Review: Up

Pixar Studios may in fact be the gold standard in animated films.

It comes as no surprise that Up was chosen to open the Cannes film festival. It transcends the baggage associated with animated works and presents a compelling film delightful for children, heartbreaking and uplifting for adults. It achieves an astonishing amount of pathos, starting with a strong and moving opening sequence, genuinely emoting animals, surreal landscapes and an uplifting, tightly-plotted overall work.

Carl is a strong quiet (except when yelling at people because of being a grief-stricken crochety bastard) lead who shows a wide variety of emotion — through Carl, the film explores death and grief and nostalgia with subtle touches as well as huge metonyms (the whole house as Carl’s touchstone for Ellie, in addition to the smaller ones like the bird for the mantle and the portrait).

Russell is cute as a truck full of kittens, and Dug the dog is Pure Dog-ness incarnate and given a voice.

The 3D may not have added as much to Up as to other films, but I feel like it worked with the what was going on. I imagine we’ll be seeing more 3D-enabled work from Pixar in the future.

Two thumbs and four paws up.

Project Natal

Microsoft’s response to the Nintendo Wii:

This is very promising, but all will depend on the implementation/execution of their motion capture technology. If it succeeds, it has the possibility to go beyond the Nintendo Wii in enabling for embodied play in video games.

(P)review: Nurse Jackie

This summer, Showtime is bringing a new dark comedy to the game in the form of Nurse Jackie.

Edie Falco (aka Carmela Soprano) plays Nurse Jackie Peyton, who invites comparison to Hugh Laurie’s Dr. Gregory House. But instead of being a mystery show, Nurse Jackie is a black comedy/slice-of-life story.

And of course, instead of following the rockstar lifestyle of doctors ala ER, House, Grey’s Anatomy, etc, this show obviously focuses on nurses. Jackie is given a neophyte nurse “Zoey” to train, swaps stories with her fellow nurse “Mo Mo.” Between this and the deathy-serious setting (an inner-city NYC hospital, and a trauma-ward focus at that).

Jackie is compassionate and abrasive, troubled and dedicated woman who is as much a bundle of indiscretions as any HBO lead or Oscar-movie star. By the end of the first half-hour episode, we’ve seen a full (extra-long) day in Jackie’s life and all the troubles and triumphs that come along with it.

The series promises to be compelling through alternating between uplifting and disturbing, with a visceral sense of reality and lack of Medical Drama glamour. It’s not for the squemish, however, given the amount to which they strive for verisimilitude in the visuals.