequence follows an emotional and potentially upsetting trajectory that could trigger questions about old age, illness, and death. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parents say (251)
Kids say (264)

Based on 251 parent reviews

Very sad and emotionally intense

Might be intense for younger children, what's the story.

In UP, septuagenarian Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner ) and his wife Ellie had a shared dream since childhood: to visit exotic Paradise Falls in South America, a place the once-famous explorer Charles Muntz ( Christopher Plummer ) claimed was the most beautiful in the world. After Ellie dies, Carl decides to make his beloved late wife's dream come true and unveils hundreds of helium balloons to fly his house to Paradise Falls. Unbeknownst to Carl, a young Wildlife Explorer scout named Russell (Justin Nagai) is along for the ride. When they finally arrive, the odd couple discovers that Muntz is more interested in killing an elusive rare bird than living in paradise.

Is It Any Good?

Pixar has brought to life a multi-generational odd couple in a film that's visually stunning, surprisingly touching, and unsurprisingly delightful. After nine films, Pixar's legend is well known; it's the only studio with a perfect record both commercially (each of its releases has grossed more than $150 million) and critically. Up is no exception on the latter front, and considering the demand for family entertainment, it's sure to be a big hit money-wise, too.

The beginning of the film is an unexpected tearjerker following the entire marriage -- from first sight to widowhood -- of adventurous-at-heart Carl and Ellie Fredricksen. But he bulk of the story, as the trailer promises, is Carl and Russell's amazing skyward journey to Paradise Falls. Above the gorgeous and colorful animated vistas, Pixar's astonishing achievement is the sweet, funny, lasting relationship that it's odd-couple heroes share.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Up 's central relationship between Carl and Russell. What does the movie have to say about multigenerational friendships? What does a young boy teach an elderly man, and vice versa?

Kids: What kind of adventures do you dream of having? Does an adventure need to be somewhere far away?

How do the characters in Up demonstrate empathy and teamwork ? What about integrity and gratitude ? Why are these important character strengths ?

Movie Details

In theaters : May 29, 2009
On DVD or streaming : November 10, 2009
Cast : Christopher Plummer , Ed Asner , Jordan Nagai
Director : Pete Docter
Studio : Pixar Animation Studios
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Adventures , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models
Character Strengths : Empathy , Gratitude , Integrity , Teamwork
Run time : 98 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : some peril and action
Award : Kids' Choice Award
Last updated : May 15, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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People Are Sharing What They Believe Are "Good F****ed-Up Movies," So Get Your Watch List Ready

"I love the moral of this movie's story: if you follow your dreams, and with a little bit of magic...you'll get shot in the gut and bleed out."

BuzzFeed Staff

WARNING : Due to the nature of the question being answered in this post, there are some SPOILERS AHEAD for the following movies. We've listed the titles first so you can decide if you'd like to read on or skip. Please proceed with caution!

In a recent viral thread, redditor u/Kilo_616 asked, " What’s a good fucked-up movie? " and, WHEW, did movie lovers come through with some A+, nightmare-inducing recommendations.

So, with that in mind, here are some of the most popular responses shared:, 1. threads (1984).

"It's a depiction of nuclear war that is unanimously loved over in r/horror . A year after seeing it, it still bothers me."

— u/groovy604

"When I was 9, we moved into a house. The previous tenants had left some old VHS tapes (this was '98), and one was labelled the The Wizard of Oz . So we put it in to watch while my mom went and did whatever mom did back then. Turns out, they'd had taped over The Wizard of Oz with Threads . I watched it with my 8-year-old sister and it totally fucked us up. I couldn't understand why mankind would have such horrible things that could cause such horrible pain, it baffled me and I'm pretty sure that it is my first recollection of true anxiety."

— u/C4ptainchr0nic

You can watch the trailer here (if you dare):

View this video on YouTube

2. nightcrawler (2014).

"This movie is straight-up about how a person with no empathy uses media desire for gore to enrich himself, and his lack of emotion regarding people is really fucking creepy."

— u/Menacing_Sea_Lamprey

"I still can't watch Jake Gyllenhaal in ANYTHING without my skin crawling. This movie is extremely tame compared to some of the movies I've seen recommended, but Gyllenhaal does such a great job of being evil and sleezy, it makes me want to take a scalding hot shower."

— u/victorzamora

3. The Road (2009)

"The basement scene is so messed up. I want to watch it again, but it's so sad."

— u/thelbro

"Dude, the part where they catch the mom and her kid in the truck cage messed me up. It made me wonder what I’d do if it were me and my kid. Just the bleakest possible outcomes from start to finish with that film."

— u/FurrrryBaby

4. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

"I was not expecting the tone of that movie at all!"

— u/2kids2adults

"I love the moral of this movie's story: if you follow your dreams, and with a little bit of magic, you'll get shot in the gut and bleed out."

— u/PsychVol

5. American Psycho (2000)

"I would argue this movie is kind of fucked-up, but it’s also just so fucking funny."

— u/infinityking1

"I always laugh at how coincidental it is that Christian Bale (a former Batman ) slaughters Jared Leto (a former Joker) in that movie!"

— u/innerfatboy3

6. Martyrs (2008)

"The original French version is weirdly beautiful in a very morbid way."

— u/Jabronisdick

"This movie really just puts you in an uncomfortable place by the end. French horror is weird."

— u/ProfessionalChampion

7. Swiss Army Man (2016)

A man and a corpse sit beside each other in the woods

"That was quite a journey. Honestly, I sat there for five minutes afterwards wondering what the hell I just watched."

— u/Uncomfortablemoment9

"A friend and I took acid then closed our eyes while scrolling through Netflix and this is what came on. We watched this without even knowing the title. Talk about a mindfuck!"

— u/beefman202

8. Se7en (1995)

"Everyone knows the 'What's in the box?!' quote, almost as if it's a joke/meme. I always wonder how many of them have actually seen the movie."

— u/ToastNeo1

"I had not heard that joke before I saw the movie, so I was SHOCKED."

— u/ToBeReadOutLoud

9. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

"I will always respond to a Dear Zachary recommendation. It's a great doc, it's so well made, but my one single watch will be the only time I will ever watch it. It made me sore physically, from the crying, tension, and anger, but I still highly recommend it. People often list Schindler's List as a one-time watch movie for them, but Dear Zachary was my one-time watch."

— u/SafewordisJohnCandy

"The fact that movie was made because someone loved and cared about their best friend so much is something else."

— u/russeljimmy

10. Sorry to Bother You (2018)

A couple stands together looking at a camera

"That movie goes from 'Okay, this is funny in an offbeat way' to '...did someone slip me acid?' within like five minutes."

— u/cthulhujr

"I went and watched this on Netflix after watching the trailer. I thought I knew what the twist was, then I thought I knew what the twist was... then I knew what the twist was...then, I was like, 'What the fuck did I just watch?!'"

— u/IrishRepoMan

11. Hard Candy (2005)

"I was so deeply uncomfortable watching this movie that I started laughing involuntarily. It creeped my partner out so much that the reaction was referenced during the break-up shortly thereafter."

— u/Bytowneboy2

"Damn, Elliot Page owns that movie. A phenomenal performance by a young person in what is really a two actor, full-length piece. It is really distributing content, too."

— u/doktorhladnjak

12. Event Horizon (1997)

"The best Warhammer 40k movie that isn't a Warhammer 40k movie."

— u/Stalking_Reaptor

"I saw Event Horizon in the theaters thinking it was just going to be a sci-fi suspense movie. I had no idea it was going to be a horror movie. I was shook for a few hours after that movie."

— u/SDN_stilldoesnothing

13. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

"It's not the kind of movie you make a habit of watching, but it is quite brilliant and profound."

— u/Creative_Recover

"Not knowing anything about it, I took a first date to it. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a second date."

— u/Nars-Glinley

14. Let the Right One In (2008)

"It's a Swedish vampire movie involving children. It took me a few days to get over that one, but it's good."

— u/littlemarcus91

"We watched this in my high school Horror Literature class. I'm not sure showing it to bunch of teenagers was the best idea, but it was so good!"

— u/TheAICortana

15. The Deer Hunter (1978)

"It’s an emotional beating, and you only need to see it once, but it’s a masterpiece. It gave me nightmares for a few days after I watched it."

— u/spiderhead

"I was full-on depressed for two weeks after seeing that movie. It’s an excellent movie, but rough on the emotions."

— u/myotheregg

16. Hereditary (2018)

"It didn’t exactly scare me, but it made me leave the theater feeling gross and like I saw something I shouldn’t have."

— u/Old_Army90

"That’s a good way of putting it. I didn’t know what kind of ‘horror’ I was going to get from this movie, but it had me thinking for a couple days. It did a good job of dragging you down alongside all of the other characters spiraling downwards."

— u/BRIIIIIICKSQUAAAAAAD

17. The Lobster (2015)

"I loved that movie. The stiffness in the air that comes from all the awkward forced interactions between the characters leaves you squirming throughout the entire movie in a good way. The most jarring part for me (and my favorite scene by far) was when that 5-year-old girl just straight up orders her mom to kill the protagonist like he’s a spider or something."

— u/Grampa-Harold

"Nothing about this movie felt predictable, and all of it was odd and uncomfortable in the best way."

18. Mandy (2018)

A bloodied man stares off in the distance

"I get so frustrated trying to tell people why this movie is so good because I don't have the cinema/writing/critical background to articulate just how different and amazing and special this movie felt. Like, if you could somehow ONLY take the good parts of Hellraiser , Conan , House of 1000 Corpses , and every fridged girlfriend revenge flick ever made, and still make a sick action/horror film — this would be it, and a visually stunning one at that."

— u/argemene

"I think the score/soundtrack is what really made that movie. A dark masterpiece. I kind of knew about it going in, but was totally unprepared for how intense it would all be. Everyone leaving the theater was dazed, and I couldn't get over how different I felt knowing, experiencing, and appreciating all of it. There are darker, more violent, depraved movies, but nothing is quite like Mandy ."

— u/BigBobBone

19. Uncut Gems (2019)

"It's an hour and a half of a man making the wrong choice every chance he gets. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire movie."

— u/Scurvy_Pete

"It took me three separate sittings to get through the whole thing. Goddamn is it good at creating incredibly stressful tension that never releases."

20. The Cell (2000)

"I loved that film when it came out back when I was in college. It's visually gorgeous (the director had previously done a number of famous music videos – including REM's Losing My Religion – and it shows). It has a solid plot and surprisingly good acting from Jennifer Lopez (probably her best film)."

"that one horse scene fucked me up and stuck with me. hell if i know what the rest of the movie was about other than a horse getting instantaneously vivisected.".

— u/firestorm_v1

21. The Vanishing (1988)

"The original Dutch version. The scene at the end where the main character wakes up to realize he's been buried alive is probably the most long-term horrifying thing I've ever been exposed to. It took me weeks to get over that and stop thinking about it all the time. Not just bad because it's bad, but because the main character chose it."

— u/Garfield-1-23-23

"I'm so glad someone else brought this movie up. The original is far and away the scariest movie ever to me, primarily because it's so real. There's no monsters. No complex Saw traps. Just a fucking lunatic who buries people alive."

— u/TheOvenLord

22. Titane (2021)

"This movie starts fucked and gets fuckeder and fuckeder — in a wholesome way, though."

— u/CosmicPennyworth

"It's a good movie! It may not be everyone's taste, but its originality can't be disputed. Disturbing and poignant."

— u/karmalove15

You've read their recommendations, but now it's your turn! What would you say is a "good" fucked-up movie? Share your pick(s) in the comments below!

Some responses were edited for length and/or clarity. H/T Reddit .

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‘Longlegs’ Review: Nicolas Cage Worms His Way Into Your Nightmares With Dread-Filled Serial Killer Thriller

Osgood Perkins' ’90s-set horror movie disturbs more over time than it does in the moment, getting scary once its singularly Satanic boogeyman embeds in your head.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains mild spoilers.

Now here’s a first: Apart from the pale-faced freak show of the film’s title, the experience of watching “ Longlegs ” didn’t strike me as all that frightening. At first. In the moment, it’s considerably less scary than the ecstatic early buzz — ginned up by Neon via whisper campaigns and strategic advance screenings — would have you believe. Less than 12 hours after seeing it, however, the demented Nicolas Cage character resurfaced in my nightmares, popping up out of nowhere to screech, “Hail Satan!” in that unnerving, high-pitched voice of his.

Reviewed at Wilshire Screening Room, Los Angeles, July 1, 2024. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 101 MIN.

Production: A Neon release and presentation, in association with C2, of a Traffic., Range, Oddfellows, Saturn Films production. Producers: Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Nicolas Cage, Dave Caplan, Chris Ferguson. Executive producers: Jason Cloth, Andrea Bucko, Ronnie Exley, Lawrence Minicone, Sean Krajewski, David Gendron, Liz Destro, Tom Quinn, Jason Wald, Christian Parkes, Teddy Schwarzman, John Friedberg, Laura Austin-Little, Jesse Savath, Fred Berger.
Crew: Director, writer: Osgood Perkins. Camera: Andrés Arochi Tinajero. Editors: Greg Ng, Graham Fortin. Musci: Zilgi.
With: Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Nicolas Cage, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby.

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TWISTERS’ Stars and Tornadoes Overcome Its Flaws To Spin Up an Entertaining Film

Thanks to its fantastic trailers , I went into Twisters with high hopes. Thanks to my love of its 1996 predecessor , I also went in with high standards. That’s a double dose of heavy expectations for any movie. The fact I walked out of my theater happy says a lot, even though Twisters is far from perfect. Its obvious flaws—including a sometimes clunky script, weird pacing issues, and occasional hokeyness—prevent the movie from true greatness. But those problems are overcome by three fantastic leads, great visual effects, and an engaging mix of fun, excitement, terror, and well-earned heart.

Twisters ‘ script is sometimes genuinely funny, sometimes genuinely moving, and sometimes genuinely bad. Some scenes, including the big finale, seem to come out of nowhere, as though director Lee Isaac Chung forgot to film some scenes. Just like a tornado that sprouts up without warning, those structural issues cause damage. There are portions of the film where it feels like a collection of scenes rather than a cohesive story.

The movie also suffers from a few moments or lines of dialogue that cross over from the film’s frequent “good silly” vibe to “bad silly.” On a few occasions, my packed theater laughed at something a character said or plot points that were clearly not meant to be funny. Considering one such moment is a key “conflict” between good guys and bad, that wasn’t ideal. Those failures are especially frustrating because there are scenes where everything in Twisters is absolutely clicking and you know the movie could have avoided its biggest mistakes.

Two people caught in a dust storm near a truck in Twisters

One of those mistakes is that Twisters comes up short in its attempts to recapture the original film’s fundamentally important group dynamic. It never fully commits to that element of the story. We don’t spend enough time with the ragtag storm chasers to feel like we truly know who they are, either as individuals or as friends. It’s not terrible nor bad (and the actual group members are all enjoyable in limited parts); it’s just an aspect of Twisters that feels incomplete even as it’s unfolding.

The film also takes a little while to get going after its predictable yet engrossing opening scene. Fortunately things pick up when Glen Powell’s cowboy storm chaser Tyler Owens shows up. He arrives with a rodeo arena-sized amount of charm and swagger. Powell’s a capital “L” Leading Man and an absolutely perfect fit for the Twister franchise’s ethos. (Which this sequel fully understands.) Powell’s entertaining, funny, brash, smart, and vulnerable.

Daisy Edgar-Jones and glen Powell smiling out in the open in Twisters

What—or rather who—really makes Powell shine is his co-star, Daisy Edgar-Jones. She carries the emotional weight of the film that is a big part of why the movie works. An even bigger reason it does is their off-the-charts onscreen chemistry. They’re excellent every single time they’re together and elevate the movie past its issues. Powell and Edgar-Jones as a duo are easily my favorite part of the film.

They aren’t the only standouts in the cast. Twisters ‘ third star is Anthony Ramos. He plays an old friend of Edgar-Jones’ tornado whisperer Kate that comes calling with a new opportunity. His offer to her drives the plot (which is perfectly cromulent). Ramos has a tough role, both in terms of the character and his place in the film. It would have been really easy for his Javi to feel like an afterthought or plot device, but Ramos feels just as important to the story as his co-stars. His arc also contributes to the film’s biggest theme about why any of these people do what they do. A lesser performance would have dragged the Twisters down. Instead, like Powell and Edgar-Jones, Ramos lifts up the movie.

Glen POowell in a white t-shirt and cowboy hat looking back while walking in the rain towards a red truck in Twisters

As do the movie’s tornadoes. They look totally believable and totally terrifying, even when they’re relatively smaller twisters. I just wish there were more of them. The movie would benefit from at least one more big tornado sequence, but two more would have been even better. Fortunately one of the biggest ones we see is among the scariest natural disaster sequences ever put on film. It takes place at night and I think I forgot to breathe as it unfolded. Watching was like getting caught up in a horror movie you didn’t plan on seeing. I want to see Twisters again on the biggest, loudest screen I can just for this one moment.

If Twisters delivered a better structured ending, one that didn’t feel rushed and out of nowhere, I would have absolutely loved it even despite its obvious flaws. Instead I really liked it. For a film I expected a lot from, that’s still really good. Twisters , which made me laugh, grip my seat, and worry over who would survive, captures a lot of what made the original movie so entertaining and memorable. And it did that while creating even more believable, more terrifying tornadoes, which spun alongside fantastic acting and characters I cared about. It’s not a perfect storm of a movie, but it’s still a damn entertaining one.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist and is all ready preparing to see Twisters again. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike . And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

up movie review

Thread starter Ethan Grant
Start date Jul 18, 2014

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Still living in the world of rock music.

Jul 18, 2014

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What Is Project 2025, and Why Is Trump Disavowing It?

The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump’s ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform.

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Kevin Roberts, wearing a dark suit and blue tie and speaking into a microphone at a lectern. The lectern says, “National Religious Broadcasters, nrb.org.”

By Simon J. Levien

Donald J. Trump has gone to great lengths to distance himself from Project 2025, a set of conservative policy proposals for a future Republican administration that has outraged Democrats. He has claimed he knows nothing about it or the people involved in creating it.

Mr. Trump himself was not behind the project. But some of his allies were.

The document, its origins and the interplay between it and the Trump campaign have made for one of the most hotly debated questions of the 2024 race.

Here is what to know about Project 2025, and who is behind it.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and like-minded conservative groups before Mr. Trump officially entered the 2024 race. The Heritage Foundation is a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency.

The project was intended as a buffet of options for the Trump administration or any other Republican presidency. It’s the latest installment in the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership series, which has compiled conservative policy proposals every few years since 1981. But no previous study has been as sweeping in its recommendations — or as widely discussed.

Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, which began putting together the latest document in 2022, said he thought the American government would embrace a more conservative era, one that he hoped Republicans would usher in.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution,” Mr. Roberts said on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing cable channel, in early July, adding pointedly that the revolt “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

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"She's got it figured out." Lizzy ( Michelle Williams ), a sculptor living and working in Portland, says about Jo ( Hong Chau ), her landlord, fellow artist and seemingly only friend. It's not a smooth relationship. Jo, who lives in the unit next door to Lizzy, is an inattentive landlord. Lizzy has no hot water, Jo keeps saying she'll get to it. Lizzy looks on at Jo's hardiness and resilience in wonder and something like envy, although the envy is more a nagging itch than Iago's overwhelming monomania. This relationship is the center of Kelly Reichardt 's gentle and sometimes funny "Showing Up," although Lizzy is surrounded by people who seemingly care about her. Lizzy is stuck. She can't feel the goodness of her life. Jo has everything she doesn't. Jo's got "it" figured out.

But what is "it"? Jo's art? Her casual ability to self-promote? Or is "it" just life in general? Lizzy is so undeveloped she actually thinks other humans have "it" figured out, rather than understanding all humans have problems and we're all built differently. Everyone moves at their own pace. Marlo Thomas told a story once about how she struggled to make a career for herself in the shadow of her famous father and her peers, who all seemed to be doing better than she was. Her father saw the struggle and said, "You've got to run your own race, baby." Lizzy can't run her own race.

There's a certain kind of competition among small-town "local" artists which has a different flavor from the jostling for status among artists in big cities and big-name artists with national or international reputations. In smaller circles, there's an assumption that all local artists are part of one big family, support of one another is required, everyone goes to everyone else's gallery shows, and nobody should absent themselves from the group. Lizzy is an outsider, but it's self-imposed, and she doesn't even realize it. She works at her alma mater, the Oregon College of Art and Craft (established in 1907, which closed its doors in 2019, the death of a beloved local institution). She's an administrative assistant for her mother ( Maryann Plunkett ), which makes asking for days off awkward. A visiting artist thanks her for creating a beautiful flier for an upcoming show and is surprised to learn Lizzy herself has an upcoming show. Lizzy doesn't "present" as an artist at all.

Kelly Reichardt, one of the most exciting filmmakers working today, nails this insular vibe and the unspoken supersonic buzz of competition and envy. This is a reasonably story-heavy film for Reichardt, who primarily specializes in moody pieces about wanderers and seekers (" Old Joy ," " Wendy and Lucy ," " Meek's Cutoff ," " Certain Women "). Her last film, the celebrated " First Cow ," also featured more of a linear "story" than her others, and "Showing Up" continues in that direction, although on a smaller and quieter scale. The scenes of students working at the college, sculpting, working at looms, or dancing randomly in the grassy lawn, have a Utopian feel, a Utopia Lizzy is barred from.

Lizzy's father ( Judd Hirsch ) was also a sculptor and he takes an interest in his daughter's work. However, he's wrapped up in his own life, with two perpetual visitors, played by Amanda Plummer and Matt Molloy, grifter hippies who never settled down. This duo might have been the lively center of another Reichardt film. Lizzy is irritated by them and feels her father is being taken advantage of (and maybe jealous of the attention they soak up from her dad). She worries about her brother ( John Magaro ), a more stereotypical genius artist, a recluse whose unpredictable behavior is alarming and possibly dangerous. Lizzy also gets caught up in this whole drama with a wounded pigeon foisted on her by Jo. The pigeon takes up a lot of brain space, and Lizzy finds it hard to work with it around. The pigeon is a literary device (the script is by frequent collaborator Jon Raymond of "Wendy and Lucy," "Meek's Cutoff," and "First Cow").

Williams (another frequent Reichardt collaborator) plays a downtrodden meek person, her slope-shouldered shuffling walk evoking disappointment, resentment, and invisibility. Hong Chau emanates energy and confidence, throwing parties for herself, building a tire swing, and working on her gigantic colored-yarn creations. (Michelle Segre created Jo's installations, and Lizzy's small sculptures of women in various stages of wild movement, either joyful or anguished, were created by Cynthia Lahti). The Portland "scene" is totally believable: the storefront galleries, the cheap wine, the cheese squares, the artists on top of one another, totally aware of each other's work, in each others' business, maybe ambivalent, but maybe not. Jo shows up at Lizzy's small gallery show. Lizzy doesn't go to Jo's. This is a no-no. The great André Lauren Benjamin (aka André 3000) plays the kiln operator at the college, and he is another "can do" personality, helpful and supportive to the artists who come to him. Lizzy can't meet him on that level. She's put-upon, maybe even embarrassed about her art. It's not important enough.

This may be stating the obvious, but the title has a dual meaning and expresses the tension in this small community, or, at least, the tension Lizzy feels. "Showing Up" can mean showing up for others, supporting, attending Jo's show, and being happy for her success. "Showing Up" also means feeling like others are ahead of you, doing way better than you, and obliterating your own accomplishments. If you feel "shown up" by your peers, it's impossible to "show up" for others. There's something a little too neat about the structure of "Showing Up," and the pigeon wears its symbolism on its broken wings. But the piercing specificity of Reichardt's vision, and her insights into the dynamics of an art scene like the one in Portland, are spot on.

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Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Showing Up (2023)

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Michelle Williams as Lizzy

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Review: ‘Amadeus,’ Back in Theaters, Is a Perfect Film

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‘Amadeus,’ Back in Theaters, Is a Perfect Film

Poignant, entertaining, and bitchy, who cares that its central conflict is almost entirely made up.

Classical music lovers can debate for hours over which Mozart melody has made the biggest impact. Maybe the first movement of the “Jupiter” symphony, perhaps the Queen of the Night aria from The Magic Flute , or what about the “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” serenade? Those who know the great 18th-century Austrian composer only through the movies have an easier time of it—the sound they’ll remember best may not be music after all but the whinnying, immature, and disobedient laugh heard throughout Milos Forman’s masterpiece Amadeus .

Amadeus, commonly accepted to mean “beloved by God,” was not technically part of Mozart’s name. (He was baptized as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, with Theophilus having a similar translation.) After his death, however, the moniker stuck as a way to venerate him. It’s perfect for the title of this movie, in which rival composer Antonio Salieri allows his jealousy over Mozart’s genius to build into a personal war against God. But expanding on some fudged truth is also in keeping with the spirit of the entire project, as the movie’s central conflict is almost entirely made up. (Even better, then, that the original trailer featured the tagline “Everything you’ve heard is true.”)

Based on a Tony-winning play by Peter Shaffer (inspired by a short 1830 play written by Alexander Pushkin, itself inspired by gossip that Salieri was somehow to blame for Mozart’s early death), Amadeus is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. As such, a new 4K restoration is screening in specialty theaters across North America in advance of a new Blu-ray release. This, plus an eventual availability on streaming, is the first time the version that people originally saw back in 1984 will be available in years. (More on that in a bit.) An upcoming British television miniseries based on Shaffer’s play is in production currently, but we’re skeptical it will have the same magic.

The film’s story is told in flashback, with an old, institutionalized Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) “confessing” how he murdered Mozart (Tom Hulce). We are then witness to how Salieri, court composer to Emperor Joseph II (Jeffrey Jones), has his world turned upside down when Mozart bursts onto the scene. His musical instincts are on a level no mortal can comprehend and clearly, Salieri feels, handed down directly from above. But while Mozart’s work is divine, his demeanor is coarse and bratty, which turns Salieri’s understandable envy into an existential rage.

From left: Milos Forman, director of Amadeus ; actor F. Murray Abraham; and producer Saul Zaentz celebrate their Academy Awards on March 25, 1985. ABC Photo Archives/via Getty Images

As the winner of eight Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, and best actor for Abraham’s Salieri, Amadeus ’s legacy is secure, but any excuse to get more people to see this perfect film is a good one. I can personally report that not one, not two, but three millennial friends of mine came to this movie kind of dragging their feet, watching it only out of an obligation to check every Oscar winner off their list. Each one of them was blown away with just how funny and poignant and entertaining it was.

“I thought this would be boring, not bitchy !” one pal beamed after a recent screening I hosted with Paul Zaentz at New York’s Paris Theater. That energetic spark is evident in the script but catches fire in the movie thanks to its director. Forman’s resumé is one of the best from the 20th century, but Amadeus is something special, not just because it is about a maverick artist who has to do things his way (a recurring theme in both Forman’s life and work) but because the expatriate who fled communist-era Czechoslovakia to follow his calling was able to shoot the movie in Prague and Kromeriz. As Mozart cackled in the face of propriety, so Forman was able to poke his thumb in the eyes of those who had previously censored him.

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Forman was born in the town of Caslav in 1932. Both of his parents died in Nazi concentration camps. He attended a school for war orphans where he befriended future filmmaker Ivan Passer and playwright-turned-politician Vaclav Havel. He began working on documentary crews and eventually made short films of his own that blended fact and fiction, getting better material from non-actors than trained professionals. His first feature, Black Peter (1964), focused on a timid teenager, and its follow-up, Loves of a Blonde (1965), was a similarly naturalistic look at awkward romance. Its deadpan, somewhat bleak style ran counter to the splashy films coming out of Italy and France at the time. Both films are early entries to what became known as the Czech New Wave, leading to Forman’s first bona fide masterpiece, The Firemen’s Ball (1967).

Forman directs Hulce in Amadeus . Warner Brothers

While The Firemen’s Ball —Forman’s first film in color—was understood to be a grand metaphor for the inefficiency of the political system at the time, one doesn’t have to know a damn thing about Eastern Bloc history to respect it as an iconoclastic farce not dissimilar from something like South Park . It was immediately banned in Czechoslovakia, but it and Loves of a Blonde were both nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars.

Forman was in France raising funds for his next project during the Soviet invasion of Prague in August 1968. He was fired from his Czech production company and ended up emigrating to the United States. His first Hollywood film was the 1971 counterculture farce Taking Off (in which square, bourgeois parents try to get groovy with their kids, to embarrassing effect), which led to one of the most influential movies of the 1970s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest .

After the anti-authoritarian Cuckoo’s Nest —which won five Oscars, including best picture, best director, best actor for Jack Nicholson, and best actress for Louise Fletcher—came his adaptations of the musical Hair (1979) and E.L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime (1981). With that all under his belt and his hands on the rights to Schaffer’s hot play Amadeus , Forman went back to Prague in triumph.

Amadeus is set mostly in Vienna; still, Prague, which was generally left intact after World War II, certainly looks good on camera. And Prague was also an important city for Mozart. He made two lengthy visits there and found a very welcoming audience. Indeed, he wrote Don Giovanni with the intention of premiering the opera in Prague, which he did at the Estates Theatre in 1787. And it was at the Estates Theatre where Forman filmed many of the movie’s best scenes—ones of Mozart conducting opera, filmed with the alacrity and exuberance normally reserved for an action-adventure sequence. (The use of pyrotechnics in the Don Giovanni scenes caused a lot of worry on set, what with the old theater’s interior being mostly wood.)

Shooting a Hollywood movie behind the Iron Curtain naturally had some hardships. (Fruit and fresh vegetables, rarities at the time, needed to be trucked in from West Germany.) Given Forman’s background, the eyes of the state were on them. During that recent New York screening, Zaentz, who worked as a production coordinator on the project and is also the nephew of film producer Saul Zaentz, said secret police were essentially hands-off, except for one time. During off-hours, some members of the crew would hang out and watch VHS tapes of Hollywood movies and were unaware that some of those titles had been banned. The company was soon requested to keep to only approved films.

Perhaps more poignant was when they were shooting on the Fourth of July during one of the opera scenes. The Czech crew surprised Forman and the actors during one take. Expecting to hear the music of Mozart play back from a PA system, some well-wishers instead cued up “The Star-Spangled Banner” while others unfurled an enormous American flag. Everyone stood up and sang along, except, according to Forman , the 30 or so secret police who had been dispersed among the extras.

An ailing Mozart (left, Hulce) dictates notes of music to Salieri (Abraham) in Amadeus . Warner Brothers

One can easily read the moment as a victory for Forman. Alas, Mozart’s fate was a little different. Though no one knows for sure why he died at the young age of 35—other than the fact that every case of the sniffles had graver implications back in 1791—the movie shows how Mozart’s queasiness with authority shaped him as a hand-to-mouth freelancer and how his lack of a permanent position and persistent money woes were bad for his health. After Amadeus , Forman continued to make movies about troubled-yet-visionary mavericks: Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Francisco Goya in Goya’s Ghosts (2006), and, um, Larry Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).

As for the Salieri yarn? There’s no historical evidence to suggest that the two composers weren’t just colleagues. (It’s true that Mozart did have a paranoid streak and maybe did think that “the Italians” at court had it in for him.) Salieri certainly did not live in chastity out of some pledge to God in exchange for musical inspiration. Indeed, he had eight children. He was also plenty famous at the time of his death and, later in life, was a tutor to Mozart’s youngest son. Nevertheless, no one should let reality get in the way of watching this incredible movie.

This 40th anniversary rerelease is especially exciting for old-school Amadeus-heads as it restores the 160-minute theatrical cut. All one can find out there now is the “director’s cut,” which is 20 minutes longer. As Zaentz explained to me, that version came out in 2002 during the first DVD wave, when home-video distributors were loading up packages with deleted scenes. Rather than have isolated bonus chapters, Forman decided to just release the longer version instead, though never really considered it the definitive cut. However, over time it became the only version in circulation.

While the longer version has a few splendid moments (some backstage zings with Christine Ebersole as Caterina Cavalieri ), it also contains one scene that I am happy to see once again excised. In it, Salieri goes a wee bit too far and humiliates Mozart’s wife, Constanze (Elizabeth Berridge). It’s important for Salieri to be a scheming twerp but also someone who still holds your sympathy. The controversial scene only found in the director’s cut pushes him too far into the role of villain.

So sometimes edits are important! It is said that Mozart never revised, that he took dictation from God. As with so much else about the man, the truth is a little different .

Jordan Hoffman is a film critic and entertainment journalist living in Queens, New York. Twitter: @jhoffman

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'Showing Up' Review: Michelle Williams and Kelly Reichardt Unite for Another Sublime Character Study

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What is it to be an artist? The desire to create, no matter what form it takes, can be one of life’s true joys just as it is one of its most crushing. You are able to make something where there once was nothing, shouting into the void of the world with your passion that comes to life via writing, filmmaking, or, as is the case in Kelly Reichardt ’s latest film Showing Up , sculpting. Specifically, it is the life of Michelle William ’s Lizzy in which all this is contained.

Though it is a film that is minimalist in the way that Reichardt remains most adept as she finds something dynamic in even the smallest of details, a greater sense of mirth crossed with melancholy emerges. To merely call it her funniest film would be a gross oversimplification, as there is a profound sadness woven throughout it while still being subtly silly. In everything from a quick cut to someone who is no longer there to the repeated stepping over of a dog in a doorway, everything comes to life with an understated yet still humorous disposition. It is an existential humor, delicately capturing the experience of being alive and the way there just never seems to be enough time for what it is we love. It is an experience that has the potential to lay you flat the more times that you cycle through it. While not as propulsive as many of Reichardt’s past works, the simplicity of the story is brought to life with an attention to detail that makes for something distinct in her vast cinematic oeuvre.

This all begins and ends with Lizzy. She lives in Portland, Oregon and works in the administrative office of an arts school while preparing to open a new show of her sculptures. She has a cat and a landlord named Jo ( Hong Chau ) who, in addition to also being an artist, is a point of frustration for Lizzy as she has yet to fix her hot water. An early encounter between the two sees each seeming to talk past the other with Jo more interested in a tire swing than anything else. It results in a concluding punchline to the conversation that is perfectly timed, capturing the frustration that Lizzy has about the whole situation via her sudden absence. Reichardt, who also serves as editor on the film, is just so good at knowing when to cut for the maximum impact that the whole film really sings. Everything just flows together naturally, pulling us deeper and deeper into Lizzy’s little corner of the world. When not defined by her working at her art, it is also about her reckoning with her family who all have their own relationships to her. She works for her mother Jean ( Maryann Plunkett ) which complicates their interactions. Her father Bill ( Judd Hirsch ) is a retired artist who is content to be just bumming around. However, it is the relationship Lizzy has with her brother that proves to be the most illuminating even as it remains fleeting just like all our lives themselves are.

Michelle Williams as Lizzy in Showing Up

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Sean, played by John Magaro who Reichardt worked with on her 2019 film First Cow , is the character who is the most troubled. Though both her parents are largely unbothered by their son's isolation, Lizzy remains increasingly concerned about him. When she visits his home, Sean seems to be growing even more distant from the world around him. He bemoans that he can’t watch television anymore, a slightly humorous complaint that takes on a more worrying edge when he explains that he believes his neighbors are behind it. As Lizzy tries to gently push back on this, he closes off even further and a sliver of resentment creeps into his tone. In a film more interested in explosive confrontations, this could easily devolve into a shouting match. Instead, Reichardt lets things play out with far more patience so it overflows with authenticity. This gives room for Magaro to really capture a character who is growing more and more lost just as someone is trying to extend a helping hand that may be too late.

For anyone who has ever been in such a situation, the pain and discomfort from such a moment can break you without warning. The way Williams, who is largely reserved throughout the entire film, embodies a quiet care for her brother is deeply affecting. You can see all of what she feels in everything from the manner in which she carries herself to the way her face will shift at a statement. The introduction of an animal that she begins to care for, a recurrent motif in Reichardt’s films, shows how she is trying to make things better in the ways that she can to make up for all the ways that she can’t. There is a rich familiarity that is built with this as it shows Lizzy when she is alone. She isn’t lonely per se, often appearing to be most content when just given the chance to create, though there are moments where she seems like she wants someone to reach out to her as she puts herself out there via her art.

Michelle-Williams as Lizzy and André 3000 as Eric in Showing Up

There are those that do, but there remains a sense of artistic disconnection that the film wades through. Most interestingly, it is Sean who gives voice to this in one key scene when he says that "you have to listen to what isn't being said." This statement, especially on a second watch, proves to be the most illuminating of the film. Just the moments where we get to sit with the simple yet beautifully shot scenes by Reichardt’s longtime cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt carry with them a greater weight. They easily could pass by as being insignificant, but you soon come to see that everything is essential. All the glimpses we get of the students at the school, the art that is being constructed, and the particulars of this small community uncover what it is to be alive. While all film is an abstraction of life, there is something that feels just so naturalistic and enthralling to how Reichardt approaches this story. The plot matters less than the emotional experience, itself a form of creation about what it means to create and the way we try to make sense of the troubles in our lives at the same time. The film is simply about being, cutting through all the noise as Sean said to hear what it is that is really going on. Sometimes, life is just about showing up and being present.

When Lizzy wanders down a hall at the school, she takes a moment to look into a room where someone is working on a project. Most other films would simply skip past this, but Reichardt makes it something that we must pay attention to. Though it passes rather quickly, the film loops back around on it towards the very conclusion. Without giving anything away, there is a closing sequence where we just are left to wander away from what the film has ostensibly been building to with Lizzy’s show. It is as if all of that, when it all comes down to it, is not what matters about life. Instead, it is the act of being and creating itself that is what makes life worth living. The process can be full of pain, but there is nothing quite like getting to just take in the world around you then put something back into it. When Reichardt cuts to the end credits after the concluding shot to let us just take that in, we see again the artist creating alone. It was as the film began and, as we now see, is exactly what Sean was talking about. In a world of so much noise, it is Reichardt’s Showing Up that proves to be present and powerful in its accumulation of small moments that come together into something spectacular.

Showing Up is in theaters starting April 7.

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COMMENTS

r/movies on Reddit: What is it about Up (2009) that makes it so
For starters, Incredibles is the best Pixar movie. But what makes Up so good is that it manages to tap in to some really universal themes that are difficult to talk about and it does so masterfully. All the stuff on the island is cartoonish for a few reasons. Obviously, it's so the kids have what they came for.
Up (2009) is the best Pixar movie : r/flicks
Up (2009) is the best Pixar movie. When I saw Up is stuck with me for months. Not a day went by that I didn't think of it. Up is a very emotional film that disguises itself as a fun kid movie. Most Pixar movies have adult themes in it but I believe Up has the most sincere ones. Carl is a man who has always wanted a child but his wife could ...
Up is such a good movie : r/Pixar
That 10 minute montage sequence was able to make me cry, even though no dialogue was used, just character drama, excellent music to match the shifting narrative, and a story told over the course of decades in just 10 minutes. Up is easily one of the best Pixar movies ever made. It's definitely in my top 5 favorite Pixar movies list.
Up movie review & film summary (2009)
"Up" is a wonderful film, with characters who are as believable as any characters can be who spend much of their time floating above the rain forests of Venezuela. They have tempers, problems and obsessions. They are cute and goofy, but they aren't cute in the treacly way of little cartoon animals. They're cute in the human way of the animation master Hayao Miyazaki. Two of the three central ...
'Up' Review: 2009 Pixar Movie
By Michael Rechtshaffen. May 12, 2009 8:57am. Given the inherent three-dimensional quality evident in Pixar's cutting-edge output, the fact that the studio's 10th animated film is the first to ...
Up
Up. PG Released May 29, 2009 1h 36m Kids & Family Comedy Adventure Animation. TRAILER for Up: Trailer 1. List. 98% Tomatometer 297 Reviews. 90% Audience Score 250,000+ Ratings. Carl Fredricksen ...
'UP' Review
Superb work. Visually, UP is just as stunning. The digital 3D tech employed for this film is far from a gimmick - it enhances the experience of the film by multitudes. When Carl and Russell are walking over cliffs or trekking through gorgeously rendered South American jungles, with an enormous floating 3D house harnessed to their backs, it's ...
Up (2009)
User Reviews. Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) as a young quiet kid idolized explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) and his discovery of Paradise Falls. Ellie is much more animated and also a great fan of Muntz. Together they would marry and live their lives together until the day she dies.
Up Movie Review
Up Movie Review. by AVForums Feb 23, 2010. Review. Movies & TV Review. Up Movie (2009) Jump to . ... Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link. Our Review Ethos. Read about our review ethos and the meaning of our review badges. To comment on what you've read here, ...
Up
Read an in-depth review and critical analysis of Up by film critic Brian Eggert on Deep Focus Review. The Spirit of Adventure. Pixar Animation Studios has captured it before, but never so precisely as in Up. The themes throughout the picture address li. The Spirit of Adventure. Pixar Animation Studios has captured it before, but never so ...
Up (2009)
A three-hankie weepie and a cliffhanging thriller. A cross-generational odd-couple buddy movie; a story of man and dog. A tale of sharply observed melancholy truths and whimsically unfettered nonsense. Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson. Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft.
Longlegs is a fantastic horror movie, but it's funny, not scary
Longlegs' marketing says the Nic Cage horror movie is the scariest movie of 2024. It isn't — it's something better and weirder. In theaters July 12.
Up (2009)
Up: Directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson. With Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson. 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen travels to Paradise Falls in his house equipped with balloons, inadvertently taking a young stowaway.
Up Movie Review
Read Common Sense Media's Up review, age rating, and parents guide. Pixar's stunning adventure is an upper for everyone. Read Common Sense Media's Up review, age rating, and parents guide. ... Up Movie Review. 1:31 Up Official trailer. Up. Community Reviews. See all. Parents say (251) Kids say (264) age 7+
Don't Look Up movie review & film summary (2021)
If "Don't Look Up" deserves any award, it's for the work of its casting director, Francine Maisler. This Netflix movie is packed with so many big, expensive names, and it often puts them all in the same room. One scene has Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, Tyler Perry, and Jennifer Lawrence sitting next to each other ...
The Pixar movie "up" has the best start to a movie in the ...
The Pixar movie "up" has the best start to a movie in the film industry. Discussion. The beginning of up is absolutely amazing and we can all agree to that. The movie starts off light hearted like most Pixar movies but in just a few minutes it is the most impactful and best story telling and plot progression I have ever seen. I am pretty ...
Nope movie review & film summary (2022)
The rest of the cast features Steven Yuen as Jupe, a barker who runs an alien-based carnival of sorts out in the same middle of nowhere the Haywoods have their ranch, and Angel (Brandon Perea), a techie specializing in surveillance equipment he sells out of a Best Buy clone called Fry's.Jupe is the survivor of a horrific freak accident on a television show that had the first use of a certain ...
Up Movie Review
Up Movie Review. by AVForums Nov 20, 2009. Review Discussion. Movies & TV Review. Up Movie (2009) Hop to. Scores; The teaser trailer for 'Up' didn't exactly get me excited. A grumpy old guy and a boy scout in a balloon didn't really fire up my enthusiasm - hardened cynic that I am! ... Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email ...
22 "Good F****ed-Up Movies" As Recommended By Reddit
20. The Cell (2000) New Line Cinema / Â©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection. "I loved that film when it came out back when I was in college. It's visually gorgeous (the director had ...
'Longlegs' Review: Nicolas Cage Worms His Way Into Your ...
Osgood Perkins' '90s-set horror movie disturbs more over time than it does in the moment, getting scary once its singularly Satanic boogeyman embeds in your head. SPOILER ALERT: The following ...
TWISTERS' Stars and Tornadoes Overcome Its Flaws To Spin Up ...
Thanks to its fantastic trailers, I went into Twisters with high hopes. Thanks to my love of its 1996 predecessor, I also went in with high standards. That's a double dose of heavy expectations ...
up movie review
this is my review of the Disney animation film up. Forums. New posts. What's new. New posts Latest activity. Log in Register. What's new. New posts. ... up movie review. Thread starter Ethan Grant; Start date Jul 18 ... Share: Facebook X (Twitter) Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link. The Video Forums. Videos & Channels. Film and ...
Up
191K subscribers in the moviecritic community. A subreddit for movie reviews and discussions
What Is Project 2025, and Who Is Behind It?
The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump's ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform. By Simon J. Levien ...
Babygirl (2024)
Babygirl: Directed by Halina Reijn. With Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Jean Reno. Despite the risk and prejudices, a very successful CEO begins an illicit affair with her much younger intern.
Showing Up movie review & film summary (2023)
Showing Up. "She's got it figured out." Lizzy ( Michelle Williams ), a sculptor living and working in Portland, says about Jo ( Hong Chau ), her landlord, fellow artist and seemingly only friend. It's not a smooth relationship. Jo, who lives in the unit next door to Lizzy, is an inattentive landlord. Lizzy has no hot water, Jo keeps saying she ...
'Amadeus' Review: Milos Forman's Perfect Movie About Mozart Is Remastered
After Amadeus, Forman continued to make movies about troubled-yet-visionary mavericks: Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon (1999), Francisco Goya in Goya's Ghosts (2006), and, um, Larry Flynt in The ...
"Up" Movie Review : r/entertainment
Animals and Pets Anime Art Cars and Motor Vehicles Crafts and DIY Culture, Race, and Ethnicity Ethics and Philosophy Fashion Food and Drink History Hobbies Law Learning and Education Military Movies Music Place Podcasts and Streamers Politics Programming Reading, Writing, and Literature Religion and Spirituality Science Tabletop Games ...
'Showing Up' Review: Michelle Williams Creates a Sublime ...
Read our review of Kelly Reichardt's Showing up, starring Michelle Williams, Hong Chau, Maryann Plunkett, Judd Hirsch, and John Magaro. ... Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Flipboard Copy link Email ...
Rifle used by Trump rally shooter bought 11 years ago, person familiar
The FBI continues to search for a motive and clues in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa.

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People Are Sharing What They Believe Are "Good F****ed-Up Movies," So Get Your Watch List Ready

In a recent viral thread, redditor u/Kilo_616 asked, " What’s a good fucked-up movie? " and, WHEW, did movie lovers come through with some A+, nightmare-inducing recommendations.

"It's a depiction of nuclear war that is unanimously loved over in r/horror . A year after seeing it, it still bothers me."

You can watch the trailer here (if you dare):

View this video on YouTube

"This movie is straight-up about how a person with no empathy uses media desire for gore to enrich himself, and his lack of emotion regarding people is really fucking creepy."

"I still can't watch Jake Gyllenhaal in ANYTHING without my skin crawling. This movie is extremely tame compared to some of the movies I've seen recommended, but Gyllenhaal does such a great job of being evil and sleezy, it makes me want to take a scalding hot shower."

3. The Road (2009)

"The basement scene is so messed up. I want to watch it again, but it's so sad."

"Dude, the part where they catch the mom and her kid in the truck cage messed me up. It made me wonder what I’d do if it were me and my kid. Just the bleakest possible outcomes from start to finish with that film."

4. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

"I was not expecting the tone of that movie at all!"

"I love the moral of this movie's story: if you follow your dreams, and with a little bit of magic, you'll get shot in the gut and bleed out."

5. American Psycho (2000)

"I would argue this movie is kind of fucked-up, but it’s also just so fucking funny."