Watched in preparation for Pete Docter's newest film, Inside Out.

Although I like Up quite a bit, I still don't find it to be the masterpiece other people say it is. Yes, it goes without saying that the first ten minutes are absolutely brilliant, flawless even. From the opening bit of exposition to the utterly astonishing montage showing the relationship between Carl and Ellie over the course of several decades, the filmmakers managed to create possibly the greatest thing to come out of the studio. Hell, it might even be one of the greatest movie moments of the 21st century! Every single time I watch it, I'm completely taken by the craftsmanship put into the visual composition, musical accompaniment, and…

After college, most of my friends moved away. I found myself somewhat adrift and unsure of how to connect with others. Around that time, I had a chat online with an old friend that re-opened my struggle with my gender (I had managed to repress things pretty significantly for a few years there), and I felt completely isolated. Even after I started finding new friends and new experiences, I still found myself pulling back, closing off, unable to push myself beyond certain routines. Despite managing to find my own small adventures, even in company, gender dysphoria kept the real me locked away. And in my mind, especially lately, the good parts of those years have been hard to remember. All…

The first ever animated feature film to inaugurate the Cannes Film Festival & one of the only three works of animation to have been nominated for Best Picture Oscar so far, Pixar’s Up is a profoundly intimate human drama, a rollicking adventure, a heartwarming romance, a joyous coming-of-age tale & a rib-tickling comedy, all extraordinarily blended into one gorgeously rendered masterpiece that not only succeeds as one of the best works of Pixar Animation Studios but deserves to be ranked amongst the greatest films ever made.

Commencing its story with what’s unquestionably the finest opening scene in any Pixar film to date, Up tells the story of an old grumpy widower who, in order to avoid going to a retirement home, ties…

Ranking Pixar

I have to admit I was not so high on Up when it was released (a decade ago this coming week). I remember seeing it in theaters and while there was a lot to love, I felt that in comparison to the imaginative and consistent worlds Pixar was known for creating, there were some elements to the adventure plot that felt slapdash and silly (like dogs piloting planes, which still feels a little Dreamworks-ian to this day).

However, sometime in college I decided to read almost every Pixar screenplay, because (good) animated movies are some of the most essential to read because they usually follow very traditional plot outlines but do so in a way that is usually…