The Hangover and Up

I hit the Metro North of Boston's best two movie theaters* to see The Hangover and Up last weekend. Per my friends' facebook statuses, I was implored to "see The Hangover, you motherfuckers."

I need new friends.

Peer pressure is a bitch, so I did as I was told. I roared and laughed like a 23 year old male would at the sophomoric, piss-shit humor. Hell, it even had 40+ year old Heather Graham's areolas, and pictures of fellatio!

Alas it was not the best movie I saw last weekend; Disney Pixar's Up lays claim to this mother's basement blogger's title. (Spoilers ahead) Up's premise may be hard to surmise from its trailer and commercials, but its beautiful tale starts with Carl Fredricksen and his wife, Ellie. The two meet in their childhood and form a fast bond over their love for exploration, flight, and traveling. During the greatest** montage I've ever seen, we see Carl and Ellie grow old and we get hit with heartbreak after heartbreak for the two. After the montage we see an elder, widowed Carl. Very senile, bitter, and lonely, Carl now spends his days keeping immaculate care of the house that Carl and Ellie presumably lived in for 60+ years.

After Carl is forced out of his home due to a cutthroat developer and a tussle over his mailbox, he's seemingly resigned to his assisted living fate. Before being forced to heaven's waiting room, he uses thousands of his balloon to lift his house into the skies.

To this point, the movie was strikingly real for an animated film. The tale now requires a bit of suspension of reality by the viewer as the house is flying away, piloted by Carl and pseudo-Eagle Scout, Russell.

Russell stowed away on-board the flying house after volunteering to help the elderly Carl in his quest to fufill his environment-scout-whatever-merit-badge-sash.

The "B" story line was nearly as strong as Carl's; Russell naively explains a fatherless childhood. A physically weak child, Russell comes off as confused at why the other environmental scouts have a dad. But he shows strength as he combats those lost childhood moments with a vigor to help and care.

As Carl and Russ float away to Paradise Falls, South America--where Ellie and Carl had unfulfilled dreams of vacationing to---they get a bit sidetracked. The bulk of the film takes place in a South American jungle, and ends with another tearjerking and fulfilling moment.

I walked out of the theater with my mother and brother with a smile on my face that sunny and humid afternoon. Delightful is the apropos adjective for the best animated film I've ever seen. Whereas, horrifying was how I felt after walking out of The Hangover. "They can show that in an R-rated movie?"

*I contend that the Tyngsboro movie theater is superior to the Lowell theater in that: it's closer to my parent's house. And the people on a Friday night are more entertaining.

**I hate montages in movies, usually.