Up

Last night I went to Bay Street in Emeryville to see a midnight showing of the new Pixar movie, Up. It was, AWESOME! Watch the preview! Then watch the movie.
It was wonderful to be watching the movie in Emeryville (home to Pixar Studios) with wonderful friends (Susan, Laurelei, and Kate) and the movie was amazing, which is to be expected from Disney/Pixar.
The short film before the movie is titled Partly Cloudy, and it is a cute film about clouds and storks, and the little baby people and animals the clouds create for the storks to deliver. That summary does no justice to the actual film, but trust me it is adorable. I teared up a little when a little rainy day cloud almost loses his stork friend to a sunny day cloud. *sniff*
The movie Up has a heavy beginning. Think Bambi.
But it is filled with great humor, as Susan put it. My favorite character is a dog named Doug. A talking dog named Doug. His owner designed a collar that allows him to verbally communicate. One of my favorite lines from the movie is when Doug knocks on Mr. Fredrickson's door after the house floats into the air courtesy of helium filled balloons.
Doug (in robotic voice): "I was hiding under your house because I love you. Let me stay."
There is also one great squirrel joke from the movie that I won't repeat because I could never do the joke justice.
Reasons why I love Pixar:
1) The films are great for kids and adults.
2) The attention to details. The colors of the balloons especially impressed me. In one scene, when Mr. Frederickson's house is floating up into the sky out of the city, the balloons are reflected into a little girl's skyscraper room and it looks so real.
3) The humor. In this movie, the characters each add an element of humor that takes away some of the seriousness of the tragedy that started the movie. There is a good balance of humor and seriousness.
4) Character growth. The characters grow and evolve and learn new things about themselves. It's really neat to watch the character evolution in this film.
4) The Bay Area references. Look out for Fenton's Creamery in this movie.

Overall, I want to go see this movie again tonight, and tomorrow night, and the next night. I never saw Wall-E, but I've seen every other Disney/Pixar movie and I'd put this one near the top of list of favorites.