The movie starts with a young boy named Carl Fredricksen, a young introverted boy, dreaming of becoming an adventurer like his idol Charles Muntz. His love for adventure lures him to Ellie, who is an extrovert and adventure loving who also idolizes Charles Muntz. Eventually, their love for adventure evolves into a love for each other. They spend a life together dreaming of going to the South America to have an adventure like their idol. But as the years pass by, they find it harder and harder to fund and give time to their planned adventure. Sadly, Ellie died just as Carl bought tickets to fulfill their lifelong dream. This leads Carl to solitude and back into silence, remaining inside of his house until he decides to do what he promised to Ellie.

He ties thousands of balloons filled with helium to his house and plans to reach South America with his house. Carl suddenly becomes accompanied by an overly helpful wilderness explorer/boy scout named Russell. Carl becomes stuck with him when he sees that Russell was in his porch the time he lifted off and he had no where to put him safely down to the ground.

They reach South America by some “sky hazards” like the house being taken into the middle of a storm in the sky and avoiding rock formations while landing roughly. They land short of a few kilometers from their designation (the other side of the mountain top to be exact) and they had to walk the house to their desired spot.

Along the way, they meet a mythical bird which Russell names as Kevin and a talking dog named Doug. The four of them embarks on a mission to reach the destination but takes a lot of detours along the way.

The movie was a very touching one which will lead you in awe and a roller coaster of feelings while watching it. The colorful sets, the humorous characters and the charming plot are unmistakable Pixar animations trademark. Some people would not be attracted by an old grumpy man tying balloons to his house but upon watching the movie during the first 20 minutes, the criticisms lay low and people get hooked to it afterwards.

Tissue is a much needed item while watching this movie. They didn’t show much of your typical crying drama scenes in a movie that make you cry, but they showed it in a way that people of all ages can definitely relate to. As the audience gets older, the more significant the story means. From Russell’s lack of parental support, Carl’s love for his passed wife, Doug wanting to fit in with the other dogs and even Kevin’s maternal instinct to provide food for her babies. It’s not just the person that has the emotional pull, but also the animals. It’s amazing how someone can relate to a character of an animal, I know in myself that I sympathized with Doug and Kevin while watching the movie. My most favorite character was Doug. He made me want to hug my dogs after watching the movie.

Perhaps the most striking line in the movie and a possible moral was ”thanks for the adventure. Now go have one on your own”. It was so striking that the scene that showed it made me and my companions cry.

It’s a very good movie; five stars and two thumbs up!

My sister’s keeper is not your contemporary drama film that has its conflicts, it captivates the audience and gives them an unexpected twist that leaves them guessing until the end.

The film starts with Anna (Abigail Breslin) suing her parents for “medical emancipation”, which by that time I thought that the movie was all about the trials as the story unfolds but it goes on a different direction.

As the movie warms up, the story of Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) the eldest daughter gets to be told. She opens her “scrapbook of memories” and different experiences were shown. When her parents Sara (Cameron Diaz) and Brian (Jason Patric) found out that she had Leukemia, they decide to produce a child that will be “genetically designed” to be the most compatible donor for Kate.

From Anna’s birth, she has been harvested for her sister’s needs, may it be blood, bone marrows or whatever body part donation she can provide. She knows about her role in her sister’s life and she hasn’t been complaining about it until now when Kate finally needs one of her kidneys. In my point of view, it seems barbaric to treat a child like she’s some kind of a spare parts cabinet for another child. The needs of another child must not be trounced by the needs of another.

So Anna seeks out the help of an illustrious lawyer (Alec Baldwin) who promises to help her with her appeal. The trial doesn’t play a dominant part in most of the film but the story of how the trial became was shown through back and forth of storytelling throughout the movie.

The movie showed their older brother Jesse (Evan Ellingston) and about how his needs were also trampled upon by Kate’s. Jesse and Anna loved their sister very much and kindly stepped aside for her to be in priority care by their parents. This is usual for families with medical issues but it takes it further when Anna’s needs were put off and she is faced with the decision to say no to her parents. She understood its consequences which Sara was so keen on confronting Anna about.

Sara goes back to her profession on being a lawyer to go against her daughter’s complaint. The Judge (Joan Cusack) also makes her own investigation on the matter.

The movie showed Kate’s love interest, Taylor, (Thomas Dekker) and his struggles with cancer. Kate’s self esteem is heightened by him and as their story goes deeper, Kate & Taylor’s quality of life becomes happier. This showed me that love can go past weaknesses and disabilities can make love go stronger. Days after they go to the hospital prom and make love, Taylor died. His life became complete after experiencing the love that he found in Kate.

Eventually the story goes on as the family continues to struggle with the medical issue. Anna is continually being scrutinized by her mother and the trial goes on. The twist unfolded as Jesse becomes frustrated and forces Anna to reveal the reason why the trial became in the first place. Kate wanted to die and she just couldn’t tell her mother. So Anna tried to cover up her sister’s pain by going against her mother. She would have given the kidney no matter what if Kate hadn’t said no.

When Sara finally faced the truth, Kate died the morning after and Anna won the trial.

I was a little taken off by Sara’s character and could not believe that there were parents like that. Still, who could blame her, she loved her child so much that she was blinded by the needs of her other children. As I said, it was barbaric to treat a child like that.

What I didn’t see was the other side of reality of the story. Sure, Kate’s hardships were shown, the vomiting, the hospitalization, the added pain bought by Taylor’s death but the family was a little too perfect. Money was never an issue in the story. Sara quit her practice as a lawyer and Brian is only a fireman. Are firemen salaries big now? After years of Kate going in and out of the hospital and dozens of operations made on Anna and Kate, had the family never stumbled upon bankruptcy?

Despite everything else, I liked the chemistry of the family and how they acted naturally upon the given situation. The movie gave a heartwarming story with a twist unlike any other. It was successful in making me and the rest of the audience cry.

I give the movie two thumbs up!

♫ After All : Peter Cetera & Cher

I DO NOT EVEN NEED WORDS TO EXPLAIN THE FUCKERY THAT IS MY FRIENDS.