Short But Sweet: Up (2009)

Romantic Moment #4

Up (2009)

In Up, young Carl Fredrickson is a huge fan of Charles F. Muntz. He goes to the theater to watch his reels over and over. There he meets Ellie, a fellow Muntz fan, who takes him to her secret hideout, an old house that is falling apart. The two end up growing up together, getting married, and restoring the old house. They move in there and hope to create a family, but unfortunately Ellie is infertile. Instead the two plan a huge trip to South America and begin saving up. Just as they have enough money, Ellie becomes sick and dies.

A few years later, Carl has become a crotchety old man. He gets into an argument with a construction worker over damage to his mailbox and Carl injures the man. The court orders him to a retirement home, but Carl refuses to go. Instead he blows up a gazillion helium balloons, turning his house into a hot air balloon.

 After Carl has taken flight, he discovered a wilderness boy (i.e. boy scout), Russell, had been on the porch in hopes of getting his merit badge for assisting the elderly. When they reach South America their crew grows to include a tall flightless bird Russell names Kevin and a dog with a collar that enables it to speak English, Dug.

They run into a pack of dogs all with the same collar and discover that they were created and are owned by Charles F. Muntz. Muntz had discovered a new type of bird, but no one believed him, and after that left forever. When Muntz hears of Kevin, he thinks the two are trying to steal his discovery, going after Kevin with Carl and Russell having to save her. It is an extremely fun and adorable film.

****Most Romantic Moment****

The most romantic moment has to be the Carl and Ellie scenes. They don’t last very long but are extremely adorable. You see the ups and downs of married life and how strong their love is to work through disappointments, accidents, problems, etc.

Even when Ellie is dying she makes sure to leave Karl a note in her scrapbook in order to make sure he continues with his life.

Perfect!

I hope that if I ever get married I have something as special as they do.

Who needs riches or anything really if you have a love like this.

To start Romance is in the Air: Part III, go to I Can See Your Beauty: The Breakfast Club (1985)

For the previous post, go to A Tender Toll-Booth Token: While You Were Sleeping (1995)

For more on Disney, go to Right to Vote

But the Book, It Will Never Close…: Along Came a Spider (2001)

“They say that when I die, the case will die. They say it will be like a book I close. But the book, it will never close…”

So this is a film that I have been wanting to see for a really long time and finally was able to. It is on Amazon Instant Watch currently, so I would totally suggest checking it out if you have that.

Check it out

So this film was an amazing thriller. I have to say that I thought I had everything figured out, but in the end I was really thrown by James Patterson.

So the film is based on the book of the same name, and is the first of the Alex Cross detective series.

So the film starts off with Alex Cross, played by the amazing Morgan Freeman, trying to take down a serial rapist and killer. His partner, Tracie, is currently undercover and trying to see if Jim Galloway, the guy they’ve been tailing, is their supposed guy. Everything is running smoothly, until Galloway discovers that Tracie is a cop. He then tries to hurt her, causing her to hit him, the car to spin out of control, and go over the Virginia Falls.

Alex is brokenhearted.

Fast forward a year. Here we have little Megan Rose, a senator’s daughter, who is going to school. It seems to be just an average until…but its not. It is very different as her Charles Lindbergh obsessed computer science teacher, Mr. Soneji, kidnaps her.

The secret service who watches the kids of political parents discover the kidnapping and go looking for her, calling in the FBI.

Meanwhile, Alex Cross is watching news on TV when he receives a phone call. It is the killer!

Yes, just like When a Stranger Calls, the killer is interested in a game of cat and mouse. Soneji wants Alex to get involved in the case so that he can have the fame of not only outsmarting the detective but be widely written about in all the papers. He leaves Megan’s shoe in Alex’s mailbox, prompting him to immediately join the case. There he teams up with Jezzie, Megan’s security detail, to try and track this kidnapper down.

Now I won’t say anymore, because I really do not want to give away the ending, it was so awesome. But I will leave you with reasons why I truly enjoyed this film.

1. Morgan Freeman

Now you’re all probably think, no duh. (Am I right?) And sure it is a no brainer. Morgan Freeman is an absolutely wonderful actor and really connects to you in this role. You feel his pain when he loses his partner, the reluctance to take on a new one, and the drive he has to find this girl, no matter what the cost. He’s lovable, tough, no-nonsense, and the guy you pretty much wish you had backing you up.

2. Megan Rose

Megan is the little girl kidnapped and she’s no push over. This girl is pretty B.A. as she constantly comes up with ways to try and escape to get back to her parents. I love that she is not only super smart, but incredibly persistent stopping at nothing to gain her freedom.

3. Twist Ending

Now the ending is great, it was an amazing twist. It was one of those that when you each the end you see all the little hints that were headed your way and it all makes sense, vis a vis Perfect Stranger. 

To start Horrorfest III from the beginning, go to Even a Man Pure of Heart

For the previous post, go to Who’s Afraid of Cory Wolf?

For more twist endings, go to Happily Ever Aftermath

For more “cat and mouse” type films, go to What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?

For more films based on a book, go to I Was Here For A Moment. And Then I Was Gone.

For more on kidnapping, go to That Darn Cat!