Posted by: Mike on Jun 25th, 2013

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Monsters University

You’ve likely already heard how Monsters University is “nothing original” and “rehashed old material” from other reviews.You’ve probably heard of how Monsters University isn’t as good of a sequel as Toy Story 2 was. (Even though Monsters University is a prequel, not a sequel.)

I’m here to tell you that all those reviewers that didn’t like the movie, or thought it was rehashed from the original are out of their minds.  Monsters University was excellent.  So much fun, such a great story, and so exciting to see these characters that we fell in love with back in 2001 all over again.

I suppose we should start with the animation.  I’ll go (not too far) out on a limb and say that Pixar’s animation is unrivaled in their industry.  Sure Dreamworks does a good job with their animation, but Pixar is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else in the game.  The level of detail in Monsters University is so lifelike that at times I thought it was real footage I was looking at.  The Pixar short before the feature film was equally as amazing. I was near convinced that what I was seeing was actual footage, shot with a camera, of New York in the rain.  The fact that it was animated blew (and still blows) my mind.

But Pixar doesn’t stop there, it’s not just their animation that’s amazing.  Their stories are incredible as well, as is the case with Monsters University.  We already know these characters and we love them.  But this story lets us get to know them all over again in a new way.  We get to flash back to Mike as a child and learn why he wants to be a scarer and how he ends up at MU.  We learn that Sully’s family is famous for being scarers.  We learn so much yet it’s not forced down our throats, it’s not presented to us in a way that feels uncomfortable or awkward.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a movie that there was applause at the end.  But there was a good round of applause not only at the end of Monsters University but at a number of points throughout the film as well.  Without giving anything away, there’s a number of scenes where you’re rooting so hard for the “good guys” that you find yourself smiling and cheering when they come out on top.

I found myself having so much fun that I didn’t want it to end.  I wanted to keep following Mike and Sully after the movie ended.  Moments before the movie ended I found myself leaning over to my movie companion and saying “We should watch Monsters, Inc after this!”  I wanted to pick up right where Monsters University leaves off, which is right around the beginning of Monsters, Inc.  A very well tied together pair of films and Pixar pulled it off quite well.

I’m 100% glad I disregarded the reviews I read about this film and went to see it anyway.  I laughed, I teared up a bit, I clapped a lot, and I overall had a wonderful time.  I couldn’t have expected anything more and Pixar couldn’t have given me anything more.  Monsters University is as close to perfect as they could have gotten it.

Posted by: Christine on Apr 5th, 2008

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Time Magazine has an interesting interview with Oscar-winner Helen Mirren with questions submitted by fans. She answers questions about her career, American politics, and even her tattoo. When asked “what is it, and why did you get it?” she answers,

The short answer is, I got drunk. I think I write about it in the book. But yes, I got drunk on an Indian reservation in Minnesota. It’s a South American Indian sign.

Read the whole interview at Time.com.

Posted by: Christine on Dec 23rd, 2007

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Mike checked out the National Treasure sequel, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and had this to say:

I liked the movie. Not quite as much as the first movie, but I still enjoyed it. Bartha as the comic relief was perfect, a surprise spot from Helen Mirren playing Gates’ mother was also nice. The on-scene location filming proved quite nice as well, from London, to the White House, to the Library of Congress, to Mount Rushmore.

Read Mike’s full review »