A young Carl Fredrickson meets a young adventure spirited girl named Ellie. They both dream of going to Paradise Falls in South America, which has been coined “A Land Lost in Time.”  70 years later, Ellie has passed away, and Carl remembers the promise he made to her many years ago. Carl promised they would reach Paradise Falls together and settle down there.  Then, when he inadvertently hits a construction worker, he is forced to go to a retirement home.  His last night in the house him and Ellie called home Carl gets the genius idea to tie tons of balloons to his house and fly away in search of Paradise Falls.  Suddenly there comes a knock on his front door!  He finds an 8 year old boy named Russell, whose trying to get an assisting the elderly badge. Together, they embark on an adventure, where they encounter talking dogs, an evil villain, and a rare bird that Russell has named Kevin.

Up is the reason why I go to the movies!  This was one of the funniest and most inspiration films I have seen in years.  This is a film for the young and the young at heart.  Never have I seen a film that packs so much laughter, adventure, love, and fun into a short 96 minutes.  When I first saw the trailer for Up I will admit I was a little skeptical.  They didn’t really advertise excitement with it, and I didn’t know anything of the plot walking into the theater.  I quickly came to realize that Up wasn’t about plot twists or a surprising finale, but instead about the journey of the characters.  Up has more character development than most major Hollywood blockbuster trilogies.  Pixar never fails to have you caring about a cast of animated characters.

I highly recommend Up!  Not only is it an amazing family film full of adventure, but it is packed with full of meaning.  Take your kids to see this one, and if you don’t have kids well go see it anyway.  It’s some of the most entertaining 96 minutes you’ll ever have in your life.  I can honestly say with a heart full of pride it rekindled my “spirit of adventure.”   I cross my heart on that one!  J  I would not be surprised one bit if Up gets a best picture nomination from the Academy.  It deserves at least that.  I give Up four out of four stars.

Doug (Justin Bartha) and Tracy (Sasha Barrese) are about to get married.  Two days before the wedding, Doug and his two best buddies Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms), along with Tracy’s brother Alan (Zach Galifanakis) hop into Tracy’s father’s beloved Mercedes convertible for a 24-hour stag party to Las Vegas.  Phil, a married high school teacher, has the same maturity level as his students when he’s with his pals.  Stu, a dentist, is worried about everything, especially what his controlling girlfriend Melissa (Rachael Harris) thinks.  She disapproves of traditional male bonding rituals; Phil has to lie to her about the stag, telling her that they are going on a wine tasting tour in the Napa Valley.  Regardless of the advice and wishes of his friends he intends on eventually marrying her.  Alan seems to be unaware of what are considered the social graces of the western world.  The morning after their arrival in Las Vegas, they awaken in their hotel suite each with the worst hangover.  No one remembers what happened the night before, and the suite is in shambles.  There are certain things are in the suite that shouldn’t be (such as a tiger), and certain things that should be in the suite are missing (such as Doug).  As Phil, Stu, and Alan try to find Doug using only what little pieces of information they have at hand, they go on a journey of discovery.  However, they are on a race against time because if they can’t find Doug in the next few hours, they are going to have to explain to Tracy why they are not yet back in Los Angeles.  Even worse, they may not find Doug at all before the wedding.

I wasn’t expecting much walking into this one, and I’m really glad for that.  Now I know the few of you reading this aren’t going, or did go see the film because of an actor or actress, but I have to say that Bradley Cooper’s performance as Phil is the shining star for me here.  I have always enjoyed watching him perform, and the same can be said here.  The rest of the performances are mediocre, and that is okay because they work for the film.  I’m sure Warner Brothers isn’t complaining at all!  The film only cost the company around $35 million to make and at the time of this review the film’s total gross is around $205 million.  The overall story is creative and original, and the box office needed that this summer.  However, I only found The Hangover amusing not hilarious like the rest of America.  Honestly, I’ve seen better self discoveries at prom after parties.  Don’t get me wrong, it has its laughs, but none that I could really remember after I walked out of the film.  I leave The Hangover with two Advil’s and only two and a half stars out of four.

The film then jumps to present day where we meet Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), a struggling loan officer who hopes to be promoted to assistant manager over her conniving co-worker, Stu Rubin (Reggie Lee).  To prove herself capable of handling tough decisions Christine, against her better judgment denies Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) a third extension on her mortgage.  That night Christine is attacked in her car by Mrs. Ganush. After a violent struggle, Mrs. Ganush removes a button from Christine’s jacket and uses it to place a curse on her. Mrs. Ganush disappears, leaving the cursed button with Christine.  After some violent attacks, seeing things, and hearing things Christine learns that the spirit haunting her is actually a demon called the Lamia, and that she is to be tormented by it for three days before being dragged to Hell to burn for eternity.  From there on out Christine is desperate to find a way to rid herself of this curse, and seeking the help of Shaun San Dena.

Sam and Ivan Raimi have written an amazing story here!  It’s just the hit of originality Hollywood needed out of the horror genre.  The cast has no big name stars, but is solid non-the-less.  Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre is a beautiful one, and long overdue in my opinion.  Drag Me to Hell is the first film in a long while that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Yeah it’s PG-13, but it proves that not all horror films have to be full of gore and hit with an R rating to be entertaining.  It’s suspenseful, laugh out loud funny sometimes, and just a jewel to watch on the big screen.  WARNING:  If you have a soft spot for kittens you might want to research some of the kitten scenes in the film.  Sam Raimi doesn’t have to drag me anywhere to get a kick ass rating out of me.  I give Drag Me to Hell four out of four stars!

–Richard Armour

–Arthur Miller