Toy Story 3

The movie event to define my life-time [at least, thus far].

I guess if I was able to live in the excitement of Star Wars, that would supersede this... but I missed the original trilogy, and was too young to fully appreciate the return with Episode I. I guess I did catch Episode III at a decent time, but that was just ending something that I ha liked, not ending something that I had grown in time with.

Toy Story however, is my movie (not solely mine, but my generation... if my generation was more dwindled down to just the enthusiasts... generation sounds like too broad a term when considering that most of the people in mine, and surrounding generations are, for lack of a better term, dumb). I was 5 years old when the first Toy Story came out. I never saw it though. I saw the movie when it was released on VHS (and still own my original copy. No anniversary DVD will ever make me finally part with it). I loved it. The animation. The characters. The story. The excitement. The fun. It was spectacular. I couldn't get enough of it. I collected the toys, all of the happy meal prizes, the trading cards, all the good stuff. After it, there was the sudden emergence of more CGI animated movies: A Bugs Life, Antz. Whatever, none were is good as Toy Story (For the record though, I revisited A Bugs Life many years later after becoming a Pixar enthusiast to discover my hidden love for that movie... still like Toy Story more though). So when Toy Story 2 was announced. I was ecstatic.

This movie, my brother and I were actually treated to go see in theaters. I remember it even more because it was the very first movie my mom ever dropped us off to see together, and picked us up afterwards (okay, don't lie, as lame as it sounds now, your first bits of privilege in dependence as a child were awesome...). Wow. They struck gold... again. Everything I adored in the first film were back in a much bigger way. A larger plot filled with even deeper perils, improved graphics, deeper back stories and trials, and even more toys to love! It added so much more depth to the lives and adventures of toys.

And for years, these two Toy Story's filled my need of living toy adventures swimmingly. As I became more intelligent and cultured (lets face it... look back when you were a kid, and your first thought will be: 'wow, was I stupid or what?') I started paying closer attention to Pixar. There was a long drought where I didn't see any Pixar films in theaters. Monsters Inc came and went, Finding Nemo swam into the nations heart, The Incredibles showed us their their super human side, Cars took us on a face paced adventure, but I never went to go see any of them... Don't ask why, I was just dumb... I'd catch them on DVD or saw things like, "oh man, I really want to see that", but never do. It wasn't until Ratatouille that I finally got back into a theater seat to experience a Pixar masterpiece at work. And again, as I grew up, and my taste increased, I started to gain an immense respect for the company and its beautiful products. After that, I didn't miss a single movie. Wall-E. Up. Each movie topping the next (which, is like someone improving their grade starting at an A+ and moving up... The smartypants you almost hate to love).

And so we come to it. Pixar's latest film:

Toy

Story

3

It's an epic idea, in my head. Another Toy Story. It's like being given one more day with the deceased. It's scary, yet hauntingly beautiful.

It was first mentioned waaaaay back in 2004 that Disney (yes just Disney) would be making Toy Story 3 (the famed story of 'if you don't make it, we will'). And as much as I would love to see the worlds favorite toys in action again, I couldn't help picturing a semi-human Mikey Mouse repeatedly punching the child version of me in the fucking face. I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when it was announced that Pixar and its vets would be taking over the helm of the project. Some, like Andrew, still cried foul saying things like, 'even if it is Pixar, they're still [practically] being forced to make the film'... but I didn't care. It was Pixar. I had learned the error of my ways and saw them as they were, which was a shining light of cinema. They heart, skill and style in every aspect of every film was meticulously processed until a certain level of perfection was reached. These people cared. They cared about film. They cared about integrity. They cared about their craft. These people at Pixar did not take mediocrity as a solution.

So I waited.

It was awhile

But Toy Story 3 has finally been released, and I can say with ever fiber of my being that I am fulfilled. I grew up with Andy and his toys. I am continually amazed with the first two films as they still stun me visually and contextually (yes, I saw the double feature in 3D). So now, we were to go full circle to cap off one of the biggest trilogies in film ever made (Overstatement? I think not).

~I'll try not to, but you know there'll be some spoilers from here~

My excitement for this film was immense, and only grew by the fact that it had a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and my friends and I were finally able to secure a midnight showing Friday morning (thanks Kiwi... never thought I'd actually want to see it at midnight that badly :/ ).

Finally, on to the movie itself:

PREMISE- Having been quite some time since the last Toy Story film, the story must follow accordingly. We are new met with a much older Andy (now 17) ready to depart off to the wide world of college. Having gone through the same jump and NOT given up on my toys (or even thought of it), I did hold a bit of a grudge against the teen pretty boy, but whatever, his mom's a milf. Anyways, he was face with the dilemma of what he should do with his toys before he leaves. His bratty little sister is all set to steal his room once he leaves, so he really does need to clear out, and even though the attic would seem like an obvious choice, it's still hard to accept change and so easily relocate the things you've loved for so long. And through a series of events very reminiscent of the beginnings of TS2, the toys come very close to being thrown away, then finally donated to local day care center. This particular daycare is run by a large pink bear who smells of strawberries. It's a paradise to a toy. They will always be played with and never be forgotten. However, bear is even, the toys are forced to be mauled by the little baby monsters, and that fucking baby doll strikes fear into all who look into its 1.5 eyes. So now the toys must stage a daring prison break to get back home.

ANIMATION- The best I've ever seen (although, let me say before I get too far, there was a trailer for Legends of the Guardians before the movie, and the visuals for that were captivating. Kudos on a non-Pixar animated film that wows me on every level visually). Simply put, animation and CG is one of those things that just sort of evolves. Ever new film, video game, tv show, commercial etc. etc. just get better graphic as time goes on. It's clear to see all around us. It's amazing, yet kinda scary (when are graphics gonna be 'as good as they can get'???). But aside from natural progression of the format, we see a rare treat of a deep knowledge in design. Almost every seen I was captivated by the well thought out placement and color of every light source. Every scene had a very detailed emotion that could be felt with out any dialog at all.

SCRIPT- I never thought the very plot of this movie would soar as high as it did. The opening scene starts you off with almost more adrenaline than you can handle. The internal references made place every fan in its heart, as well as itself in the heart of every fan. The plot itself is very dense and very deep stemming from a very simple idea: what do toys do once their owner has grown up? Sadly, we hear of the hardships suffered by this aging. Yard sales, attic, thrown away. Many good toys have lived their last, and are still missed by the remaining few. It's a complete shock to the system when you first hear that so many toys have been lost to time before the film even starts. The plucks at the chords of your heart start before you even knew it... So the film continues with perfect pacing as problems arise, both internal and external for both human, and plastic characters. And at the end of it all, we see very important messages dealing with love and loss. Our lives are built up of some many things that effect us. These toys that Andy has cherished all his life represent such a big piece of who he is. He will never lose that no matter how old he gets, and no matter how far he travels. But sometimes, we need to give things up. We need to move on. We need to find the strength to part with the material, and realize that despite, we will never lose the spiritual. It's a very powerful theme that elegantly plays out and will have you shedding tears at the meaning and innocence found in your own life. For a brief while you are taken to a place inside of you where nothing can hurt you. It's your own innocence starring you down, and you cry as you know we have all had to part with something. We have all dealt with a loss and that simple gesture of understanding means more than anything you may have ever witnessed. It's gives an amazing sense of release as we may let go everything that has been weighing us down.

whew... sorry, I got a bit caught up.

But beyond of the emotion, this movie is genuinely comical. I found myself laughing from start to finish. Even when there was no dialog at all characters euphemisms were enough to rise a chuckle out of me (think Mr. TortillaHead isn't funny? Think again). No big drawn out laughter, but enough to catch, and still progress with the movie.

ACTION- This category seems almost pointless to put, as I'm not making things like 'comedy' a category, but I just want to drive this point home. This movie is action packed. From the introductory sequence with run away trains and giant metal pig ships, this movie keeps you at the edge of your seat. The prison break sequences at daycare keep your fingers crossed as the toys follow elaborate plans with very small details. And the final scenes. The climax of the movie... Breathtaking. Never have I been so anxious sitting in a theater seat as I was at the end of TS3.

CHARACTERS- The final piece of note in this film, the characters. Now, aside from a few familiar faces, we see a return of our favorite plastic gang. All of whom are being voiced by those who voiced them 11 years ago. All except, Slinky Dog who's voice actor had died and been replaced. However, the new voice actor does an awesome job stepping up to the plate (even if I do think they cut a lot of speaking time for good 'ol slink because of it... maybe it's just me). The new faces we see fit into the mix quite well. All characters, as per Pixar's usual, fit their characters to the T (which is a HUGE pet-peeve of mine when it comes to all of these new fucking terrible cartoon shows and such...). And as well as being appropriately voiced, these new characters have well painted back stories, well thought out roles, and gorgeous designs. Among the new list of characters, I believed my favorites were the wise telephone car (who knew about life 'on the inside'), the not so cheerful (and comically obese) clown. And huzzah! Totoro makes a special appearance! Miyazaki. Respek.

At the end of it all, the movie was great. I honestly felt at home with it. I was witnessing my childhood being projected at me in three dimensions at one in the morning. It was like I had already seen and fallen in love with the movie. I give the movie a perfect 10 out of 10 and say that it did a fantastic job of bookending the series. I grew up with these toys and they gave me the best closure I could have asked for. It means so much to me the the good men and women did not disappoint me in the slightest. I wish I could meet the Pixar staff just so I could hug them. I wouldn't need to bother them asking for autographs, or waste much of their time nagging them with questions or comments, I just want hugs.

Oh God

I honestly never thought I'd come back here. I really did have the intent of leaving this all behind me. I'm only here because we were talking about blogs tonight at the Hookah bar. And so when I finally got home from another day of hanging out with people and not saying the things I've been wanting to get off of my chest, I changed, brushed my teeth and started looking through my blog. I was shocked to only see 3 posts [not including this] for the entire year of 2010. Here I thought that this year would change me. I thought maybe this year just wouldn't be like the rest...

Nevertheless, I read some of my older stuff and thought to myself 'wow... amidst the random garbles of filth I thought I was writing out of sheer boredom, there really is some powerful stuff in here'. It may sound stupid, but I really don't remember the things I've wrote in my blog. I often either wrote things early in the morning (like this guy) or on the fly in the afternoon (mainly just chronicling what I was doing/feeling at that exact moment. So it's crazy for me to look back at the keys I've stroked (hehe... stroked) and just what I've made.

And It Goes On And On

Word up fam. I'm in studio and it's now 4 in the morning. I'm reasonably sleepy, but more than that I'm tired. I'm tired in the sense that I'm just... blah. I just wanna rest up, and do what I wanna do. I'm getting super sick of running around all over the damn place. Work involves too much work...

Beyond my little rants regarding school and loneliness, there's a few highlights and tidbits.

1. Google Chrome, Google Chrome, Google Chrome. It pwns the shit out of IE! It looks a Hell of a lot nicer (less clutter, more artsy and pleasing to the eyes) it's easy to use (basic controls and functionality) there's amusing text (stats for nerds) and you can open up incognito windows which don't appear in your browser history (GREAT for porn). Overall, I find it a lot more pleasing than IE, and am glad I made the switch.

2. I have FINALLY beat Half-Life. No it has not eluded me for years as though it may sound. I actually just bought it a few short months ago (sad for someone who has been gaming his whole life I know). You see, my old computer was not at all capable to do...well... anything. So long story as well as load times later, I got a new computer and have to catch myself up on big name PC games (in no way would I bastardize games like Half-Life on console. And I'm a console gamer!). It was a great game. Fun, engaging, and way ahead of it's time. Granted, it pissed me off a few times here and there, and some things were just laughable by today's standards, it was still fantastic. You just really don't get that level of design and gameplay in most modern games ESPECIALLY first person shooters. I'm now looking forward to picking up that good 'ol Orange Box and continuing on with the series. Ah, one more thing. I was quite disappointed I had to dl Steam to even play the game. Now, Steam is a pretty solid program, and I like the look etc. etc., but I really did not want it... I'm not a big pc gamer, and don't want to be associated as such. Maybe it's just one of those hates with little ground, but whatever... Shit happens (see title :) )

3. Superman/Batman: Public enemies. I finally got around to watching it. It was okay. The graphic novel is better. Read it.

4. I'm watching a Captain America movie from 1990. It blows hard ass and makes me feel dirty that I'm still watching it.

I'm really getting bored writing now, so I'm just gonna end this here. Wish I was sleeping :)!!!

Hey There Pilot

Wow... Blogging again. I know I say that every time I decide to take this thing off of the shelf, but that's the first thing that comes to my mind every time.

If you'd like to know what's going on in my life, you're out of luck... cuz I really don't know what's going on. My social life has sort of become like school. I feel like I'm a circus act balancing spinning plates in both arms, legs chest nose, and cock... And now I'm always afraid I'm going to drop something the second I forget it's there. It may be a poor analogy, but it works, I swear.

Lets start with school: Blah, blah, blah. Bitch bitch, bitch. I don't like college. Wa, wa, wa. Architecture forcibly shoves it's large penis in my ass. Woopty-fucking-doo. I've got some homework I'm neglecting right now...

Okay, moving on. My friends. They're all running around. Literally. Some are in school, some are dropping out of school, some are sort of half in/ half out of school, and others have nothing more than to play video games all day (mad jealous right now). Some I've been a dick to, some I've been caring to, and some I'm not quite sure. I've been seeing people change, and I've been seeing a lot of people claiming change. And we all seem to be in this emotional limbo right now. And I care for all of my friends, I do, but when I get into these deep, meaningful, or serious talks, there's really only one thing running through my head... me. It's like I want to help them all, but how will it improve myself, or my situation in life. Am I so wrong for doing it? I mean, yeah, I don't slip shit in there at the expense of others... but my interests are quite important to me. Why can't I ask for nudes from the women I've known for years and who have come to trust me? I just wanna see them naked, that's all. And yes, I'll be honest, I'd probably use the pictures in my own time to get all horned up, shoot one off, and relax a bit... I still pay attention to them, and try working through any issues they might have, but I'm miserably lonely...

And I'm not the only one who really feels this way either. You see, my architecture buddies (who I've been drinking with as of late (I'm drinking right now) which, as you may know, I don't do much of... well, before a few days ago... never have). all have girlfriends, and while we were hanging out, expressed such relief that they had someone... It was someone they could count on to be there because, having so much work for archy, they haven't the time to worry about meeting anyone... And i agree. That's what I want. that's all I've ever wanted. I'm looking for someone who I can honestly call 'my best friend'. Someone, who I'm not together with for just something physical, or someone who just makes good conversation, or someone I can just be silly and cute around, but someone who I can be myself around and do everything from the physical to the emotional. I'm looking for a woman where dating isn't a big deal... it just is. I need someone who finds the day-to-day alright. Who will settle with hanging out with people at times, and at others just curling up together and being lazy. Sadly, I've been drawing nearer to the conclusion that this person doesn't exist... and the closest thing I've got to that... well, lets just say that has many small issues with it... but I could talk about aspects of that for days, and I would likely not be any closer to anything real... so I won't. Plus, I'm trying not to be super hypocritical about that situation... I'm now in the 'watch what you do, watch what you say' boat. Why? Because things are serious!

I swear I'm too horny for my own good... As a single man, I'm a menace to society.

I Feel Like This Is It

First off, I must apologize for the way my title may come off. It's not everday that I get myself worked into a mindset that I just can't help spewing 'insight' out of my brain. It may come off as trite and emo, but I'm trying my best which....

I haven't done this in a while, and oddly, I feel like a rcovering drug addict trying to porcure a normallife after treatment. This is my triumphant addicts annomous meeting that I can talk to others who know I've had these problems and I know whta it's like to rip myself away. Of course, this isn't one of those meetings, and it's quite presumptous for me to say that my problems are anything like yours, and yours anything like mine. But I feel, nevertheless, like I've admitted to somehting, and am letting it all pour out of me for the good of the whole. If you don't read this, I understand. This is for me.

I am, at my best, a person who cannot be 'described'. I've got mountains of opinions, all of which, don't mean a thing if you disagree. They are, at the ends of ends, just opinions, but nevertheless, I hold true to them. I try my best to base my opinions on concrete analysis' that may take me seconds, weeks, months, even years to establish. And no, I'm not saying I've got firm grasps on any of it. I'm not claiming that at all... Most tihngs in my life, in this world, I may never make sense of. But then again, it's not my job to. I get so worked up in being everywhere and trying to effect everyone, that I forget just what it is I'm looking at (Case and point, I think I segwayed about three times in the past paragraph with little to no rhyme or reason. Sorry).

Lately, and like many of us from time to time, have felt quite bipolar really... One second I will be so happy, being myself and loving... well life... the next second (yes, it happens that fast) I am depressed, and I just can't take it any more. I've been up and down so many times in the past month, I've really begun to think that I may have some sort of problem. i just can't seem to keep
things straight in my mind any more. Who are the people I truly care for, and how do I care for them? Are they friends, family, co-workers, lovers, significant others, or even perfect strangers? They've all seemed to meld and mesh and I can't seem to tell them apart. It's as though I love and despise them all at the same time, and cannot differentiate them unless I make example of one to see how that effects the others...

There's so many things I try my best not to admit to. The people I like, the people I dislike, my true feelings about everything. It's like I can't let anything outside without it causing a wave that washes over all those closest to me and potentially destroy what I have with them. God, even now, I don't know what I'm building up to with this. I know this must sound horribly depressed and the low of the low, but I'm not sad right now. I just want to know the answers really. You know, we walk around so confused, so disconnected, when all we really need are the answers. But we've become so distached with the answers because they hurt us or scared us, that we completely forget the questions.

I'm sorry, I can't seem to find my focal point here. I don't think I ever really had one I guess... I just came back to the one place that I felt free. Free to open up, and not be so afraid of what might happen. I don't think I even knew what that meant until it was 'torn away' from me. I just want it back. Not my blog per se, but the innocense. The amount of things wrong in this world are mind crippling, and that's without the emotional heartache we all put each other through. I just feel that I am but one in many, and despite what I do to see you smile, I am never going to change the world. It's because of this that I can't answer my own questions... Why are we not just trying to be...happy? It's like we put ourselves through so much just to come out with nothing. There are just so many things right now that could cause my own, as well as others happiness, but they just don't see it. Am I wrong? I can not bring myself to say that I am, in all honesty, a bad person, but then why am I so tempted to cause others pain?

We all seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Maybe I am depressed. Maybe I'm just saddened by the fact that I don't have that one thing I'm looking for... Or, maybe it's just that I, much like everyone, doens't honestly know what it is I'm looking for... All I know is that I want someones hand to hold while I'm looking for it... I'm sorry I'm going on and on about all of this.

I know this next part will come off as very, very one sided, but I wish people could just see things my way. It's like if people saw things my way, we could agree, and if we agree, we wouldn't argue, and if we don't argue we may... just... be... happy...

Maybe I'm just wrong. And maybe, it is as I said it was... that my opinions truly don't matter because they are only opinions, and opinions are only personal...

I will end this all here, and refuse to put you through any more written torture. I will leave you with one 'insightful' tidbit of what I was going to post as my status at 1am but the ever powerful Facebook Nazi said it was too long:

"thinks that when people write out lists of the 'perfect man', or the 'perfect woman', they are only setting themselves up for unmet and unrealistic expectations. Women: Edward Cullen doesn't exist. No man will ever be the 'bad boy', and still be the cute charming man that you say you're looking for, and if he is, call his bluff. It's an act. Men: Going after a a woman who is 'hot', and will put out, likely won't have a clue who you are as a person, and despite your rough exterior is something you do look for. Emotions aren't a weakness, don't be afraid to admit to them. Stop looking for these attributes to check off of some list and look around you. Stop looking for signs of grandeur, and focus more on how two people may benefit from each others happiness... Relationships aren't a science, they're an art form. Paints can mix, change, and alter perceptions. Numbers never will. (sorry for the rant at 1 in the morning >.<...)"