Summer Movie #3: Up

Last weekend we went to see Up, the latest Pixar movie.  As with most Pixar movies I feel like they are either spot on (Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Wall-E) or not (Cars).  Up was spot on.  Many of Pixar's movies focus on worlds that are unfamiliar to us such as the perspective of rats, toys, cars, fish, superheroes, etc.  However, Up was the first in my mind to show a world that was for the most part familiar to all of us in one way or another.  I also like that recently Pixar is taking a direction with more mature themes, which in this case was the pursuit of your dreams vs the realities of life.  The underlying lesson in Up was that it is important to always have dreams to aspire to, but it is equally important to recognize that when those dreams don't pan out the ride is still enjoyable.  I guess it was Pixar's way of saying that the journey is more important than the destination. 

My favorite part of the movie was the first half hour or so, because it provides a good deal of context into the character's intentions.  I was interested to see if they would explain why the main character ties a bunch of balloons to his house and why he was such a curmudgeon.  Overall in my mind this movie is on par with the best of Pixar's movies and is also better than Star Trek for this summer.