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Up Review

CG films particularly look great in 1080p, but there is something about Pixar films that’s even more special. Their attention to detail simply pops in HD. For UP, when Carl and Russell head to South America, the richness of the jungle landscapes they created allows the audience to get lost in the world. The colors are so vibrant, especially the feathers of Kevin, the mysterious bird. Additionally, the 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack just adds to the experience. Carl and Russell’s flight through the storm is a moment where the sound just envelops you. These are the kind of moments with good home theater systems you can understand why people are beginning to prefer watching films at home instead of the theaters, where cheap theater owners dim the light in the projectors and haven’t updated their audio systems in decades.

The disc is also cock full of great special features. Director Pete Docter and co-director Bob Peterson’s commentary track is supplemented with production artwork, clips and doc footage to contrast the final CG film with its inspirations along the way. Docter and Peterson delve into the thought process that went into each of the film’s moments. There’s also two great features that chronicle the changing development of the antagonist Muntz and the classic Married Life sequence. Through storyboards, we see the various fates that the Pixar artists worked on for the obsessed Muntz. As for Married Life, the sequence started out in a totally different direction.
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Monsters, Inc. Review

Pixar put a great deal of work into getting fur to work for this film and now we finally get to see the full extent of their effort at home. This Blu-ray captures the tiny hairs on Sulley and the tight fuzz of the Snowman perfectly. But it also captures the thick scaly skins of characters like Mike with a sense of density that wasn’t apparent on the DVD. Also the brilliant color palette is eye-catching in 1080p, while the blacks are deep. Equally the Disney’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround soundtrack is remarkable. The closet door warehouse sequence was a standout moment when I first saw the film in theaters, and the soundscape during that sequence on this disc is just as rousing. Being enveloped in that scene makes the moment even more intense.

The special features are mainly bits from the past DVD release. However there are a few new offerings for the Blu-ray. The best new feature is “Filmmakers Round Table.” Director Pete Docter, co-director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla K. Anderson, and story supervisor Bob Peterson sit down at the Hidden City Café, which had a cameo in the MONSTERS, INC., to reflect back on the production of the film. One of the most poignant moments comes when the filmmakers discuss 9/11, which happened right before the film was set to hit theaters and how the tragedy affected the production. “Ride and Go Seek: Building Monstropolis in Japan” is a promotional behind-the-scenes look at the MONSTERS, INC. ride at Disneyland Tokyo. “Roz’s 100 Door Challenge” is an interactive trivia game where players take an employee placement exam to see what role at Monsters, Inc. they would be best suited for. In an introduction to the Blu-ray, Docter says it features 100 games, am I missing something?
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So often, professional partnerships are like marriages, they end in divorce. Director Herbert Ross (THE GOODBYE GIRL) and writer Neil Simon capture this dynamic so well in THE SUNSHINE BOYS. Little disagreements and the same petty arguments build into something dramatic. Eventually, the twosome can’t even be in the same room with each other.

Willy Clark (Walter Matthau, THE ODD COUPLE) and Al Lewis (George Burns, OH, GOD!) were one of vaudeville’s biggest comedy acts. They haven’t spoken in 11 years. Clark is now represented by his nephew Ben (Richard Benjamin, WESTWORLD), who has to beg to get him potato chip commercials. He can no longer remember lines and he doesn’t take direction very well. Then a new TV special commemorating the history of comedy comes along. Ben gets his uncle booked, but that’s the easy part. He has to convince Willy to make up with his old partner first.
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